The project had been dead for twenty-two years. So why did its final file contain a photograph of her?
CHAPTER 13
Nora didn’t sleep that night.
She read the letter again and again.
There was no explanation.
Only one final instruction.
If you want the truth, find Project Eden.
She searched every database she could access.
Nothing.
No government records.
No corporate records.
No newspaper articles.
No photographs.
Nothing.
Then Ethan called.
“Nora.”
His voice sounded different.
“What happened?”
“I found something.”
“Where?”
“Washington.”
She waited.
“There is another database.”
Her heart began racing.
“Argus?”
“No.”
“What then?”
A pause.
“Eden.”
Nora closed her eyes.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
Ethan sent her a file.
It contained only one page.
At the top:
PROJECT EDEN — ORIGINAL ARCHITECTURE
Below it were three names.
Dr. Claire Bennett.
Her mother.
Dr. Daniel Bennett.
Her father.
And:
Richard Hale.
Nora stared.
But there was a fourth name.
The fourth name had been blacked out.
She enlarged the document.
Underneath the redacted section was a date.
October 14, 1999.
Her birthday.
Then a final line:
Phase One Subject successfully delivered.
Nora whispered:
“Delivered?”
Her phone rang.
This time, the caller ID showed a number she recognized.
Her father’s.
He had been in federal custody for two days.
She answered.
“Nora.”
“Dad.”
His voice was trembling.
“You found Eden.”
“Tell me what it is.”
“I can’t.”
“You owe me the truth.”
“I know.”
“Was I part of the project?”
Silence.
Then Daniel said:
“You weren’t part of the project.”
Nora waited.
“You were the project.”
The call ended.
Nora stared through the window.
Outside, Pittsburgh was waking up.
Cars moved along the streets.
People went to work.
Children went to school.
Millions of ordinary lives continuing without knowing how much had been hidden beneath them.
Then her laptop screen flickered.
A notification appeared.
PROJECT EDEN — CONNECTION ESTABLISHED.
Nora didn’t touch the keyboard.
The system began typing by itself.
One sentence appeared.
WELCOME HOME, SUBJECT 001.
Then another.
PREDICTION UPDATE:
NORA BENNETT WILL DISCOVER THE TRUTH.
She stared.
A final line appeared.
SHE ALREADY HAS.
The screen went black.
Nora sat motionless.
For twenty-seven years, she had believed she was searching for the truth about her father.
Now she understood.
Her father had never been the mystery.
She was.
And somewhere in America, someone had been waiting twenty-seven years for her to finally ask the right question.
