Chapter 36 - Celeste’s Empty Chair
Eli’s chair continued to spin.
A side door stood open at the rear of the laboratory. Beyond it, a narrow tunnel led toward the lake.
Mara ran after them while Daniel remained behind to examine the recording. Elias followed without speaking.
They found Eli alone beside an underground dock.
“Where is Celeste?”
The boy pointed toward the black water.
“She said she needed to meet the Curator.”
“Who is the Curator?”
Eli hesitated.
“You told me never to say his name near you.”
A motor started somewhere beyond the tunnel.
Mara saw a small boat disappearing through an opening beneath the island. Celeste stood at its stern beside a tall figure in a dark coat.
She did not appear to be a prisoner.
She raised one hand toward Mara.
Then she pressed a finger to her lips.
Back in the laboratory, Daniel had recovered the damaged portion of Amelia’s message.
The complete warning was different.
“The greatest threat is not Celeste,” Amelia said. “The greatest threat is what Celeste was built to protect.”
Daniel displayed another file.
Celeste’s fingerprints appeared under seven identities across four countries. Her earliest photograph had been taken twenty-one years before her supposed birth.
Elias stared at the screen.
“What was she protecting?”
Daniel opened the final record.
The answer consisted of a single sentence:
May you like
CELESTE IS THE LOCK. MARA IS THE KEY. ELI IS THE DOOR.
Then the underground facility began sealing itself.
