Chapter 27
Chapter 27: The Mirror's Edge
Daniel backed away toward the glass windows, his chest heaving. "Clara... don't do this. I know about the chip. I know it's keeping him alive. We can find another way. We can find an independent lab to extract it, to synthesize the enzyme without Aethelgard."
Clara took a step forward, her expression entirely unreadable. "There is no independent lab, Daniel. Aethelgard is the medical market. If you take that chip out, Alejandro’s heart will stop within twelve hours. Dr. Vance is the only one who holds the patent for the stabilization serum."
"And what’s the price?" Daniel yelled, his voice echoing off the glass. "We hand him over to become a corporate dictator? A lab rat for the next generation?"
"The price is survival," Clara said, her voice cracking for a fraction of a second, revealing the desperate mother beneath the cold corporate exterior. "I didn't choose this life, Daniel. But I am choosing to keep our son breathing. If that means I have to become the monster they designed me to be, then I will."
May you like
Dr. Vance chuckled from her wheelchair. "Sign the transfer of custody papers on the table, Daniel. If you do, Alejandro receives his first maintenance dose tonight. If you don't, you can watch him fade away by sunrise."
Daniel looked down at the mahogany table. There lay the gold pen, the identical legal documents he had seen in the hospital room six long months ago. The circle was complete.
