The West Corp medical bay was a sterile cathedral of white light and humming monitors. I sat on the edge of a hover-cot, my "intern" jumpsuit torn, my left shoulder heavily bandaged where the armor had fractured against my skin. The Watch was silent now, looking like nothing more than a scarred piece of scrap metal on my wrist.173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKp9YSLK1YF
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Garder West stood by the glass, watching the news reports of "The Mall Miracle." But I wasn't looking at the TV. I was looking at the man standing in the doorway.173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKJjlLW8mI
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My father.173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhYfEBy9oL
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He didn't look like a hero. He didn't look like a detective. He looked like a man who had seen a ghost. He walked toward me, his boots clicking heavily on the metallic floor. Garder West moved to intercept him, but my father didn't even look at him.173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOutNimkKwV
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"Out," my father said. It wasn't a request. It was a command backed by twenty years of the badge.173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWHybuvoGYn
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West glanced at me, then nodded to his security team. They cleared the room, leaving us alone in the hum of the machines.173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHC9miBtxSW
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"Dad, I—"173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCUEP3adCF
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"Don't," he whispered, sitting on the stool across from me. He reached out, his hand trembling as he touched the silver Watch. "All those years... I thought you were just a lucky kid. A miracle in the trash. I thought I was protecting you."173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvJX2kiAlbM
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"You were," I said, tears stinging my eyes. "You gave me a life, Dad. You and Mom and Daniella. You gave me a home."173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXPTrvBGYy
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"And now you're fighting monsters from the stars?" He looked up, his eyes wet. "Victoria, you’re sixteen. You’re supposed to be worried about prom and midterms, not Dark Multiverse Wraiths. If I had known... I would have buried that thing in the ocean."173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3c668GWmcD
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"You couldn't have," I said softly. "Doctor Science would have found it eventually. And without the armor, Sherwood would be a crater right now. I had to do it. For Dani."173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjFG3LANh9
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He looked away, the mention of her name hitting him like a physical blow. He stood up and paced the small room. "West says you’re the only one who can wear it. That you’re the 'Last Daughter.' Is that true?"173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNp0cwsk3Vi
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"I think so," I replied. "It responds to me. It... it feels like it knows me."173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMuVWUZEMoE
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He stopped and looked at me, the Cop finally winning over the Father. "I can't stop you. I can see that in your eyes. You’ve got that same stubborn look Daniella had when she decided to join the academy." He leaned down, grabbing my shoulders. "But listen to me: I am still your father. I am still a detective. If you are going to do this, you do it right. You stay trained. You stay careful. And the second this 'Watch' puts you in more danger than you can handle, you come to me. Do you understand?"173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIxuSeexgIC
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I nodded, sobbing as I pulled him into a hug. The secret was over, but the burden had just doubled. Now, every time I flew into a fight, I’d be flying with his fear on my shoulders.173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjixJnClinR
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The Silent Shard173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2RpNbQNRZC
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In another part of the hospital, far from the secret labs of West Corp, a fourteen-year-old girl named Laura was being wheeled out of surgery.173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCePznq1nJv
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The doctors were baffled. "The shrapnel just... vanished," one surgeon whispered to a nurse. "There was a wound, clear as day. We saw the purple metal on the X-ray. But by the time we opened her up? Nothing. Just a faint discoloration of the bone."173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWRlzRuK2gz
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Laura lay in the bed, her eyes closed. She looked perfectly normal. Her parents held her hands, thanking God for her recovery. They didn't see the faint, rhythmic violet pulse deep beneath the skin of her shoulder. They didn't know that she had been discharged with a clean bill of health while carrying a piece of a dead universe inside her.173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0RLqE6Tkg
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She would go home. She would go back to her life. She would never see Victoria Vega again.173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkGCk7BUa75
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But the "Seed" was planted.173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqmxdQecIC
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The Queen's Observation173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvgYN56YOJO
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Back at West Corp, Garder West walked into his private office and closed the shutters. He sat at his desk and pressed a sequence of keys. A holographic screen flickered to life, showing a distorted, shadowy throne.173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVoqqZlrYJr
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A woman sat there. Her skin was the color of a bruised nebula, and her eyes were twin voids of red lightning. Dementra.173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJPkhTjG96
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"The General has failed to retrieve the Relic," West said, his voice devoid of its usual authority. He was kneeling.173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclycUvGS4C
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"The General is a tool, Garder," Dementra’s voice echoed, cold enough to freeze the air in the room. "He has done exactly what I required. He tested the host. He broke the shell. And he planted the thorn."173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGKTt8uZRtD
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She leaned forward, a cruel smile touching her lips. "Let the girl believe she has won. Let her 'V-Team' celebrate. The more she uses the Watch, the more she thins the veil between our worlds. Soon, I won't need a General to open the door."173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOo3enqeIml
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"And the other girl? The one with the shard?" West asked.173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfKpLtkcbl1
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"Forget her," Dementra dismissed. "She is a contingency. A shadow waiting for the sun to set. Focus on the Vega girl. Make her a hero. Make the world love her. It will make the harvest so much sweeter when I finally arrive."173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnzKjaCR4cG
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The screen went black.173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKvBXxZqmYB
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1234 copyright protection169ＰＥＮＡＮＡreQQqHexvE 尼173Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJODfc7ldv