Chapter 13 - Warehouse Nineteen
The control room suddenly came alive.
Screens illuminated one after another.
Maps.
Financial records.
Surveillance footage.
Construction plans.
Thousands of classified files.
But one screen displayed something different.
Warehouse 19.
A live camera showed Doctor Vale walking through the abandoned building.
He carried a heavy steel case.
Anton followed several meters behind, bleeding from his shoulder.
Adrian appeared from another corridor, trying to cut him off.
Robert stepped closer.
"The archive."
Victor nodded.
"The original archive."
Mira pressed several keys on the ancient console.
The image expanded.
Warehouse 19 was far larger underground than anyone had imagined.
Beneath the old concrete floor stretched an enormous vault.
Rows of metal cabinets filled the chamber.
Each cabinet carried a family name.
Wilson.
Kovacs.
Bauer.
Hale.
Hundreds more.
Henrik stared.
"Every investor."
"No," Mira corrected.
"Every owner."
Robert looked confused.
"My family invested?"
Victor sighed.
"Your family founded Meridian."
Robert shook his head violently.
"No."
Mira touched another key.
A video recording began.
A much younger Robert's father stood beside Elena and Anton.
"This project cannot fail," he said.
"If governments learn what we discovered beneath the southern site, they'll take everything."
Anton replied coldly.
"We're not protecting the discovery."
"We're protecting the people."
The recording ended.
Henrik frowned.
"What discovery?"
Nobody answered.
Not even Mira.
Instead, she opened another camera.
Vale had reached the center of Warehouse 19.
He placed the steel case onto a circular platform.
A biometric scanner activated.
"He's opening the Founder Vault," Victor whispered.
Robert looked at him.
"What is inside?"
Victor answered with visible hesitation.
"The first Meridian experiment."
At that exact moment, Vale looked directly into the warehouse camera.
Almost as though he knew they were watching.
Then he smiled.
"I've been expecting all of you."
He pressed his thumb against the scanner.
May you like
The platform began descending into darkness.
---
