Chapter 10 - The Second Lullaby
Emma ran toward the river gate.
Not away from Richard.
Toward the control console mounted beside the flood barrier.
Marcus understood first.
He slammed Charles's nearest guard into the wall. Alexander drove his shoulder into another. Evelyn dropped behind a concrete support with the twins.
Rebecca followed Emma.
"What are you doing?"
"The babies changed the melody when Richard looked at them."
"That's not a plan."
"It's more than we had ten seconds ago."
Emma opened the drive contents on the tunnel console.
The first tonal key had unlocked corporate files.
A second encrypted volume remained.
Label: FAILSAFE / PUBLIC RELEASE.
Rebecca stared.
"Richard built a dead-man archive."
"Then why is he afraid of it?"
Because a true dead-man archive was insurance.
It held evidence powerful enough to destroy everyone involved, including Richard.
Emma placed Grace near the console speaker. Evelyn held Noah beside her.
The twins fussed.
Emma hummed the ordinary four notes.
Grace answered.
Noah followed.
Nothing.
Gunfire cracked farther down the tunnel.
Alexander shouted, "Emma!"
She tried again.
Then she remembered Rebecca's childhood rule.
Four meant family.
Five meant don't trust the room.
What if the second pattern began with five?
Emma hummed five notes.
Grace went silent.
Noah made a low sound.
Then both infants responded with a different sequence.
Long.
Uneven.
Beautifully strange.
The console accepted it.
The archive opened.
Hundreds of files.
But more importantly, a preconfigured distribution list.
Federal prosecutors.
State regulators.
Medical journals.
Major newsrooms.
Outside counsel.
Families of deceased trial subjects.
Richard had built the mechanism to threaten his own collaborators.
Emma pressed SEND.
The console asked for one more authentication.
ORIGINAL SUBJECT PALM.
Rebecca stared at Emma.
"He planned this around you."
Emma placed her hand on the glass.
The panel lit white.
Richard shouted behind them.
"Stop her!"
Too late.
TRANSFER INITIATED.
Charles broke free of Alexander and lunged toward the console.
Rebecca stepped into his path.
He shoved her hard.
Emma caught her before her head struck the wall.
Alexander hit Charles once.
A short, brutal punch.
Charles dropped.
Richard did not move.
He simply watched the transfer percentage climb.
42%.
58%.
71%.
Then he smiled.
Emma's stomach tightened.
"Why are you smiling?"
Richard looked at the twins.
"Because the archive is not the project."
93%.
"It's the distraction."
100%.
TRANSFER COMPLETE.
At that exact moment, every light in the tunnel died.
A mechanical alarm sounded deeper underground.
Vale turned pale.
"No."
"What?" Alexander demanded.
Vale stared toward the sealed river unit.
"The artificial gestation chambers."
Emma felt the world tilt.
"There are more babies?"
Vale shook his head.
"Not babies."
A deep motor started beneath their feet.
The floor vibrated.
May you like
Richard Harrison's voice came out of the darkness.
"There are heirs."
