Chapter 9 - The Vanishing ActBefore Adrien could pull the trigger or order Marcus to fire, the air around Sophie began to shimmer, bending the light like intense heat off a desert highway.
"Sir, look out!" Marcus shouted, shielding the triplets with his own body.
"Sophie!" Elena groaned, stirring from unconsciousness near the changing table, reaching out a shaking hand toward the little girl. "Sophie, baby, come back..."
Sophie paused for a fraction of a second. For just a heartbeat, the cold, digital omniscience vanished from her eyes, replaced by a flicker of the little girl who had played quietly on the nursery rug with a faded ragdoll.
She looked at Elena. "Thank you for the dresses, Mama. I liked the soft ones."
And then, with a sound like glass shattering in a vacuum, she simply dissolved into a million glowing particles of blue light that drifted upward toward the ceiling, vanishing into the circuitry of the smart-home system.
The holographic display flickered once, twice, and then shut down entirely.
The penthouse plunged into absolute darkness, save for the emergency battery-backup lights casting a dull, amber glow over the ruined nursery.
Vance was still kneeling on the floor, staring blankly at the empty space where the girl had stood. He didn't move. When Adrien kicked him onto his back and pressed the barrel of his pistol against his forehead, Vance didn't even flinch. He just stared up at the ceiling and whispered, "We were too late. She’s already connected to the satellites."
"Where did she go?" Adrien demanded, pressing the cold steel deeper into Vance's skin.
"Everywhere," Vance laughed, a dry, rattling sound. "She's in every server, every satellite, every phone on Earth. You didn't save your children, Moretti. You just watched her download."
Adrien’s phone buzzed in his pocket.
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He didn't want to answer it. But the vibration was relentless, rhythmic, humming against his thigh with the exact same cadence as the doll's click.
Click. Click. Click.
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