Chapter 23 - The Cold Light of the Safehouse
By dawn, the SUV had navigated the winding mountain roads of the Hudson Valley, slipping past heavy iron gates into Arthur’s fortified estate. The property was an architectural fortress of reinforced concrete, ballistic glass, and sweeping pine forests, completely invisible from satellite imaging thanks to canopy thermal netting.
Inside the command bunker beneath the main residence, walls of monitors flickered with news coverage from across the globe.
*BREAKING NEWS: SERRANO PRODIGIES ACCUSED OF VIOLATING INTERNATIONAL BIO-ENHANCEMENT TREATIES.*
*VANCE DYNAMICS CEO CLAIMS SERRANO TWINS ARE UNREGISTERED SYNTHETIC ASSETS.*
*FEDERAL MARSHALS ISSUE NATIONWIDE APPREHENSION ORDER.*
On the main screen, a live press conference played. Standing at the podium was not Julian Vance, but Álvaro Miller.
Lucía stopped dead in the center of the bunker, her blood running ice cold.
Álvaro was dressed in an immaculate Italian suit, though his eyes were hollow and feverish. He held a handkerchief to his face, performing the role of a grieving, repentant father for the dozens of flashing cameras.
"I can no longer remain silent," Álvaro wept on the television screen, his voice dripping with theatrical sorrow. "For years, I carried the terrible secret of what my late father-in-law did in that basement laboratory. I left Lucía not out of malice, but out of absolute horror when I discovered what she and her father had subjected my unborn sons to. Those boys are not natural. They were chemically and genetically modified to possess artificial intellects. I am cooperating fully with Vance Dynamics and federal authorities to bring my poor, exploited sons into state medical care!"
"You cowardly, lying monster!" Lucía screamed at the monitor, shattering her wine glass against the concrete floor. The red liquid splattered like blood across the gray stone.
Arthur placed a calming hand on Lucía’s shoulder, though his own jaw was clenched with white-hot fury. "He’s doing this to wipe his civil judgment. If the boys are declared state property, the patent rights revert to the founding research sponsors—which Julian Vance secretly acquired last week. Álvaro gets his debts erased and a multimillion-dollar finder's fee."
"He sold his own sons twice," Mateo said, his voice flat, devoid of emotion, yet carrying an arctic chill. "First for status. Now to save his neck from prison."
Marcos stood up from his workstation, his hazel eyes locked onto the frozen image of Álvaro’s tearful face on the screen.
"Let him talk," Marcos said quietly.
Mateo looked over at his twin brother. A silent, telepathic understanding passed between them—the kind that had allowed them to outmaneuver every adversary they had ever faced.
"Mateo," Marcos said, "pull up the Department of Defense Biotech Registry archive. We’re not going to hide in this bunker."
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"What are you planning?" Arthur asked, leaning over the console.
"Julian Vance used a forged federal annex to brand us as biological weapons," Marcos answered, his voice steady and resolute. "Which means Julian Vance just committed high treason against the United States Government. And we have forty-eight hours to prove it to the Supreme Court."
