The north side safe house was a fourth-floor walkup above a Vietnamese restaurant. Sarah smelled pho and lemongrass as she climbed the stairs, checking over her shoulder every three steps. She'd ditched her car six blocks away, taken two buses going opposite directions, and walked the final mile on foot.
Standard evasion protocol. The kind you used when you knew people were hunting you.
Her phone had seventeen missed calls. Captain Devereaux. IAB. Walker. Three unknown numbers that were probably FBI or worse. She'd turned off location services two hours ago, but that didn't mean much. If they wanted to find her, they would.
She just needed enough time.
Sarah reached the apartment door. Three knocks, pause, two more. The code Ellis had given her.
The door opened. Marcus stood there, still in the paper coveralls from lockup, looking like he hadn't slept in days. Probably hadn't.
"Sarah." Relief flooded his face. "Are you okay?"
"No. But I'm breathing." She pushed past him into the apartment. Small. Sparsely furnished. Windows covered with blackout curtains. Safe house standard. "Where's Ellis?"
"He left thirty minutes ago. Said he's working on warrants for Devereaux's financial records." Marcus closed the door, engaged three different locks. "Sarah, I'm sorry. I'm so goddamn sorry you're caught up in this."
"You didn't do this. Devereaux did." Sarah pulled Foster's documents from inside her jacket, spread them on the small kitchen table. "Look. Project Blackout. Everything's here. The neural implants, the activation protocols, the subject list."
Marcus moved closer, studying the papers. His hands shook slightly. "Seventeen times. Ellis said I'd been activated seventeen times."
"That's what Foster's logs indicate."
"Seventeen people. Dead because of me."
"Dead because of Devereaux." Sarah grabbed his arm, forced him to look at her. "Marcus. You're a victim here. Whatever happened during those activations, it wasn't you making those choices."
"I was still there. Still conscious. Moss was aware when she killed Foster, Ellis said. Which means I was aware too. Watching myself murder people and unable to stop it." Marcus's voice cracked. "How is that different from being guilty?"
"Because intent matters. Because control matters." Sarah released his arm. "But we can debate philosophy later. Right now we need to figure out how to stop Devereaux before he kills the other ten subjects."
"Ellis mentioned suicide activations."
"Yeah. Foster's notes describe it. A frequency that triggers self-termination. Makes it look like guilt-driven suicide." Sarah pointed to a specific page. "Devereaux could activate all ten simultaneously. Make them eat their guns or step in front of trains or whatever. Clean up all the evidence in one move."
"Can we warn them?"
"And tell them what? That they're programmed killers who might kill themselves at any moment? Even if they believed us, knowing wouldn't help. They can't fight the activation." Sarah sat down, exhaustion hitting her hard. "We need to get to Devereaux before he realizes how much we know."
"He knows I'm out. Tommy broke me out almost three hours ago. Devereaux will have been notified by now."
"Then he's making his move. Either running or activating the failsafe." Sarah checked her phone. No new messages from Ellis. "We need leverage. Something that forces Devereaux to surface."
"What about Dr. Vasquez? Foster's notes mention her. She ran the Meridian program."
"Ellis said FBI is moving on her tonight. But even if she talks, it's her word against Devereaux's unless we have hard evidence linking them."
Marcus paced the small apartment. Three steps to the wall, turn, three steps back. Sarah recognized the movement, interrogation room pacing. The physical manifestation of a mind working problems.
"The activation signal comes through our phones," Marcus said. "There has to be a record. Call logs. Data transmissions. Something."
"Foster's notes say they use burner numbers. Rotate them after each activation. Untraceable."
"Nothing's untraceable. Someone paid for those phones. Someone programmed the frequency generators." Marcus stopped pacing. "What if we could trigger an activation ourselves? Control it. Make Devereaux think everything's still under his control while we document the whole process?"
Sarah stared at him. "You want to activate yourself deliberately?"
"Why not? If I know it's coming, if I'm prepared, maybe I can fight through it. At least partially. And while it's happening, Ellis records everything. The activation signal, my behavior, all of it. That's evidence."
"Marcus, you could kill someone. You could kill me."
"Not if we control the environment. Lock me in a room. No weapons. No way out. Just me and a camera documenting what happens when the frequency hits."
"That's insane."
"So is everything else about this situation." Marcus sat across from her. "Sarah, think about it. Right now we have Foster's documents, but they're just research notes. We need proof that the activation actually works, that subjects can be controlled. If I can demonstrate it under controlled conditions…."
"You're not a lab rat."
"I'm already a weapon. Might as well make it useful."
Sarah wanted to argue. Wanted to tell him there had to be another way. But she was running out of options and time. Ellis could get warrants, but that took hours. Days maybe. And in that time, ten more cops could die.
"Let me call Ellis. See what he thinks."
She dialed the number he'd given her. It rang four times before he picked up.
"Chen. Status?"
"I'm with Kane. We're secure." Sarah glanced at Marcus. "He has an idea. Crazy, but maybe workable. He wants to trigger his own activation under controlled conditions. Document the whole thing as evidence."
Silence on the other end. Then: "That's dangerous."
"I know."
"If it goes wrong, Kane could hurt himself. Or you. Or anyone nearby."
"We'd control the environment. No weapons. Secure room. Just documentation."
More silence. Sarah heard typing in the background. Ellis checking something.
"Foster's notes indicate the activation can be triggered manually if you have the right equipment. Frequency generator tuned to the subject's specific neural pattern. But Chen, once it starts, there's no stopping it until the protocol completes or the hour expires."
"An hour we could document. An hour of proof that this is real."
"Or an hour of watching Kane destroy himself trying to fight programming designed to be unbreakable." Ellis exhaled slowly. "Give me two hours. I'll bring the equipment. But Chen? If this goes sideways, you put him down. You understand? If he becomes a threat, you end it."
Sarah looked at Marcus. He nodded.
"Understood.
She hung up.
Marcus leaned back in his chair. "So we're doing this."
"Apparently. You sure about this? Once we start, there's no abort button."
"I'm sure." But his hands were shaking again. "Sarah, if something goes wrong. If I come at you during the activation…."
"I'll handle it."
"I need you to promise me. Don't hesitate. Don't try to talk me down. Just shoot."
"Marcus…."
"Promise me."
Sarah met his eyes. Saw the fear there. The determination underneath it. Marcus Kane had spent twelve years as a cop because he believed in protecting people. Now he was willing to let himself become a monster one more time if it meant stopping the man who'd made him into one.
"I promise."
Marcus nodded. Stood. Moved to the window, peered through a gap in the blackout curtains at the street below.
"You know what the worst part is?" His voice was quiet. "I can feel it. Even now. Like something sleeping in my head, waiting to wake up. Part of me wants to fight it. But another part…." He stopped.
"Another part what?"
"Another part likes it. The clarity. The purpose. When I'm activated, there's no doubt, no fear, no guilt. Just the mission. It's almost peaceful."
Sarah felt a chill run down her spine. "That's the programming talking."
"Is it? Or is that just who I am underneath everything? A weapon waiting for someone to point me at a target?"
"Stop. You're not that person."
"How do you know?" Marcus turned to face her. "You weren't there in Afghanistan. You didn't see what I was capable of when the orders came down. Maybe Devereaux didn't make me into something new. Maybe he just revealed what was already there."
"I know because I worked with you for three years. Because I saw you talk down domestic situations when other cops would've shot first. Because I watched you sit with a scared kid for two hours in the rain until his mother came home." Sarah stood, crossed to where he was standing. "The man I know doesn't want to hurt people. He wants to protect them. That's who you are. Not what Devereaux made you."
Marcus's jaw tightened. "I hope you're right."
"I am."
They stood in silence for a moment. The sounds of the city filtered through the walls; traffic, voices, life continuing normally while their world fell apart.
Sarah's phone buzzed. Text from Ellis: 'Change of plans. Devereaux just activated Emergency Protocol. All subjects. Simultaneous. You have thirty minutes.'
Sarah's blood turned to ice. "Marcus. Ellis just texted. Devereaux activated the suicide protocol. All ten remaining subjects. Thirty minutes."
Marcus went pale. "Where are they?"
"He's sending locations now." Sarah's phone chimed repeatedly as addresses came through. Ten cops scattered across the city. Ten people about to kill themselves unless someone stopped them.
"We can't reach them all in thirty minutes."
"No. But we can reach some." Sarah was already moving, grabbing her jacket, checking her weapon. "Ellis will coordinate with FBI. They'll try to intercept as many as possible. We take the closest."
Marcus grabbed the burner phone Tommy had given him. "Who's nearest?"
Sarah checked the list. "Detective James Whitmore. 9th Precinct. He's eight blocks from here."
"Let's go."
They were out the door and running before Sarah could second-guess the decision. Eight blocks. Thirty minutes. One chance to save a man who probably had no idea he was about to die.
And behind them, somewhere in the city, Captain Richard Devereaux was watching his program burn, eliminating evidence one body at a time.
The endgame had begun.