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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYdRvn7Yiqf
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9X5xETrjeV
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFFj80osM79
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6sZdFokw94
My father.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhLz9nPlsQp
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3uGW2CmGEN
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5t8bKtNLbF
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVeZQtWqvKG
"Out," my father said. It wasn't a request. It was a command backed by twenty years of the badge.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvpRhUbzjK
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG6gaDmTJds
West glanced at me, then nodded to his security team. They cleared the room, leaving us alone in the hum of the machines.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOoxXtkZrMG
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJmUXc5LTx
"Dad, I—"57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIE9j21cfe
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVuFVRG8tY
"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."57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwik9w0nfoV
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNsksrkXNN8
"You were," I said, tears stinging my eyes. "You gave me a life, Dad. You and Mom and Daniella. You gave me a home."57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIguOBNcyYG
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQYKzd62IQD
"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."57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfWI5Ipgttc
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZ8XMDhknx
"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."57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLoOpqXihqF
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQEcNsZmtCd
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?"57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBn5Znll3Q9
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0oTZhvm4KC
"I think so," I replied. "It responds to me. It... it feels like it knows me."57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtafpPYpkrR
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGBNf0HGeaL
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?"57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkiFeRvIYmj
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDfRsT93hK
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDpErUYDnft
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJfMpjsY1A
The Silent Shard57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5RopHwQc7h
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnV5sPeQfIw
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwm0VkdKvd
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQKoclRPzgm
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."57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZrmyjmSlyz
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4NHhTDGOnF
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjri5bQOh69
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQkaEurqexU
She would go home. She would go back to her life. She would never see Victoria Vega again.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz0slQkOL9M
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3zA2ZfxWYM
But the "Seed" was planted.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCxGbgUDrUq
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfhBeHSvdyI
The Queen's Observation57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcDgqtXjVcT
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCdpSFV5ngz
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWs50XOfhGO
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKYfjVYpC4I
A woman sat there. Her skin was the color of a bruised nebula, and her eyes were twin voids of red lightning. Dementra.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Hj76h8905
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBPC2KM5SE9
"The General has failed to retrieve the Relic," West said, his voice devoid of its usual authority. He was kneeling.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡicefUXP6Jo
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTB9KXwX9Z9
"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."57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd0phQpUnRS
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqKWBrTpVy
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."57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnvZvnAcQ6X
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMzo3r6cOHL
"And the other girl? The one with the shard?" West asked.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzmJAlyLLWo
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYRFdEpxikF
"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."57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgDQ4sbUtv
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYz5HnPvmu5
The screen went black.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuygXGwVvS9
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW9ynNP8m5T
1234 copyright protection53ＰＥＮＡＮＡeM5u74MPQ6 尼57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNuFA9r45ne