Chapter 18 - Twenty-Nine MinutesTwenty-nine minutes.
That was all we had.
Detective Bennett mobilized every unit she could.
Dr. Harris contacted hospitals.
Jonathan found the original Orchid shutdown protocol.
Nate refused to stay in bed.
And I finally stopped asking whether I could trust any of them.
Trust was a luxury.
We needed facts.
The global activation screen showed thousands of potential targets.
Patients.
Test devices.
Research subjects.
Some in Chicago.
Some overseas.
Vesper had been waiting for the system to activate globally.
My mother explained through a secure channel.
"They don't need the implants to control people."
"Then what do they need?"
"Access."
"To medical networks?"
"To biometric networks."
I realized what that meant.
Hospitals.
Insurance companies.
Government databases.
Every connected patient.
A system capable of identifying every person's biological information.
A system that could predict who would respond to certain drugs.
Who could tolerate certain treatments.
Who might die from them.
The implications were monstrous.
Vesper didn't need to control bodies.
They could control decisions.
Who received treatment.
Who didn't.
Who was considered valuable.
Who wasn't.
Nate looked at me.
"They built a market around biology."
"And now they want the whole world."
He nodded.
"Yes."
We reached the Orchid core.
Khloe was there.
She was holding a device.
I walked toward her.
"How did you get out?"
"My father showed me a route."
"Your father?"
She looked at Jonathan.
"My father was alive too."
Everyone went silent.
"What?"
"Thomas Mercer never died in that crash."
Khloe's voice shook.
"He disappeared because Vesper threatened me."
Jonathan stared at her.
"The crash was staged."
Khloe nodded.
"And your mother knew."
My mother.
Of course.
The lies were endless.
Thomas Mercer appeared on a monitor.
Older.
Tired.
Alive.
He looked at me.
"You're Jonathan's daughter."
"And you're Khloe's father."
"Yes."
"What did you build?"
"A prison."
He looked ashamed.
"Orchid wasn't created to heal patients. It was created to classify them."
"Classify?"
"Risk. Value. compatibility."
"For what?"
"Biological selection."
My stomach turned.
"Genetic caste."
He nodded.
"Exactly."
Vesper wanted control of human treatment through biology.
My mother built the activation key.
Jonathan helped create the database.
Thomas created the infrastructure.
The Turner family funded it.
And Nate inherited the administration.
The final pieces were me and Khloe.
Two living keys.
I looked at Khloe.
"We end it."
She nodded.
"Together."
The system demanded both signatures.
We placed our hands on the scanners.
The countdown hit zero.
Nothing happened.
Then a message appeared.
PRIMARY AUTHORITY REQUIRED.
I looked at Nate.
"Again?"
He shook his head.
"No."
"Then who?"
The screen changed.
One name appeared.
HANNAH'S MOTHER
I stared.
My mother stepped onto the video feed.
"You still need me."
I felt anger rise.
"Why?"
"Because I designed the final command."
"What is it?"
"A choice."
"What choice?"
She smiled.
"Destroy Orchid."
I waited.
"Or inherit it."
I looked at Khloe.
Then Nate.
Then my father.
Then the thousands of names on the screen.
I reached for the command.
And chose neither.
I opened the system architecture.
"There has to be a third option."
Nate stared.
"What are you doing?"
May you like
I smiled for the first time that night.
"I'm changing the rules."
