CHAPTER 7 — The Weapon They Created
The woman smiled as soldiers surrounded the vault.
"Drop the file."
Nobody moved.
Mason's eyes never left her face.
"You told me my brother died."
The woman nodded without a trace of guilt.
"I did."
"You lied."
"I was ordered to."
Daniel quietly whispered,
"Her name is General Evelyn Ross."
"The woman who built Project Cerberus."
Ross slowly removed her gloves.
"I've spent twenty years creating the perfect soldier."
She looked directly at Mason.
"And here he is."
Mason's fists tightened.
"I'll never work for you."
Ross laughed.
"You already did."
She tossed a worn military folder onto the floor.
Inside were hundreds of classified mission reports.
Every operation Mason believed he had volunteered for...
Every target he thought was an enemy...
Every medal he proudly accepted...
Had all been manipulated.
"You never chose your missions," Ross said calmly.
"We chose them for you."
Eli stared in disbelief.
"No..."
Ross turned toward him.
"You were never supposed to survive."
She walked closer.
"When your mother uncovered Project Cerberus, we had two choices."
"Kill both sons..."
"...or turn one into the weapon that would protect our secrets forever."
Daniel suddenly shouted,
"Mason! Don't look at the screen!"
Too late.
The giant monitor inside the vault flickered to life.
A hidden surveillance video began playing.
A frightened ten-year-old Mason sat in a laboratory chair.
Doctors surrounded him.
His father, Richard, stood outside the glass, screaming and pounding on the window.
Mason watched as a scientist injected a glowing serum into the frightened boy's neck.
The child screamed until his voice disappeared.
Ross smiled.
"That's the day we erased your childhood."
Mason staggered backward.
The memories flooded back.
The nightmares.
The headaches.
The missing years.
They had never been dreams.
They were memories.
Ross slowly raised her pistol.
"You've remembered enough."
She pulled the trigger.
A gunshot echoed through the vault.
But it wasn't Mason who fell.
Daniel threw himself in front of the bullet.
Blood spread across his chest.
He collapsed into Mason's arms.
With his final strength, Daniel shoved the black file into Mason's hands.
"Don't... let them erase... the truth again..."
Then his eyes closed.
Ross smiled coldly.
May you like
"One loose end down."
She had no idea what she had just awakened inside Mason.
