"You wanted the truth. Here it is."
Celeste stood in her mother’s office again.
She shouldn’t have come. Subject Twelve had warned her not to.
Her instincts had screamed don’t go.
But she needed actual answers — now not half-truths or guesses.
Her mom sat behind her grand table, calm as ever, like she had been expecting this moment."I’m listening," Celeste said quietly.
"Sit down first."
"I’ll stand."
Her mother gave a faint smile. "Still stubborn. You got that from me."
"I didn’t come here to talk about that. I want the truth about Silent Crown. What it really is. What you did. And why."
"Where do I start?"
"The beginning. And don’t lie to me. I’ll know."
Her mother poured herself a drink. She didn’t offer Celeste one.
Typical.
"The project started forty years ago," she bega
