Chapter 15 - BlackwaterBlackwater was larger than anything I had imagined.
The facility stretched beneath the railway terminal like a hidden city.
White corridors.
Steel doors.
Security cameras.
Children's drawings taped to walls.
The contrast was horrifying.
We moved through the facility while alarms screamed.
Daniel knew where we were going.
"The central server is below the medical wing."
"And Evan?"
"Archive room."
"Split up?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because that is what they want."
We stayed together.
We reached the archive.
The door opened.
Inside were hundreds of cabinets.
Each contained a name.
One cabinet had mine.
I opened it.
Photographs from childhood.
Every birthday.
Every school event.
Every hospital visit.
Every argument with Daniel.
They had recorded my entire life.
I turned another page.
There was a note from my mother.
HE DOESN'T KNOW YET.
Again.
The same sentence.
I heard movement.
Noah stepped from the shadows.
The real Noah.
Older than the fake.
Bruised.
But alive.
I lowered my weapon.
"Are you Noah?"
He nodded.
"Daniel said you'd come."
"Where's Evan?"
"With Claire."
"Where?"
Noah pointed down the corridor.
"Subject containment."
We ran.
A glass room appeared ahead.
Evan sat inside.
Claire was beside him.
Both were restrained.
A red light blinked above them.
"Evan!"
His head lifted.
"Jack!"
I smashed the control panel.
The door opened.
Claire rushed toward us.
"They're starting."
"Starting what?"
She pointed to the monitor.
A video appeared.
My father.
He looked old.
Connected to machines.
Eyes open.
A voice spoke over the speakers.
"Welcome home, Jack."
I froze.
My father's eyes moved toward the camera.
"I wondered when you'd come."
I approached the screen.
"Where are you?"
"Below you."
The floor beneath us vibrated.
"Elias Miller has been waiting."
Daniel looked at me.
"Do not go down there."
My father laughed.
"You always were protective, Daniel."
"Shut up."
"Still afraid?"
Daniel stepped toward the camera.
"You're finished."
My father smiled.
"No."
The screen changed.
A list appeared.
Names.
Thousands.
Then a final line.
MILLER BLOODLINE: COMPLETE.
I felt my stomach drop.
"What does that mean?"
Noah whispered:
"They needed all of you."
"Why?"
The screen changed again.
An image appeared.
A laboratory.
A young woman.
A baby.
My mother.
Then a younger version of my father.
Holding me.
He was smiling.
And on the wall behind him:
SUBJECT 01: JACK MILLER.
Daniel stared.
I looked at him.
"You said you were Subject One."
He didn't answer.
My father spoke through the speaker.
"Daniel was never Subject One."
The room went silent.
"He was Subject Zero's assistant."
I turned to Daniel.
"Tell me he's lying."
Daniel's face had gone white.
My father continued.
"Your brother wasn't the first child."
He smiled.
"You were."
Daniel finally whispered:
"I'm sorry."
The countdown reached three minutes.
Then the lights went red.
A steel door opened beneath us.
From the darkness came a voice.
May you like
My father's voice.
"Come meet your real family."
