Chapter 959
Julian met them at the entrance, leaning heavily on his cane, his face pale but his eyes carrying a steely resolve.
“We’re secure,” Julian said as the gates slammed shut behind them. “My private security has the perimeter locked down. Victor wouldn’t dare attack a Vance stronghold openly. It would start a war he can’t afford.”
“He already started it,” Liam said, helping Martha out of the van. “He tried to kill us.”
“Get Mrs. Carter to the guest wing,” Julian ordered his staff. “Victoria, attend to her immediately.”
“The drive,” Alistair said, holding up the locket. “We need your server room, Julian. Air-gapped and secure.”
“Follow me,” Julian said, turning. He moved slowly, each step a visible effort, his breath rattling in his chest.
They descended into the bowels of the estate, the air growing cooler and more hushed with every floor. The server room was a symphony of cooling fans and blinking lights, its massive mainframe towers humming with quiet power.
“I thought the Legacy Key was the set of gems,” Skye said, studying the towers. “The ones we’ve been hunting for months.”
“The gems were the physical encryption keys,” Julian explained, coughing into a handkerchief. “They unlocked the interface. But this server vault is the hardware — where the data actually lives. The gems were the key. This room is the door.”
Parker dropped into the main terminal chair and cracked his knuckles. He inserted the tiny chip from the locket into an isolated reader. “It’s encrypted,” he said immediately. “AES-256. But — wait. It’s asking for a biometric key. A voice print.”
𝘚𝘩𝘢𝗋𝗲 y𝗈𝘶r 𝗳a𝗏𝗈ri𝘵e𝘴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗴а𝘭𝘯𝗈𝘷𝖾𝗹s.𝖼𝗼m
“Whose?” Skye asked.
“Try Martha’s,” Alistair suggested.
Parker pulled a recording of his mother’s voice from the car ride and fed it into the system.
ACCESS DENIED.
“Try Dominic’s,” Skye said. “She said Dominic gave it to her.”
Alistair’s expression shifted. “I don’t have a recording of my father.”
“You have his voice,” Liam said. “Genetics. Try speaking.”
Alistair hesitated, then leaned into the microphone. “Project Pandora.”
The screen flashed green. ACCESS GRANTED.
“It worked,” Parker whispered, his voice filled with quiet awe. “The files are opening.”
The screen filled with cascading data — bank transfers, political bribes, assassination orders. Then a folder appeared, labeled simply: The Children.
“Open it,” Skye said.
Subject A: Alistair Thorne. Status: Active. Subject B: Liam Kensington. Status: Active. Subject C: Skye Sterling. Status: Monitoring. Subject D: Ethan Vance. Status: Failed. Terminate.
“They were tracking us,” Liam said, his voice low and dangerous. “Since we were children.”
“Ethan…” Julian stared at the screen, his face ashen. “He wasn’t just a subject. He was the prototype.”
The lights in the server room flickered and died. Emergency lighting bathed everything in a deep, blood-red glow.
“What happened?” Skye asked sharply.
“System override,” Parker said, typing furiously. “Someone is hacking us from the inside.”
“From inside?” Alistair drew his gun, eyes sweeping the room.
The heavy blast doors began to grind open with a slow, mechanical growl.
“We have visitors,” Liam said, leveling his weapon at the widening gap.
.