Chapter 8 - I couldn't hear anything after that.Not the alarms.
Not the screaming.
Not Carter telling everyone to move.
A twin.
I had grown up believing I was an only child.
My father had told me there had been complications during my birth.
One baby.
One mother.
One family.
A lie.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
My father looked shattered.
“Because Emily died.”
“Then why does she have a Legacy file?”
“She didn't.”
I turned toward the screen.
The photograph showed a girl identical to me.
But the database said:
STATUS: ACTIVE.
My mother's face went pale.
“Robert…”
He nodded.
“That means…”
“She survived.”
I stared at the screen.
“Where is she?”
The system displayed a location.
Northstar headquarters.
New York.
My stomach tightened.
Reagan was still on the floor.
She laughed weakly.
“You finally understand.”
I turned toward her.
“What happened to Emily?”
Reagan looked at my mother.
“Ask her.”
My mother looked down.
For the first time in my life, she looked afraid of me.
“Mom?”
She swallowed.
“Emily was born first.”
“What?”
“You were second.”
“Why did you separate us?”
“It wasn't my decision.”
“Whose was it?”
My father stepped forward.
“Mine.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because Legacy had already targeted your family.”
“They knew about us?”
“Yes.”
“They wanted Emily?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she was the original biometric template.”
The realization hit me.
I wasn't the first.
Emily was.
“Then why did they take her?”
“They thought she was dead.”
“Was she?”
“No.”
My mother whispered:
“Your father traded your identities.”
Silence.
“To protect one child, he let the program believe the other was gone.”
I looked at my father.
“You chose me.”
“I chose both of you.”
“But Emily paid the price.”
He couldn't answer.
The facility shook.
A deep explosion echoed through the mountain.
Carter looked at the monitors.
“Northstar is destroying the building.”
“Why?”
“To erase what remains.”
My father grabbed a folder.
“We need to leave.”
“I’m going to Emily.”
“Charlotte…”
“I spent three years fighting for this country.”
I looked at my mother.
“I spent fifteen years mourning her.”
Then at my father.
“You don't get to ask me to leave.”
He nodded slowly.
“You're right.”
We escaped through a maintenance tunnel.
At the surface, helicopters roared overhead.
Northstar.
Maya had brought a transport vehicle.
We drove toward Washington.
The leaked files were already spreading.
The internet was exploding.
News channels were reporting government data breaches.
Officials denied everything.
Then one photograph appeared on every major network.
Reagan.
Victor Hale.
General Voss.
And a much younger woman.
My mother.
My mother stared at the screen.
“They found us.”
“No,” Maya said.
“Someone wanted us to see this.”
On the screen appeared a live video.
A woman sat in a dark room.
She was about thirty years old.
Same eyes as mine.
Same jaw.
Same voice.
“Charlotte.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Emily?”
The woman smiled.
“Yes.”
Everyone in the vehicle went silent.
Emily leaned toward the camera.
“You shouldn't have opened the database.”
I stared.
“Where are you?”
“You already know.”
“Why are you helping them?”
She laughed.
“Who said I was helping them?”
“Then what do you want?”
Her expression became serious.
“You ruined everything.”
“I exposed them.”
“You exposed part of them.”
“What does that mean?”
“They wanted you to activate the broadcast.”
My father's face changed.
“What?”
Emily continued.
“Legacy had a dormant branch.”
Maya's eyes widened.
“The Phoenix protocol.”
Emily nodded.
“Yes.”
My father whispered, “No.”
“What is Phoenix?”
Emily looked directly into the camera.
“The real program.”
She held up a folder.
“Legacy was only the cover.”
The screen cut to a map.
Hundreds of locations appeared across the world.
Military bases.
Financial centers.
Government buildings.
Then a single red dot.
Washington.
Emily spoke again.
“Your broadcast didn't destroy Phoenix.”
“What did it do?”
“It woke it up.”
My father's face went white.
“How long?”
Emily looked at the clock behind her.
“Four hours.”
“Until what?”
She smiled.
“Until the government loses control of itself.”
The transmission ended.
Nobody spoke.
Then Voss called.
I answered.
His voice was urgent.
“Charlotte, I need you to come to the Pentagon.”
“Why?”
“Because the President has disappeared.”
I looked at my father.
Voss continued.
“Twenty-three senior officials are gone.”
“Kidnapped?”
“No.”
“What then?”
“They've been replaced.”
My stomach dropped.
“By Phoenix?”
“Yes.”
“Who controls it?”
Voss hesitated.
Then said the one name I didn't expect.
“Your mother.”
I turned toward Elena.
She looked at me.
“I can explain.”
May you like
The vehicle went silent.
My mother's secret had just become the next battlefield.
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