Chapter 17 - Subject ZeroChloe sat on the floor.
Daniel knelt beside her.
“You were there?”
She nodded.
“I wasn't supposed to remember.”
“What happened?”
She closed her eyes.
“I was eight.”
A memory returned.
A white room.
Five children.
A woman behind glass.
Machines.
Needles.
A voice saying:
“Subject Zero is ready.”
Daniel stared.
“Subject Zero?”
Chloe nodded.
“I was the first.”
“Then why don't I remember you?”
“Because they erased me.”
“Why?”
“Because I refused.”
“To do what?”
“Control you.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“You were supposed to control me?”
“Yes.”
“But you didn't.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Chloe looked at him.
“Because I loved you.”
Daniel took her hand.
“When did you remember?”
“Before our wedding.”
“You knew everything?”
“Almost.”
“Then why marry me?”
“Because I wanted one life that belonged to us.”
Daniel kissed her forehead.
Then his phone rang.
Ruiz.
“Daniel.”
“What happened?”
“We found something.”
“What?”
“The first ledger.”
Daniel stood.
“Where?”
“Not Alaska.”
“Then where?”
Ruiz hesitated.
“Your mother's grave.”
Daniel froze.
“My mother isn't buried there.”
“Exactly.”
Daniel and Chloe drove through the night.
The cemetery was empty.
Rain fell.
Daniel found his mother's headstone.
He knelt.
The ground beneath it sounded hollow.
He dug.
A metal box emerged.
Inside was the first ledger.
And a photograph.
Daniel opened the book.
The first page contained a sentence.
SUBJECT ZERO WAS NEVER CHLOE.
Daniel's blood turned cold.
He looked at Chloe.
She stared at the page.
“No.”
Another page.
A photograph.
A young girl.
The same girl from the childhood photo.
Daniel recognized her.
His sister.
The daughter his father had told him never existed.
Vanessa.
Daniel whispered:
“Subject Zero was Vanessa.”
Chloe shook her head.
“No.”
Daniel looked at her.
She pointed to the photograph.
“Look at the bracelet.”
Daniel stared.
The bracelet belonged to Chloe.
The photograph wasn't Vanessa.
It was Chloe.
But the face had been altered.
Daniel turned another page.
A confession.
CHLOE WAS SUBJECT ZERO.
Daniel closed the ledger.
Then someone behind them applauded.
Vanessa.
She stood beneath an umbrella.
“You finally found it.”
Daniel raised his weapon.
“Why did you lie?”
Vanessa looked at Chloe.
“Because if they knew she remembered, they would kill her.”
Chloe stepped forward.
“Who are they?”
Vanessa's expression changed.
“The people who own the government.”
Daniel stared.
“How many?”
“Enough.”
“Names?”
Vanessa pointed to the ledger.
“Read it.”
Daniel opened it.
Hundreds of names.
Then one final name.
At the bottom.
CHARLES MERCER.
Daniel froze.
Beside it:
STATUS: ACTIVE.
Daniel whispered:
“My father isn't hiding from them.”
May you like
Vanessa nodded.
“He's running them.”
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