THE PARALLAX PROTOCOL

The Daughter Who Wasn't Real

James read Evelyn's message three times.

Morrison isn't going back to Chicago. He's going to the one place you'll never think to look. He's going after Chloe.

"That's impossible," Harper said, reading over his shoulder. "Chloe is a memory fragment. A glitch. She doesn't have a physical location."

"Then what does Evelyn mean?"

David grabbed his phone and called Steven. No answer. He tried Claire. Voicemail.

"Steven and Claire are in the wind. They could be anywhere."

James paced the cabin floor. The floodlights outside had been turned off. The guards were gone. The helicopter was just a fading sound in the distance.

"Morrison said he built the protocol once. He can build it again. What if he already has?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if Chloe isn't just a glitch? What if she's real?"

Harper shook her head. "That doesn't make sense. The files show that Emma was your only daughter. She died in the accident. Chloe is a construct—your brain's attempt to fill the gaps left by Emma's memory."

"But what if the construct has a physical counterpart? What if the program created Chloe somehow?"

Harper's eyes widened. "You're talking about cloning. Genetic replication. That's science fiction."

"So is memory erasure. So is the Parallax Protocol. So is everything we've seen in the past three days."

David stopped pacing. "Morrison has access to DARPA resources. DARPA has been working on genetic replication for years. It's not science fiction. It's black budget science."

James grabbed his jacket. "We need to find Steven. He's the only one who can track Morrison's communications."

"Where would Steven go?"

"Somewhere safe. Somewhere Ellsworth doesn't know about."

Harper thought for a moment. "The train yards. There's an abandoned maintenance shed near the old Union Station. Steven mentioned it once. Said he used it as a backup hideout."

"That's an hour from here."

"Then we better start driving."

---

The shed was hidden beneath a railway overpass, surrounded by weeds and rusted tracks.

James parked the car behind a pile of scrap metal. David and Harper followed him through a gap in the chain-link fence.

Steven had left the door unlocked.

Inside, the shed was small but organized. A cot in the corner. A table covered in computer equipment. A generator humming quietly in the back.

And Steven, sitting in a folding chair, Claire beside him.

"You made it," Steven said.

"Barely. Morrison had us cornered at the cabin. He let us go."

"Why?"

"Because Harper convinced him the data would go public if he hurt us."

Steven looked at Harper. "Dead man's switch?"

"Bluff. I didn't have time to set one up."

Steven smiled. "Good bluff."

James stepped forward. "Evelyn texted me. She said Morrison is going after Chloe."

Steven's smile faded. "That doesn't make sense."

"Everyone keeps saying that. But Morrison is a man who plans ahead. If he's going after Chloe, there must be a reason."

Claire stood up. "What if Chloe isn't just a memory? What if she's a person?"

"What kind of person?"

"Another Subject. Someone whose memories were erased and replaced with the identity of a little girl."

James felt his stomach drop. "You're saying Chloe could be a real child? Somewhere out there?"

"It's possible. The protocol doesn't just erase memories. It implants new ones. If Ellsworth wanted to create a false identity for a child, he could."

"But why would he?"

"To control you. If you believed Chloe was real, you'd do anything to protect her. You'd follow any lead. Trust any source. Walk into any trap."

James thought about the photograph. The one that changed every time he looked away. The one that sometimes showed Chloe, sometimes a dog, sometimes nothing.

"What if Morrison is going to hurt her?"

"What if Morrison is going to use her as bait?"

James looked at David. "We need to find her before he does."

"How? We don't know where she is. We don't even know if she exists."

Harper opened her laptop. "Let me work. Steven, help me trace Morrison's last known location."

Steven nodded. The two of them bent over the computer, typing in tandem.

James sat on the cot. Claire sat beside him.

"Your brother didn't come with us," James said.

"David stayed behind to pack up the cabin. He'll meet us later."

"Do you trust him?"

Claire hesitated. "I trust David with my life. But Andrew... Andrew was my uncle too. If he could betray us, anyone can."

James thought about Evelyn. About her text. About the warning she had sent.

"Evelyn is trying to help us."

"Or she's trying to lead us into another trap."

"She could have killed me a dozen times. She didn't."

"Maybe she's saving you for something worse."

Harper looked up from the laptop. "I found something."

She turned the screen around.

A map of the Chicago suburbs. A red circle around a neighborhood James didn't recognize.

"This is where Morrison's helicopter landed after leaving the cabin. It's a private airstrip near Oak Brook."

"What's in Oak Brook?"

"A research facility. Owned by Aether Sciences. The pharmaceutical company that developed the protocol."

James stood up. "That's where Chloe is."

"You don't know that."

"It's where I'd go if I wanted to hide something important."

Harper looked at Steven. Steven nodded.

"We'll go with you. But we need a plan."

---

The Aether Sciences facility was a cluster of low buildings surrounded by a high fence.

Security cameras dotted the perimeter. Guard towers stood at each corner. A gatehouse controlled access to the main road.

James studied the facility through a pair of binoculars. "This is Fort Knox."

"Worse," Steven said. "Fort Knox has gold. This has secrets."

"How do we get in?"

"There's a drainage culvert on the north side. It leads under the fence. But it's narrow. Only one person at a time."

"I'll go," James said.

"No," Harper said. "We go together."

"Someone needs to stay back and monitor the cameras."

Steven raised his hand. "That's me. I can hack their system from here. Give you a ten-minute window."

David pulled up in a stolen delivery van. "Found transportation."

"Where did you get that?"

"Don't ask."

The plan was simple. Steven would disable the cameras for ten minutes. James, Harper, and David would crawl through the culvert, enter the facility, and search for Chloe.

If they found her, they would extract her through the same route.

If they didn't, they would plant evidence and get out.

"Ten minutes," Steven said. "No more."

---

The culvert was dark and cold.

James crawled first, his hands scraping against the concrete. Water seeped through his clothes. The sound of his breathing echoed off the walls.

Behind him, Harper. Behind her, David.

The tunnel seemed to go on forever.

Then light.

James pushed against a metal grate. It swung open.

He climbed out into a maintenance yard. Pipes and valves surrounded him. Steam hissed from a nearby vent.

Harper and David emerged behind him.

"This way," James whispered.

They moved through the facility, staying in the shadows.

The buildings were connected by covered walkways. Security cameras watched every corner, but Steven had disabled them. Red lights blinked, but no one was watching.

James found a door marked AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. He tried the handle. Locked.

David pulled out a small device—an electronic lock pick. He pressed it against the keypad. The lock clicked open.

Inside was a corridor lined with doors.

James tried the first door. A laboratory. Rows of microscopes and computers. Empty.

The second door. An office. Files scattered across a desk. Photographs on the walls.

James froze.

The photographs showed a little girl. Brown hair. Brown eyes. A smile that reminded him of someone.

Chloe.

Not a memory. Not a glitch. A real child, photographed at different ages. At a park. At a school. At what looked like a birthday party.

"James," Harper said. "We need to move."

He pulled out his phone and photographed the pictures. Then he grabbed a file from the desk.

The file was labeled SUBJECT 38 — CHLOE.

He opened it.

Subject 38 is a genetic replication of Subject 12's deceased daughter, Emma Cole. Created using DNA extracted from Subject 12's bone marrow. Gestational carrier: unknown. Current age: 6 years. Current location: Secure housing, Aether Sciences Facility, Oak Brook.

Purpose: To study the effects of memory transfer between genetically identical subjects. Subject 38 has been implanted with memory fragments from Subject 12's original daughter. Preliminary results suggest the fragments are taking hold.

James's hands shook.

Chloe was real. She was a clone of Emma. A genetic copy created from his own DNA.

And Morrison had been using her to study memory transfer.

"James, we have to go," David said. "Three minutes left."

"The file says she's in secure housing. That means she's here. In this building."

"Then we find her. Fast."

They ran down the corridor, checking every door.

The fourth door opened onto a staircase. Down. Not up.

The basement.

James led the way.

The basement was different from the upper floors. Warmer. Brighter. Painted in soft colors.

A children's play area. Toys scattered across the floor. A small bed in the corner.

And on the bed, a little girl.

Chloe.

She looked exactly like the photograph. Brown hair. Brown eyes. A small birthmark on her left shoulder, shaped like a strawberry.

The same birthmark James remembered.

"Chloe?" James whispered.

The girl opened her eyes.

"Daddy?"

James's heart shattered.

He ran to her, gathered her in his arms. She felt real. Solid. Warm.

"I knew you'd come," Chloe said. "The bad man said you wouldn't. But I knew."

"Who's the bad man?"

"Grandpa."

James looked at Harper. Harper's face was pale.

"Colonel Morrison," Harper said. "He's been raising her. Conditioning her."

"We need to get her out of here."

They ran.

Up the stairs. Through the corridor. Past the laboratory, the office, the maintenance yard.

The culvert.

"Go," David said. "I'll cover the rear."

James pushed Chloe through the tunnel first. She was small enough to crawl quickly.

Harper followed. Then James. Then David.

The grate at the other end. James pushed it open.

Steven was waiting. His face was white.

"They know. Someone tripped an alarm. Security is flooding the facility."

"We have Chloe. Let's go."

They ran to the van. David jumped into the driver's seat. James held Chloe in the back, Harper beside him.

The van roared to life.

Behind them, sirens.

---

They drove for an hour before stopping.

James held Chloe the entire time. She fell asleep in his arms, her breathing soft and steady.

Harper looked at the file James had grabbed. "Subject 38. Genetic replication. Memory transfer." She looked up. "Morrison wasn't just erasing memories. He was trying to transfer them. From you to her."

"Why?"

"Because if he could transfer memories, he could create perfect soldiers who didn't need training. He could upload skills, experiences, even identities."

James looked at Chloe's sleeping face.

"She's not Emma. She's not the daughter I lost."

"No. But she's someone. A person. A child who deserves a chance."

James kissed Chloe's forehead.

"We need to keep her safe. Morrison will come for her."

"Then we'll be ready."

David glanced in the rearview mirror. "Where to?"

"Away from here. Somewhere Morrison can't find us."

Steven typed on his laptop. "There's a safe house in Indiana. Off the grid. My contact owns it."

"How far?"

"Three hours."

"Then drive."

---

The safe house was a farmhouse surrounded by cornfields.

No neighbors. No cameras. No technology that could be tracked.

James carried Chloe inside and laid her on a bed. She didn't wake up.

Harper set up a monitoring station in the kitchen. Steven worked on securing their communications.

David stood by the window, watching the road.

"We can't hide forever," David said.

"We don't need forever. We need long enough to go public."

"Morrison has people everywhere. In the media. In the government. In law enforcement. Going public might not be enough."

"Then what do you suggest?"

David turned from the window. "We need to find the one person Morrison can't buy or intimidate."

"Who?"

"His daughter. Evelyn."

James shook his head. "Evelyn has been lying to me for twelve years. I can't trust her."

"You trusted her enough to follow her text message. You trusted her enough to find Chloe."

"Maybe that was part of the plan."

"Maybe. But maybe she's finally ready to choose a side."

James looked at Chloe, sleeping in the next room.

"Call her."

---

Evelyn arrived at dawn.

She looked tired. Haunted. Like she hadn't slept in days.

James met her on the porch.

"Why are you here?"

"Because David called. Because I'm scared. Because my father is a monster, and I've been too afraid to admit it."

"You helped him. For years."

"I helped him because I thought he was right. I thought the protocol was helping people. But I was wrong."

Evelyn stepped closer.

"I know where my father is going next. He's not just after Chloe. He's after the one thing that can destroy him."

"What?"

"The original research. Dr. Helena Vance's notes. Before the military classified them. Before Ellsworth twisted them. The pure science behind the protocol."

"Where are the notes?"

"Hidden in a place my father doesn't know about. A place Harper's foster brother can access."

"Christopher Vance?"

Evelyn nodded. "Harper's brother is a cop. He has access to evidence lockers. The notes are in one of them, sealed as part of a cold case."

"What cold case?"

"Dr. Vance's murder. She didn't die in a lab accident. My father had her killed."

James stared at her.

"Help me get those notes," Evelyn said. "And I'll help you destroy the Parallax Protocol forever."