Chapter 20 - The Last FileForty-eight hours.
That was all.
The world outside knew nothing.
News channels reported a cyberattack.
Markets were unstable.
Federal agencies denied everything.
The district attorney's office was placed under emergency security.
The Alcázar estate was abandoned.
Vega disappeared.
Adrián vanished.
Rebeca surrendered herself.
Valeria's father entered protective custody.
And Sebastián became the most hunted man in the country.
Not because he had committed a crime.
Because he carried the child everyone wanted.
They stayed in a safe house outside the city.
The baby slept.
For the first time in weeks, there were no alarms.
No gunfire.
No footsteps.
No strangers appearing from dark hallways.
Sebastián stood by the window.
Valeria joined him.
"Do you think it's over?"
"No."
She smiled sadly.
"Neither do I."
He looked at her.
"Do you regret marrying me?"
"Every terrible thing that happened?"
She shook her head.
"Not you."
He took her hand.
"What happens now?"
She looked at the baby.
"We disappear."
"Forever?"
"Until he's old enough to choose."
The door opened.
Grant entered.
He looked exhausted.
"We found something."
Sebastián frowned.
"What?"
Grant placed a small envelope on the table.
"The district attorney's original files."
"I thought they were destroyed."
"Copies survived."
Valeria opened the envelope.
Inside was a single photograph.
No names.
No date.
Just a hospital room.
A woman.
A newborn.
And behind them...
Sebastián.
Not present.
A photograph of him taken years later.
Valeria frowned.
"This photograph was taken before you were born."
Sebastián stared.
"Impossible."
Grant looked at him.
"That's why I brought it."
Valeria turned the photograph over.
A sentence had been written on the back.
THE FILES WERE ALREADY IN THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S HANDS.
Sebastián looked up.
"That's the message."
Grant nodded.
"The first one."
Valeria's eyes narrowed.
"Then who knew?"
Grant placed another document on the table.
A list of names.
One was circled.
E. GRANT.
The district attorney.
Sebastián stared.
"You?"
Grant shook his head.
"Not me."
"Then my predecessor."
"Maybe."
Valeria flipped the page.
The next name made her freeze.
Her mother.
Then Sebastián's father.
Then Rebeca.
Then Vega.
Then Adrián.
Then one final name.
SEBASTIÁN ALCÁZAR.
He stared at it.
"Why is my name there?"
Grant answered:
"Because Project Origin wasn't created to control you."
Sebastián frowned.
"What, then?"
"To create you."
Silence.
Valeria looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
Grant opened the final document.
"Your father did not create the project."
Sebastián's stomach tightened.
"Who did?"
Grant slid the paper across the table.
At the bottom was a signature.
VALERIA MENDOZA ALCÁZAR.
Valeria stared.
"No."
Her hands began shaking.
"I never signed that."
Grant pointed to the date.
Twenty years in the future.
Sebastián stared.
"That's impossible."
Grant looked at him.
"That's the problem."
The baby began crying.
The safe house lights went out.
All three men froze.
Then the baby monitor turned on by itself.
A woman's voice came through.
Calm.
Familiar.
Valeria's voice.
But Valeria was standing right there.
The voice spoke:
"Sebastián."
He looked at the monitor.
"Do not trust the child."
Valeria stepped backward.
"What?"
The voice continued.
"He isn't your son."
Sebastián turned toward the baby.
"No."
The screen flickered.
A new image appeared.
A photograph of the child.
Beside it:
GENETIC ORIGIN: UNKNOWN
Then another line.
FATHER: UNKNOWN
Then:
MOTHER: VALERIA MENDOZA
Sebastián's heart stopped.
He looked at Valeria.
She whispered:
"I never lied about loving you."
The voice came again.
"But I lied about how this child was conceived."
Valeria's face collapsed.
Grant reached for his weapon.
The baby stopped crying.
His eyes opened.
The monitor displayed one final message.
WELCOME, FATHER.
Sebastián stared.
Because the voice coming from the speaker was his own.
A version of his voice.
Older.
Colder.
And it whispered:
"The files were never evidence."
The lights came back on.
Every computer in the room displayed the same sentence.
THE FILES WERE ALREADY IN THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S HANDS.
Sebastián slowly stepped toward the baby.
Valeria grabbed his arm.
"Don't."
He looked at her.
"Why?"
She began to cry.
"Because now I remember."
Sebastián froze.
"Remember what?"
She stared at their child.
"The day before you met me."
Her voice broke.
"I was already pregnant."
Silence.
Grant's face went pale.
Sebastián looked at the baby.
Then at Valeria.
Then at the screen.
A final file opened.
Its title was:
PROJECT ORIGIN: AUTHOR UNKNOWN
Underneath were two words.
PHASE THREE
And below them:
BEGIN.
The screen went black.
Outside, thousands of phones across the country lit up at exactly the same moment.
One message appeared on every screen.
THE ALCÁZAR FAMILY DOES NOT CONTROL THE FUTURE.
May you like
A second line appeared.
THEY CREATED IT.
