Chapter 12 - THE PENDANTThe pendant opened.
Inside was a tiny encrypted chip.
Robert stared.
Thomas had hidden the key in Emily's jewelry.
They took it to Sarah Bennett.
The FBI agent decrypted the first layer.
A list appeared.
Names.
Generals.
Senators.
Judges.
CEOs.
Intelligence officials.
People across America.
Emily stared at the screen.
“This can't be real.”
Sarah shook her head.
“It is.”
Robert scrolled.
Then stopped.
His own name was there.
Beside it was another.
Margaret Hayes.
Emily looked at her father.
“Mom was part of Atlas?”
Sarah answered carefully.
“Not exactly.”
Another file opened.
It contained surveillance footage.
Margaret meeting Cole.
Margaret meeting Victor.
Margaret meeting Thomas.
But the dates were wrong.
Some footage had been recorded before Robert even met Margaret.
Robert realized something.
The videos were manufactured.
Someone had built a fake history.
Sarah looked horrified.
“Deepfake technology.”
Robert stared.
“They've been rewriting reality.”
Emily whispered:
“So who can we trust?”
Nobody answered.
Then Robert received a text.
From Margaret.
I'M ALIVE.
A location followed.
An abandoned church outside Arlington.
Robert wanted to go immediately.
Sarah stopped him.
“It could be a trap.”
Robert looked at her.
“Everything is a trap.”
He went anyway.
The church was empty.
Except for Margaret.
She stood beneath a stained-glass window.
Emily ran to her.
They embraced.
Robert stayed back.
Margaret looked at him.
“I know what you think.”
“I don't know what to think.”
She nodded.
“That means they succeeded.”
“What do you know?”
Margaret looked at Emily.
“The system doesn't need her blood anymore.”
Robert's face tightened.
“Then what does it need?”
May you like
Margaret whispered:
“Her decision.”
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