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.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKZ3tLdUSYm
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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.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3EuE8c2uaC
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My father.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6PSfAYCI4K
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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.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnyb6wLrCam
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"Out," my father said. It wasn't a request. It was a command backed by twenty years of the badge.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5IBf3z3lj
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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.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0zWx8O36x
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"Dad, I—"85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFYZFB9IIBL
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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."85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXyyvKY2GNQ
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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."85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPB2CUWUtG8
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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."85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ258409Gixd
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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."85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4GQiUbIxk6
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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?"85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI9DPnXea5s
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"I think so," I replied. "It responds to me. It... it feels like it knows me."85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDhd3K9ktnY
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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?"85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOCHxT4ZVdt
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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.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVoC3HsUvja
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The Silent Shard85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXiyAakIex
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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.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmXRqWFsJJM
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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."85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwRrIioJSp
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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.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbrkQXgwFR
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She would go home. She would go back to her life. She would never see Victoria Vega again.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyATEGj99ze
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But the "Seed" was planted.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIv4ufX6P6R
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The Queen's Observation85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQ0lVGHQMS
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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.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2cbRBMlqDt
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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.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuHmB3epAVm
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"The General has failed to retrieve the Relic," West said, his voice devoid of its usual authority. He was kneeling.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLiE8mZed98
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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."85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡma4197ftvr
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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."85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrrBpefslG
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"And the other girl? The one with the shard?" West asked.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Y0nh4LYP6
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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."85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhIZtnxtub
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The screen went black.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcwvRrY9Pz
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