Chapter 12 - The Girl Behind the Door
The corridor fell silent.
Every person standing before the black control-room door stopped breathing for a moment.
The voice was unmistakable.
It belonged to a little girl.
More disturbing than that, it sounded exactly like Marta had sounded as a child.
Three more knocks echoed from the other side.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Marta's hand trembled as she reached toward the handle.
"No," Elena said sharply. "Don't open it."
"You just told me the key activates this room."
"I know what I said."
"Then why are you afraid?"
Elena looked at the steel door with an expression Marta had never seen before.
"Because I opened it once."
Nobody spoke.
Victor slowly lowered the controller in his hand.
"When?" Henrik asked.
"Twenty-three years ago."
Robert frowned.
"Before Marta disappeared?"
Elena nodded.
"There were two children."
Marta felt the air leave her lungs.
"No."
"I gave birth to twins."
Sofia closed her eyes.
"I told you she deserved the truth."
Elena ignored her.
"The facility demanded one child for Project Meridian."
Marta backed away.
"No..."
"I refused."
"So they took one anyway."
The voice behind the door laughed softly.
"Mother remembers."
The electronic lock clicked.
Without anyone touching it, the heavy door slowly opened.
Inside was a circular control room filled with aging computers.
Thousands of indicator lights still blinked.
In the center stood a little girl.
She looked no older than eight.
She wore the same gray uniform as the prisoners.
She had Marta's green eyes.
Marta's freckles.
Marta's smile.
The child tilted her head.
"Hello, sister."
Robert whispered, "That's impossible."
The little girl smiled wider.
"Nothing in Meridian is impossible."
Henrik looked carefully at her.
"She hasn't aged."
Victor answered quietly.
"Because she wasn't allowed to."
The child walked toward Marta.
"My name isn't Subject Twenty-Eight."
She reached into her pocket.
"My father called me Mira."
She opened her hand.
Inside rested an old photograph.
It showed Elena holding two newborn babies.
One wore a blue bracelet.
The other wore a red one.
Marta stared at the picture.
Her own baby bracelet had always been blue.
Mira wore red.
Elena began crying for the first time in over two decades.
"I searched for you."
"No," Mira answered calmly.
May you like
"You searched for the daughter they let you keep."
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