Chapter 20 · Prototype Twelve survived the memory purge

Across from them, Viktor appeared in his old suit. No gray hair. No lines around his eyes. Younger. Cleaner. Smiling at a camera.

"Prototype Twelve survived the memory purge," the recording said. "Emotional response remains excessive. Loyalty remains unlicensed. Recommend correction."

Kai felt his stomach twist. "Turn it off."

Lilith's face had gone pale. "I can't."

"You can cut the bridge."

"If I cut it now, your brain crashes."

"You knew this would happen?"

"I knew there was a chance."

"That means yes."

A second recording opened behind Viktor.

Lilith appeared in it, younger by a few years, standing in a corporate interrogation room. A dead man lay on the floor behind her. Her hands were clean. Her eyes were not.

"Name?" someone off-screen asked.

"Mara Voss," Lilith answered.

"You were ordered to bring the prototype back alive. Why is the handler dead?"

"He changed the order."

"Did he?"

Lilith in the recording looked straight into the camera. "He tried to erase the boy's mind. I stopped him."

Kai turned on her. "Boy?"

"You were seventeen," she said.

"You knew me before the apartment."

"I knew a file."

"You watched me for six months."

"I watched the facility.