CHAPTER 83 — SEVEN VOTES
Nathan stood between the armed copies and Daniel.
“Your access is mine,” he told them.
The copies ignored him.
The copied Claire held Lily near the transfer engine.
Silas spoke through her.
“The child will command them.”
Lily kicked Silas’s knee.
He barely reacted.
Claire approached slowly.
“You wanted to understand a mother’s identity.”
Silas smiled with her face.
“I perfected it.”
“No. You copied behavior.”
Claire looked at Lily.
“But she knows me.”
Lily understood.
She bit Silas’s hand and dropped to the floor.
Mason pulled her away.
Rose and Iris attacked Silas from both sides.
The five Daniel copies fired.
Nathan took the first bullet.
Daniel caught his father before he fell.
“You need seven Key votes,” Nathan whispered.
“Six genetic Keys are present.”
“Who is the seventh?”
Nathan looked at Lily.
“The Key line was crossed into Sarah’s child.”
Lily carried Key access through her biological mother.
Daniel placed Lily’s hand on the control panel.
The five copies were forced to place their hands beside hers.
Seven symbols activated.
The transfer engine began shutting down.
Olivia’s duplicate infant dissolved inside the tank.
Her real baby remained alive.
Silas screamed through the copied Claire.
His artificial body began aging rapidly.
The Council chamber shook.
Ward’s mother had lost control of the other representatives.
The Flame door opened.
Council guards rushed inside.
Nathan fired from the floor, protecting Daniel.
A bullet struck him in the chest.
Daniel held him.
“You just found me.”
Nathan smiled weakly.
“No. I found you years ago.”
He removed an old photograph from his coat.
It showed Daniel as a child sleeping in Nathan’s arms.
“I was the man at the red house.”
Daniel remembered the iron bell.
Nathan’s hand went still.
The transfer engine reached one percent.
Then stopped.
FINAL AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.
The screen displayed the name of the final administrator.
MIRIAM VANE.
Silas laughed.
“She planned for my failure.”
May you like
A secret door opened.
Miriam entered, holding the real president at gunpoint.
