"Officially, you don't exist."
Daniel smiled.
"That's convenient."
"Not really."
Thomas looked at him.
"They can still make you disappear."
Daniel's smile vanished.
"Then we move."
They left through an underground maintenance route.
Daniel walked beside Elena.
She had been unusually quiet since discovering her father was alive.
Finally, she spoke.
"I owe you an apology."
Daniel looked at her.
"For what?"
"My father."
"You didn't create Mirror."
"But I worked for the company that did."
"Without knowing."
"That's not an excuse."
Daniel stopped.
"Elena."
She turned.
"You helped me."
"I almost didn't."
"But you did."
She looked at him.
"Why did the system require me?"
Daniel thought about it.
"Because your father was one of the original architects."
"And your father was the other."
"Yes."
"Then why did they need both of us?"
Daniel looked toward Thomas, who was walking ahead.
"Because the system was designed around two opposing ideas."
Elena frowned.
"What ideas?"
"Control and freedom."
She understood.
"Your father wanted control."
"Mine wanted freedom."
"And the safeguard needed both."
Daniel nodded.
"Because neither one alone was enough."
Elena looked ahead.
"Do you think our fathers ever trusted each other?"
Daniel smiled faintly.
"Probably not."
"Then why work together?"
"Because sometimes people don't have to trust each other."
He looked at her.
"They just have to fear the same thing."
They reached an old underground station.
An abandoned airport train sat on the tracks.
Robert looked surprised.
"This still works?"
Thomas nodded.
"I maintained it."
Robert stared.
"You've been living down here all these years."
Thomas smiled.
"Not comfortably."
Daniel looked at the train.
"Where does it go?"
"Outside the airport."
"How far?"
"Three miles."
"Then let's go."
They boarded.
Thomas entered the driver's compartment.
The train began moving.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Then the radio came alive.
A woman's voice said:
"Thomas."
He froze.
Daniel looked at him.
"Who is that?"
Thomas slowly reached for the radio.
"Richard."
Elena's face changed.
Her father.
Richard Voss.
Alive.
His voice came through again.
"You should have stayed hidden."
Thomas answered:
"I tried."
"You failed."
"Yes."
"And now you've exposed everything."
Thomas looked at Daniel.
"No."
"I exposed you."
Richard laughed.
"You still don't understand."
"Understand what?"
"Daniel was never the key."
Thomas went silent.
Daniel frowned.
"What does he mean?"
Richard continued.
"The system doesn't need Daniel."
"It needs what Daniel remembers."
Thomas's face changed.
Richard laughed softly.
"That's why I let you think you were winning."
Daniel stepped toward the radio.
"Richard."
Silence.
Then:
"Hello, Daniel."
"You've been using my identity."
"Yes."
"You created the duplicate."
"No."
Daniel frowned.
"Then who did?"
Richard answered:
"Your father."
Thomas closed his eyes.
Daniel turned toward him.
"Is that true?"
Thomas didn't answer.
Richard continued.
"Ask him about the night you were nineteen."
Daniel's face hardened.
"You've already told me."
"No."
Richard's voice became colder.
"You remember the night your father disappeared."
"You remember me standing outside."
"But you don't remember what happened afterward."
Daniel looked at Thomas.
"What happened?"
Thomas remained silent.
Richard said:
"Ask him what he did to you."
The radio went dead.
Daniel stared at his father.
"What did you do?"
Thomas looked away.
"Daniel..."
"No."
His voice became sharper.
"You've spent sixteen years telling me you protected me."
Thomas said nothing.
"What happened that night?"
Elena stepped closer.
"Thomas."
He looked at her.
"Tell him."
Thomas closed his eyes.
"When you were nineteen, I had no choice."
Daniel's stomach tightened.
"What did you do?"
"I altered your memory."
Silence.
Daniel stared.
"You what?"
Thomas looked at his son.
"I removed one night from your memory."
Daniel stepped backward.
"Why?"
"Because you saw something."
"What?"
Thomas's voice trembled.
"You saw me kill someone."
Daniel froze.
Robert looked shocked.
Elena covered her mouth.
Thomas continued.
"But I didn't kill him."
Daniel's breathing became shallow.
"I saw you?"
"Yes."
"Who did you kill?"
Thomas shook his head.
"I killed the person who was pretending to be you."
Daniel stared.
The train seemed to stop moving.
But it hadn't.
His entire world had simply become still.
Thomas reached into his coat.
He pulled out an old photograph.
Daniel looked at it.
It showed a young man lying unconscious on a table.
His face was identical to Daniel's.
But the date was sixteen years ago.
Daniel stared.
"That's him."
Thomas nodded.
"Your first duplicate."
Daniel's hands began shaking.
"I thought he was me."
"You were meant to."
"Why?"
"Because Mirror needed to test whether an artificial identity could replace a living person."
Daniel looked at the photograph.
"And you stopped it."
"I tried."
"What happened to him?"
Thomas looked at the floor.
"He survived."
Daniel's eyes widened.
"Where?"
Thomas whispered:
"He's been helping Richard ever since."
Daniel understood.
The man who had appeared at Gate 41.
The man who looked like him.
The man calling himself Daniel Cross.
He wasn't the first.
He wasn't even the only one.
He was simply the first duplicate who survived.
And now he had a name.
Thomas finally said it.
"His real name is Gabriel."
The train suddenly stopped.
Everyone lurched forward.
Robert looked toward the front.
"What happened?"
Thomas stared at the controls.
"The track is blocked."
Daniel looked outside.
A vehicle stood across the tunnel.
Black.
Unmarked.
Men stepped out.
Thomas swore.
"They found us."
Robert drew his weapon.
"How?"
Thomas looked at Daniel.
"Your identity."
Daniel frowned.
"I don't have one."
Thomas shook his head.
"Exactly."
Daniel realized.
The system wasn't tracking his identity.
It was tracking his absence.
Everywhere Daniel was supposed to be but wasn't became a signal.
Every missing record became a location.
Every contradiction pointed toward him.
Daniel smiled bitterly.
"They can find me because I don't exist."
Thomas nodded.
"Yes."
The train doors opened.
Men entered.
"Daniel Cross!"
Daniel stood.
"I am Daniel Cross."
The lead officer raised a weapon.
"You're under federal detention."
Robert stepped forward.
"On what charge?"
The officer looked at his tablet.
"Identity fraud."
Daniel laughed.
"You've got to be kidding."
The officer looked at him.
"You're accused of impersonating yourself."
Nobody spoke.
Then Daniel smiled.
"That's the first honest thing I've heard today."
The officer raised his weapon.