Chapter Four: Beyond the Template

Video opened—not from the compound, but from a luxury apartment. The other Vega stood against the Paris skyline. Somehow he had followed the synchronization channel backward. “Cleaner,” he said in precisely Vega's voice, “what you stole does not belong only to him.” “What is your name?” Lin asked. The duplicate froze. For forty-three days everyone had called him León Vega. His makers had never imagined he might need another name. Before the link died, he whispered, “Do not beat Red Star next week. Someone will recover the system through your knee.” Emma stared at the dark screen. “A threat?” “No.” Lin remembered the first weariness he had seen in those glass-dark eyes. “A warning.”