CHAPTER 26: THE SIGNAL BEYOND THE CITY

They escaped through the hospital tunnels minutes before the upper floors collapsed.

Emergency crews surrounded the ruins.

Adrian was taken to Naomi’s clinic with a deep wound but no major organ damage.

Daniel remained unconscious.

Grace sat beside him, holding his hand.

Eli refused to leave the room.

For three days, no one knew whether Daniel would wake.

During that time, news reports exposed fragments of the Helix Foundation.

Governments denied involvement.

Medical corporations erased websites.

Vale Industries stock collapsed.

Adrian released every document they had recovered.

Or at least, he believed they had recovered everything.

On the fourth night, Grace entered his room.

“Someone is calling me.”

Adrian slowly sat up.

“Who?”

“I don’t know.”

She touched the television screen.

A world map appeared.

Red lights blinked across dozens of countries.

Each light represented an active Helix implant.

“There are more facilities,” Grace said.

“How many?”

“Forty-two.”

Adrian stared at the map.

Thousands of signals pulsed beneath cities, hospitals and military bases.

“Can you shut them down?”

“Not all at once.”

“Why?”

“Someone else is controlling them.”

Adrian thought of Sebastian.

“You said he survived.”

“I feel him, but this signal is different.”

A monitor alarm sounded in Daniel’s room.

They rushed inside.

Daniel’s eyes were open.

Eli stood beside him.

“You came back,” the boy said.

Daniel looked at Adrian.

“Sebastian has a second network.”

“We know.”

“No. You don’t.”

He tried to sit up but groaned in pain.

“The children were never the final stage.”

“What was?”

Daniel looked toward Grace.

“Adults who don’t know they were implanted.”

Victoria entered carrying a tablet.

“Adrian, you need to see this.”

The screen showed security footage from the country’s central bank.

Hundreds of employees stopped moving at the same time.

Then they turned toward the cameras.

Every person spoke in one synchronized voice.

“RETURN SUBJECT ZERO.”

The feed changed.

The same event was happening inside airports, hospitals and government buildings.

Grace covered her ears.

A voice whispered from every screen.

“Come home, sister.”

Daniel looked terrified.

“That isn’t Sebastian.”

“Then who is it?” Adrian asked.

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Daniel answered with a name Adrian had never heard.

“Subject One.”