Chapter 36
CHAPTER 36 — THE RAT IN THE ENCLAVE
The tactical team began to pull back, their radios dead and their mission objectives invalidated by the sudden, total destruction of the digital infrastructure. Thomas’s federal handlers realized within seconds that there was nothing left to seize. The raid was a political disaster.
Thomas backed away toward the ruined doors, his face pale, looking at the family he had spent forty years trying to destroy.
"You think you’ve won?" Thomas whispered, a mad chuckle escaping his throat. "You think erasing the digital trail saves you? The people I work for... the Vanguard Enclave... they don't care about digits on a screen. They care about the blood. They know what’s inside the child’s DNA."
"Get out of my sight, Thomas," Alexander said, keeping his rifle trained on his uncle’s chest. "Before I forget that my mother died to keep us from becoming murderers."
Thomas disappeared into the smoke, his retreating footsteps echoing down the concrete hall.
Inside the quiet control room, Victoria Whitmore stepped back from the pedestal, her breathing heavy. She looked at Claire, then at Lily, a cold, calculated smirk returning to her lips.
"You did well, Claire," Victoria murmured, adjusting her coat. "You sacrificed the empire to save the child. A very motherly instinct. But you forgot one thing about the Genesis Protocol."
Claire’s eyes widened as she noticed a secondary status bar glowing on the pedestal screen. It wasn't erasing data. It was uploading something new.
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"What did you upload, Victoria?" Claire demanded, raising her pistol toward her grandmother.
"The real wealth isn't money, Claire," Victoria said as her personal commandos subtly shifted their weapons, targeting Alexander and Anna. "It’s the medical data. The genetic sequence that allows our bloodline to resist the neural degeneration that killed your grandfather. Lily’s blood is the cure to a multi-billion dollar degenerative disease market. And thanks to your scan... Vanguard just received the full sequence."
