Chapter 14 - The Brother Mark Abandoned
Voss disconnected Maya from the machine.
Mark shouted through the intercom.
“What are you doing?”
“Saving the subject.”
“She is evidence.”
“She is a child.”
The distinction came too late.
But it came.
Water rose across the lower corridor.
Police tried to force the sealed doors.
Hailey studied the control screen from the command vehicle.
She saw a familiar symbol.
A white circle divided into seven sections.
The same symbol appeared on the photographs from Mark’s garage.
Each section represented one subject.
The system would unlock only after confirming the status of all seven.
Six subjects were listed as terminated.
Hailey was listed as active.
Maya was listed as incomplete.
“The system thinks Maya is still part of the procedure,” Hailey said.
“If Voss completes the shutdown, the doors may open.”
Dr. Adler transmitted instructions through the intercom.
Voss removed a small sensor from Maya’s wrist.
The screen changed.
SUBJECT THREE RELEASED.
One lock opened.
The remaining locks required Hailey’s biological response.
She placed her hand against a portable scanner recovered from the capsule.
The system requested the tone sequence.
Hailey repeated it.
Three high notes.
Two low notes.
One high note.
The central doors opened.
Police carried Maya toward the elevator.
Voss remained behind.
Mark had entered his control room.
The brothers faced each other through the glass.
“You used our mother,” Voss said.
“I used her death.”
“There is a difference.”
“No.”
“There isn’t.”
Mark activated the floodgate above Voss.
I watched through the camera as water crashed into the room.
Voss reached the emergency lever.
He could close the floodgate.
But doing so would trap Mark’s control room beneath the lake.
Mark shouted his name.
Voss pulled the lever.
The water stopped.
Steel walls sealed around Mark.
For the first time, the man who had controlled everyone was trapped by someone he underestimated.
May you like
Then Voss looked into the camera.
“He has another exit.”
