Chapter 2 The Choice

I laughed. Of course, I could live with it.

An hour later, my father and stepmother found me at the detention center.

Behind the cold steel bars, I watched the news on the wall-mounted TV—a live broadcast of the Abyss Explorer rescue mission. The anchor's voice was full of practiced emotion as she recited the list of missing crew members, hailing them as national heroes who had sacrificed themselves for science.

She really nailed the tone.

I raised my cuffed hands and gave a small shrug toward the two standing outside the bars. "As you can see, my hands are tied—literally. I've been detained for allegedly leaking classified data from the Abyss Explorer."

Claudia's expression shifted in mere seconds—from shock, to disbelief, to venomous hatred. Her carefully maintained face twisted with fury as she shrieked, "It was you, Lucas! You did this on purpose! You've always been jealous of your brother—jealous that he became the chief designer of the Abyss Explorer at such a young age! You couldn't have it, so you decided to destroy him! You're vile!"

Every word of her accusation mirrored the same script the media had used in my previous life. Clearly, they'd had this story ready for a long time.

Theron, on the other hand, was much more composed. His anxiety was evident, but he still carried himself with the authority of a senior government official. He stared hard at me. "What exactly happened?"

"No idea." I leaned back against the wall, my posture lazy. "The disciplinary team stormed into my lab in the middle of the night. They said someone had filed a real-name report accusing me of selling the Abyss Explorer's schematics and sonar code to a foreign organization."

Theron's face turned the color of steel. He knew damn well it was a setup. Half of the submarine's core technology came from my research. There was no way I'd ever betray my own work.

"Damn it!" he growled, pulling out his phone. "I'll make some calls. I don't care what it takes—I'll have you out of here by tonight!"

"Don't waste your time," I said flatly.

"What do you mean?"

"If I walk out before the investigation is over, it'll only make me look guilty." My gaze met his—calm but sharp. "Dad, we both know that once this charge sticks, I'm finished for life."

Theron froze, the phone still in his hand. He understood perfectly.

Then, I asked him quietly, "Dad, if today only one of us—Aidan or me—gets to live, who would you choose?"

His mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Just then, his phone rang again. He grabbed it like a drowning man clutching a lifeline and answered immediately.

It was a call from the Polar Research Center. "Director Sullivan, we've just made contact with Chief Zimri!"

Theron's eyes lit up. "That's great! What did she say? Does she have a plan?"

"Chief Zimri said she's already suspended her Arctic mission. She's using a backup channel to try to remotely connect to the Abyss Explorer's operating system, but…"

"But what?"

"But the submarine's physical interface is locked. The remote signal can't fully access the system. Someone will have to pilot a rescue sub down there to manually link up. Only then can the system be restarted. And according to Chief Zimri, there's only one person in the world capable of performing that manual docking—engineer, Lucas Sullivan."