chapter 10. phantom antibodies
The aviation warning lights at the top of the Washington Monument suddenly turned blood red as a neutralizing antibody fog erupted from the marble joints. The Department of Defense claims it's the antidote, but Victor sees the truth on the Bloomberg terminal - the fog formula has enough LSD in it to make the whole of Capitol Hill dance the death tango.
Section 1: The Resurrected Liquidator (11:07AM)
Nine minutes after Emily's body disappears into the Georgetown sewers, Wall Street surveillance catches her signing papers on the top floor of the Blackstone Tower. The root of the new clone's eyelashes flashes the nano number NO.47, and the real killing begins when she rips out her throat: the frequency of her vocal cord vibrations unlocks the laser grid in the Federal Reserve's underground vaults, and tons of gold melts into liquid form, pouring down the drains of the financial district and into the subway tunnels.
"Welcome to the seventh great species extinction." Her holographic projection suddenly appeared on Victor's retina, burn scars replaced with blockchain patterns, "Blackstone backed up my cerebral cortex ten years ago, and you..." The scene switches to a surveillance video of Ravenloch Prison, where Victor is stabbing the warden in the ribs with a toothbrush moments before, "are nothing more than a petri dish for our virus."
Section 2: The Human Key (11:33AM)
Adam discovers the truth in the DOJ underground bunker: the IBM computer that shuts down the gas requires a live brain as a biological key. Three nerve conduits extend from the machine, with electric shock collars attached to the ends - the same ones he wore at Ravenlock Prison. The holographic logs showed that thirteen congressional aides had been burned out of their prefrontal lobes here, their brainwaves so far trapped in the machine wailing.
"Use mine." A familiar female voice sounded from behind. Adam turned to see Emily's clone NO.16, the barcode at her temple was oozing blood, "But every time you run it, your childhood memories will be overwritten with Blackstone Group propaganda." Her finger trails across the console, and the screen flashes a video of Victor's eighth birthday - the very same holographic decoy Emily generated at the Chelsea District subway station.
Section 3: Data Sacrifice (12:01PM)
Victor stands in front of the vault door of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as the biochip under his burn scar begins to dissolve. He realizes this is the final stage of the countdown - the chip fluid will penetrate the underground cables and convert 85% of the world's foreign exchange reserves into bitcoins. But unlocking it would require him to personally shove Adam's retina into the verification slot, like when the warden forced him to swallow cockroaches raw for painkillers.
"Choose." Emily NO.47's voice floated out of the vault's voice tube, "When the gold becomes code, your mother's debt is cleared forever." The holographic projection showed his mother's final moments with the debt collector, but this time Victor noticed the Blackstone insignia on the lapel of the collector's suit - it turned out that the tragedy of thirty years ago had been nothing more than an entry test.
Section 4: The Illusion of Democracy (12:47PM)
The neutralizer fog over Washington, D.C. begins to manifest, and tens of thousands of citizens see angels descending under the effects of the hallucinogen. But these holy visions are really subliminal coding programs from the Blackstone Group, and as people kneel, their brainwaves automatically sign organ donation agreements. On the White House lawn, the president is exchanging a nuclear code box for a tube of "manna from heaven," a liquid floating with the stem cells of 23 senators.
Adam finally inserts a nerve catheter into his occipital lobe, and in excruciating pain, he sees his father, the famed EPA Administrator, approving the burial of the gas tanks in a 1987 video. Even more horrifying is the barcode looming over his father's clavicle, numbered none other than Emily NO.01.