CHAPTER 13 — PROTOCOL BLACK
The countdown continued.
09:56...
09:55...
09:54...
The red numbers appeared on every screen inside the underground chamber.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
The room that had protected the Thorne family's darkest secrets for decades had now become a weapon.
A final solution.
A grave.
Marcus stared at Richard.
"You built this?"
Richard's face remained pale.
"Not this."
"Not exactly."
Marcus's anger exploded.
"Stop speaking in riddles!"
"My wife is standing inside a room that is about to collapse, and you are telling me you don't know what happens next?"
Richard looked toward Khloe.
For the first time in Marcus's life...
He saw genuine fear in his father's eyes.
Not fear for himself.
Fear for someone else.
"Protocol Black was never designed to kill people."
Marcus laughed bitterly.
"Then why is there a countdown?"
Richard answered quietly.
"Because the people who activated it changed the rules."
Inside the chamber...
Khloe stood perfectly still.
Every instinct told her to run toward Marcus.
But the glowing red sensors beneath her feet kept her frozen.
Daniel stood several feet away.
Calm.
Focused.
Unlike everyone else.
"You know how to stop it," Marcus shouted.
Daniel looked at him.
"Yes."
"Then do it."
Daniel shook his head.
"I can't."
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
"Why?"
"Because the system doesn't recognize me anymore."
Richard stepped forward.
"It recognizes only the original Phoenix members."
Daniel smiled faintly.
"And most of them are dead."
His eyes moved toward Richard.
"Or pretending to be."
Adrian suddenly spoke.
"Sarah."
Everyone turned.
Adrian's voice shook.
"Sarah created a failsafe."
Richard looked at him sharply.
"Adrian..."
"No."
Adrian stepped forward.
"No more secrets."
"We've hidden enough."
Marcus looked between them.
"What failsafe?"
Adrian stared at the countdown.
"Sarah knew one day someone would activate Protocol Black."
"She built a second system."
"One that could override it."
Marcus looked at Daniel.
"Where?"
Adrian answered:
"With Elizabeth."
The room went silent.
Khloe's face changed.
"With me?"
Adrian nodded.
"You weren't just a subject."
"You were the key."
The countdown continued.
08:40...
08:39...
Marcus looked at Khloe.
"What does that mean?"
Daniel answered.
"Your mother discovered that the Phoenix project was not about genetics."
"It was about memory."
Khloe frowned.
"Memory?"
Daniel nodded.
"The human brain stores more than people understand."
"Experiences."
"Patterns."
"Information."
"Sarah discovered that under certain conditions..."
"...a child could inherit fragments of biological memory."
Marcus stared.
"You're saying..."
Daniel looked at Khloe.
"Your mother encoded information into you."
Khloe's voice trembled.
"That's impossible."
Daniel shook his head.
"Science called it impossible."
"Until Sarah proved it."
The chamber lights flickered.
The countdown continued.
07:55...
A crack appeared in the ceiling.
Dust fell.
The system had started the collapse sequence.
Jonathan examined the walls.
"There has to be another way out."
Richard shook his head.
"Not once Protocol Black begins."
Jonathan looked at him.
"You designed a room with no exit?"
Richard replied quietly.
"I designed a room no one could force open."
Marcus looked at Richard.
"And Ethan?"
Richard looked away.
Marcus understood immediately.
"Ethan knew about this."
Richard didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
A loud mechanical sound echoed.
The floor beneath Khloe shifted slightly.
Mary grabbed the edge of a nearby table.
"What's happening?"
Daniel looked down.
"The chamber is separating."
"What?"
"The room is designed to detach from the main structure."
Marcus's face changed.
"You're saying..."
"The entire chamber will be sealed underground."
06:30...
Khloe looked at Marcus.
For the first time since the attack...
She wasn't afraid.
She was heartbroken.
"I thought meeting you was the best accident of my life."
Marcus's eyes filled.
"It wasn't an accident."
She looked at him.
"What?"
Marcus stepped closer despite the sensors.
"Maybe someone brought us together."
"But everything after that..."
"Every moment."
"Every choice."
"That was ours."
Suddenly...
The countdown stopped.
Everyone froze.
06:12
The numbers disappeared.
A new message appeared.
IDENTITY CONFIRMED
Everyone looked toward Khloe.
The system had recognized her.
A hidden panel opened beside her.
Inside was a small biometric scanner.
Daniel whispered,
"Sarah."
Khloe slowly approached.
"What do I do?"
Adrian answered.
"Your hand."
She placed her palm against the scanner.
For several seconds...
Nothing happened.
Then—
A soft female voice filled the chamber.
A voice recorded thirty years earlier.
Sarah.
"Hello, Elizabeth."
Khloe froze.
Tears filled her eyes.
The voice continued.
"If you are hearing this..."
"...then you survived."
Marcus closed his eyes.
He was hearing his mother's voice for the first time.
Sarah continued.
"I know you don't remember me."
"But I remember you."
"I held you."
"I protected you."
"I promised I would find a way to keep you safe."
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was a small metal case.
Khloe removed it.
The case contained three items.
A photograph.
A USB drive.
And a letter.
The letter was addressed:
To Marcus and Elizabeth.
Marcus stared.
"Elizabeth..."
Khloe looked at him.
"I guess that's me."
He nodded slowly.
"My whole life..."
"...I thought I was alone."
She whispered,
"So did I."
The recording continued.
"But there is one thing you must know."
"If Protocol Black has activated..."
"Then the enemy already knows the truth."
The lights flickered.
Sarah's voice became urgent.
"Do not trust Richard."
Everyone looked at Richard.
His face changed.
"Sarah..."
The recording continued.
"Do not trust Daniel."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"And above all..."
"Do not trust the person who claims to be protecting you."
Silence.
The message ended.
Everyone slowly looked at each other.
Because Sarah had just accused every person in the room.
Richard.
Daniel.
Adrian.
Everyone.
Then the underground facility shook violently.
The ceiling cracked.
Jonathan shouted,
"We need to move!"
Richard grabbed the wall panel.
"There is another exit."
Marcus stared.
"You said there wasn't."
Richard looked at him.
"I said there wasn't one for enemies."
The wall opened.
A hidden tunnel appeared.
Everyone moved quickly.
But before Marcus left...
He stopped.
A small object had fallen from the metal case.
A childhood photograph.
He picked it up.
It showed two children.
A little boy.
A little girl.
Standing together.
On the back was a handwritten note.
Marcus and Elizabeth.
The two Phoenix children.
Marcus stared.
Then noticed something impossible.
The little girl in the photo...
Was not Khloe.
It was someone else.
A second child.
Another Phoenix subject.
Another secret.
The group escaped into the tunnel seconds before the chamber collapsed.
The explosion shook the entire underground facility.
Dust filled the air.
When the noise finally stopped...
Richard looked at Marcus.
"Now you understand."
Marcus held up the photograph.
"No."
"I understand less than ever."
He turned the picture around.
"Who is she?"
Nobody answered.
Because everyone recognized the girl.
And everyone knew they had buried her secret for decades.
Adrian whispered the name.
A name Marcus had never heard before.
"Emma."
Marcus frowned.
"Who is Emma?"
Richard looked toward the darkness ahead.
Then answered:
"Your sister."
Far away...
Inside a hidden apartment overlooking the city...
A woman watched the news coverage of the hospital attack.
She looked around forty years old.
Calm.
Elegant.
In her hand was the same phoenix ring.
She watched Marcus holding the photograph.
Then smiled.
"Finally..."
"He knows I exist."
She opened an old family album.
Inside was a picture of three children.
Marcus.
Ethan.
Emma.
She touched the image.
May you like
And whispered:
"Welcome back, brother."
