Chapter 15 - THE VOICE INSIDE THE MONITOR No one used Hannah’s biometric data immediately.
Federal prosecutors argued that the encrypted name could identify the person who financed the continuation trial. Dr. Lawson warned that accessing it might activate another automated response.
Lauren refused to let anyone touch her daughter without a court order and an independent medical team.
For once, the system had to wait for a mother’s consent.
Two weeks passed.
Brandon remained jailed.
Florence entered a plea agreement and agreed to testify, though Lauren had not decided whether she would ever allow her near Hannah again.
Nathan Bell continued decrypting NurtureTrack’s network.
Dr. Lawson returned to work under supervision while the medical board reviewed his old failures.
Ava Reynolds went home to parents who had buried an empty casket.
The other families began learning what had been done inside their houses.
Hannah slowly changed.
She still startled at Brandon’s voice.
She cried near dark jackets and certain electronic tones.
But she reached for Lauren freely. She accepted bottles after Lauren tasted them first. Her hands no longer remained clenched through every feeding.
Lauren moved into a temporary home guarded by federal officers.
No smart speakers.
No networked appliances.
No cameras except one independent baby monitor that recorded only to a local memory card.
On the first quiet night, Lauren sat beside the crib and watched Hannah sleep.
The room held no hidden tones.
No synthetic voices.
No blinking red lights.
Lauren began believing silence could be ordinary again.
Then the baby monitor turned on by itself.
Its power cord lay disconnected beside the wall.
A green light appeared.
The screen showed Hannah from directly above, though the camera on the shelf faced the side of the crib.
Lauren stood slowly.
A second feed opened beside the first.
It showed another nursery.
Another three-month-old baby lay beneath an identical blanket.
A woman moved through the shadows and placed a bottle beside the crib.
The monitor’s speaker crackled.
Miriam Vale’s voice whispered:
“Subject Thirteen remains bonded to the mother.”
Lauren reached for Hannah.
A male voice answered Vale from somewhere outside the second camera’s view.
“Then the transfer can begin.”
The encrypted director file opened across the bottom of the screen.
A photograph appeared.
Lauren stared at the face.
It was her own.
Not copied from a recent image.
The photograph showed her inside a NurtureTrack laboratory while she was still pregnant, signing a document she had never seen.
Behind her stood Brandon.
And beside him stood Florence.
Someone began knocking at the front door.
Three slow knocks.
The federal officer stationed outside did not answer his radio.
Hannah opened her eyes.
She looked past Lauren toward the dark hallway.
Then she began trembling.
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To be continued...
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