Chapter 16 - The Truth About DanielI couldn't move.
Daniel finally spoke.
"I wanted to tell you."
"Then tell me now."
"You were born first."
"First?"
"Before Lena. Before the program changed."
"What happened?"
"Our father believed you had a rare neurological profile."
I stared.
"That's why..."
"He tested the memory conditioning on you."
"What did he do?"
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
"You were four."
I stepped back.
"No."
"You don't remember because Mom erased the memories."
I felt dizzy.
"My mother?"
"She tried to save you."
"How?"
"She took you home."
"And you?"
"I stayed behind."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted to destroy the facility."
I stared at him.
"You were a child."
"I was twelve."
I couldn't breathe.
"Our father trained me to protect the system."
Daniel continued.
"I learned how it worked."
"And then?"
"I sabotaged it."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because they would have come for you."
I thought of every strange memory from childhood.
Locked rooms.
Nightmares.
A basement door I wasn't allowed to open.
Mom waking me at night and telling me not to remember.
It all snapped into place.
I turned toward Evan.
He was watching me.
He understood more than any child should.
"What do you remember?" I asked.
He whispered:
"The room with the glass."
My heart stopped.
"When?"
"When I was little."
"What happened?"
"My dad showed me a picture."
"Of who?"
"You."
I stared.
"Why?"
"He said you were the reason we existed."
Claire stepped closer.
"Daniel was never Evan's only father."
I looked at her.
"What?"
"Genetically, yes."
She hesitated.
"But Meridian used stored DNA."
"From whom?"
She looked at me.
"From you."
Everything stopped.
Evan's biological father wasn't only Daniel.
A part of him came from me.
My nephew was also my son in the twisted arithmetic of the program.
I staggered backward.
"No."
Claire's voice broke.
"They used your DNA because they wanted the Miller line to continue."
I looked at Daniel.
"You knew."
"I suspected."
"And you brought him to me."
"I had to."
"Why?"
"Because you're the only person who can break the conditioning."
My father's voice came from the speaker.
"Very good, Daniel."
A door opened behind us.
My father entered.
Old.
Thin.
Wearing a medical harness.
But walking.
I stared at him.
He smiled.
"Hello, Jack."
I raised my gun.
Daniel moved.
"Don't."
My father laughed.
"Still protecting him."
"Put your hands where I can see them."
He obeyed.
"You think you can arrest me?"
"I don't need to think."
My father looked at Evan.
"That's the boy."
Evan stepped behind Claire.
My father nodded.
"Remarkable."
I moved between them.
"You will never touch him."
He smiled.
"That's where you're wrong."
He pressed a button.
A blast door slammed shut.
Gas began filling the room.
Evan coughed.
Claire screamed.
Daniel grabbed the emergency controls.
"Jack!"
I pulled Evan toward the exit.
The gas thickened.
My father remained strangely calm.
"This was always about you."
I forced open the door.
We stumbled into the corridor.
Daniel remained inside.
I turned.
"Daniel!"
The door sealed.
He slammed his hand against the glass.
Then the glass shattered.
A violent explosion tore through the facility.
I was thrown across the floor.
When I woke, the corridor was burning.
Claire was beside me.
Evan was gone.
And Daniel was nowhere.
A message appeared on the emergency screen.
SUBJECT 47 TRANSFERRED.
DESTINATION: MILLER HOUSE.
May you like
Then another line.
WELCOME HOME, JACK.
