Chapter 77 - The Sovereign Ghost
Before Julian could draw his sidearm, the scarred duplicate raised his right wrist, triggering a localized magnetic pulse that instantly seized the firing pins of their weapons. Heavy electromagnetic clamps mounted beneath the console floor slammed shut, locking the steel plates of Julian’s tactical boots to the deck.
"Julian!" Eleanor lunged forward with a combat knife, but a pneumatic sentry turret mounted to the ceiling pivoted with terrifying speed, tracking her chest with a red targeting laser.
"Stand down, Eleanor," the scarred Julian warned, his voice devoid of emotion. "You were always the weakest link in David's inner circle. Blinded by sentimentality. You actually thought you could protect them?"
Vanessa threw herself between the sentry gun and Julian, her arms outstretched. "Take me instead! I’m the one who broke the sequence! I’m the one who ruined David’s plan!"
The scarred man laughed—a dry, rattling sound that ended in a sharp, painful cough. He pulled a small vial of clear synthetic fluid from his belt and injected it directly into his neck through a subcutaneous port. "You don't matter, Vanessa. You were just a petulant girl acting out because you realized David never cared about you. You were a distraction David kept around to make Julian look like part of a normal, striving family."
Julian strained against the electromagnetic boots, his calf muscles tearing under the immense pull. "If you already control Tower Nine, if you already brought down the continent's power grid, why do you need me?"
"Because David was paranoid to the very end," the original replied, stepping closer until Julian could see the micro-circuitry pulsing beneath the scar tissue on his jaw. "The final authorization for the global convergence—the permanent override that transfers the world's automated supply chains and sovereign currencies into Chimera's core—requires a synchronized biometric hash from both our retinas. The living child, and the digital ghost."
He reached out a cold, trembling hand, pressing a thumb against Julian's temple. A sharp electrical current lanced through Julian’s brain, paralyzing his motor functions.
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"Don't worry, little brother," the duplicate whispered, pulling a biometric scanner from the main terminal. "Once the sync is complete, you won't have to carry the Mercer name anymore. Nobody will."
***
