CHAPTER 13 THE FIRST AVA
The screams stopped at the same moment.
Ava’s body fell limp against the chair.
Subject A-01 remained standing.
Her eyes slowly returned to normal.
Then she looked at Ethan.
Not with confusion.
With recognition.
“Ethan.”
He froze.
Only Ava said his name that way.
Softly.
As though it belonged to her alone.
He moved toward her.
“Ava?”
Marcus grabbed his shoulder.
“Do not.”
A-01’s eyes filled with tears.
“You promised you would come back.”
Ethan stared at her.
A memory struck him.
A hospital room.
Rain against the window.
Ava holding his hand after the accident.
You promised you would come back.
He pulled away from Marcus.
“How do you know that?”
A-01 touched her chest.
“I remember everything.”
Harris rushed between the two women.
“The transfer created a synchronized neural bridge.”
Ethan looked at Ava’s unconscious body.
“What did Nathan do?”
“He connected them.”
Harris checked Ava’s pulse.
“Every active memory inside Ava may now exist inside A-01.”
Marcus looked toward Nathan behind the glass.
“Then shut it down.”
“I cannot access the main controls.”
Harris pointed toward the white phoenix symbol.
“Protocol Phoenix has locked me out.”
Nathan stepped away from the control panel.
His image appeared across the monitors.
“Memory is not identity.”
His voice filled the room.
“That was Charles’s greatest mistake.”
Charles leaned against Marcus.
“My mistake was trusting you.”
Nathan smiled.
“You trusted everyone.”
Charles looked toward A-01.
“She was the first successful neural duplicate.”
Ethan shook his head.
“She is a person.”
“Yes.”
Charles’s eyes darkened.
“And that is why Nathan wanted her hidden.”
A-01 walked toward Ava.
She studied her face.
“Which one of us did you marry?”
Ethan felt the question like a blade entering his chest.
“You are not my wife.”
A-01 flinched.
The pain in her expression looked real.
Ava’s eyes suddenly opened.
She inhaled violently.
Ethan rushed to her side.
“Ava.”
She stared at him.
Then she looked at A-01.
“I can hear her.”
A-01 touched her temple.
“I can hear you too.”
Ava tried to pull free from the restraints.
Every movement made A-01 react as if she felt the same pain.
Harris examined the monitor.
“The bridge is bilateral.”
Marcus looked at him.
“Meaning?”
“They are sharing sensory information.”
“And memories.”
Ava turned toward Ethan.
Her voice trembled.
“She remembers our wedding.”
A-01 whispered the same words at the same time.
Ethan looked between them.
Ava continued.
“She remembers the lake house.”
A-01’s face softened.
“The broken heater.”
“The snowstorm.”
“The blue blanket.”
Ethan took a step back.
Those memories belonged to only two people.
At least, he had believed they did.
Ava closed her eyes.
Images flashed across the monitors.
Ethan carrying her through the snow.
Their first dance.
A quiet breakfast in Paris.
Then the images changed.
A white room.
Margaret standing over a little girl.
Dr. Harris recording notes.
Nathan watching from behind glass.
A child version of Ava pressed both hands against the chamber wall.
Across from her stood another child with the same face.
Charles stared at the footage.
“They were raised together.”
Harris nodded.
“For the first six years.”
Ethan turned toward him.
“You knew?”
“I monitored the early-stage trials.”
“You experimented on children.”
Harris did not defend himself.
His silence was enough.
Marcus grabbed him by the throat.
“My mother gave you children?”
Harris struggled to breathe.
“Margaret did not give us both of them.”
Marcus loosened his grip.
“What does that mean?”
Harris looked at Nathan’s image.
“One child belonged to Project Phoenix.”
“The other was stolen.”
Ethan looked at Ava.
“Which one?”
Harris’s eyes moved toward A-01.
“We never knew.”
Nathan’s voice returned.
“You knew enough.”
A hidden door opened behind him.
Armed Team Alpha soldiers entered the control chamber.
Their white protocol had ended.
Red lights appeared along their helmets.
Marcus raised his gun.
“Protocol White disabled them.”
Charles shook his head.
“White only interrupted their command chain.”
Nathan stepped between the soldiers.
“Phoenix replaced it.”
The soldiers raised their rifles.
Ethan shielded Ava.
A-01 stepped in front of him.
Every soldier stopped.
Nathan’s expression hardened.
A-01 looked toward the ceiling.
“Override command.”
Her voice changed.
It became colder.
Mechanical.
“Alpha One recognizes Phoenix Mother.”
The soldiers lowered their weapons.
Nathan stared at her.
“That command was deleted.”
A-01 smiled faintly.
“No.”
She turned toward Ava.
“It was hidden inside her.”
Ava’s body stiffened.
Her eyes rolled back.
The central monitor displayed a new message.
PRIMARY HOST IDENTIFIED.
Ethan looked at the screen.
The system was not pointing at Ava.
It was pointing at A-01.
Then Charles whispered the words none of them were prepared to hear.
May you like
“Ava was never the target.”
“She was the storage device.”
