Chapter 6 - The Signature
"I signed because Victoria had Elena," Jonas said.
Clara slapped the file onto the table. "You signed away your daughter."
"I know what it looks like."
"It looks exactly like your name."
Jonas closed his eyes. When he opened them, there was no defense left in his face.
"We split one early embryo because Elena had a rare inherited disorder. We hoped identical cell lines could help us develop a treatment. Two girls were born healthy. They should have grown up together. Instead, Victoria claimed the research and ordered Mara kept on the estate."
"And me?"
"Elena got you out with June. When Victoria threatened to shut off the support keeping Elena alive, I agreed to the monitoring."
"You could have told someone."
"I tried. Three people disappeared. I stopped thinking like a father and started thinking like a man who wanted one more day."
The answer hurt because it sounded true. It didn't make it right.
On the far wall, a video began playing without warning. It showed Jonas twenty-two years earlier in a white coat, arguing with someone outside the frame.
"No," the younger Jonas said. "I will not authorize termination of 0B."
A hand covered part of the lens. The sound cut out. On the file summary beneath the video, someone had typed: REED APPROVES TERMINATION.
"That's how she kept me here," Jonas said. "A falsified confession can be more useful than a locked door."
Clara checked the file properties. Last modified: yesterday.
"Who changed it?"
The monitor answered for him. A new access badge had just been scanned at the upper elevator.
May you like
MARA REED. PRIMARY HOST 0A.
And beneath the name was a timer counting down from sixty seconds.
