THE PARALLAX PROTOCOL

The Original

The phone was warm in James's hand.

Subject 40 is not the last. The original is still out there.

He read the message three times, trying to understand. Subject 40 was Grace. The clone created from his and Evelyn's DNA. If she wasn't the last, there were more. And if the original was still out there—

"James." Evelyn touched his arm. "What does it mean?"

"I don't know. But I'm going to find out."

He handed the phone to Steven. "Trace this message. Find out where it came from."

Steven typed furiously. "The signal bounced through seven servers. Encrypted. Military-grade."

"Can you c***k it?"

"Give me time."

"We don't have time."

---

They returned to the church.

The children were exhausted, traumatized, but alive. Evelyn put them to bed while James paced the main hall.

Zero had disappeared again. No note. No explanation. Just gone.

"Why does she keep running?" David asked.

"Because she's scared. Of Morrison. Of Vance. Of herself."

"Of what she knows."

James nodded. "She knows who the original is. And she's not telling us."

---

The next morning, Steven made a breakthrough.

"The message came from a facility in Colorado. Aether Sciences backup site. Deep underground. No public records."

"What's there?"

"I don't know. But someone has been using the facility's systems recently. Communication logs. Data transfers. Power consumption."

"How do we get in?"

"There's a service entrance. Old mining tunnel. But it's heavily guarded."

James looked at David. "Another raid."

"We're getting good at those."

---

The drive to Colorado took two days.

They stopped only for gas and food. The children stayed behind with Christopher and Sarah, hidden in a new safe house.

James, David, Harper, and Evelyn approached the facility at dusk.

The entrance was disguised as a abandoned warehouse. But underground, the complex stretched for miles.

"Steven, any word on security?"

"Motion sensors. Cameras. Armed patrols. The usual."

"Can you disable them?"

"Already did. But the patrols are unpredictable. You'll have to move fast."

---

They entered through the mining tunnel.

The walls were damp, the air cold. Their flashlights cut through the darkness.

The tunnel opened into a massive underground complex. Rows of computers. Medical equipment. And more pods.

Dozens of pods.

Each one contained a body.

Evelyn gasped. "Are those—"

"Clones," James said. "Dozens of them."

They walked through the rows, looking at the faces. Men. Women. Children.

Some looked familiar. Others were strangers.

"Who are they?" Harper whispered.

"Replacements. For politicians. Generals. CEOs. Anyone Vance wanted to control."

James stopped in front of a pod.

Inside was a child. A little girl, no more than five years old. Brown hair. Brown eyes. A birthmark on her shoulder.

"Chloe," he breathed.

"No," Evelyn said. "Another clone. The original Chloe."

"But Chloe was a memory fragment. A glitch."

"Or she was real. Vance created her, then erased her memories. Made her think she was a glitch."

James felt sick.

"How many more are there?"

Steven's voice crackled through the earpiece. "James, I'm reading life signs. Dozens. They're all alive."

"We need to get them out."

"That's going to be difficult. The pods are connected to a central system. If we try to open them manually, we could trigger an alarm."

"Then we find the control room."

---

The control room was at the end of the complex.

Glass walls. Banks of monitors. A single chair.

And in the chair, a woman.

Not Vance. Not Zero. Someone else.

She was old, her hair white, her face wrinkled. But her eyes were sharp.

"James Cole," she said. "I've been waiting for you."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Eleanor Morrison. James Morrison's mother."

James stared at her. "Morrison's mother? You're supposed to be dead."

"I was supposed to be a lot of things. Dead. Forgotten. Irrelevant."

She stood up slowly, using a cane.

"My son was a fool. He thought he could control the protocol. Use it for his own ends. But I created the protocol. I funded the research. I recruited Vance."

"You're the original?"

"I'm the beginning. And the end."

Eleanor walked to the monitors. Screens showed the pods, the clones, the facility.

"My son wanted to erase memories. I wanted to create new ones. New identities. New loyalties. A new world."

"You're insane."

"I'm practical. The world is broken, James. War. Disease. Famine. Humans are flawed. But clones can be perfected."

"You're talking about genocide."

"I'm talking about evolution."

Eleanor pressed a button.

The pods began to open.

---

"James, we have a problem," Steven said. "The clones are waking up."

"How many?"

"All of them. Dozens. Maybe hundreds."

"We need to get out of here."

"Not without the children."

James looked at Eleanor. "Call it off."

"Can't. The process is automated. Once started, it can't be stopped."

"Then we'll stop it ourselves."

He ran to the control panel, smashed the buttons.

The pods kept opening.

Eleanor laughed. "You can't stop progress, James. You can only delay it."

David grabbed her. "Tell us how to shut it down."

"Kill me. The system will recognize my death and initiate emergency shutdown."

"You're lying."

"Try me."

David raised his gun.

"Wait," James said. "If she dies, the clones might die too."

"Or they might be freed."

"It's not worth the risk."

David lowered the gun.

Eleanor smiled. "Smart man. That's why I chose you."

"Chose me for what?"

"To lead. The clones need a leader. Someone strong. Someone they can trust."

"I'm not leading an army of clones."

"Then they'll find someone who will."

---

The first clone emerged from its pod.

A man in his thirties. Strong. Confused.

"Where am I?"

"You're safe," Eleanor said. "You're home."

The man looked around. At the pods. At the monitors. At James.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Eleanor. I'm your mother."

James stepped forward. "She's lying. You're a clone. Created in a laboratory."

The man frowned. "A clone?"

"Don't listen to him," Eleanor said. "He's confused. He's trying to hurt you."

The man looked at James. At Evelyn. At David.

"I don't know who to trust."

"Trust yourself," James said. "You have memories. Real ones. Think about them."

The man closed his eyes.

"I remember... a family. A wife. Children."

"Those aren't your memories," Eleanor said. "They were implanted. To give you a sense of identity."

"Implanted?"

"You're a new creation. A blank slate. You can be anyone you want to be."

The man opened his eyes. "I want to be myself."

"You don't have a self. Not yet."

Eleanor walked to him, took his hand.

"Let me help you. Let me show you who you can become."

The man looked at her. At her kind eyes. Her gentle smile.

"Okay."

James grabbed the man's arm. "Don't. She's using you."

The man pulled away. "I don't know you. I don't trust you."

"She's a monster."

"She's my mother."

"No. She's your creator. There's a difference."

---

More clones emerged from the pods.

Men. Women. Children.

They gathered around Eleanor, confused and frightened.

"Don't be afraid," Eleanor said. "I'm here to protect you. To guide you. To love you."

One of the children—a little girl—walked to Eleanor and hugged her leg.

"Mommy."

Eleanor stroked her hair. "Yes, sweetheart. Mommy's here."

James felt sick.

"We need to get out of here," David said.

"We can't leave them."

"We can't save them. Not today."

James looked at the clones. At the children. At Eleanor.

"This isn't over."

"No. It's not."

---

They ran.

Through the complex, past the pods, through the tunnel.

Behind them, alarms blared. Guards shouted.

They reached the entrance.

Steven was waiting with the van.

"Go! Go! Go!"

They drove away.

Behind them, the facility disappeared into the mountains.

---

The drive back was silent.

No one spoke. No one slept.

James stared out the window, watching the landscape blur.

"James," Evelyn said. "We'll find a way."

"How? Eleanor has an army of clones. She has resources. She has decades of planning."

"We have each other. We have the antidote. We have the truth."

"The truth isn't enough."

"Then we fight."

James looked at her. At the woman who had betrayed him, saved him, loved him.

"Okay. We fight."

---

They returned to the safe house.

The children ran to them, hugging them, crying.

Chloe held James's hand. "Daddy, I had a bad dream."

"Tell me about it."

"I dreamed I was in a pod. Like the one in the basement."

James's blood ran cold. "What basement?"

"The one in the lab. With all the other children."

Chloe had never been to Colorado. She had never seen the pods.

But she was describing them perfectly.

"Chloe, how do you know about the pods?"

She shrugged. "I just know. Like I know my name. Like I know you're my daddy."

James looked at Evelyn.

"The memories," Evelyn whispered. "They're not just implanted. They're shared."

"What do you mean?"

"All the clones are connected. A hive mind. Eleanor can access their memories, and they can access each other's."

"Chloe knows about the pods because another clone saw them."

"Yes."

James knelt beside Chloe. "Sweetheart, I need you to do something for me. I need you to close your eyes and think about the other children. The ones in the pods."

Chloe closed her eyes.

"I see them. They're scared. They want to go home."

"Where is home?"

"A big house. With a garden. And a woman with white hair."

"Eleanor."

"Her name is Grandma."

James felt sick.

"Chloe, can you tell the other children that we're coming? That we're going to save them?"

Chloe opened her eyes. "I can try."

"Thank you, sweetheart."

---

That night, James sat by the window.

Evelyn joined him.

"She's using the children," James said. "All of them. As soldiers. As spies. As weapons."

"I know."

"We need to stop her."

"How?"

"By finding the one thing she wants more than anything."

"What's that?"

"Me. She said she chose me. To lead the clones. If I pretend to cooperate, I can get close to her. Find out her plans. Then destroy her from the inside."

"That's suicide."

"Maybe. But it's our only chance."

Evelyn took his hand.

"Then I'm coming with you."

"No. You're staying with the children."

"James—"

"That's not negotiable."

Evelyn's jaw tightened. "You're impossible."

"I know."

---

The next morning, James sent a message.

Eleanor. I've changed my mind. I want to talk.

The response came immediately.

I knew you'd come around. Meet me at the facility. Come alone.

James looked at David. "If I'm not back in twenty-four hours, come get me."

"You're walking into a trap."

"Probably. But it's the only way."

He hugged Evelyn. Kissed Chloe. Said goodbye to the other children.

Then he drove toward the mountains.