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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsiqBdz0Nsa
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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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZHjPAFZ9eD
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My father.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxecARPcrAb
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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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFskM7LxPtW
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"Out," my father said. It wasn't a request. It was a command backed by twenty years of the badge.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBykbhpP9M
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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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzVqI4Ihwe
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"Dad, I—"126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxCoDRkg79Q
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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."126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg6W6DKVeCi
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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."126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ05RH3fsQFN
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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."126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3x3nEhcFn
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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."126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ39Jxxmci3x
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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?"126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE6qfbIisEU
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"I think so," I replied. "It responds to me. It... it feels like it knows me."126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGkZcase5W
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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?"126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbYafJSkad7
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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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5HCVH4wSIY
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The Silent Shard126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYCgNJcn8h
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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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNQdyvSLG4m
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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."126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2VHb9JlpSm
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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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNnIswR1DGX
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She would go home. She would go back to her life. She would never see Victoria Vega again.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8w4h9FsKjN
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But the "Seed" was planted.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfR44cJypdO
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The Queen's Observation126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXLbcVFD30V
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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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaNwUx7Vw2c
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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.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7xbBBgDK7S
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"The General has failed to retrieve the Relic," West said, his voice devoid of its usual authority. He was kneeling.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlTM02QIVtu
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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."126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFZm8VJTJ0T
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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."126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GV1TMpwua
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"And the other girl? The one with the shard?" West asked.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6tpIG8eItH
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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."126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThygcLWVwc
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The screen went black.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBQPFFIkzBi
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