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.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKVVTuowiam
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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.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡweB1xmA4Qf
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My father.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnb11A1NyN9
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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.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWts5myfWHY
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"Out," my father said. It wasn't a request. It was a command backed by twenty years of the badge.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKBnDHALZmJ
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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.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GVJKj0n7A
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"Dad, I—"99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfGruG3CnJ
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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."99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS0ULu2mdG0
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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."99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGChvfuMkmK
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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."99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh2NXI5bkWx
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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."99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJeGUh3bzJz
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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?"99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPTJaEUDSJD
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"I think so," I replied. "It responds to me. It... it feels like it knows me."99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGnVZdu9Z5r
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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?"99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ud8KugHC2
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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.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡitG4SUS6yG
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The Silent Shard99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxYVxw4kVq
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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.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ETOh8DWdU
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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."99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5xCBLL2Igp
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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.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaqA15yt4hP
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She would go home. She would go back to her life. She would never see Victoria Vega again.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6QaZf1zbXt
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But the "Seed" was planted.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vz1XS94fB
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The Queen's Observation99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ypMfSoKil
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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.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp7FnV3Aiay
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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.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBqE8TS6Ry6
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"The General has failed to retrieve the Relic," West said, his voice devoid of its usual authority. He was kneeling.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMpjf67QJY
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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."99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzffM1USo5
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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."99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDgw2W9aQQ
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"And the other girl? The one with the shard?" West asked.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YLqg0iuFL
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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."99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNfIWKw9nE7
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The screen went black.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjCPGIEno6l
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