Chapter 13 - Nobody moved.Olivia stared at the machine.
"Why am I E-18?"
Daniel searched the control panel.
"I don't know."
Clara stepped toward the machine.
"There are records."
She touched the screen.
Images appeared.
Olivia as a baby.
Olivia in a hospital.
Olivia undergoing tests.
Adrian's father standing beside her.
Adrian stared.
"This can't be real."
Olivia whispered:
"That's me."
Vanessa's voice came through a speaker.
"Yes."
Everyone turned.
Her face appeared on a monitor.
She was in another room.
Adrian stepped toward the screen.
"Where are you?"
Vanessa was crying.
"I don't know."
"What did they do to Olivia?"
"I tried to stop them."
Adrian's voice became cold.
"You knew."
"I knew something was different."
"You lied to me."
"I was protecting her."
"From what?"
Vanessa looked at Olivia.
"From herself."
Olivia shook her head.
"What does that mean?"
Vanessa swallowed.
"Your father discovered that the treatment worked differently in you."
"How?"
"You didn't regenerate."
Olivia frowned.
"You accelerated."
Clara looked confused.
"Accelerated what?"
"Everything."
Vanessa whispered:
"Your cells."
"Your nervous system."
"Your aging."
Adrian stared.
"What?"
Vanessa's voice broke.
"Olivia's body processes time differently."
Olivia stepped backward.
"No."
Elias's voice came through another speaker.
"She was the real success."
Adrian turned.
"Where are you?"
"Everywhere."
The screens around them switched on.
Elias appeared.
"You've spent years believing Emma was special."
He smiled.
"She isn't."
Adrian looked at Olivia.
"She is."
"She's the control."
"What does that mean?"
"Emma can repair."
"Olivia can accelerate."
Clara whispered:
"Accelerate aging."
Elias nodded.
"Among other things."
Adrian's face went pale.
"You're saying..."
"She can kill cells."
Olivia stared at her hands.
"No."
Elias continued:
"With enough training, she can stop a tumor."
A pause.
"Or stop a heart."
Silence.
Adrian looked at his daughter.
"That's why they watched her."
Elias nodded.
"That's why they feared her."
Olivia's eyes filled with tears.
"So I'm dangerous."
"No."
Adrian stepped beside her.
"You're my daughter."
Elias smiled.
"Exactly why you're useful."
Adrian looked at the monitors.
"What do you want?"
"Her."
"No."
"You misunderstand."
Elias pointed toward Olivia.
"She isn't the target."
"Then who?"
"The woman behind you."
Everyone looked at Clara.
Clara froze.
Elias said:
"She knows the location of the master archive."
Clara shook her head.
"I don't."
"You do."
"No."
"Your memory suppression didn't erase it."
"What archive?"
"The original records."
Clara closed her eyes.
A memory surfaced.
A metal staircase.
A red door.
Numbers.
A voice.
Her own voice.
"Vault seven."
Daniel stared.
"That's impossible."
"Why?"
"Vault seven was destroyed."
Elias laughed.
"No."
He leaned toward the camera.
"That's where your father's real research is."
Adrian asked:
"What is inside?"
Elias smiled.
"The cure."
Adrian's heart stopped.
"For what?"
"For everything."
Then the alarms changed.
A different siren.
Daniel looked at the monitors.
"Police."
Adrian frowned.
"How?"
Olivia looked at her phone.
"I sent them the footage."
Victor's voice erupted through the intercom.
"You stupid girl."
Olivia smiled.
Then the building shook.
Explosions sounded outside.
Elias's expression changed.
"Move."
Everyone looked at him.
"What?"
"The building is compromised."
"You expect us to trust you?"
"No."
Elias stared at Adrian.
"I expect you to understand that if this laboratory is destroyed, your daughter dies."
Emma began crying.
Adrian grabbed her.
"How long?"
"Eight minutes."
Daniel looked at the emergency map.
"There is another exit."
They ran.
Behind them, machines exploded.
Fire spread through the hallway.
At the final door, Clara stopped.
"What?"
Adrian looked back.
She was staring at a symbol on the wall.
"I know this."
"What?"
"My father."
Adrian froze.
"Your father?"
Clara touched the symbol.
"This was his mark."
Daniel looked shocked.
"Your father wasn't a victim."
Clara turned.
"What?"
"He helped build the program."
She stared at him.
"No."
Daniel pointed to the symbol.
"He was Elias's partner."
Clara's face collapsed.
Her father had been dead for twelve years.
Or so she believed.
A voice spoke through the emergency speaker.
"Clara."
She froze.
The voice continued.
"You finally remembered."
Her father's voice.
May you like
Alive.
And waiting.
