The Woman They Built to Obey

Chapter 2: Captain Mercer's Second Mistake

Daniel Mercer was not supposed to be near the plane anymore.

The order had been clear: stand down, replacement assigned, return to operations.

But the replacement pilot had arrived too fast. No proper badge check. No small talk. No confirmation. He walked into the cockpit like a man continuing a mission.

Mercer stayed near the hangar and watched the jet taxi away.

Then the operations manager ran toward him, pale.

"Mercer, who authorized the pilot swap?"

He stared at her. "You did."

"No. I thought you did."

They looked toward the runway.

The jet was already lifting into the sky.

Inside the aircraft, Mia sat with the folder open on her lap.

Subject A-17.

Height. Weight. Neurological conditioning. Combat assessment. Emotional suppression score. Memory partition stability.

She turned the page.

Photos of her as a child.

Not family photos.

Documentation.

A little girl barefoot on concrete. A little girl sitting at a metal table. A little girl staring at a one-way mirror.

The cockpit door opened.

A man stepped out.

He was older, broad-shouldered, silver at the temples. He wore a pilot's uniform badly, like a costume.

Mia looked up.

"Dr. Graves."

He smiled. "Amelia."

"Still alive, then."

"Retired, officially."

"Men like you don't retire. You relocate."

Dr. Elias Graves had built the program that made her. Or broke her.

"You were our greatest success," he said.

"I was a child."

"You were recruited."

"I was kidnapped."

The plane banked.

Mia looked out and saw the coastline.

They were heading north.

Back to Blackridge.

Graves placed a tablet on the table.

A live video appeared. A teenage girl sat strapped to a chair in a white room. Her dark eyes looked too familiar.

"Who is she?" Mia asked.

Graves said, "Subject B-03."

The girl on the screen blinked.

Then she spoke to Mia.

"Why do I have your face?"