Chapter 14 - The Last BetrayalEthan stared at the screen.
The woman in the chair looked exactly like Claire.
Same hair.
Same eyes.
Same voice.
But Grace shook her head.
“It isn't her.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Claire has a scar on her left wrist.”
Ethan zoomed in.
The woman on the screen had no scar.
His blood turned cold.
“A double.”
Hale's voice came through the speakers.
“Very good.”
The image distorted.
The woman in the chair disappeared.
A different video appeared.
Claire was lying unconscious in a medical room.
Real.
Grace exhaled.
“They moved her.”
“Where?”
“Probably back to the upper facility.”
Ethan looked at Pierce.
“You set this up.”
Pierce smiled.
“You are smarter than your father.”
Ethan raised his gun.
“Tell me where Claire is.”
“You still care about her.”
“She tried to protect me.”
“She tried to control you.”
Grace stepped forward.
“And you controlled everyone.”
Pierce laughed.
“No.”
He removed his glasses.
“I observed.”
“Why?”
“To prove the theory.”
“What theory?”
“That memory is the last biological prison.”
Pierce looked at Ethan.
“Give a person the right memory… and you can change who they are.”
Ethan stared at him.
“You experimented on patients.”
“Yes.”
“On children.”
“Yes.”
Grace's voice became cold.
“And on me.”
Pierce smiled.
“You volunteered.”
“I trusted you.”
“You trusted the wrong man.”
Grace stepped closer.
“You lied.”
“No.”
He looked at Ethan.
“Your father lied.”
Ethan's expression hardened.
“My father?”
Pierce nodded.
“He never wanted to destroy Somnus.”
“He wanted to control it.”
Eleanor appeared on the monitor.
She shook her head.
“Don't listen.”
Pierce smiled.
“Ask your mother why she disappeared for fifteen years.”
Ethan turned.
“Mom?”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“Of myself.”
She whispered:
“I was the one who created the permanent formula.”
Ethan froze.
“Then Hale isn't the mastermind.”
Eleanor looked toward Pierce.
“No.”
A long silence.
Then Eleanor said:
“Dr. Pierce is.”
Ethan turned.
Pierce smiled.
“Finally.”
Everything clicked.
Hale had been the public face.
His father had been the founder.
His mother had been the scientist.
But Pierce had been the one evolving the experiment.
The doctor.
The trusted healer.
The man who had treated Ethan since childhood.
Pierce raised his gun.
“Your father wanted money.”
“Your mother wanted redemption.”
“Victor Hale wanted power.”
He smiled.
“I wanted immortality.”
Daniel fired.
Pierce ducked.
The shot shattered the screen.
Alarms erupted.
Grace grabbed Ethan.
“Run!”
They sprinted through the corridor.
A hidden door opened.
Behind it was a laboratory.
At the center stood a glass tank.
Inside was a man connected to dozens of tubes.
Ethan stopped.
“Who is that?”
Grace looked.
Her face turned white.
“It’s Hale.”
Daniel frowned.
“Hale is alive.”
Grace shook her head.
“No.”
She pointed to the medical chart.
SUBJECT: VICTOR HALE
AGE: 72
STATUS: CLONED MEMORY TRANSFER
Ethan stared.
Pierce hadn't wanted immortality.
He had already achieved something close.
He had found a way to transfer memory.
Then a voice behind them whispered:
“Not close.”
Ethan turned.
Pierce stood in the doorway.
“You're looking at the future.”
He raised the gun.
May you like
“And you, Ethan, are the missing piece.”
He pulled the trigger.
