I jumped to my feet and whirled around.
‘Well, somebody should tell them the truth,’ I said after a breath. ‘At least they can’t say I didn’t warn them.’ My father stood in a doorway, wearing a dress shirt rolled at the sleeves and grey slacks. The look of the outfit was casual, almost friendly. The look on his face was not.
He nodded. ‘I see, Brianna the Truth Teller. It has a certain ring.’
I dug my fingernails into my palms. God, every time I saw him now, I felt floored, stunned, like I was on some TV talk show for an ambush reunion with my attempted murderer. Every single time.
I dug my nails in deeper. My fingers ached with the strain. My father may have had his reasons for wanting me here, but I had my own. I didn’t get into the car just because Jenny asked me to, not entirely. I had another agenda. ‘Where’s Ryder?’
‘All business and no play?’ my father asked, making a quiet tut tut sound through his teeth. ‘That’s not like you, Brianna.’
‘You know nothing about me,’ I snapped.
‘Brianna—’
‘Father stop,’ Jenny said.
He raised an eyebrow at my sister.
She held his gaze. ‘You know she hates it when you call her that.’
A moment passed. ‘You’re right, my dear,’ he said, moving to pat her hand. ‘You’re right. It’s time for new beginnings for all of us.’ He looked back to me. ‘That’s why I will answer your question.’
I kept my mouth shut, and waited.
‘Ryder is here. She is alive and well, although currently in a medically induced coma.’
I took a step towards him before I was able to catch myself. ‘What is it you want from her?’
He shook a finger at me and smiled. I waited again. It was clear we’d have this conversation on his terms. ‘I don’t think you realise the esteem I hold for your beloved Ryder,’ he said. ‘That’s why I brought her here. You see, I want to know what makes Ryder so very special. After all, she certainly succeeded in one area where I have failed. She earned your loyalty.’ The word hung heavily between us. ‘So I brought her here to find out.’
‘What exactly does that mean?’
‘Tests. DNA sequencing.’ He brought his hands together and leaned back against a desk. ‘We tried a few times to observe her fighting techniques in a controlled setting, but she went through sparring partners rather quickly, and then there was the issue of her escape. For now, we’ve found her to be most useful in a vegetative state.’
I nodded, resisting the urge to lunge for his throat. ‘But that’s not all you did to her, is it?’ He raised his eyebrow again in question.
‘That wasn’t Ryder I saw at the float.’
My father smiled with something genuine in it—I almost want to say warmth, but his temperature rarely went much above frigid. ‘Very good, Brianna.’
Blood rushed from my body. ‘I’m right? You …’ I looked to my sister. She looked away. ‘What have you done?’
My father walked over to a desk, pressed a button on a phone and said. ‘Bring me Test Subject 824.’
Tense moments passed as we waited. I knew what was coming, but a big part of me couldn’t believe it. Just then I spotted her, dressed in a white hospital gown, walking down the corridor between labs, men in white coats on either side. Ryder … but not Ryder.
The trio entered the room.
‘Impressive, don’t you think?’ my father asked me.
I couldn’t speak. My eyes trailed over the woman before me. Saying doppelganger was one thing, seeing it was quite another. She looked exactly like Ryder, right down to the scarring on the side of her face. Her neon blue eyes were vacant though. ‘Did … did you chip her?’
I felt my father tense. ‘We have temporarily suspended our brain chip technology program. I’m sure you can imagine why, Brianna.’
I swallowed. Bart had found a way to hack the technology of the chip, making it possible for us to override the program’s commands. ‘She is medicated, not chipped,’ he offered. ‘We’ve had some problems with her compliance. She’s been exhibiting some bizarre behaviours. We wanted to sow the seed that Ryder was becoming incompetent, not crazed. She’s served her purpose though. The city is ready to accept alternatives.’
‘Jenny,’ I murmured.
‘Indeed.’
‘Thank you,’ my father said to the men. ‘You can take her back to her room.’
‘How did you do it?’
‘Surgery. Gene influence,’ my father said with a dismissive wave. ‘She already looked quite a bit like your Ryder, but we were able to direct the sequence of her DNA expression using Ryder as a map to further the process. The scarring on her face, however, well, the technology behind that was a little more rudimentary.’
I rubbed my forehead. ‘Just when I think you can’t get worse …’
‘Enough of this,’ my father said. ‘Jenny, my dear, would you mind leaving us for a moment?’
I could see the struggle on my sister’s face, but eventually she gave a single nod. ‘I’ll be right outside.’
We watched her leave before turning back to one another. I guess we were ignoring all of the scientists still in the lab. They were just the help, after all.
‘Now, Brianna,’ my father said. ‘No more pretence. Let’s discuss why you are here.’
‘How ‘bout we discuss why I’m leaving?’ I said, trying to control the anger making me shake. ‘Basically it’s because I need to get home and devise a strategy to destroy your evil ass.’
My father chuckled softly.
‘Later,’ I said, spinning on my heel headed for the door.
‘You’re not leaving.’
And there it was. My eyes darted around, trying to spot the scientist with the special Bremy cocktail syringe.
‘You’re not leaving because your sister needs you.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Simply put,’ he said coldly, ‘without you, Jenny will lose everything.’