Chapter 8: The Girl on the Screen
The underground archive fell completely silent.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
The young woman on the monitor looked directly into the camera, her expression calm but urgent.
"Hello, Marcus."
"I'm your sister."
Marcus stared at the screen.
His mind refused to process the words.
"My... sister?"
Victoria's face had turned ghost white.
Benjamin Hart slowly removed his glasses, rubbing his eyes as though reality itself had become impossible.
Detective Reeves looked from Marcus to Victoria.
"Is she telling the truth?"
Victoria didn't answer.
She simply whispered,
"...Emma."
The woman gave a sad smile.
"So you still remember my name."
Marcus frowned.
"You know her?"
Victoria nodded weakly.
"I thought she was dead."
Emma shook her head.
"That was the idea."
Every monitor in the room flickered.
Lines of computer code briefly flashed across the screens before Emma's face returned.
"I don't have much time."
"The Director is trying to regain control."
Marcus stepped closer.
"Who are you?"
Emma took a slow breath.
"My legal name is Emma Beaumont."
She looked at Marcus.
"But when I was born..."
"...I was your twin sister."
The room seemed to freeze.
Marcus blinked.
"No..."
Emma nodded.
"You weren't an only child."
Marcus's heartbeat thundered.
Twin.
Everything suddenly felt impossible.
"My parents..."
"Our biological parents," Emma corrected gently.
"They had twins."
"When the house was attacked..."
"...we were separated."
Marcus struggled to speak.
"I was adopted."
"Yes."
"And you?"
Emma smiled without warmth.
"I wasn't lucky enough."
The Director's voice suddenly burst through the speakers.
"Emma."
"You've become extremely inconvenient."
Emma ignored him.
"I grew up inside the organization."
Marcus frowned.
"What organization?"
"The one he calls a company."
Her eyes hardened.
"It isn't."
"It's a network."
"A private intelligence syndicate."
"They steal research."
"They erase identities."
"They create new ones."
"They've existed for decades."
Benjamin Hart quietly nodded.
"I've suspected as much."
Emma continued.
"They trained me."
"They wanted me to become one of them."
Marcus asked quietly,
"And did you?"
Emma looked directly into his eyes.
"For a while..."
"...yes."
Victoria slowly sank into a nearby chair.
"I searched for you."
Emma looked toward the camera as though she could see her.
"I know."
"I found your messages."
Victoria's voice cracked.
"I thought I was too late."
Emma smiled sadly.
"You usually were."
Marcus interrupted.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?"
Emma answered immediately.
"Because you were the only one who escaped."
"You had a chance at a normal life."
The word normal echoed bitterly through the room.
Marcus almost laughed.
Nothing about his life felt normal anymore.
Emma glanced off-screen.
"They're breaking through my firewall."
"We need to hurry."
Marcus nodded.
"Where's Leo?"
Emma typed something rapidly.
A new camera feed appeared.
Leo was still in the white room.
This time he looked up.
Someone had entered.
A woman carrying a tray of food.
She smiled kindly and handed Leo a sandwich.
Marcus frowned.
"Who is she?"
Emma zoomed the image.
"Her name is Olivia."
"She's one of ours."
Marcus looked confused.
"Ours?"
Emma smiled.
"The people trying to bring the Director down."
Reeves stepped forward.
"You have agents inside?"
Emma nodded.
"For years."
"We've been collecting evidence."
"But we were missing one thing."
Marcus already knew the answer.
"Me."
Emma nodded.
"You."
Benjamin Hart looked confused.
"Why Marcus?"
Emma looked at him.
"Because our parents never stored the encryption key on a computer."
She turned back toward Marcus.
"They divided it."
Marcus frowned.
"Divided it?"
Emma nodded.
"Dad created something called the Beaumont Cipher."
"It requires three independent authentication pieces."
She counted on her fingers.
"The archive."
"The bank deposit box."
"And..."
She paused.
"...the final living heir."
Marcus stared.
"Me?"
"Your DNA."
The Director laughed through the speakers.
"I told you he was valuable."
Emma ignored him.
"Your biological father encoded the final sequence using genetic markers."
Marcus blinked.
"You can do that?"
Emma smiled.
"He did."
Suddenly every monitor flickered violently.
Emma's image distorted.
The Director's voice grew louder.
"My engineers are almost finished."
Emma spoke faster.
"Marcus."
"Listen carefully."
"There isn't much time."
He nodded.
"I'm listening."
"The safety deposit box wasn't compromised."
Marcus frowned.
"But Victoria said..."
Emma interrupted.
"She believed they found it."
"They didn't."
"The key you have only opens the outer lock."
Marcus looked down at the brass key still in his pocket.
"There's another key."
Emma nodded.
"It's already with Leo."
Everyone stared.
Marcus frowned.
"What?"
Emma switched the camera feed again.
Leo's stuffed fox filled the screen.
She zoomed into one tiny stitched paw.
Hidden beneath the fabric...
A brass zipper.
Emma smiled.
"Your mother hid the second key there six years ago."
Victoria gasped.
"No..."
Benjamin Hart whispered,
"That's why she always insisted Leo carry that toy."
Marcus's memories flooded back.
Whenever Leo left the house...
Victoria would always say,
"Don't forget your fox."
Marcus had assumed it was sentimental.
It wasn't.
She had been protecting the key.
The Director spoke again.
"Enough."
Every monitor suddenly flashed white.
Emma's image disappeared.
Static swallowed the screens.
Marcus shouted,
"Emma!"
Nothing.
Then...
One monitor turned back on.
Only long enough for one final message.
Emma looked exhausted.
Behind her...
Several armed figures were approaching.
She smiled.
"Marcus..."
"You've spent your whole life searching for the truth."
She glanced over her shoulder.
"They're here."
Marcus reached toward the screen.
"Emma!"
She looked back one last time.
"Find Leo."
"Trust Reeves."
"And..."
She hesitated.
"...forgive Victoria if you can."
The transmission cut off.
The room went dark again.
Only the emergency lights remained.
For several seconds no one spoke.
Then a loud metallic clang echoed through the archive.
The massive steel doors unlocked.
The hydraulic bolts slowly retracted.
Detective Reeves immediately raised his pistol.
"Everyone behind me."
The doors creaked open.
A thick cloud of dust drifted inside.
Beyond it...
Footsteps echoed through the tunnel.
Not one person.
Several.
Slow.
Measured.
Then a familiar voice called into the darkness.
"Marcus?"
Marcus froze.
It wasn't Emma.
It wasn't the Director.
It wasn't Victoria.
The voice belonged to someone he hadn't heard in more than twenty years.
His father.
"Son..."
"If you're alive..."
May you like
"...answer me."
End of Chapter 8
