“I was nineteen.”
He slowly stepped backward.
“And this man was in Denver.”
Robert asked:
“Are you saying you have a twin?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed toward the screen.
“I’m saying someone has been wearing my face since I was nineteen.”
The computer suddenly made a sharp sound.
A new message appeared.
SUBJECT HAS DISCOVERED THE ARCHIVE.
Then:
REMOTE WIPE INITIATED.
Robert jumped toward the keyboard.
“Someone’s deleting it!”
Daniel grabbed the folder.
“Copy everything.”
“To where?”
Daniel looked around.
There was an old metal cabinet beside the desk.
He opened it.
Inside was a small black device.
A portable storage drive.
His father’s handwriting was engraved across it.
T.C. — ORIGINAL
Daniel picked it up.
“Here.”
Robert connected it.
The files began copying.
12%
18%
24%
The remote deletion continued.
ACCESS DENIED
FILE REMOVED
FILE REMOVED
FILE REMOVED
Claire watched helplessly.
“How long?”
Robert checked.
“Three minutes.”
“How long to copy?”
“Four.”
Daniel looked at the progress bar.
“Then we have a problem.”
The lights suddenly went out.
The room went dark.
Claire gasped.
Robert pulled out a flashlight.
Daniel heard something outside.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Someone was coming down the corridor.
Robert whispered:
“Security?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“How do you know?”
Daniel listened.
The footsteps stopped.
A voice came from the other side of the door.
“Daniel.”
He froze.
It was his voice.
Exactly.
Same tone.
Same rhythm.
Same voice.
Claire looked at him in terror.
“Who is that?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
The voice outside spoke again.
“Open the door.”
Robert whispered:
“That’s you.”
Daniel stared at the door.
“I know.”
The handle began turning.
The storage drive showed:
67%
Then:
68%
Daniel reached for the old metal cabinet.
He found a second door behind it.
A narrow emergency passage.
He looked at Robert.
“Take the drive.”
Robert grabbed it.
Claire followed.
Daniel remained behind for a moment.
The door handle turned again.
The voice outside spoke softly.
“Daniel, you don’t understand.”
Daniel stared at the door.
“Who are you?”
Silence.
Then:
“I’m the reason your father disappeared.”
Daniel’s blood ran cold.
The voice continued.
“And I’m the only person who can tell you why.”
The storage drive reached:
100%
Robert grabbed Daniel’s arm.
“Now!”
Daniel stepped into the passage.
They closed the hidden door behind them.
Seconds later, the old office door opened.
Someone entered.
Daniel could hear footsteps inside.
Then silence.
The three of them moved through the narrow passage.
Robert whispered:
“Where does this lead?”
Daniel looked ahead.
“Back to the terminal.”
“Good.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“This passage doesn’t lead back.”
He pointed toward the darkness.
“It leads underneath Gate 41.”
Claire stared.
“How do you know?”
Daniel looked at the old blueprint.
His father’s handwriting was visible in the corner.
If they ever find the archive, go below Gate 41.
Daniel folded the paper.
“We’re not running away.”
Robert frowned.
“Then what are we doing?”
Daniel looked toward the darkness.
“We’re going to find out what my father hid down there.”
Behind them, the footsteps began again.
But this time, they were coming through the hidden passage.
Someone had found the door.
Claire whispered:
“Daniel.”
He turned.
She pointed ahead.
A faint light had appeared in the darkness.
Not emergency lighting.
A screen.
Someone had already activated it.
And on the screen were four words:
WELCOME, MR. CROSS.
Then a fifth word appeared.
FATHER.
Daniel Cross stood motionless in the darkness.
The screen at the end of the passage glowed with a cold blue light.
WELCOME, MR. CROSS.
Then the final word appeared.
FATHER.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Robert Kline slowly raised his flashlight.
“Did that just say what I think it said?”
Daniel nodded.
Claire stared at the screen.
“Your father?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
His attention was fixed on the word.
FATHER.
Sixteen years ago, Thomas Cross had disappeared.
The official explanation had been an accident.
There had been no body.
No funeral.
No proper investigation.
Just paperwork.
A termination record.
An identity revocation.
And a family left with unanswered questions.
Daniel had spent years telling himself that his father was dead because there was nothing else he could believe.
Now a hidden system beneath an airport had greeted him using the same word.
Not Daniel.
Not Director Cross.
Not Executive.
Father.
Daniel stepped toward the screen.
A fingerprint scanner appeared beneath it.
Robert immediately grabbed his shoulder.
“Wait.”
Daniel looked at him.
“What?”
“We don’t know what that is.”
Daniel looked at the scanner.
“Neither did my father when he built it.”
“How do you know?”
Daniel pointed toward the bottom of the screen.
Tiny letters were visible.
T.C. SYSTEMS — ORIGINAL ARCHITECTURE
Thomas Cross.
His father.
Daniel slowly placed his hand on the scanner.
Nothing happened.
Then the screen changed.
IDENTITY CONFIRMED.
Claire inhaled sharply.
A hidden door opened in the wall.
Beyond it was a narrow staircase descending into darkness.
Robert stared.
“That wasn’t on the blueprint.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“No.”
“Then where does it go?”
Daniel looked down.
“Wherever my father wanted it to.”
They descended.
The staircase seemed to go much deeper than the airport itself should have allowed.
One level.
Two.
Three.
The air became colder.
The sounds of the terminal disappeared completely.
There was only the echo of their footsteps.
After several minutes, they reached a landing.
A metal door stood ahead.
This one had a small glass window.
Beyond it was a room filled with old computer equipment.
But unlike the abandoned office above, these machines were running.
Green lights blinked.
Cooling fans hummed.
A monitor displayed a live feed of the airport.
Another showed passenger records.
Another displayed security camera footage.
Daniel stopped.
“How old is this system?”
Robert looked around.
“Some of this hardware is at least fifteen years old.”
“Still operational.”
“Apparently.”
Claire whispered:
“Someone has been maintaining it.”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
He stepped inside.
On the central desk sat an old black telephone.
Next to it was a handwritten note.
Popular Posts
→- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Recently Viewed
Stories you read recently will appear here.
