Chapter 10 - Only Three Leave Alive
The countdown began at ten minutes, and for the first three seconds nobody moved.
00:09:57.
00:09:56.
00:09:55.
Then every person in the room moved at once.
Marcus ran for the locked exit.
Naomi reached the server console.
Nathaniel Cross grabbed Dr. Shaw.
Daniel Mercer tried to stand despite his wound.
Sienna pulled me toward the nearest wall.
And the man I had known as Detective Paul Renner simply stared at the screen displaying his real name.
GABRIEL CROSS.
Subject 7-D.
My brother.
“No,” he whispered.
The voice from the speakers laughed.
The real Paul Renner.
“Still having trouble accepting it, Gabriel?”
Renner—Gabriel—looked upward.
“Show yourself.”
“You've been wearing my life for twenty-eight years. Surely I deserve a little privacy.”
Gabriel raised his gun toward the camera.
“Open the doors.”
“No.”
“Then I'll destroy every server in this room.”
“You won't.”
“Why?”
“Because Clara won't let you.”
He was right.
I hated that he knew it.
The archive had stopped deleting at thirty-eight percent integrity. Whatever remained might be the only record of hundreds—or thousands—of people whose identities Harbor Glass had altered.
Destroying it might protect them.
Or erase them.
I still didn't know which.
“Why only three?” I asked.
The room quieted.
The countdown continued.
00:09:21.
“Finally,” the voice said. “The intelligent question.”
“What happens when it reaches zero?”
“A decision.”
“Whose?”
“Yours.”
Four panels illuminated on the central console.
Each displayed one name.
CLARA.
SIENNA.
NAOMI.
GABRIEL.
Underneath appeared:
FOUR BIOLOGICAL KEYS DETECTED.
THREE REQUIRED.
Sienna stared.
“No.”
Naomi whispered, “The archive only needs three?”
Cross looked genuinely confused.
“That wasn't the original protocol.”
Shaw smiled.
“No. It wasn't.”
Everyone turned toward her.
Cross tightened his grip on her arm.
“What did you change?”
“Nothing.”
“Anna?”
Shaw's smile disappeared.
“Anna changed everything.”
The real Renner spoke through the speakers.
“Correct.”
I looked upward.
“You knew Anna?”
A pause.
“Better than Nathaniel did.”
Cross's face hardened.
“Paul.”
“Hello, Nathaniel.”
“You were supposed to be dead.”
A bitter laugh came through the speakers.
“Coming from you, that's almost funny.”
I looked between them.
“You knew the real Renner.”
Cross said nothing.
The speaker answered for him.
“Nathaniel recruited me in 1997.”
“For Harbor Glass?”
“To find Harbor Glass.”
Cross snapped, “Don't listen to him.”
“Why not?”
“Because Paul Renner murdered Charles Sterling.”
The room froze.
The speaker went silent.
Interesting.
For the first time, Cross had said something that stopped the man controlling the facility.
I looked upward.
“Is Grandpa dead?”
No answer.
“Paul?”
The countdown reached eight minutes.
Finally:
“Charles made choices.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“He became dangerous.”
“Did you kill him?”
Silence.
Cross smiled grimly.
“There.”
I turned toward him.
“You lie constantly. Don't celebrate yet.”
Naomi worked at the console.
“Clara.”
“What?”
“I found something.”
I moved beside her.
Four biometric profiles were displayed.
Ours.
Mine.
Sienna's.
Naomi's.
Gabriel's.
But beneath them was another line.
ARCHIVE SUCCESSION PROTOCOL.
PRIMARY SUCCESSOR: 7-A.
SECONDARY: 7-B.
TERTIARY: 7-C.
EXCLUSION: 7-D.
Gabriel saw it.
His face changed.
“Exclusion?”
Sienna looked at him.
“Why would Grandpa exclude you?”
“I don't know.”
The real Renner laughed through the speaker.
“Oh, Gabriel.”
“Shut up.”
“You really don't remember.”
“Remember what?”
“You were never supposed to survive.”
Gabriel fired.
The ceiling camera shattered.
The voice continued from another speaker.
“Temper. That always was your problem.”
I stepped between Gabriel and the console.
“Don't waste ammunition.”
He looked at me.
“You believe him?”
“I believe everyone in this room is withholding something.”
“I'm not.”
“You signed a fraudulent warrant against me.”
“To protect you.”
“See? Even your defense sounds suspicious.”
Despite everything, Sienna made a tiny sound that might have been a laugh.
The countdown reached seven minutes.
Mercer leaned against a server rack.
“We need to understand the three-person requirement.”
Naomi scrolled through the protocol.
“Three authentications unlock the archive.”
“And the fourth?”
Her face tightened.
“Is permanently denied access.”
Sienna whispered, “That's all?”
“No.”
Naomi kept reading.
“The excluded profile is marked compromised.”
“What does compromised mean?”
“I don't know.”
Shaw did.
I could see it.
I walked toward her.
“Tell us.”
She shook her head.
“Tell us.”
“Anna discovered that one embryo had been altered.”
Silence.
Sienna looked at me.
“Altered how?”
“Not medically.”
“Then?”
“Ownership.”
I frowned.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does in Harbor Glass.”
Shaw looked toward Gabriel.
“One child's genetic record was secretly registered to another program.”
Cross whispered, “No.”
Shaw looked at him.
“Yes.”
“You told me that program was destroyed.”
“I told you Anna destroyed the records.”
“What program?” I demanded.
Neither answered.
I raised my gun.
“I am finished asking twice.”
Shaw looked at me.
“Crown Mirror.”
Mercer went pale.
Naomi noticed.
“You know it.”
Mercer shook his head.
“Only rumors.”
“What rumors?”
“That Harbor Glass wasn't the only identity network.”
My stomach tightened.
“Crown Mirror was another?”
“Not exactly.”
He looked toward Gabriel.
“Harbor Glass hid people.”
“And Crown Mirror?”
“Created replacements.”
The words landed differently now.
Not witnesses.
Not protected identities.
Replacements.
Cross stepped toward Gabriel.
“Anna found out.”
Gabriel backed away.
“What does this have to do with me?”
“She discovered someone had registered Subject 7-D into Crown Mirror before birth.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Liar.”
“I don't.”
For once, Cross sounded truthful.
The speaker activated again.
“I do.”
We all looked upward.
The real Renner continued.
“Charles Sterling.”
Cross shouted, “That's a lie!”
“Is it?”
“Charles spent his life trying to destroy Crown Mirror.”
“After he helped create it.”
The countdown reached six minutes.
I felt as though every answer opened another locked room.
“Why would Grandpa register Gabriel?”
“Because he needed someone Crown Mirror would accept.”
“For what?”
“Infiltration.”
Gabriel stared at the floor.
He had spent his entire life as an infiltration asset without knowing it.
A stolen identity wearing another stolen identity.
“Why Renner?” I asked.
The speaker became quiet.
“Because I volunteered.”
That surprised me.
“You gave Gabriel your identity?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To get him inside law enforcement.”
Gabriel whispered, “You knew me?”
“I raised you.”
The gun lowered in Gabriel's hand.
“What?”
“Until you were four.”
Cross stared upward.
“You kidnapped him.”
“I saved him.”
“From whom?”
“From you.”
Gabriel's face had emptied.
“You raised me?”
“For four years.”
“Then what happened?”
A long silence.
Then the real Renner said:
“Charles took you.”
Gabriel looked toward Shaw.
She was crying.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why don't I remember?”
Shaw whispered, “Because they made sure you wouldn't.”
“How?”
No answer.
Gabriel stepped toward her.
“How?”
“Drug conditioning. Repetition. Replacement memories.”
Sienna looked sick.
“You can do that?”
“Not perfectly.”
Shaw looked at Gabriel.
“That is why you have nightmares about a red house.”
Gabriel froze.
Nobody had mentioned a red house.
His face confirmed it.
“What red house?” I asked.
He barely seemed to hear me.
“I dream about it.”
“Since when?”
“Always.”
Shaw closed her eyes.
“That was Paul's house.”
The countdown reached five minutes.
Naomi suddenly said, “I found the voting mechanism.”
Four circles appeared.
Each of us had to choose one profile to exclude.
Sienna stared.
“We vote someone out?”
Naomi nodded.
“What if we refuse?”
She read the protocol.
“At zero, automatic selection.”
“Based on what?”
“Compromise probability.”
Everyone looked at Gabriel.
EXCLUSION: 7-D.
He laughed bitterly.
“So we know who the machine picks.”
“No,” Naomi said.
She scrolled.
“Current compromise assessment is dynamic.”
Four percentages appeared.
CLARA: 12%.
SIENNA: 19%.
NAOMI: 31%.
GABRIEL: 84%.
Gabriel stared.
“Wonderful.”
Sienna stepped toward him.
“We're not choosing you.”
“You met me twenty minutes ago.”
“You're my brother.”
“So?”
“So apparently that still means something to me.”
His expression softened.
For the first time, I saw something in him that resembled Sienna.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
The tendency to hide fear behind aggression.
Cross said, “The system is correct.”
I turned.
“What?”
“Gabriel is compromised.”
“You don't know that.”
“I know Crown Mirror.”
“Then explain it.”
Cross looked at Gabriel.
“Crown Mirror assets can carry dormant instructions.”
Gabriel laughed.
“You think I'm programmed?”
“I think you may have been conditioned.”
“To do what?”
Cross looked at the capsule.
“Open Harbor Glass for whoever controls Crown Mirror.”
Gabriel's expression changed.
The real Renner interrupted.
“Nathaniel is finally telling the truth.”
Cross looked upward.
“Don't pretend you're innocent.”
“I never said I was.”
That was more frightening than denial.
00:03:48.
I looked at Naomi.
“Can you bypass the vote?”
“Trying.”
“Can we shut down the countdown?”
“No.”
“Disconnect power?”
“Backup system.”
“Destroy the console?”
“Automatic exclusion triggers.”
Perfect.
A machine built thirty-two years ago was forcing four siblings who had just discovered each other to decide which one could be trusted.
Maybe that was the point.
Psychological pressure.
Someone wanted us divided.
“Don't vote,” I said.
Naomi looked at me.
“What?”
“No one votes.”
Cross shouted, “Clara, the system will choose Gabriel.”
“Maybe.”
“That could kill him.”
Gabriel looked at the screen.
“Kill?”
Naomi had gone pale.
“What?”
She scrolled lower.
There it was.
EXCLUSION CONSEQUENCE:
BIOLOGICAL COMPROMISE CONTAINMENT.
Sienna whispered, “What does containment mean?”
Shaw answered.
“Death.”
Silence.
Gabriel looked at her.
“You knew.”
“Not that Anna kept this protocol.”
“You knew.”
“I knew there was a failsafe.”
“Designed to kill me?”
“To kill whichever child became compromised.”
The countdown reached three minutes.
Sienna grabbed my arm.
“We have to choose someone else.”
“No.”
“Clara!”
“Choosing another person kills them instead.”
“We can't let Gabriel die.”
“And I'm not sacrificing Naomi.”
Naomi stared at me.
“Or you.”
Sienna said, “Then choose me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you're my sister.”
“So are you!”
Exactly.
That was the trap.
Cross stepped toward the console.
“I'll make the decision.”
I pointed the gun at him.
“No.”
“Clara, this isn't emotional.”
“It is entirely emotional.”
“Gabriel is compromised.”
“According to a system built by people who lied about all four of us.”
“Anna designed this part.”
“Then Anna could have been wrong.”
Cross stopped.
He hadn't considered that.
Good.
00:02:11.
Naomi typed faster.
“There may be another layer.”
“What?”
“The percentages aren't based on behavior.”
“What are they based on?”
“External access.”
My heart jumped.
“Explain.”
“The system measures how often each identity has been queried by Crown Mirror.”
Gabriel: 84%.
Naomi: 31%.
Sienna: 19%.
Me: 12%.
“Someone has been searching for Gabriel,” I said.
“Yes.”
“Recently?”
Naomi opened the logs.
Then froze.
“What?”
She turned the screen.
Gabriel's identity had been accessed repeatedly over thirty-two years.
But the last access was tonight.
Twenty-seven minutes ago.
Source:
LOCAL NODE.
I looked around.
“Crown Mirror accessed Gabriel from inside this facility.”
Marcus raised his weapon.
“Which means?”
“Someone here has access to Crown Mirror.”
Everyone became still.
The traitor wasn't outside.
Not Cross.
Not necessarily.
Someone physically present had triggered the latest query.
Naomi opened the node history.
One device identifier.
She traced it.
The terminal highlighted a location.
MEDICAL STATION 2.
Everyone turned.
Dr. Shaw stood beside Medical Station 2.
Her face changed.
Marcus aimed at her.
“Don't move.”
Shaw raised her hands.
“It wasn't me.”
“The access came from your station.”
“Anyone could have used it.”
“When?”
Naomi checked.
“Eight minutes ago.”
Eight minutes ago.
I reconstructed the room.
Cross entered.
Agents followed.
Shaw stood near us.
Mercer was wounded.
Richard and Eleanor had remained at the island.
Wait.
“Where is Mercer?”
Everyone turned.
The server rack where Daniel Mercer had been leaning was empty.
I hadn't noticed him move.
“Daniel?” Naomi called.
No answer.
Then the speakers activated.
Not the real Renner this time.
Mercer's voice.
“I'm sorry, Clara.”
A hidden door opened across the room.
Mercer stood behind reinforced glass.
No limp.
No weakness.
The wound?
Real perhaps.
But not disabling.
He held the glass filament Dr. Shaw had stolen.
Sienna whispered, “How did he get that?”
Shaw looked stunned.
“He took it from me when the lights went out.”
Mercer inserted the filament into a console.
The countdown stopped.
00:01:37.
Cross whispered, “No.”
Mercer smiled.
“Thank you for bringing all four keys together.”
I raised my weapon.
The glass was ballistic.
He knew it.
“You work for Crown Mirror.”
“I am Crown Mirror.”
Naomi stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you've spent thirty-two years believing Harbor Glass was the secret.”
Mercer touched the console.
“But Harbor Glass was only the storage room.”
“For what?”
“People.”
The archive screens changed.
Thousands of identities appeared again.
Then a new field was added to each.
ORIGINAL.
REPLACEMENT.
STATUS.
I felt sick.
“How many?”
“Enough.”
“What do you want with us?”
Mercer looked at Gabriel.
“Only him.”
“Why?”
“Because 7-D was never compromised.”
Cross understood.
His face went pale.
“He was the control.”
Mercer smiled.
“Exactly.”
I looked at Cross.
“What does that mean?”
“Anna didn't create four identical keys.”
His voice shook.
“She created three keys and one lock.”
Gabriel stared.
“Me.”
Cross nodded.
Mercer touched another control.
The containment protocol disappeared.
Gabriel's 84% changed.
COMPROMISE: FALSE.
CONTROL SUBJECT: CONFIRMED.
Sienna exhaled.
Then my profile changed.
12%.
31%.
68%.
99%.
COMPROMISE: CONFIRMED.
Everyone stared at me.
My name turned red.
CLARA ELISE STERLING.
CROWN MIRROR ACTIVE IDENTITY.
I couldn't breathe.
“No.”
Mercer looked almost sympathetic.
“I'm sorry.”
“That isn't possible.”
“It is.”
“I've never worked for Crown Mirror.”
“Not knowingly.”
Gabriel stared at me.
“What did they do to her?”
Mercer's smile disappeared.
“We didn't do anything to Clara.”
“Then why is she marked active?”
Mercer looked directly into my eyes.
“Because Clara Elise Sterling isn't Subject 7-A.”
Silence.
Sienna shook her head.
“No.”
Naomi whispered, “What?”
Mercer continued.
“Subject 7-A disappeared eighteen years ago.”
My entire body went cold.
“You're lying.”
“The woman standing there has her fingerprints, her records, her memories, and enough of her medical history to fool everyone.”
Sienna moved closer to me.
“You're lying.”
Mercer ignored her.
“But she does not have 7-A's DNA.”
I looked at Cross.
For once, he looked as shocked as I felt.
He hadn't known.
“Then who am I?”
Mercer pressed a button.
A photograph appeared.
A teenage girl.
Sixteen years old.
My face.
Not similar.
Mine.
The file beneath it read:
CROWN MIRROR SUBJECT CM-01.
REPLACEMENT TARGET:
CLARA ELISE STERLING / 7-A.
DEPLOYMENT DATE:
18 YEARS AGO.
My gun slipped slightly in my hand.
Sienna whispered my name.
I couldn't answer.
Mercer looked at me through the glass.
“You've spent tonight trying to discover which people were replaced.”
He paused.
“You should have started with yourself.”
Then the countdown resumed.
00:01:36.
And this time, my name—not Gabriel's—was marked for containment.