Chapter 67
CHAPTER 67 — THE SACRIFICE OF ITERATIONS
Before Claire could make a choice, the ceiling of the vault shattered.
Instance Three—the young clone—dropped from the overhead cable lines, his titanium-reinforced arm swinging with enough force to dent the steel walkway. He didn't attack Alexander or Claire; instead, he drove his metal fist directly into Victoria Whitmore’s injured shoulder, throwing the old matriarch back against the terminal console.
"The old world dies tonight, Grandmother," Instance Three rasped, his eyes flashing with a sudden, localized intelligence that wasn't part of his original programming. "Thomas was right. We aren't your puppets. We are the inheritors. If Harrison wakes up, we become obsolete. The clones will be recycled into grease for his machines."
Julian Vance’s heavy, hydraulic form crashed down through the same opening, his exoskeleton sparking with blue electricity as he landed next to the clone. "The Vance family didn't spend fifty years financing this nightmare to be left out of the final ledger! Activate the overwrite, boy!"
Instance Three grabbed Lily by the arms, his metal fingers digging into her small shoulders as he dragged her toward the primary interface screen.
"Mommy!" Lily’s real voice finally broke through the trance, a high, terrified scream that shattered the cold authority of the room. "Mommy, it hurts! Make them stop!"
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Claire didn't think. She didn't calculate the percentages or look at the strategy guides. She sprinted down the narrow walkway, her gun roaring as she emptied the entire magazine into the clone’s shoulder joints, sparks flying from his titanium wiring.
"Get away from my daughter!" Claire screamed, tackling Instance Three over the edge of the metal walkway into the boiling black water below.
