Chapter 6 - The Girl Beneath Us
The bolts fell away one by one.
A hand came through the hatch, grabbed Iris's sleeve, and pulled her down. I followed, coughing until my chest hurt.
The woman waiting below wore gray scrubs and had my face. Up close, she looked exhausted. A pale surgical line ran behind her ear.
"Wren," she said. "Save the introductions."
"Our father is still up there," I rasped.
"He's at the emergency console. He has a breathing mask. He'll close the gas valve if I give him time."
She guided us into a narrow utility shaft. A fan thundered overhead. Fresh air washed over my face, and I nearly cried from relief.
Iris gripped Wren's arm. "Why should we trust you?"
"You shouldn't. But I didn't spend twenty-eight years inside a locked building to watch them bury two more women alive."
Wren had grown up below White Pine, taught by cameras, technicians, and a rotating cast of caretakers. When she misbehaved, the lights went out. When she obeyed, she was allowed to read books that weren't about medicine.
"You were here the whole time?" I asked.
"Sometimes upstairs. Usually behind glass. My first window was a television."
She twisted a valve on the wall. The chemical hiss stopped. Above us, a warning buzzer faded.
Through a grate, I saw Elias slump over the controls. He looked up and gave us a weak thumbs-up.
"The tanks are safe," Wren said. "For now."
I wanted to touch my father's shoulder. I wanted to slap him. Both feelings made me ashamed.
Wren reached into her pocket and handed me a key ring marked MEDICAL ARCHIVE.
"Dr. Rusk moved our mother's original recordings yesterday. If she destroys them, she'll tell the world you were lab-grown impostors."
"Why would anyone believe that?"
Wren's eyes filled with something colder than fear.
"Because she's already written the story. And because the three of us have the same DNA."
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Above the shaft, a steel door slammed. Rusk's voice drifted down, speaking to someone I couldn't see.
"Bring me Wren. The other two are expendable."
