Chapter 14 - Paige disappeared before we could stop her.The hospital emptied itself around us.

Doors opened.

Alarms stopped.

The screens went dark.

It was almost peaceful.

Which made it worse.

We returned to the cabin.

Marcus survived.

My mother sat by the window.

Gwen stayed beside me.

Paige was gone.

And Cross was gone.

The only thing left was Project Echo.

We discovered that Paige had downloaded the entire Blackridge database.

But she hadn't destroyed it.

She had copied it.

Three times.

One copy was in her possession.

One was with someone unknown.

One was hidden inside the system.

I looked at my mother.

“Where would Paige go?”

She shook her head.

“She always wanted power.”

“What kind?”

“Control.”

I thought about the message.

Replace it.

Not destroy it.

That was Paige's plan.

Blackridge had manipulated people.

Paige wanted to manipulate the manipulators.

She wanted the network.

Gwen found something in the files.

“David.”

I looked.

A contract.

Paige had negotiated with several corporations.

She wasn't working with Blackridge anymore.

She was building something new.

A private intelligence company.

Private surveillance.

Behavior prediction.

Memory analytics.

And its founding capital came from my stolen money.

Nearly $100,000.

The beginning of an empire.

My own money had funded the machine that might eventually replace Blackridge.

Then we found the final document.

A transfer authorization.

My name.

Again forged.

But this time the beneficiary wasn't Margaret.

It was Paige.

All of my military assets.

My properties.

My benefits.

My insurance.

Everything.

She was preparing to own my life.

Gwen stared at the document.

“There's more.”

She pointed to the bottom.

A clause.

Subject D-17 shall remain alive until completion.

I looked at her.

“They don't want me dead.”

“No.”

“They need me.”

“Yes.”

“For what?”

“To activate the network.”

I felt sick.

The drive inside me wasn't just evidence.

It was the key.

Paige needed my memory to unlock Project Echo.

The final phase had been waiting for me.

Then the front door opened.

My mother stood.

Gwen raised her weapon.

She shook her head.

“I don't want to fight you.”

“Where is Paige?”

“I don't know.”

“You're lying.”

“I know where she will be.”

“Where?”

“My father's grave.”

I stared.

“Why?”

“Because that's where she always went when she needed to remember who she wanted to become.”

We drove there before dawn.

The cemetery was empty.

My father's grave sat beneath an old oak tree.

Paige was there.

She stood beside the headstone.

No weapon.

Just a black coat.

“You came.”

I stepped forward.

“End this.”

She smiled.

“You still don't understand me.”

“You stole my life.”

“I saved it.”

“You stole my money.”

“I invested it.”

“You turned Gwen into a prisoner.”

“I protected her.”

Gwen stepped forward.

“You ruined me.”

Paige looked at her.

“You were weak.”

Gwen flinched.

“You always were.”

I raised my weapon.

Paige didn't move.

“You won't shoot.”

“Why?”

“Because you need answers.”

I lowered the weapon slightly.

“Tell me.”

Paige looked at our father's grave.

“Dad knew what was happening.”

“He did.”

“He tried to destroy Blackridge.”

“Yes.”

“He failed.”

“Yes.”

“Then I decided I would become stronger than them.”

I stared.

“You joined them.”

“I learned from them.”

“You became them.”

She smiled sadly.

“No.”

She touched the grave.

“I became worse.”

The words sat between us.

Then sirens sounded.

Police.

Federal agents.

Dozens of vehicles surrounded the cemetery.

Paige smiled.

“You thought this was the end.”

She held up a phone.

“It's the beginning.”

Every phone around us vibrated.

News alerts.

Files released.

Blackridge names.

Government officials.

Corporate executives.

Judges.

Military officers.

The scandal exploded across the world.

People began reading.

People began sharing.

Blackridge collapsed in minutes.

Paige looked at me.

“You wanted the truth.”

I stared at her.

“You gave me the truth.”

“No.”

She smiled.

“I gave them yours.”

Then she pressed another button.

Every screen showed a photograph of me.

A classified photograph.

Standing inside the red room.

Holding the black drive.

Below it:

SUBJECT D-17 WAS THE ORIGINAL ARCHITECT OF PROJECT ECHO.

I froze.

“That isn't true.”

Paige smiled.

“Isn't it?”

I looked at Gwen.

She looked terrified.

Because neither of us remembered.

Then the screen changed.

A video appeared.

Me.

Older.

Calm.

Speaking directly into the camera.

“If you're seeing this, then I succeeded.”

My heart stopped.

The video continued.

“I created Project Echo.”

I stared at my own face.

“I built it to control everyone who ever controlled me.”

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