Chapter 15 - THE NEXT FATHER
The patio screen identified the women:
EMILY CARTER — CURRENT.
EMILY CARTER — CONTINUITY CHILD.
Arthur demanded a paternal choice.
If I saved the child, adult Emily’s legal records would be erased.
If I chose adult Emily, the kennel would flood.
Adult Emily grabbed my arm.
“Save her. She’s a child.”
I broke the lock.
The younger girl escaped.
Adult Emily’s driver’s license, college file, and medical records vanished from every connected system.
But she remained beside me—alive, remembered, and able to speak.
The archive could erase documents, not witnesses.
Then water loosened the younger girl’s prosthetic face.
Underneath was a child version of Mrs. Harris.
She had survived the first continuity experiment and spent her life watching for its return.
Dozens of bags rose from the pool.
Each carried a different name.
Michael.
Emily.
Sarah.
Lily.
Sophie.
Daniel.
Jason.
Mrs. Harris.
The house demanded one family timeline.
I answered:
“We keep everyone who can tell their own story.”
The bags opened.
Adults and children climbed from the water, gasping, each carrying memories of families that might or might not have been theirs.
Arthur backed away.
Then the patio camera turned upstairs.
Three men stood behind the glass, all wearing Arthur’s face.
The house had never contained one mastermind.
ARTHUR CARTER was a role passed between men.
The speakers announced:
PRIMARY FATHER VACANCY DETECTED.
My name appeared on the screen.
MICHAEL CARTER — ELIGIBLE SUCCESSOR.
A black ring rolled across the patio and stopped at my boot.
Emily tightened her grip.
“Don’t pick it up.”
The second-floor door opened wider.
A man with my face stepped onto the balcony.
He looked down and spoke in my voice:
“Who the hell locked my daughter in here?”
The system had already recorded the next father.
May you like
Somewhere inside the house, another padlock snapped shut.
Then a child began screaming my name from behind the wall.
