Chapter 10 - The Man UndergroundThe old Orchid facility was abandoned.

At least, officially.

The entrance was buried beneath a warehouse on the outskirts of Chicago.

I found the access door behind a rusted steel panel.

The code was already entered.

Someone expected me.

The elevator descended six floors.

The deeper I went, the colder it became.

At the bottom, fluorescent lights flickered on one by one.

The hallway smelled like antiseptic.

At the end was a glass room.

A man stood inside.

Older.

Gray hair.

Thin.

But his eyes looked exactly like mine.

I stopped.

He whispered,

"Hannah."

I could not speak.

"You're alive."

"So are you."

He smiled.

Then his expression broke.

"I've waited fourteen years."

I stepped closer.

"Are you my father?"

"Yes."

I wanted to hate him.

I wanted to demand answers.

Instead I asked,

"Why did you leave me?"

His eyes filled with tears.

"Because staying would have gotten you killed."

"Who?"

"The people who created Orchid."

"The Turners."

He nodded.

"Among others."

"Why did Nate marry me?"

"Because I asked him to."

I stared.

"You?"

"I needed someone inside the Turner family who could protect you."

I almost laughed.

"Protect me?"

"Yes."

"He hid my identity."

"To protect you."

"He gave my identity to a research program."

"To keep others from finding you."

"He lied."

"To keep you alive."

I looked at him.

"You keep using that word."

"What word?"

"Protect."

My voice broke.

"Everyone says they protected me. My mother. You. Nate. The Turners."

I pointed to my chest.

"But nobody ever asked me."

Jonathan stepped closer.

"I know."

"What happened to Eleanor?"

He went silent.

"You know."

"Yes."

"Who killed her?"

"Nobody intended to."

"That's not good enough."

"The device failed."

"Because of my genetic profile?"

"No."

"Then what?"

He looked away.

"Because it was deliberately altered."

"By whom?"

He whispered one name.

"Nathaniel."

My heart stopped.

"No."

"Yes."

"He was trying to stop it."

"After."

"What did he do before?"

Jonathan shook his head.

"He helped them develop the prototype."

I stepped back.

"Then he did cause Eleanor's death."

"Indirectly."

"That's still cause."

I looked at the man who had abandoned me.

"Why would he tell me to run?"

"Because someone has discovered what you carry."

"What do I carry?"

Jonathan hesitated.

"A genetic sequence."

"And?"

"It allows your body to process the implant technology differently."

I stared.

"You mean I can survive it."

"More than survive."

"What?"

He whispered,

"You can activate it."

My blood ran cold.

"The implant?"

"Yes."

"Without surgery?"

"With contact."

I remembered the note.

Patient 417 was never the target.

I looked at Jonathan.

"Then who is?"

He looked directly into my eyes.

"You."

A sound echoed down the corridor.

Footsteps.

Jonathan turned.

"Get behind me."

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