Chapter 9 - THE MAN BEHIND THE WARRhea couldn't move.
Her father stood outside.
Alive.
Smiling.
After seventeen years of believing he was dead.
Beside him stood Gregor.
Ezra watched the monitor.
"What is he doing?"
Helena answered:
"Taking control."
Gus trembled.
"My father told me never to trust him."
Rhea turned.
"Your father?"
Gus shook his head.
"Not Dad."
He pointed toward the screen.
"Him."
Rhea stared.
"That's not my father."
Gus nodded.
"Exactly."
Rhea's blood ran cold.
The man outside looked like her father.
But he wasn't.
A disguise.
A clone.
A reconstruction.
Something impossible.
Helena whispered:
"Lazarus."
Ezra's eyes narrowed.
"They created a biological copy."
"Not a copy."
Helena swallowed.
"They reconstructed his body from stored tissue."
Rhea couldn't breathe.
"Then where is my real father?"
A voice came through the speakers.
"I've been asking myself the same question."
The voice was coming from inside the basement.
Everyone froze.
A hidden door opened.
An old man stepped through.
Rhea's knees nearly gave out.
Her real father.
Older.
Thin.
Scarred.
Alive.
He looked at her.
"Rhea."
She rushed forward.
He caught her.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Rhea whispered:
"Mom."
Her father's eyes filled with tears.
"She's gone."
Rhea cried into his chest.
Ezra watched silently.
Then her father looked at him.
"You became exactly what I feared."
Ezra frowned.
"What?"
"A weapon."
Ezra looked at his mechanical arm.
"Your design."
His father nodded.
"Yes."
"The explosion."
"I knew it would happen."
Ezra's face hardened.
"You let them take my arm."
"I had no choice."
"You always have a choice."
His father stepped closer.
"If I stopped the explosion, they would have killed you."
"And if you let it happen?"
"They thought they controlled you."
He looked at Rhea.
"But I had already hidden the key."
Rhea touched her chest.
"My memories."
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because they would have killed you."
Gregor's voice interrupted.
"Enough."
The wall screen activated.
Gregor appeared.
"Bring me the girl."
Rhea looked at Ezra.
Her father shook his head.
"Don't."
Gregor laughed.
"You still think you're in control."
A countdown appeared.
Ten minutes.
"What is that?" Ezra asked.
"Self-destruct."
Helena ran to the equipment.
"They'll destroy the facility."
Rhea looked at Gregor.
"Why?"
Gregor answered.
"Because the chairman wants the key."
Rhea stared.
"Who is the chairman?"
Gregor smiled.
"You already know him."
He turned the camera.
A photograph appeared.
A man standing beside young Gregor.
Rhea recognized him.
Her father.
But older.
Different.
Gregor said:
"Lazarus was never one organization."
The screen changed.
Three family names appeared.
Blackwell.
Thane.
Connolly.
Rhea's heart stopped.
"Three families."
Her father closed his eyes.
"We built it together."
Ezra stared.
"My family."
"Yes."
Gregor continued.
"Your father tried to destroy it."
"My father killed your son."
"Yes."
"And you killed my mother."
Gregor's expression didn't change.
"Yes."
Rhea stepped forward.
"Then why are we still alive?"
Gregor looked at her.
"Because you carry the final key."
The countdown reached six minutes.
Ezra looked at Rhea.
"We leave."
Her father stopped him.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because the only way to stop Lazarus is to destroy the source."
"What source?"
He looked at Rhea.
"Her."
Rhea froze.
"My blood."
Her father nodded.
"The key is biological."
"Then kill me."
Ezra immediately said:
"No."
Her father looked at him.
"That's the only way."
Ezra stepped closer.
"I won't."
"You don't understand."
"I understand perfectly."
He looked at Rhea.
"I'm not losing another person."
Rhea stared at him.
Then she heard something.
A mechanical click.
Ezra's prosthetic arm had opened.
Inside was the black device.
But now it was glowing.
A voice came from it.
Artificial.
Cold.
"Authentication detected."
Everyone froze.
The machine spoke again.
"Primary subject identified."
The light shifted.
Toward Rhea.
"Subject Rhea Connolly."
Then a second line appeared.
"Final phase activated."
Rhea felt dizzy.
"What final phase?"
The machine answered.
"Memory transfer."
Ezra grabbed her.
"Get away from it."
Too late.
The device discharged.
Rhea screamed.
Every light in the building exploded.
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And somewhere across the city, thousands of encrypted systems came online.
The war had just begun.
