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.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJWIARCgeMM
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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.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnqnjK2oB2
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My father.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWZ8ppB80K
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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.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7REq7CCwkT
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"Out," my father said. It wasn't a request. It was a command backed by twenty years of the badge.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhfj6Va057Q
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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.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtEL6NIZrtl
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"Dad, I—"98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNa4Lgf2vfX
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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."98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsgtDj0ui51
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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."98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANDq3tvMAM
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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."98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkiOXgyniW
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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."98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡToIuAStiNw
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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?"98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8SVo4NN5XY
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"I think so," I replied. "It responds to me. It... it feels like it knows me."98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqoiJcd3zgs
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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?"98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFovfcPjzGr
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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.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibrE2b1evg
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The Silent Shard98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUv4tMyDiq
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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.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Jk6zrxKn6
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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."98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY049etVoW1
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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.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZKz9ixvNw9
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She would go home. She would go back to her life. She would never see Victoria Vega again.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMsTTOooBfV
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But the "Seed" was planted.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8IyNNJzUJf
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The Queen's Observation98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzLBNrQGKz7
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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.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDrbWEdCBd
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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.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFivhqcsLaS
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"The General has failed to retrieve the Relic," West said, his voice devoid of its usual authority. He was kneeling.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVeZWXQU1Yf
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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."98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGYiCByuvSg
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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."98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLdYKqD9GpW
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"And the other girl? The one with the shard?" West asked.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMvwkxxWAM
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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."98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWA3Qfn0pr4
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The screen went black.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLpyw6cYTg
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