{"id":30868,"date":"2026-10-05T19:28:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T19:28:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=30868"},"modified":"2026-10-05T19:28:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T19:28:20","slug":"part-20-erics-stolen-blood-gave-the-continuity-board-what-adrian-never-could-and-sophie-chose-to-turn-their-most-valuable-secret-against-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=30868","title":{"rendered":"PART 20 \u2013 Eric\u2019s Stolen Blood Gave the Continuity Board What Adrian Never Could, and Sophie Chose to Turn Their Most Valuable Secret Against Them"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The federal medical facility had no colorful whales on the walls.<\/p>\n<p>No cartoon murals.<\/p>\n<p>No cheerful pediatric signs.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie noticed immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis place looks like a dentist office for spies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel carried her through the secured entrance.<\/p>\n<p>Claire arrived twenty minutes later.<\/p>\n<p>She barely waited for the door to close before wrapping her arms around Sophie.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToo tight,\u201d Sophie complained.<\/p>\n<p>Claire loosened her hold.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you find Eric?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sophie exhaled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s being brought here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did they do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Claire hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo secret medicine. No secret information.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The whiteboard rule.<\/p>\n<p>Claire told her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey took blood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnough that doctors are watching him, but he\u2019s stable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy his blood?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Claire sat beside her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause his cells haven&#39;t been changed by Samuel\u2019s experiments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sophie understood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo he&#39;s the before picture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Claire hated how accurately she said it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I&#39;m the after picture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomething like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sophie looked toward Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Maya and Lucas are other after pictures.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She leaned back against the pillow.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo they have the whole thing now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was exactly what Lang feared.<\/p>\n<p>Eric\u2019s unmodified cells carried Samuel\u2019s inherited cancer-risk mutation in its natural state.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie\u2019s records documented the original vector, failure, and rescue.<\/p>\n<p>Maya\u2019s cells preserved the earlier rescue sequence.<\/p>\n<p>Lucas\u2019s body demonstrated Cascade.<\/p>\n<p>Together they formed an almost complete developmental history of the platform.<\/p>\n<p>Years of illegal research.<\/p>\n<p>Four human beings.<\/p>\n<p>One commercial blueprint.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Shah entered with encouraging news.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie\u2019s rescue response remained stable.<\/p>\n<p>Her kidney function was improving.<\/p>\n<p>The dangerous activation markers had fallen dramatically.<\/p>\n<p>Kevin remained unchanged on imaging.<\/p>\n<p>That last fact mattered.<\/p>\n<p>The brain tumor had not suddenly grown during the crisis.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie touched her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo Kevin is still being Kevin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen do we get rid of him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Shah sat down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is our next major decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Standard chemotherapy could no longer be given the same way.<\/p>\n<p>The first exposure had activated Samuel\u2019s vector.<\/p>\n<p>Now that the rescue treatment had suppressed that pathway, chemotherapy might become safer.<\/p>\n<p>Might.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie groaned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hate that word.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo do I.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Shah\u2019s team was considering reduced-intensity chemotherapy combined with targeted treatment.<\/p>\n<p>Surgery remained possible if Kevin failed to respond.<\/p>\n<p>Radiation was another option, though they wanted to minimize DNA damage until they understood the rescue vector\u2019s long-term behavior.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie listened.<\/p>\n<p>Then asked the question Claire expected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSoccer?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Shah smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot this week.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNext week?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMonth?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe&#39;ll negotiate later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sophie sighed dramatically.<\/p>\n<p>Claire nearly cried from gratitude.<\/p>\n<p>Planning soccer meant imagining a future.<\/p>\n<p>Eric arrived that afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>He looked pale.<\/p>\n<p>A bandage covered one arm.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou look terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid they steal a lot?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApparently I&#39;m very collectible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel handed him a chair.<\/p>\n<p>Eric accepted it.<\/p>\n<p>The interaction was small.<\/p>\n<p>Claire noticed anyway.<\/p>\n<p>Days earlier, the two men had nearly fought because Eric accused Daniel of abusing Sophie.<\/p>\n<p>Now Daniel steadied Eric when he sat.<\/p>\n<p>Crisis had not erased the accusation.<\/p>\n<p>It had changed what came after it.<\/p>\n<p>Eric looked at Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never properly apologized.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel\u2019s expression tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don&#39;t have to do this now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sophie watched.<\/p>\n<p>Eric continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI accused you of the worst thing I could accuse someone of. I did it because I was scared and because blaming you was easier than admitting I didn&#39;t understand what was happening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel said nothing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel looked toward Sophie.<\/p>\n<p>Then back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe you mean it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eric nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat doesn&#39;t make it disappear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut we have other things to survive first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eric almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sophie pointed between them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood. No punching.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Neither man had energy to argue.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca arrived under guard that evening.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie had not seen her in person.<\/p>\n<p>Claire stood near the door while her sister entered.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo you&#39;re Aunt Rebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApparently your family has discussed that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sophie nodded toward Eric.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt happens a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca laughed.<\/p>\n<p>The sound made Claire unexpectedly emotional.<\/p>\n<p>Same laugh.<\/p>\n<p>Older.<\/p>\n<p>Still Rebecca.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie studied her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou tried to help me when I was a baby.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI tried.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut Grandpa still did it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you know about the spray?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot until later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you know Kevin was growing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca looked down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew your blood markers were changing. I didn&#39;t know exactly what Adrian had done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sophie considered that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWere you scared?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy didn&#39;t you tell Mom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca looked at Claire.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I thought staying hidden kept you safer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca\u2019s eyes filled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sophie nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt least you said that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Claire looked away.<\/p>\n<p>Her daughter had become frighteningly good at identifying adults who hid mistakes behind explanations.<\/p>\n<p>Bell arrived with Lang.<\/p>\n<p>Not physically.<\/p>\n<p>Lang appeared on a secure screen from federal custody.<\/p>\n<p>He had more information.<\/p>\n<p>The Continuity Board had begun moving assets after the hospital attack failed.<\/p>\n<p>Accounts were being emptied.<\/p>\n<p>Servers wiped.<\/p>\n<p>Research samples transferred.<\/p>\n<p>Federal agencies were blocking what they could.<\/p>\n<p>But one encrypted data repository remained inaccessible.<\/p>\n<p>Lang called it the Vault.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat&#39;s a dramatic name.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bell almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>The Vault contained raw longitudinal data from every child NorthStar had tracked.<\/p>\n<p>Medical histories.<\/p>\n<p>Genetic sequences.<\/p>\n<p>Unauthorized samples.<\/p>\n<p>Treatment records.<\/p>\n<p>Names.<\/p>\n<p>Evidence.<\/p>\n<p>It also contained the proprietary models the board wanted to preserve.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lang said the servers were distributed.<\/p>\n<p>No single physical location.<\/p>\n<p>Access required three cryptographic keys.<\/p>\n<p>Adrian held one.<\/p>\n<p>The board held one.<\/p>\n<p>The third was derived from biological data.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course it is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lang nodded.<\/p>\n<p>Adrian distrusted ordinary passwords for the most sensitive archive.<\/p>\n<p>The biological key was generated from a specific subject\u2019s genome.<\/p>\n<p>Claire already knew.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSophie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lang looked toward Maya\u2019s room.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaya.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maya was brought into the conversation.<\/p>\n<p>She listened without expression.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy DNA is a password.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn effect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat&#39;s stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lang sighed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou and Sophie have remarkably similar reactions to corporate security architecture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maya ignored him.<\/p>\n<p>Could she open the Vault?<\/p>\n<p>Possibly.<\/p>\n<p>But the system required a fresh biological verification signature generated from current sequencing.<\/p>\n<p>Maya crossed her arms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo you want more blood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bell said, \u201cOnly if you agree.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maya looked toward Claire.<\/p>\n<p>That distinction mattered.<\/p>\n<p>She agreed.<\/p>\n<p>A small sample was taken.<\/p>\n<p>Not secretly.<\/p>\n<p>Not hidden inside another procedure.<\/p>\n<p>Maya watched the tube receive her name.<\/p>\n<p>She signed the authorization herself where legally permitted, with her guardian arrangements handled under federal supervision.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca watched silently.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is what it should have looked like,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Claire nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChoice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Within two hours, technicians derived Maya\u2019s portion of the key.<\/p>\n<p>Adrian\u2019s key was obtained through seized hardware.<\/p>\n<p>The board\u2019s key remained missing.<\/p>\n<p>Lang believed he could reconstruct it from corporate backups.<\/p>\n<p>He failed.<\/p>\n<p>Then Eric remembered something.<\/p>\n<p>During his NorthStar compliance work, board-level authorizations sometimes used a phrase called continuity inheritance.<\/p>\n<p>Lang stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou remember the format?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eric reconstructed part of an old authorization string.<\/p>\n<p>It wasn&#39;t enough.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie watched them struggle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy does everybody make passwords complicated?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause \u2018KevinIsAnnoying\u2019 would be too easy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sophie suddenly sat straighter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNames.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked at Maya.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid your dad use names for projects?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll the time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot project names. People names.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maya thought.<\/p>\n<p>Adrian frequently used family references in supposedly random internal identifiers.<\/p>\n<p>Dates.<\/p>\n<p>Initials.<\/p>\n<p>Birth order.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel had used the same habit.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca joined them.<\/p>\n<p>The board key might not be random at all.<\/p>\n<p>It could derive from the seven original subjects.<\/p>\n<p>Eric listed known identifiers.<\/p>\n<p>Subject 01: Sophie.<\/p>\n<p>Subject 04: Maya.<\/p>\n<p>Subject 07: Lucas.<\/p>\n<p>The others remained partly unidentified.<\/p>\n<p>Bell pulled the recovered files.<\/p>\n<p>Names emerged.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron.<\/p>\n<p>Leah.<\/p>\n<p>Christopher.<\/p>\n<p>Nina.<\/p>\n<p>And another child whose records were incomplete.<\/p>\n<p>Maya stared at the birth dates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOrder them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lang did.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie looked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot birthdays.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Everyone turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d Claire asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrandpa cares about when he did things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel\u2019s treatment dates.<\/p>\n<p>They reordered the subjects by intervention date.<\/p>\n<p>The sequence generated a key string.<\/p>\n<p>Lang entered it.<\/p>\n<p>The Vault opened.<\/p>\n<p>Nobody spoke.<\/p>\n<p>Thousands of files appeared.<\/p>\n<p>Bell stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJesus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>NorthStar had preserved everything.<\/p>\n<p>Emails.<\/p>\n<p>Videos.<\/p>\n<p>Laboratory notebooks.<\/p>\n<p>Payment records.<\/p>\n<p>Instructions.<\/p>\n<p>Board votes.<\/p>\n<p>Adrian\u2019s authorization to activate Sophie.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel\u2019s objections.<\/p>\n<p>Morris\u2019s warnings.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca\u2019s sabotage attempts.<\/p>\n<p>The fake clinic.<\/p>\n<p>The stolen hospital records.<\/p>\n<p>The biological sample chain.<\/p>\n<p>Every secret the adults had protected was suddenly visible.<\/p>\n<p>Then another directory appeared.<\/p>\n<p>FUTURE COHORT.<\/p>\n<p>Claire felt sick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow many?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca opened it.<\/p>\n<p>Hundreds of children.<\/p>\n<p>Not treated.<\/p>\n<p>Not yet.<\/p>\n<p>Genetically screened.<\/p>\n<p>Ranked.<\/p>\n<p>Selected as possible candidates for future trials.<\/p>\n<p>Families who had no idea.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie stared at the list.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were going to do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes,\u201d Rebecca whispered.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie looked toward Bell.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan you tell their parents?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll of them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd tell them before anybody does anything?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sophie leaned back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bell began copying the Vault into federal evidence systems.<\/p>\n<p>Lang warned that opening it might trigger an automated destruction process.<\/p>\n<p>He was right.<\/p>\n<p>A countdown appeared.<\/p>\n<p>Thirty minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca immediately searched for disable commands.<\/p>\n<p>Adrian had designed the wipe system.<\/p>\n<p>Lang tried administrative overrides.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing worked.<\/p>\n<p>Maya stared at the countdown.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan we copy everything first?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bell prioritized evidence.<\/p>\n<p>Victim identities.<\/p>\n<p>Medical records.<\/p>\n<p>Board communications.<\/p>\n<p>Claire watched directories transfer.<\/p>\n<p>Twenty-two minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Seventeen.<\/p>\n<p>Twelve.<\/p>\n<p>Then Rebecca found something.<\/p>\n<p>A failsafe.<\/p>\n<p>It required confirmation from SUBJECT 01.<\/p>\n<p>Claire stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSophie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca looked horrified.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAdrian built her into the shutdown architecture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The system requested a biological signature and a decision.<\/p>\n<p>PRESERVE COHORT DATA.<\/p>\n<p>DESTROY COHORT DATA.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does destroy mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lang explained.<\/p>\n<p>The raw research models would disappear.<\/p>\n<p>But some evidence could disappear too.<\/p>\n<p>Preserving everything would help prosecution and future scientific analysis.<\/p>\n<p>It would also preserve the illegally acquired biological profiles of thousands of children.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca looked at Bell.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan we separate evidence from research?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot before the countdown.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sophie stared at the two options.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel moved beside her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don&#39;t have to decide alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked at Claire.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat would you do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Claire thought carefully.<\/p>\n<p>Then shook her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#39;ll help you understand it. I won&#39;t choose for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sophie looked at Rebecca.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we keep it, could people use it again?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven if the bad people go to jail?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly someday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we destroy it, do we lose proof?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bell added, \u201cWe already copied enough to establish many crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sophie looked toward Maya.<\/p>\n<p>Maya said quietly, \u201cI don&#39;t want them owning my body forever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lucas, listening through a video connection from his room, whispered, \u201cMe neither.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sophie looked at the countdown.<\/p>\n<p>Four minutes.<\/p>\n<p>She chose DESTROY COHORT DATA.<\/p>\n<p>The system requested biological confirmation.<\/p>\n<p>A nurse swabbed her cheek.<\/p>\n<p>The signature verified.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca copied the remaining victim-identification directory before the wipe began.<\/p>\n<p>Then the models disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>Genetic prediction engines.<\/p>\n<p>Commercial treatment libraries.<\/p>\n<p>Longitudinal biological profiles.<\/p>\n<p>Years of stolen information.<\/p>\n<p>Deleted.<\/p>\n<p>The screen went black.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie stared at it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid I break NorthStar?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lang answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou broke the most valuable thing it owned.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sophie looked toward Claire.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bell\u2019s phone rang.<\/p>\n<p>Federal teams were simultaneously raiding properties belonging to the Continuity Board.<\/p>\n<p>Arrests had begun.<\/p>\n<p>Accounts were frozen.<\/p>\n<p>Labs secured.<\/p>\n<p>Samples seized.<\/p>\n<p>Claire felt relief rise cautiously.<\/p>\n<p>Then Bell\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One board member had escaped.<\/p>\n<p>The former hospital administrator.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Evelyn Cross.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca went pale.<\/p>\n<p>Claire noticed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVery well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho is she?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca looked toward Sophie.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvelyn was the person who arranged Sophie&#39;s treatment when she was six weeks old.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Claire stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she administer Samuel\u2019s vector?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca\u2019s answer came quietly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was the doctor holding the syringe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bell checked the raid report.<\/p>\n<p>Cross had left her residence hours earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Her phone was abandoned.<\/p>\n<p>Vehicle found empty.<\/p>\n<p>No confirmed location.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie sighed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s always another one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Claire took her hand.<\/p>\n<p>This time she did not promise otherwise.<\/p>\n<p>Because somewhere beyond the secure walls, the woman who had helped begin the experiment on Sophie ten years earlier was still free.<\/p>\n<p>And now the research she had spent a decade protecting had just been destroyed by the child she once treated as Subject 01.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=30869\">Click here to continue reading: PART 21: Evelyn Cross Returned to the Hospital Under Another Name, and Sophie Recognized the Voice That Had Followed Her Since Infancy<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The federal medical facility had no colorful whales on the walls. No cartoon murals. No cheerful pediatric signs. Sophie noticed immediately. \u201cThis place looks like a dentist office for spies.\u201d &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30868","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\/30868","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=30868"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30938,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30868\/revisions\/30938"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}