Evelyn stared at the elderly man.
Every screen had shown his face.
Every secret had pointed to his name.
Yet seeing him standing there in the flesh felt impossible.
"You..." she whispered.
"You're really alive."
Dr. Elias Mercer inclined his head.
"I never stopped being alive."
"I simply stopped existing."
Benjamin remained frozen.
"For twenty-three years..."
"...the world believed you were dead."
Mercer gave a weary smile.
"I made certain of that."
His gaze settled on the glass cylinder at the center of the chamber.
"It was the only way to keep Genesis out of the wrong hands."
Evelyn stepped closer.
"Then why reveal yourself now?"
"Because," Mercer replied quietly, "the time for hiding has ended."
He gestured toward the black device inside the cylinder.
"That is not Ge
