Inside, the air was surprisingly clean. The corridor was illuminated by narrow ceiling lights, and the floor showed signs of recent maintenance.
They moved past several empty rooms until they reached a security checkpoint.
A camera turned slowly above the door.
Rebecca raised one hand, signaling everyone to stop.
“There's someone watching us.”
Walker examined the camera.
“Can you disable it?”
Porter pointed toward a small electrical cabinet.
“Not without triggering an alarm.”
Olivia studied the camera.
“Maybe we don't need to disable it.”
She stepped into the open.
“Elizabeth Bennett!” she called.
Her voice echoed down the corridor.
“It's Olivia. I'm here.”
Thomas grabbed her arm.
“What are you doing?”
“If she's watching, I want her to know it's me.”
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then the speaker above the door crackled.
A woman's voice answered.
“Olivia?”
Her mother.
Olivia's throat tightened.
“Mom, where are you?”
“Why did you come here?”
“Because I want the truth.”
A pause followed.
Then Elizabeth said something that none of them expected.
“Your father is with you, isn't he?”
Olivia looked at Thomas.
“Yes.”
The speaker went silent.
When Elizabeth spoke again, her voice was trembling.
“Then you must leave. Both of you. Immediately.”
“I'm not leaving without you.”
“You don't understand. This place is not what you think it is.”
“Then explain it.”
A long silence followed.
Finally, a heavy door opened at the end of the corridor.
A woman stepped into the light.
Elizabeth Bennett looked older than Olivia remembered. Her hair was streaked with gray, and her face carried the exhaustion of someone who had spent years living under constant pressure.
But she was standing.
And she was alive.
Olivia took one step toward her.
“Mom.”
Elizabeth's eyes filled with tears.
“My little girl.”
Olivia ran forward and embraced her.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Olivia pulled away.
“Did you really help them?”
Elizabeth looked at Thomas.
He stood several feet away, unable to move.
“Thomas,” she whispered.
He stared at her.
“Why didn't you tell me you were alive?”
Elizabeth closed her eyes.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of Caldwell?”
“Of everyone.”
Thomas shook his head.
“You let me believe you were safe. You let me believe Olivia was growing up without me because I was the danger.”
“I was trying to keep her alive.”
“And what about me?”
Elizabeth's voice broke.
“I thought they would kill you if you came back.”
Olivia stepped between them.
“We can talk about this later. First, tell us what the second site is.”
Elizabeth looked toward the security door.
“It's not a second archive. It's a control center.”
“What does it control?”
“Every remaining operation connected to Nightfall. The accounts, the witnesses, the surveillance records, the people who were paid to protect the system.”
Walker frowned.
“Why would Caldwell say you were running it?”
“Because he wants you to believe I am responsible for everything.”
“Are you?”
Elizabeth looked directly at Olivia.
“I helped build part of it.”
The words hung in the corridor.
Thomas turned away.
Elizabeth continued.
“When your father disappeared, I discovered that the financial records had been altered. I tried to expose the people responsible, but they showed me what they had done with the account in Olivia's name. They told me they could make her appear to be the owner of every stolen dollar.”
Olivia felt a chill.
“They framed me before I even knew what money was.”
“Yes. And they had enough evidence to destroy your future before you could understand what was happening.”
“So you worked for them?”
“I pretended to.”
Elizabeth reached into her jacket and removed a small black device.
“This contains the access codes to the entire network. I have spent years secretly copying information and preparing to shut it down.”
Walker studied the device.
“Why didn't you give it to federal investigators?”
“Because the federal investigators were part of the operation.”
Rebecca stepped closer.
“Who can access the network?”
Elizabeth looked at her.
“Caldwell, Grant, Reynolds, and a small group of people who answer to them. But there is someone else.”
“Who?”
Elizabeth hesitated.
“Someone who was supposed to be dead.”
Before she could explain, an alarm sounded.
A red light flashed above the security door.
INTRUSION DETECTED.
Walker turned toward the corridor.
“They know we're here.”
Elizabeth grabbed Olivia's hand.
“We have to move. The control room is behind this door.”
“Then let's go.”
“No. You don't understand. They're preparing to erase the entire network. If they succeed, every witness, every account, every record will disappear.”
“Can we stop it?”
Elizabeth nodded.
“But only from the central terminal.”
She entered a code.
The door opened.
Beyond it was a large room filled with computer servers. Several technicians sat at workstations, but they were not armed. They looked frightened.