Chapter 13 - DanielThe Montana facility was hidden beneath a decommissioned research center.
Nathaniel found the entrance.
We entered at night.
Inside were servers.
Laboratories.
Medical records.
And photographs.
Hundreds of them.
Daniel at six months.
Daniel at three.
Daniel at seven.
Daniel at twelve.
Daniel at sixteen.
He had been watched every day.
Trained.
Tested.
Prepared.
Then I found the final room.
Daniel was sitting behind a computer.
He looked up.
Our eyes met.
He knew immediately.
“You're Cassandra.”
I couldn't speak.
He stood.
“You came.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you're my son.”
He laughed bitterly.
“That's what they said.”
“They lied to you.”
“Everyone says that.”
I stepped closer.
He moved back.
“I know about the twins.”
My throat tightened.
“They're your brothers.”
His expression hardened.
“Gavin said they were replacements.”
“No.”
“He said you chose them.”
“No.”
“You left me.”
“No.”
I reached into my bag.
Pulled out my father's letter.
Then photographs.
Ultrasound records.
Hospital records.
Everything I had.
Daniel looked at them.
His hands began shaking.
“I thought you were dead,” I whispered.
“You thought I was dead?”
“I was told you died.”
He stared at me.
Then tears filled his eyes.
“I waited for you.”
That sentence broke me.
I stepped forward.
He didn't move.
I hugged him.
For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then alarms began screaming.
Daniel pulled away.
“They found us.”
Nathaniel ran in.
“We have three minutes.”
“Who?”
He looked at the monitors.
“Gavin.”
Impossible.
He was in custody.
Then we realized.
The dead-man switch had activated.
Gavin had remotely unlocked the facility.
Doors opened.
Security systems turned on.
And the Atlas servers began transmitting.
Daniel looked at the central screen.
“That's the system.”
“What does it do?”
He pointed.
“It predicts decisions.”
“Whose?”
“Everyone.”
The model was enormous.
Billions of data points.
Behavioral patterns.
Financial records.
Genetic profiles.
Political preferences.
Medical records.
Daniel had been trained to operate it.
“You know how to shut it down?”
“Yes.”
“Then do it.”
He shook his head.
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't have the final key.”
I looked at the screen.
It requested biometric authorization.
My identity.
Daniel stared at me.
“The key is you.”
A countdown appeared.
09:57
I put my hand on the scanner.
Nothing happened.
“Again,” Daniel said.
I tried.
Nothing.
Then I remembered the old document.
The handwritten amendment.
Shares transferred in trust until Cassandra's release.
My release.
Not from marriage.
From something else.
I looked at Daniel.
“What if the key isn't my identity?”
“What is it?”
“My choice.”
I placed my palm on the scanner again.
This time the system responded.
FOUNDING OWNER VERIFIED.
The entire facility went dark.
Then one message appeared.
ATLAS TRANSFER COMPLETE.
I stared at the screen.
“Transfer to whom?”
Daniel stepped closer.
And read the answer.
CASSANDRA BELLAMY.
But before we could celebrate, a gunshot echoed through the facility.
Nathaniel collapsed.
May you like
And from the darkness came Gavin's voice.
“Now we finish this.”
