Fire Wall (Book 1: The Fall)

2 | Project Beta

"HCI deleted all traces of Project Beta we leaked. Now people only think of it as a conspiracy theory," She laughs darkly, "A result of their memory being wiped, I suppose, or just straight-up denial. But it happened and is still happening. Yet there is another enemy at hand, someone worse than Haven."

"Worse than Haven?" I echo, "How could anyone be worse than Haven?"

I watch her, perplexed as she presses a hand into the wall by the table. The panel glows and the tile slides open revealing a glass vault. My jaw drops seeing the rows of handguns in the vault.

"What is that?" I demand.

"A helpful resource for emergencies and potential threats," She deadpans.

"How long has that been there?"

"Before you were born."

"And you're telling me this now?"

Another panel opens by the gun vault, two stuffed backpacks on hangers. She takes one and throws it at me. I wouldn't have caught it if she didn't make me lift weights since I was twelve. 

"Raven, there's been a reason for everything I have taught you up till now, along with what I haven't taught you."

Suddenly the parenting methods are making sense to me. All this time, she pushed me hard in everything, gently always but firmly. I was frustrated because I didn't understand her intensity. Now I know why I was stronger than all my classmates and sharper to the point of feeling years ahead of my peers. Of course, I didn't outmatch everyone, but I definitely was a monster of her making. And I suppose it's because of the threats she knew were around us. The threats that I was oblivious to. She was preparing me but why didn't she tell me that?

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner, mom?"

Hearing the desperation in my voice, she stops stuffing guns in her bag to look at me fully. Her face softens and she wears a smile full of love and regret.

"I wanted you to have a somewhat normal childhood but I wanted to prepare you for anything...I wanted to give you the choice of joining me in my efforts but I also wanted to give you the freedom to make your own path. That's why I withheld the information...I was waiting for you to break past my firewall to tell you everything."

She sighs shakily, "But I was wrong. You could never be normal. And it's because of me. You're not to blame for doing what I trained you to do even if it was beyond the scope I intended. But given the circumstances that you drew the attention of the wrong people, the people who are a worse threat than Phantom, my timeline has been altered. So I'm telling you this now."

"What do you mean?" I ask her, "Whose attention did I draw?"

She resumes her quick packing.

"Someone bent on revenge took up our name, calling themselves Phantom. They've been attacking government officials and anyone related to them. They're terrorists."

"Terrorists? Do you know who they are?"

"We believe the offspring of the original Phantom is responsible for the attacks."

"I thought they were killed!" I exclaim.

"No," She shakes her head, "They spared the children...surprisingly."

She picks up my telescreen and slides it into my backpack.

"You need to take this and leave Karmika city. Look at the information I've gathered as you wait for further instructions."

"What?" I cry, "No, I'm not leaving you!"

"Raven!" She cries.

I'm shocked at the tears rolling down her cheeks.