Daniel left the apartment without saying goodbye.<\/p>\n
Not because he wanted distance from Sophie.<\/p>\n
Because he did not trust himself to speak in front of her.<\/p>\n
Marcus Reed followed him downstairs.<\/p>\n
Daniel did not remember calling him.<\/p>\n
Maybe Margaret had.<\/p>\n
Maybe Richard.<\/p>\n
Outside, the rain had stopped.<\/p>\n
The street shone beneath amber lights.<\/p>\n
Daniel stood beside the curb breathing cold air.<\/p>\n
Marcus remained ten feet away.<\/p>\n
Finally:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want company?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus nodded.<\/p>\n
He stayed anyway.<\/p>\n
Daniel almost thanked him.<\/p>\n
He did not.<\/p>\n
Thomas Mercer was his father.<\/p>\n
Edward was not.<\/p>\n
Anna was Edward\u2019s daughter.<\/p>\n
Which meant Daniel and Anna were not biological siblings.<\/p>\n
The horror receded by one degree.<\/p>\n
The betrayal did not.<\/p>\n
He called Thomas.<\/p>\n
Thomas answered immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you my father?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
That was enough.<\/p>\n
Daniel shut his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cSay it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen were you planning to tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel laughed once.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least somebody finally answers clearly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas\u2019s voice shook.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to explain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t get to lead with explanation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas went silent.<\/p>\n
Daniel continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou had a daughter with Claire.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou had a son with Margaret.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou seem to have treated the Mercer family tree as a suggestion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas flinched audibly.<\/p>\n
\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel almost admired that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother and I were young.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were married.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLaura.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel remembered Aunt Laura vaguely.<\/p>\n
She died when he was a child.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Dad?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEdward?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMargaret told him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stared at the empty street.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore I was born?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he stayed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he loved her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel felt something shift.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas\u2019s voice broke.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe loved you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked down.<\/p>\n
That hurt.<\/p>\n
For all Edward\u2019s manipulation, hidden identities, and unforgivable decisions, he had raised Daniel as his son knowing he was not biologically his.<\/p>\n
Thomas continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe insisted you would be his legally and publicly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the scandal would have destroyed everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere it is again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. This time I believe you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas said nothing.<\/p>\n
Daniel asked, \u201cDid my mother want to leave with you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you want her to?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret had chosen Edward.<\/p>\n
Thomas had remained near the family.<\/p>\n
Daniel imagined decades of dinners.<\/p>\n
Birthdays.<\/p>\n
Business meetings.<\/p>\n
His biological father sitting across from him while another man carried the title.<\/p>\n
He felt nauseated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy stay close?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I wanted to know you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could have told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI promised Margaret.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone\u2019s favorite excuse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas accepted it.<\/p>\n
Daniel looked toward Marcus Reed.<\/p>\n
Still waiting.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Dad use my paternity in the trusts?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s pulse quickened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas explained.<\/p>\n
Edward could legally name Daniel heir, but certain older Mercer trust provisions favored blood descendants.<\/p>\n
Daniel, biologically Thomas\u2019s son, was still a Mercer.<\/p>\n
That mattered.<\/p>\n
Edward\u2019s adoption of Daniel preserved one branch.<\/p>\n
Thomas\u2019s biology preserved another.<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s ownership position became unusually strong.<\/p>\n
He qualified through both legal and bloodline structures.<\/p>\n
Daniel laughed softly.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I was the perfect trust instrument.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Dad know that when he decided to raise me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did he learn?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLater.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much later?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you were six.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe changed the trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at the sky.<\/p>\n
Of course.<\/p>\n
Even love eventually became architecture.<\/p>\n
Thomas continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe loved you before he knew what it meant financially.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
That distinction mattered too.<\/p>\n
He hated that it mattered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about Anna?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cEdward learned Rebecca was pregnant after Hawthorne.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith his child.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca told him years later.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he believe her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot at first.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe found adoption records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnna.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Rebecca give her up because of Edward?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said she wanted Anna outside the Mercer world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel almost laughed at the failure.<\/p>\n
Anna had found Daniel anyway.<\/p>\n
Or Daniel had found her.<\/p>\n
Two children hidden from Mercer history had married each other while the older generation watched in silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Dad know when I first brought Anna home?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s anger returned.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe watched us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd knew she was his daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he tell Anna?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter your third date.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnna confronted him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe already knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom Rebecca?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPartly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen she dated me knowing Edward was her father and Edward raised me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew you were not biologically Edward\u2019s son.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel froze.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEdward told her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo she knew before I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife and my father discussed my paternity without me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStop apologizing for rooms you helped build.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas went quiet.<\/p>\n
Daniel asked, \u201cDid Anna know you were my father?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
That surprised him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re sure?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen she thought my biological father was someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Dad tell her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe promised Margaret.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel almost laughed again.<\/p>\n
Promises.<\/p>\n
The private legal system of their family.<\/p>\n
Daniel ended the call.<\/p>\n
Marcus stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want a ride?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGregory?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hospital corridor smelled of coffee and antiseptic.<\/p>\n
Gregory remained sedated after surgery.<\/p>\n
Police guarded the room.<\/p>\n
Daniel waited until the doctor allowed five minutes.<\/p>\n
Gregory looked terrible.<\/p>\n
Gray skin.<\/p>\n
Dry lips.<\/p>\n
His eyes opened slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re hard to kill.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel sat.<\/p>\n
\u201cCross took the archive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPart.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat part?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cChildren.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLeverage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gregory coughed.<\/p>\n
Daniel waited.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou approved Sophie\u2019s original file.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gregory closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExplain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNathan asked for succession models.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou approved a study of my unborn child.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI approved trust analysis.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not better.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel leaned closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Anna know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNear the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Gregory almost smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe called me a coward with spreadsheets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel closed his eyes briefly.<\/p>\n
Anna.<\/p>\n
\u201cSounds right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy help her?\u201d<\/p>\n
Gregory stared at the ceiling.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she treated evidence like evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn\u2019t decide what it meant before reading it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel thought of the previous two days.<\/p>\n
He had done exactly that repeatedly.<\/p>\n
Gregory continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe found my father\u2019s prison record.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe found proof Arthur Mercer framed him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cFramed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel helped hide crimes. But Arthur made him take responsibility for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo your father was guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust not of all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel understood.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
Separate guilt.<\/p>\n
Gregory whispered, \u201cAnna told me if I wanted justice, I had to stop turning every Mercer into Arthur.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel sat back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat she sounded like one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gregory laughed weakly.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe threw a folder at me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel smiled despite himself.<\/p>\n
Then Gregory\u2019s expression hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cCross has Sophie\u2019s behavioral archive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere will he go?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou worked for Nathan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI pretended to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen pretend harder.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gregory looked toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cNathan has fallback sites.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNames.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThree.\u201d<\/p>\n
He gave them.<\/p>\n
A mountain property.<\/p>\n
A private clinic.<\/p>\n
An offshore communications center.<\/p>\n
Daniel memorized them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich one for Sophie\u2019s archive?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cClinic.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause that\u2019s where the predictive models run.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cEastbridge?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gregory shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cOlder.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHawthorne Annex.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe institution?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDifferent building.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder the old research wing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s pulse quickened.<\/p>\n
Cross had gone back to the origin.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
Circles.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice?\u201d<\/p>\n
Gregory nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cTake them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel turned to leave.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stopped.<\/p>\n
Gregory looked suddenly afraid.<\/p>\n
\u201cCross will try to make you choose between deleting Sophie\u2019s file and preserving evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Nathan designed the archive that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat choice?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you purge one subject completely, it erases connected operational metadata.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMeaning evidence against them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel understood.<\/p>\n
Protect Sophie\u2019s privacy.<\/p>\n
Or preserve evidence of the crimes.<\/p>\n
Another engineered moral trap.<\/p>\n
Gregory whispered:<\/p>\n
\u201cAnna found a way around it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stepped back toward the bed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat way?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe called it the mirror.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re serious?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did she hide it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Gregory closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cInside something Cross would never delete.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel waited.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Gregory opened his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis own profile.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stared.<\/p>\n
Cross had a Continuity file.<\/p>\n
Anna had hidden a countermeasure inside the killer\u2019s own behavioral record.<\/p>\n
\u201cPassword?\u201d<\/p>\n
Gregory shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said Daniel would know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause it was something only you and Anna ever argued about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel almost laughed.<\/p>\n
That list was not short.<\/p>\n
Gregory\u2019s eyes closed again.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel left.<\/p>\n
Richard met him outside.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look like you have somewhere terrible to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHawthorne.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cAgain?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCross has the child archive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard fell into step.<\/p>\n
Police assembled quickly.<\/p>\n
On the drive, Daniel tried to think of every argument Anna and he had repeated enough to become private language.<\/p>\n
Thermostat.<\/p>\n
Dishwasher.<\/p>\n
Directions.<\/p>\n
Coffee.<\/p>\n
Whether pineapple belonged on pizza.<\/p>\n
Whether Edward was emotionally constipated.<\/p>\n
Passwords.<\/p>\n
NoKings.<\/p>\n
Greenwich.<\/p>\n
Then one memory surfaced.<\/p>\n
Their first serious fight.<\/p>\n
Daniel wanted to name Sophie, before they knew she was a girl, after his father if it was a boy.<\/p>\n
Anna refused.<\/p>\n
She had said:<\/p>\n
\u201cNo child should be born carrying somebody else\u2019s unfinished business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel had accused her of overreacting.<\/p>\n
She had slept on the couch.<\/p>\n
Later they laughed about it.<\/p>\n
But Anna never changed her position.<\/p>\n
Names belong to you.<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t belong to names.<\/p>\n
The mirror password might be about names.<\/p>\n
They reached Hawthorne after midnight.<\/p>\n
Police secured the main building.<\/p>\n
The Annex entrance was hidden behind a sealed maintenance corridor.<\/p>\n
Gregory\u2019s information was accurate.<\/p>\n
Below ground, servers still ran.<\/p>\n
Somebody had maintained the site.<\/p>\n
Daniel entered behind tactical officers.<\/p>\n
Screens glowed inside an old laboratory.<\/p>\n
One central terminal displayed:<\/p>\n
SOPHIE MERCER \u2013 ACTIVE SUBJECT ARCHIVE.<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
Richard stood beside him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do we access Cross?\u201d<\/p>\n
A search field.<\/p>\n
Daniel entered JULIAN CROSS.<\/p>\n
Profile appeared.<\/p>\n
Behavioral history.<\/p>\n
Nathan\u2019s son.<\/p>\n
Abandonment.<\/p>\n
Ambition.<\/p>\n
Need for paternal recognition.<\/p>\n
Aggression after perceived humiliation.<\/p>\n
Daniel almost pitied the child Cross had been.<\/p>\n
Then remembered Anna\u2019s brake line.<\/p>\n
He searched hidden files.<\/p>\n
One encrypted partition.<\/p>\n
MIRROR.<\/p>\n
Password.<\/p>\n
Daniel typed:<\/p>\n
NAMESBELONGTOYOU.<\/p>\n
Denied.<\/p>\n
He tried:<\/p>\n
NOBORROWEDNAMES.<\/p>\n
Denied.<\/p>\n
Richard waited.<\/p>\n
Daniel closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
Anna\u2019s exact phrasing to Sophie.<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t belong to names. Names belong to you.<\/p>\n
He typed:<\/p>\n
NAMESBELONGTOYOU.<\/p>\n
Already denied.<\/p>\n
Maybe punctuation.<\/p>\n
He typed:<\/p>\n
NAMES.BELONG.TO.YOU<\/p>\n
Access granted.<\/p>\n
Daniel exhaled.<\/p>\n
The mirror opened.<\/p>\n
Anna\u2019s message appeared.<\/p>\n
If you found this, Cross still thinks identity is leverage.<\/p>\n
He is wrong.<\/p>\n
Daniel almost smiled.<\/p>\n
The program offered two options:<\/p>\n
CLONE EVIDENCE STRUCTURE.<\/p>\n
PURGE SUBJECT RECORDS.<\/p>\n
Richard stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe built a duplicate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mirror could copy operational evidence while stripping personal behavioral data.<\/p>\n
Protect victims.<\/p>\n
Preserve crimes.<\/p>\n
Daniel whispered, \u201cAnna.\u201d<\/p>\n
He started the process.<\/p>\n
Cloning.<\/p>\n
Five percent.<\/p>\n
Ten.<\/p>\n
Then alarms triggered.<\/p>\n
Cross\u2019s face appeared on another screen.<\/p>\n
Live video.<\/p>\n
He was somewhere inside the Annex.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou always did need her to solve your problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stared.<\/p>\n
Cross smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now you\u2019ve brought me exactly what I needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOwner authentication.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s blood turned cold.<\/p>\n
The mirror process froze.<\/p>\n
New prompt:<\/p>\n
MERCER OWNER VERIFIED.<\/p>\n
CROSS OVERRIDE AVAILABLE.<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at Richard.<\/p>\n
\u201cDisconnect it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard reached for the terminal.<\/p>\n
Cross laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cToo late.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doors locked throughout the laboratory.<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s phone lost signal.<\/p>\n
Cross continued:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou finally gave me Daniel Mercer\u2019s live biometric confirmation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stared at the camera.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Cross smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo transfer Sophie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel left the apartment without saying goodbye. Not because he wanted distance from Sophie. Because he did not trust himself to speak in front of her. Marcus Reed followed him … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30656"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30691,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30656\/revisions\/30691"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}