Chapter 9 - Nobody moved.The man standing across the corridor had my face.

My height.

My eyes.

Even the small scar beneath my chin.

Sophie whispered:

“Dad?”

I stepped in front of her.

“I’m here.”

The other man smiled.

“That's what I came to discuss.”

Victor lifted his gun.

“Don't move.”

The man laughed.

“You still point a weapon like our father taught us.”

I looked at him.

“Who are you?”

He touched his chest.

“Adrian.”

My stomach turned.

“No.”

My father walked between us.

“The original plan required a replacement.”

“For what?”

“To protect the Vale empire.”

The other Adrian looked toward Elena.

“She betrayed us.”

Elena stepped forward.

“You were the one who ordered the crash.”

He smiled.

“I ordered the extraction.”

“You ordered her death.”

“I ordered yours.”

My head spun.

“Why does he look like me?”

My father answered.

“Because he is your brother.”

I stared.

“Victor?”

Victor shook his head.

“No.”

My father corrected him.

“His twin.”

I looked at the second man.

A memory flashed.

Two cribs.

Two babies.

A woman crying.

My mother standing beside her.

Then one crib empty.

My mother had told me I was an only child.

My whole life had been built on a lie.

The other Adrian stepped closer.

“You were chosen.”

“For what?”

“To be public.”

He pointed toward himself.

“I was chosen to be obedient.”

I looked at Elena.

“You knew?”

“Yes.”

“How long?”

“Before I married you.”

The words cut deeper than anything else.

“So our marriage was a lie?”

“No.”

“Then what was real?”

She began crying.

“You.”

My twin laughed.

“Don't believe her.”

He walked toward Lily.

“You remember me, don't you?”

Lily backed away.

“No.”

“You called me Daddy.”

Lily screamed.

“No!”

I raised my gun.

“Stay away from her.”

My twin stopped.

“Ask her what happened at 9:17.”

“I know.”

“No. You know the version they gave you.”

He pointed at my head.

“The truth is in there.”

My father activated another monitor.

A laboratory appeared.

A young girl sat in a chair.

It was Lily.

But she looked six years old.

A technician placed headphones over her ears.

She heard sounds.

Car crash.

Glass breaking.

Elena screaming.

Then my voice.

The real recording.

“Lily, look at me.”

The little girl looked up.

And I heard myself say:

“Mom is gone.”

The footage changed.

A second man entered.

My twin.

He whispered:

“She isn't your mother.”

The little Lily began crying.

The recording ended.

I turned on him.

“What did you do?”

He looked almost disappointed.

“Nothing.”

He leaned closer.

“I told her the truth.”

“You poisoned her memory.”

“No.”

He smiled.

“She poisoned yours.”

Elena stepped forward.

“That isn't true.”

My father raised his hand.

“Enough.”

Then every monitor displayed one sentence.

R-17 WAS NOT A ROOM.

Below it appeared another.

R-17 WAS A PERSON.

My name appeared.

Then Lily's.

Then Elena's.

Then Victor's.

All connected by lines.

I stared.

The program had not been studying us.

It had been studying our family.

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And the final line connected me to my twin.

PRIMARY / REPLACEMENT