Chapter 21 · The Order Came From Me

The photo on the last page isn't a surveillance still.

It's a selfie.

I'm holding the camera. My hair's shorter. There's blood on my collar, and I'm smiling like I just won something. The timestamp says three days before I died.

I flip the page.

There's a transcript underneath. Audio log, dated the same night.

[Subject 11-I requests termination protocol.]

[Agent C confirms: verbal contract, witnessed.]

[Authorization: Subject's own directive.]

I read it twice. Then I look up at Cain.

"What the hell is this?"

He's leaning against the door, arms crossed. His face is calm. Too calm.

"Exactly what it says."

"No." I shake my head. "I didn't—"

"You did."

My hands are shaking. I put the file down before I tear it. "Why would I tell you to kill me?"

"You had your reasons."

"What reasons?"

Cain doesn't answer. He just watches me like he's waiting for something to click.

I stand up. The chair scrapes loud against the floor. "This is fake. You doctored it."

"I didn't."

"Then someone else did. The academy, or whoever runs this sick experiment—"

"Ivy." His voice cuts through mine. "You said the code.