Lily. “C…Mom…” Then silence. Complete silence. The AI voice echoed through the corridor. LABYRINTH SEQUENCE INITIATED. PATHS HAVE BEEN SEPARATED. REUNIFICATION IS NOT AUTHORIZED. I turned toward Nathan Cross. “What is a Labyrinth?” He looked physically sick. “It was Harold Bennett’s final security system.” “You knew about this?” “I knew it existed.” “You didn’t think to mention it?” “I never thought anyone would activate it.”
The countdown continued above us. 56:31 56:30 Ashcroft laughed quietly. “Congratulations.” Cross ignored him. “There are three independent routes through the Foundry.” “Each route constantly changes.” I frowned. “Changes?” “The walls move.” I stared. “You’re joking.” “I wish I were.” A deep mechanical rumble echoed beneath our feet. The concrete corridor shifted. Not metaphorically. Literally. The walls rotated. Entire sections slid sideways. A passage that had been on our right disappeared.
Another appeared where solid concrete had stood seconds earlier. The Foundry was alive. Not with people. With engineering. Ashcroft folded his hands behind his back. “Harold always loved puzzles.” Cross looked at him. “He designed them for invaders.” Ashcroft smiled. “And now you’re the invaders.” Suddenly… The heavy barrier separating Emily from us displayed glowing blue letters. PATH TWO OCCUPANT IDENTIFIED. EMILY ROSS SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 31% Emily’s voice faintly echoed through hidden speakers.
“Claire!”
“I’m here!”
“Find Lily!”
“We’ll find both of you!”
“No.”
Her voice was calm now.
The calm Emily always found before impossible missions.
“If you have to choose…”
My stomach tightened.
“Don’t.”
“If you have to choose…”
“…save Lily.”
The speakers went dead.
I closed my eyes.
She had already made peace with dying.
Again.
Cross grabbed my shoulder.
“We don’t have time.”
He pointed ahead.
Three corridors had appeared.
Each marked by a glowing number.
PATH ONE.
PATH TWO.
PATH THREE.
Ashcroft remained standing exactly where he was.
Completely relaxed.
I pointed my pistol at him.
“Move.”
He smiled.
“No.”
“You’ll die here.”
“Perhaps.”
“Then why stay?”
“Because history deserves a witness.”
Cross shook his head.
“No.”
“You aren’t the witness.”
“You’re the final chapter.”
Ashcroft laughed.
“I taught you better than that.”
“No.”
Cross’s voice became surprisingly emotional.
“You taught me obedience.”
“Harold taught me conscience.”
The AI interrupted.
FIFTY-FIVE MINUTES REMAINING.
SELECT ROUTES.
Cross looked toward the three corridors.
“Emily is in Path Two.”
“Lily?”
He hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
Ashcroft finally spoke.
“I do.”
Neither of us looked at him.
“Lily isn’t with Emily.”
I slowly turned.
“What?”
“She never was.”
Emily’s voice…
The little girl’s cries…
Ashcroft smiled.
“You assumed they were together.”
Cross looked horrified.
“You separated them.”
“Of course.”
“The child is the objective.”
“The mother is the distraction.”
Rage surged through me.
I crossed the room before I realized I had moved.
My fist connected with Ashcroft’s jaw.
He stumbled backward.
Blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.
He laughed.
Actually laughed.
“Good.”
“You still have emotion.”
I hit him again.
Harder.
Cross pulled me back.
“Claire!”
“He deserves worse.”
“He’ll get worse.”
Ashcroft wiped the blood away.
“You’ve grown.”
“I remember when you cried after your first evaluation.”
I froze.
Cross stared at him.
“What did you say?”
Ashcroft looked directly at me.
“You really don’t remember.”
Ice spread through my chest.
“Remember what?”
“The summer.”
“What summer?”
“You were seven.”
I shook my head.
“My father—”
“Edward Mercer wasn’t your father.”
Everything stopped.
Every sound.
Every thought.
Every heartbeat.
“No.”
Ashcroft tilted his head.
“He raised you.”
“He loved you.”
“But he didn’t father you.”
Cross slowly stepped between us.
“Arthur.”
“Don’t.”
Ashcroft ignored him.
“Ask Nathan.”
I looked at Cross.
He wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“Nathan…”
Silence.
“Nathan.”
His voice barely escaped.
“I found fragments.”
“What fragments?”
“Your childhood medical records.”
I felt the floor disappear beneath me.
“What did they say?”
Cross swallowed.
“They began when you were eight.”
“So?”
“There was nothing before that.”
I stared.
“My birth certificate.”
“Created.”
“My school records.”
“Edited.”
“My hospital records.”
“Destroyed.”
I took one step backward.
“No…”
Ashcroft nodded gently.
“You’ve spent your entire life searching for hidden identities.”
He smiled.
“Without realizing…”
“…your own was the first one stolen.”
The countdown continued.
54:02
54:01
A shrill alarm suddenly interrupted the silence.
One of the corridor displays changed.
Instead of numbers…
A live camera feed appeared.
A small room.
Metal walls.
One chair.
Sitting quietly on it…
Was Lily.
She couldn’t have been older than eight.
Dark hair.
Wide frightened eyes.
She hugged a stuffed rabbit tightly against her chest.
She wasn’t crying.
She simply looked confused.
A voice spoke from hidden speakers inside her room.
“Hello, Lily.”
She looked upward.
“Where’s my mommy?”
No answer.
Instead…
Another monitor lit up.
Displaying Emily.
Running alone through an endless maze of moving corridors.
She had no idea where Lily was.
Ashcroft quietly spoke.
“The game has begun.”
Cross looked toward the screens.
Then toward the three paths.
Then back at me.
His expression had become one of impossible realization.
“Oh no…”
“What?”
He whispered words I never expected to hear.
“There isn’t one child.”
I frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Cross pointed at Lily’s screen.
Then another monitor activated.
Another little girl appeared.
Same age.
Same hair.
Same rabbit.
Then another screen.
A third identical child.
Then a fourth.
Four little girls.
All looking exactly like Lily.
All alive.
All calling for their mother.
Ashcroft smiled.
“You can’t rescue the right child…”
“…until you know which one is real.”
END OF PART 21
