Chapter 14 - The Last DoorThe countdown continued.
Fifty minutes.
Forty-nine.
Forty-eight.
Daniel stared at the screen.
“What happens if we shut it down?”
Samuel shook his head.
“You can't.”
“Why?”
“It isn't on the drive.”
Daniel looked at Emma.
“It’s in her.”
Claire pulled Emma closer.
“No.”
Samuel explained.
“Emma isn't carrying data.”
“She carries the biological key.”
Daniel looked at Michael.
“Can we stop it?”
Michael nodded.
“Yes.”
Samuel laughed.
“You don't have enough time.”
Daniel looked at Ethan.
“You know where the master server is.”
Ethan nodded.
“Keegan warehouse.”
“Then we go.”
Samuel stepped aside.
“You'll never make it.”
Daniel pointed his gun at him.
“Then come with us.”
Samuel smiled.
“That was always the plan.”
The group left before midnight.
Snow covered the streets.
Chicago was almost silent.
The city looked peaceful.
But beneath it, powerful people were already panicking.
The master database had begun sending messages.
Judges.
Police chiefs.
Senators.
Business leaders.
Everyone who had ever touched the network.
The city was about to explode.
At the warehouse, they found the server room.
Rows of machines hummed.
The countdown appeared on every monitor.
31:42
Daniel searched the controls.
Michael worked beside him.
Ethan watched the doors.
Claire stayed with Emma.
Samuel stood silently.
Then gunfire erupted.
Richard Keegan entered.
Alive.
Bloodied.
Furious.
“You thought you could steal everything from me?”
Daniel raised his gun.
“This ends tonight.”
Richard laughed.
“Your father said the same thing.”
He looked at Emma.
“Bring her to me.”
Claire stepped back.
“No.”
Richard shot one of his own men.
The man collapsed.
“I'm not asking.”
Daniel fired.
Chaos erupted.
Ethan tackled Richard.
Michael pulled the power cables.
The countdown flickered.
20:11
Then the backup generators activated.
Michael shouted:
“There's another server!”
Daniel ran.
He entered a second room.
A screen displayed one command.
VERIFY BLOODLINE.
Emma entered behind him.
Daniel froze.
“Emma, go back.”
She stepped forward.
“Daniel.”
The screen began blinking.
A small sensor extended.
Daniel understood.
“No.”
Emma reached for it.
Daniel grabbed her hand.
“You don't have to do anything.”
But Emma placed her finger on the sensor.
The machine scanned her.
The screen turned green.
Then a message appeared.
AUTHORIZED.
Daniel stared.
“What did you authorize?”
A new file opened.
An old video.
His father appeared.
Daniel's heart stopped.
He hadn't seen him in eleven years.
His father looked directly into the camera.
“Daniel.”
Daniel didn't breathe.
“You think I was the villain.”
He smiled.
“I was.”
Daniel's fists clenched.
“But I wasn't the one who started it.”
His father leaned closer.
“The architect is someone you love.”
Daniel froze.
The video shifted.
A woman's face appeared.
Claire.
Years younger.
Claire gasped.
“No.”
The recording continued.
“She knew.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“Claire?”
Claire shook her head.
“I don't remember.”
Her voice broke.
The video showed Claire standing beside Samuel.
Holding a baby.
Emma.
Seven years earlier.
The footage was dated.
The day Emma was born.
Daniel stared at Claire.
“You knew Samuel.”
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
“I swear I don't remember.”
Behind them, Samuel stepped toward the screen.
Daniel turned.
Samuel's face was expressionless.
The video continued.
Claire handed him the baby.
Then a sentence appeared:
PROJECT CHRISTMAS: PHASE ONE COMPLETE.
Daniel looked at Samuel.
“What did you do to her?”
Samuel answered:
“Nothing.”
He looked at Claire.
“They did.”
“Who?”
Samuel raised his eyes.
“Your father.”
The server began counting down.
05:00
Michael shouted:
“We need the shutdown code!”
Everyone looked at Claire.
She was crying.
“I don't know it.”
Samuel walked toward her.
“You do.”
Claire shook her head.
Then Emma spoke.
“Mom.”
Claire looked at her daughter.
“What's wrong?”
Emma pointed to her wedding ring.
“You told me Daddy gave you that.”
Claire touched it.
A memory returned.
Michael had once whispered a phrase to her.
A phrase she had forgotten.
She repeated it.
“Three stars before winter.”
The system responded.
CODE ACCEPTED.
The countdown stopped.
Silence.
Then every screen went black.
Daniel exhaled.
They had done it.
Until one screen flickered back on.
A message appeared:
PHASE TWO BEGINS.
May you like
And underneath it:
EMMA BENNETT HAS BEEN CLAIMED.
