Thomas nodded.
"The airport was built on top of old military infrastructure."
Daniel looked at him.
"You never told me that."
"I never told you most things."
Daniel sighed.
"Apparently."
They entered the tunnel.
Twenty minutes later, they emerged near an abandoned railway station.
The city was visible in the distance.
Cars moved along the highway.
People walked on sidewalks.
Everything looked normal.
That normality felt almost insulting.
Daniel looked back at the airport.
The building stood in the distance.
Quiet.
Ordinary.
Nobody looking at it would imagine what was happening underneath.
Claire sat on a concrete bench.
"I need to know something."
Daniel looked at her.
"What?"
"Why did they choose me?"
Daniel sat beside her.
"Because you were the first person who did exactly what they wanted."
Claire looked confused.
"I didn't help them."
"You did."
"I treated you badly."
"Yes."
"That's helping?"
Daniel shook his head.
"They don't care whether you're cruel."
He looked toward the airport.
"They care whether you obey."
Claire stared at the ground.
"I don't understand."
Daniel continued.
"When I asked you to check my reservation, you didn't."
"Because the system said it wasn't valid."
"When I asked for a supervisor, you told me they weren't available."
"Yes."
"When I asked you to verify it again, you refused."
Claire looked ashamed.
Daniel said quietly:
"You followed the system instead of questioning it."
Claire nodded slowly.
"And they want people like me."
"They want everyone like you."
Claire looked up.
"Why?"
"Because the system is easier to control when people stop thinking."
Robert joined them.
"There's something you need to see."
He held up the black storage drive.
Daniel looked at it.
"What's on it?"
"Everything."
"The old archive?"
"More than that."
Robert opened his tablet.
The drive contained thousands of files.
One folder was highlighted.
SUBJECT 0
Daniel opened it.
The first image appeared.
A baby.
Daniel froze.
Claire looked at him.
"Is that you?"
Daniel nodded.
The photograph showed him as an infant.
Thomas stood beside his mother.
But something was wrong.
The photograph had been taken inside a laboratory.
Not a home.
Daniel zoomed in.
Behind his parents was a large glass chamber.
Inside it stood a child.
A child who looked exactly like Daniel.
Claire covered her mouth.
"How old were you?"
Daniel stared.
"I was three months old."
Robert looked at the metadata.
The photograph had been taken one day after Daniel's birth.
Daniel's face went pale.
"That can't be."
Thomas stood behind them.
He looked at the photograph.
Then closed his eyes.
"That's the day everything began."
Daniel turned.
"You knew?"
Thomas nodded.
"I did."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Because your mother wanted you to have a normal life."
"My mother knew?"
Thomas looked away.
"Yes."
Daniel felt as if the ground had shifted beneath him.
"My mother knew?"
"She knew enough."
"What did she know?"
Thomas hesitated.
"That you weren't the only child."
Daniel stared.
The photograph appeared again.
Two babies.
Identical.
One was Daniel.
The other was unknown.
Robert pointed toward the file.
"There's a name."
Daniel opened it.
SUBJECT 0A — DANIEL CROSS
SUBJECT 0B — GABRIEL CROSS
Daniel looked at Thomas.
"Gabriel."
Thomas nodded.
"The first duplicate."
Daniel stared at the photograph.
"He was born with me."
"No."
Thomas shook his head.
"He was created from you."
Daniel's voice became quiet.
"Created how?"
Thomas didn't answer.
Robert did.
"Cloning?"
Thomas looked at him.
"Not biological."
"Then what?"
"Behavioral replication."
Daniel frowned.
"That doesn't explain the photograph."
Thomas sighed.
"Gabriel was an ordinary child."
Daniel stared.
"What?"
"His parents gave him up."
"Why?"
"Because they were told he was part of a medical program."
Daniel's face tightened.
"His parents sold him."
"They believed they were helping him."
"What happened?"
Thomas looked toward the airport.
"Richard Voss took him."
Claire whispered:
"And turned him into Daniel."
Thomas nodded.
"Not completely."
"Then how?"
"Every year, Gabriel's memories were replaced with yours."
Daniel stared.
"That's impossible."
Thomas shook his head.
"It was done gradually."
"Through recordings."
"Education."
"Behavioral conditioning."
"Psychological programming."
"He was taught to remember your childhood."
Daniel looked sick.
"So when he says he's Daniel..."
"He believes it."
Silence.
Claire whispered:
"That's horrifying."
Thomas nodded.
"Yes."
Daniel looked at the photograph again.
Two children.
One life.
Two identities.
He finally understood why Gabriel looked at him with such anger.
Gabriel didn't think he was pretending to be Daniel.
Gabriel believed he was Daniel.
A phone began ringing.
Everyone froze.
It was Claire's phone.
She looked at it.
Unknown number.
Daniel shook his head.
"Don't answer."
It stopped.
Then immediately rang again.
Claire hesitated.
Daniel nodded.
"Put it on speaker."
She answered.
"Hello?"
A man's voice came through.
Gabriel.
"Claire."
She froze.
"How do you know my name?"
"I know everything about you."
"What do you want?"
"To thank you."
"For what?"
"For tearing Daniel's ticket."
Claire looked at Daniel.
Gabriel continued.
"That was the first thing that proved the system worked."
Claire's face changed.
"What?"
"You treated him exactly the way we predicted."
"I didn't know."
"That's why it worked."
Daniel stepped closer to the phone.
"Gabriel."
Silence.
Then:
"Daniel."
"Why are you doing this?"
"I already told you."
"I want to hear it again."
Gabriel laughed softly.
"You think you're the real one."
"I am."
"How do you know?"
Daniel froze.
Gabriel continued:
"Because the system says so?"
"No."
"Because your father says so?"
Daniel looked at Thomas.
"Yes."
"Then how are you different from me?"
Daniel had no answer.
Gabriel's voice became quieter.
"We both have memories."
"We both have photographs."
"We both have fingerprints."
"We both have people who say they know us."
"So tell me, Daniel..."
"How do you prove you're real?"
The call ended.
Claire stared at the phone.
Nobody spoke.
Finally, Robert said:
"That's the question."
Daniel nodded.
"Yes."
Thomas looked at him.
"Your father gave you the answer."
Daniel turned.
"What?"
"Look twice."
Daniel remembered.
His father's words.
A childhood lesson.
He had always thought it meant being careful.
But now he understood.
Look twice.
Don't trust the first record.
Don't trust the first memory.
Don't trust the first answer.
Verify.
Question.
Compare.
Daniel looked at the photograph.
Then at the file.