Chapter 9 The Anniversary
964 Words
Vivienne barely slept.
The anonymous letter remained on her bedside table, its eight words refusing to leave her thoughts.
Ask Julian where he was one year ago today.
It could be a lie.
A distraction.
A calculated attempt to poison the trust she had spent fifteen years building.
Yet whoever sent it knew about Laboratory Twelve.
Only a handful of executives knew what had truly happened that night.
Officially, it had been declared an electrical fire caused by an overloaded quantum reactor.
Unofficially…
Nothing about that incident had ever made sense.
⸻
The following morning, New Avalon awakened beneath a blanket of gray clouds.
Vivienne arrived at headquarters earlier than usual.
Instead of going to her office, she descended to the Archive Division.
Rows upon rows of climate-controlled servers stretched into the distance, preserving every document Aegis had ever produced.
An elderly archivist looked up from his desk.
“Good morning, Doctor.”
“Morning, Harold.”
“What brings you down here?”
“I need access to the Laboratory Twelve investigation.”
Harold hesitated.
“Those files were sealed.”
“I know.”
“They require Board authorization.”
“They require mine.”
Harold smiled awkwardly.
“You wrote the policy.”
“And I never intended to become a victim of it.”
He chuckled before entering her authorization code.
Seconds later, thousands of archived files appeared.
Vivienne searched one phrase.
LABORATORY TWELVE
Three results appeared.
Incident Report.
Insurance Assessment.
Executive Timeline.
She opened the timeline first.
According to company records…
7:00 p.m.
Julian Drake departed New Avalon International Airport.
10:45 p.m.
Arrived in Geneva.
Meanwhile…
At 8:12 p.m.
Laboratory Twelve exploded.
Vivienne frowned.
She zoomed into the transportation log.
Something felt wrong.
The departure record had been digitally verified.
The arrival record…
Had not.
She enlarged the metadata.
Instead of airport verification…
The timestamp originated from inside Aegis Headquarters.
Her pulse quickened.
Someone had created Julian’s travel confirmation using an internal server.
Not airport customs.
Not airline security.
Inside the company.
She immediately copied the file onto an encrypted drive.
Before she could examine it further—
“Doctor Vance?”
She turned.
Harold stood frozen.
“There are two men asking for you.”
“Who?”
“They didn’t identify themselves.”
Vivienne slipped the drive into her pocket.
“I’ll meet them upstairs.”
⸻
The men waited outside the archive entrance.
Both wore expensive charcoal suits.
Neither smiled.
The taller one stepped forward.
“Doctor Vance.”
“Yes?”
“I’m Richard Coleman.”
He produced an identification badge.
Federal Technology Oversight Bureau
His partner displayed another.
“We’d appreciate a few minutes of your time.”
Vivienne remained calm.
“What concerns you?”
Coleman glanced around the corridor.
“Somewhere private.”
⸻
Inside a conference room, Coleman placed a sealed folder on the table.
“We’re conducting a confidential review of Project Lazarus.”
Vivienne folded her arms.
“On whose authority?”
“The federal government.”
“Lazarus isn’t government property.”
“Not yet.”
The emphasis wasn’t accidental.
Coleman slid several photographs across the table.
Satellite images.
Military installations.
Research facilities.
Defense contractors.
“What am I looking at?”
“The future.”
Vivienne studied the photographs.
Every location belonged to Helix Defense Systems.
Her expression hardened.
“They’ve already started construction.”
Coleman nodded.
“They expect the Board to approve military integration.”
Vivienne looked up sharply.
“The Board already approved it.”
“I know.”
She stared at him.
“How?”
Coleman leaned forward.
“Doctor Vance…”
“The vote was decided long before anyone entered that room.”
Silence.
“What are you saying?”
“The Board was manipulated.”
“By whom?”
“We don’t know.”
“But someone has been positioning people inside Aegis for years.”
Vivienne slowly sat back.
Years?
That wasn’t possible.
Unless…
“Why tell me?”
Coleman answered without hesitation.
“Because we believe you’re next.”
⸻
Across town…
Julian stood alone inside his penthouse office.
He poured himself a glass of mineral water before opening a secure laptop.
The screen requested biometric authentication.
Fingerprint accepted.
Retinal scan confirmed.
A hidden communication channel opened.
No names.
No video.
Only text.
Status?
Julian typed calmly.
Board approval complete.
Several seconds passed.
Another message appeared.
Doctor Vance?
Julian stared at the question.
Then replied.
She suspects nothing.
The cursor blinked.
Another response appeared.
Excellent. Continue Phase Five.
Julian closed the laptop.
His face remained unreadable.
He walked toward the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city.
After a long silence…
He quietly whispered,
“I’m sorry, Vivienne.”
⸻
At headquarters, Ethan burst into Vivienne’s office without knocking.
She immediately stood.
“What happened?”
He looked genuinely alarmed.
“I’ve been auditing executive access.”
“And?”
He placed a tablet before her.
“The security credentials used during every major breach…”
She read the report.
Executive Override.
Level Ten.
Authorization Owner:
Dr. Vivienne Vance.
She looked up.
“That’s impossible.”
“I know.”
“I didn’t authorize any of these.”
“I believe you.”
She continued reading.
Every unauthorized laboratory entry…
Every deleted surveillance file…
Every missing archive…
Every breach…
Had apparently been committed using her own executive credentials.
Someone wasn’t simply framing her.
They were systematically rewriting history.
Building evidence.
Constructing a case.
Slowly.
Patiently.
Perfectly.
Vivienne felt something she had not experienced in years.
Fear.
Not fear for herself.
Fear that she finally understood the pattern.
This wasn’t sabotage.
It wasn’t corporate espionage.
It was preparation.
Someone was arranging every piece on the chessboard…
So that when the final move came…
The entire world would believe she was the traitor.
- Writer
