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.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQbSnwfMbnX
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM4lwYbga0g
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.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94oqRoLBrK
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhk5JH62SL
My father.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgOs2wTmHvm
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGWw0bgrHVU
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.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbuYqNiVSqv
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7EzuGGgnPc
"Out," my father said. It wasn't a request. It was a command backed by twenty years of the badge.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgcYgg1Iqu
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡodVEAKQTuV
West glanced at me, then nodded to his security team. They cleared the room, leaving us alone in the hum of the machines.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlBIkTvWOYe
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2yI5xH1Jza
"Dad, I—"102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv1LXAES3aM
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLG0y0BGjAv
"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."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu84D4GMaqN
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDjOB2Uxaf
"You were," I said, tears stinging my eyes. "You gave me a life, Dad. You and Mom and Daniella. You gave me a home."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHKeQvgLAot
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUGvVDZMrak
"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."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVL7peQKPqy
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLBi1hP4Gkl
"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."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡartIstF5Ap
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUvGLdVexIE
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?"102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYqh7QbsNY
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡloHntFKqFV
"I think so," I replied. "It responds to me. It... it feels like it knows me."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2xoMgRCpT
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpOFl6vxtaN
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?"102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk0gsDUhFXS
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3lmvCDTqi
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.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKWQImlzyfA
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIXs56rXcUQ
The Silent Shard102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5tlspyWTmB
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7sK1t6F5e
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.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzYMUPUej6m
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzWGWj7S0NN
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."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeRmLtLbVE3
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp40kB1Kvi8
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.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9F5BLB2Vb3
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmt39xmJeU
She would go home. She would go back to her life. She would never see Victoria Vega again.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8uCSy4XV8u
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRe7KGTprSx
But the "Seed" was planted.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTAHzVnrGhp
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDs3ihFeofQ
The Queen's Observation102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfCtdyf10x4
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡay2xUffPrW
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.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX9ErLq4cOV
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9NRLtl0hZU
A woman sat there. Her skin was the color of a bruised nebula, and her eyes were twin voids of red lightning. Dementra.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGyxHwH5vS
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQMjtI4bdnt
"The General has failed to retrieve the Relic," West said, his voice devoid of its usual authority. He was kneeling.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTq8HEI6Iez
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMe59JZFGYM
"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."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ9bCTI3oFC
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNWbhvmBwj
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."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ501WpQh7hn
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6mWcmzxN76
"And the other girl? The one with the shard?" West asked.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhPCEAXWGwn
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJEyge8Xd6r
"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."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf6464gzuaw
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSn0Bq2KvQ
The screen went black.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSqQeTVbgFb
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQmjhOY1MWm
1234 copyright protection98ＰＥＮＡＮＡENiUE94tir 尼102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WPvmLy19B