Chapter 42 - THE FIRST LIE
Daniel turned page after page in silence.
Every entry appeared genuine.
Meeting dates.
Internal memos.
Handwritten observations.
Names Daniel recognized from Marlowe's oldest executive records.
Then he reached an entry dated nineteen years earlier.
His hands stopped.
Alex looked at him.
"What is it?"
Daniel read aloud.
"Today I learned Orion has already expanded beyond corporate control. Whoever truly commands it no longer answers to Marlowe Global."
Everyone fell silent.
Arthur slowly lowered his head.
"So he knew..."
Daniel continued reading.
"Voss believes we still have time."
Arthur looked up immediately.
"What?"
Daniel read the next sentence.
"Donovan disagrees. I fear Donovan is right."
Alex looked from Daniel to Voss.
"You worked together?"
Voss answered quietly.
"For a time."
Arthur whispered,
"No..."
"You were one of us."
Voss didn't deny it.
"I recruited Donovan."
"I recruited Arthur."
"I recruited Jonathan Reed."
Daniel's voice hardened.
"Then what happened?"
Voss looked toward the oak tree.
"We discovered what Orion truly was."
Alex frowned.
"I thought you created it."
Voss slowly shook his head.
"No."
"We inherited it."
A heavy silence settled across the courtyard.
For the first time since the airport, Alex realized every assumption he had made might have been wrong.
Orion wasn't created by Voss.
It wasn't created by Marlowe Global.
It had existed before any of them.
Before Daniel's father.
Before Donovan.
Before Arthur.
Voss looked directly into Alex's eyes.
"There is one question none of you have asked."
Alex answered quietly.
"What question?"
Voss spoke almost gently.
May you like
"If Orion didn't begin with us..."
"...who built Level D?"
