CHAPTER 25: THE CITY BEGINS TO FALL
Emergency lights flickered.
Anna remained locked inside the master core.
Her body was still.
Helena touched the glass.
“Mother.”
It was the first time she had used the word.
No response came.
Claire pulled Helena away as water burst through the tower wall.
The dome was failing.
Submarines waited at three evacuation platforms.
Clara Seven guided the city’s residents toward them.
Some refused to leave.
They had never lived anywhere else.
Claire carried Lily.
Adrian supported Aiden.
Claire Vale walked beside Helena but kept her weapon ready.
They reached the final platform.
Only one submarine remained.
Marcus counted the survivors.
“There isn’t enough room.”
Clara Seven looked toward her copies.
“We stay.”
Claire shook her head.
“No.”
“We were created to preserve the primary.”
“I never asked you to die for me.”
“Purpose is not always chosen.”
Claire grabbed her shoulders.
“That is the lie this entire project was built on.”
The Clara copies looked at one another.
Slowly, they boarded.
They filled every corridor and storage compartment.
The submarine descended into an emergency trench as the dome collapsed behind them.
The underwater city disappeared beneath millions of tons of water.
Lily watched through the glass.
“Is the bad man gone?”
Claire looked toward Aiden.
“I don’t know.”
Aiden had stopped speaking.
His eyes remained closed.
Adrian checked his pulse.
“He’s alive.”
Helena examined the data downloaded from the master core.
“August had backup copies.”
“How many?” Claire asked.
“Seven.”
Claire Vale laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
The backups had been transmitted to unknown hosts before Anna sealed the system.
One signal had gone to Washington.
One to London.
One to a private satellite.
Four others were hidden.
Richard looked toward the final location.
The coordinates pointed toward the Vale corporate headquarters.
“My company.”
Adrian examined another file.
“There’s something else.”
A video showed the ballroom from the beginning of the night.
Claire watched herself enter.
Then Richard approached her.
Except the video captured something the guests had missed.
Richard had spoken to a man before revealing Claire’s identity.
The man’s face was hidden.
He handed Richard the matching crescent pendant.
Claire turned toward Richard.
“You said you had carried it for twenty-three years.”
Richard stared at the screen.
“I lied.”
“Who gave it to you?”
He lowered his head.
“August.”
Everyone moved away from him.
Claire’s voice became cold.
“Start talking.”
Richard looked at his daughters.
“I knew the ballroom would be attacked.”
“You used us as bait.”
“I thought it was the only way to bring the project into the open.”
Claire Vale raised her weapon.
Richard didn’t resist.
Then the submarine captain announced they were approaching the surface.
Through the window, Claire saw military ships waiting.
Richard looked toward her.
“I didn’t call them.”
A voice came through the radio.
It belonged to Richard Vale.
May you like
Even though Richard was standing beside them.
“Release Clara,” the voice ordered, “and sink the submarine.”
