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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfv8G60TKex
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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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmr87SElT1e
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My father.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5LVmunKTUo
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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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3YiHihCFLS
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"Out," my father said. It wasn't a request. It was a command backed by twenty years of the badge.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfY6qFg38l5
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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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxWslkb2HEK
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"Dad, I—"31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ1EWQNvYCC
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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."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbl9NA2FVLk
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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."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp7NOK600TT
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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."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3enyH0sc3u
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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."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzkdzkj90BR
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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?"31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fXsNFAGws
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"I think so," I replied. "It responds to me. It... it feels like it knows me."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CtoDROpa2
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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?"31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHsyM6Zeya8
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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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBevAG6GTEq
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The Silent Shard31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Ts7MNuEKm
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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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7niOn16Ybz
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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."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZhH7NL9N52
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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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6m8o2EPeql
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She would go home. She would go back to her life. She would never see Victoria Vega again.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyA0rwIxVpG
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But the "Seed" was planted.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6Fw1ZfOPU
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The Queen's Observation31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7aVzCtqHwZ
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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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkPwhWPsgXa
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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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡicLtnHsu8y
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"The General has failed to retrieve the Relic," West said, his voice devoid of its usual authority. He was kneeling.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkufSE0GdBu
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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."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡze8lcc3UsD
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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."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlzHXdtZjcv
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"And the other girl? The one with the shard?" West asked.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwS8gtGOAeg
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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."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXJencFH6p
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The screen went black.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa45jHoDgNh
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