Arthur entered an old access code.

The door opened.

Inside was a room filled with equipment that looked decades old.

Jackson stared.

“What is this?”

Arthur switched on a small monitor.

A map of Austin appeared.

Hundreds of small points of light began appearing across it.

Jackson’s face hardened.

“Those aren’t from this store.”

“No.”

“How many?”

Arthur swallowed.

“Too many.”

Jackson looked at the screen.

“Who activated it?”

Arthur didn’t answer.

Then a face appeared on another monitor.

A man in his sixties.

Grey hair.

Dark jacket.

Cold eyes.

Arthur froze.

Jackson noticed.

“Who is that?”

Arthur’s voice was barely audible.

“Victor Hayes.”

“Someone you know?”

Arthur nodded.

“My former partner.”

The screen flickered.

The man’s voice came through the speakers.

“Arthur.”

The old technician stepped backward.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

Victor smiled.

“You’ve been hiding for a long time.”

Jackson stepped forward.

“What do you want?”

Victor looked directly at the camera.

“I’m not talking to you.”

Jackson’s jaw tightened.

“Then start.”

Victor ignored him.

“Arthur, you know what Node 17 means.”

Arthur said nothing.

Victor continued.

“You know what is underneath that building.”

Jackson looked at Arthur.

“What is he talking about?”

Arthur’s face had gone white.

Before he could answer, every monitor displayed another message.

TARGET IDENTIFIED.

Then a second line appeared.

PROXIMITY: 9 FEET.

Jackson looked around.

“What target?”

Arthur stared at Sophie.

The color drained from his face.

Jackson immediately stepped between Arthur and his daughter.

“What?”

Arthur shook his head.

“It can’t be.”

“What?”

“The system isn’t tracking the bunny ears.”

Jackson’s eyes narrowed.

“Then what is it tracking?”

Arthur whispered:

“Your daughter.”

PART 3

Jackson felt the room become smaller.

Sophie was three years old.

She had no idea what Lattice was, who Victor Hayes was, or why her father suddenly looked as though he was preparing for a fight.

She simply held her stuffed rabbit and looked up at him.

“Daddy?”

Jackson crouched down.

“Everything’s okay.”

Arthur immediately shook his head.

“Don’t tell her that.”

Jackson turned.

“What are you saying?”

“I don’t know why the system identified her.”

“Then find out.”

Arthur walked toward the equipment.

He examined the data.

His hands moved quickly across the keyboard.

“This isn’t biological.”

Jackson stared at him.

“What?”

“The system isn’t identifying her body.”

“Then what?”

Arthur looked at the bunny ears.

“Something she is carrying.”

Jackson looked at Sophie’s backpack.

He opened it.

Inside were crayons, a stuffed rabbit, a small water bottle, and the broken night-light they had originally come to replace.

Arthur took the night-light.

He stared at it.

“Where did you get this?”

Jackson frowned.

“It was in her room.”

Arthur turned it over.

There was a small metal plate underneath.

He wiped away some dust.

His face changed.

“This is it.”

“What?”

“The original receiver.”

Jackson stared.

“How did that get into my daughter’s room?”

Arthur shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

He connected the night-light to an old diagnostic cable.

The monitor immediately filled with numbers.

Arthur whispered.

“This device has been receiving a signal for years.”

Jackson looked at his daughter.

“From where?”

Arthur pointed at the map.

“From here.”

The map displayed the entire city.

A network of signals connected dozens of locations.

Jackson stared.

“So someone has been communicating with that night-light?”

“Not exactly.”

Arthur explained that the device wasn’t receiving ordinary communication.

It was responding to a dormant signal embedded in the Lattice network.

The night-light had been unknowingly acting as a passive receiver.

“But why my daughter?”

Arthur looked at him.

“Because whoever designed the system needed a way to test whether the receiver could move without being detected.”

Jackson’s expression hardened.

“You’re saying someone put this in her room?”

“I think so.”

“Who?”

Arthur looked at the monitor.

Then the lights went out.

A voice came through the speakers.

“Me.”

Victor Hayes appeared on the monitor again.

Jackson stepped forward.

“You put that device in my daughter’s room?”

Victor smiled.

“I didn’t know it would end up there.”

Jackson’s hands tightened.

“Then why was it there?”

“Because someone wanted to hide it.”

Arthur looked shocked.

“Who?”

Victor smiled.

“You.”

Arthur froze.

“What?”