I couldn’t.
For twenty-two years, I had lived with questions.
Now the answers were finally within reach.
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
My wife.
My mother.
Thomas.
And another person.
My father.
All four standing together.
The photograph was dated six months after my wife’s supposed death.
On the back were three words:
“She knows everything.”
I looked at Daniel.
“Who took this?”
“Dad.”
“Where are they?”
“I don’t know.”
Then a door slammed somewhere above us.
Daniel immediately raised his weapon.
“We have to move.”
We entered a service corridor.
The building was almost completely dark.
Then my daughter’s phone rang.
She answered.
A man’s voice said:
“Bring Robert to the old Walker factory.”
Daniel grabbed the phone.
“Who is this?”
The caller laughed.
“Your father.”
The line went dead.
We reached the factory an hour later.
The place had been abandoned for decades.
Inside, we found an old office.
A single lamp was burning.
A man sat behind the desk.
I stopped.
My father.
Older.
Thinner.
But unmistakably him.
He looked at me.
“Robert.”
I couldn’t speak.
He stood.
“I know you have questions.”
“You’re alive.”
“Yes.”
“You let me bury you.”
“I had no choice.”
“You let me believe Thomas was dead.”
“He had to disappear.”
“You let me believe my wife was dead.”
His face changed.
“She had to disappear too.”
“Why?”
He pointed to the wall.
A massive screen turned on.
It showed thousands of names.
People.
Organizations.
Transactions.
Messages.
“Northstar became something I never intended.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“You created it.”
“I created the technology.”
“And you sold it.”
“To governments.”
“And private companies.”
“Yes.”
“Then you knew what they were doing.”
My father looked at him.
“I knew eventually.”
He pressed a button.
The screen changed.
It showed a video of my wife.
She was sitting at a table.
Alive.
She looked directly into the camera.
“If Robert ever sees this, tell him I am sorry.”
My knees weakened.
Her voice continued.
“I didn’t leave because I stopped loving you.”
She wiped a tear.
“I left because the people around us were watching everything.”
Then she said:
“Your brother saved me.”
The video ended.
I turned toward Thomas.
He was standing in the doorway.
Alive.
My father looked at him.
“You came.”
Thomas nodded.
“You knew I’d come.”
“Yes.”
Thomas stepped forward.
“You lied to him.”
My father looked at me.
“I lied to everyone.”
“Why?”
“Because there was one person I couldn’t identify.”
“Who?”
My father looked at Daniel.
“Your oldest son.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
My father said:
“Northstar’s final access key belongs to Daniel.”
Daniel stared at him.
“That isn’t possible.”
“It was created using his identity when he was a child.”
My father looked at me.
“Your son has unknowingly been carrying the key for twenty-five years.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Then why did you make me an FBI agent?”
My father answered:
“Because I needed someone inside the system.”
Daniel stepped back.
“You used me.”
“Yes.”
“And Mom?”
“She discovered the truth.”
“And Grandma?”
“She helped hide her.”
I felt betrayed by everyone.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
My father looked at me.
“Because you were the only person Northstar couldn’t monitor.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Yet they watched me for twenty years.”
“Yes.”
“Then why?”
“Because someone wanted you alive.”
“Who?”
My father didn’t answer.
Instead, he looked toward the doorway.
“She’s here.”
I turned.
My wife stood there.
Alive.
Older.
But unmistakably her.
I couldn’t breathe.
She whispered:
“Robert.”
I walked toward her.
For twenty-two years, I had imagined touching her face.
Now I finally could.
I held her.
She cried.
So did I.
Then she whispered into my ear:
“I’m sorry.”
I stepped back.
“Who did this to us?”
She looked toward the ceiling.
“Not one person.”
“Who?”
“A network.”
Then the factory doors slammed shut.
Locks engaged.
My father looked alarmed.
“Everyone down.”
The lights went red.
A voice echoed through the building.
“Northstar has been activated.”
Daniel stared at his phone.
His screen displayed one message:
ACCESS GRANTED.
PART 8
Daniel dropped the phone.
“What happened?”
He shook his head.
“I didn’t do that.”
My wife stepped toward him.
“It’s happening.”
“What?”
“Your father’s system just activated.”
Thomas looked at my father.
“You said it was impossible.”
“It was.”
“Then someone has the master key.”
My daughter asked:
“Who?”
My wife looked at me.
“Your daughter.”
Everyone turned toward her.
She stared at us.
“I don’t have anything.”
My wife walked closer.
“You’ve had it since you were six.”
My daughter looked confused.
“What are you talking about?”
“The necklace your grandmother gave you.”
She touched the necklace around her neck.
“This?”
“Yes.”
She removed it.
My wife opened the pendant.
Inside was a tiny electronic chip.
Daniel stared at it.
“That isn’t jewelry.”
“No,” my father said.
“It’s the final Northstar key.”
Suddenly, the factory screens activated.
A countdown appeared.
10:00
Thomas looked at my father.
“What happens at zero?”
“The entire Northstar archive becomes public.”
Daniel stared at the screen.
“That would expose thousands of people.”
“Yes.”
“Some innocent.”
“Yes.”
“And some guilty.”
“Yes.”
“Then stop it.”
My father shook his head.
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because the system is no longer connected to me.”
My wife stepped forward.
“Then we have one option.”
“What?”
“Destroy it.”
Daniel looked at her.
“If we destroy Northstar, we destroy evidence too.”
She nodded.
“That is why we must copy the evidence first.”
My daughter understood.
“The memory card.”
“Yes.”
We connected the card to the main terminal.
The countdown continued.
7:42
Files began transferring.
Names appeared.
Payments.
Locations.
Orders.
Photographs.
My wife stared at the screen.
Then suddenly she stopped.
“Robert.”
“What?”
She pointed.
My name appeared.
Next to it was an order.
STATUS: PROTECTED WITNESS.
I stared.
“Protected from whom?”
She scrolled.
The answer appeared.
PROJECT DIRECTOR.
Below it was a photograph.
My father.
I looked at him.
“You ordered me protected?”
He nodded.
“Why?”
“Because I loved you.”
I shook my head.
“You destroyed my life.”
“I know.”
The transfer reached eighty percent.
Then the system locked.
A red message appeared.
REMOTE OVERRIDE.
My father cursed.
“They found us.”
The factory doors opened.
Men entered.
But this time, there were dozens.
Daniel raised his weapon.
“Federal agents!”
A woman stepped forward.
She wore an FBI badge.
“Daniel Walker, you’re under arrest.”
Daniel lowered his weapon.
“On what charge?”
“Treason.”
She pointed at me.
“And your father is wanted for conspiracy.”
My wife stepped forward.
“Show me the warrant.”
The woman smiled.
“I don’t need one.”
Thomas whispered:
“That’s not an FBI operation.”
Daniel looked at her badge.
Then at her face.
“Your badge number is fake.”
The woman froze.
Daniel shouted:
“DOWN!”
Gunfire erupted.
Everyone dropped.
Glass shattered.
My daughter pulled me behind a desk.
Thomas returned fire.
Mark appeared from a side entrance.
“Move!”
We ran through a maintenance tunnel.
Behind us, alarms screamed.
The countdown continued.
2:11
Daniel grabbed the terminal cable.
“We need ten more seconds.”
The transfer was almost complete.
“Keep going!”
1:30
More footsteps approached.
My wife held the door.
“Daniel!”
“Almost!”
0:47
My father looked at me.
“If this reaches the public server, there is no going back.”
“Do it.”
0:12
Daniel pressed Enter.
The screen flashed.
TRANSFER COMPLETE.
Then everything went black.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Daniel whispered:
“It’s done.”
But my father shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
He pointed toward the screen.
One line remained.
SECONDARY ARCHIVE: ACTIVE.
My wife looked at me.
“There is another server.”
“Where?”
She whispered:
“Under your house.”
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