The War Revealed - 3rd Novel in the Shadow Series

Chapter 1 .

Vai

"Let's go home, Vai," my dad said. "We have a lot to talk about."

"Wait," Owen said as I took a step towards the door.

My dad turned to look at my friend.

"I mean, yes, it's okay to go home and talk," Owen said. Then tentatively he added, "but I was hoping Vai would go somewhere with me tonight. This real Vai. I never would have invited Other Vai."

"Where?" my dad asked.

Owen hesitated before he said, "So we aren't keeping any kind of secrets between us now, right?"

All of us teenagers nodded. The adults in the room didn't move.

"Spencer asked if I could get back my confiscated chocolate and sell it to him," Owen said rapidly, "so I made a deal with Security Officer Pereira. I'm going to meet her tonight at midnight to get the chocolate and then meet with Spencer. I don't think too many of us should be there because that might scare Spencer away and we killed his mother the least we can do is get him chocolate for his business. I wanted Vai to be there with me at least. I don't want to go alone."

I looked at my dad and waited. My dad swallowed hard before he said, "You can pick him up just before midnight. Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about this deal, but I appreciate that you told me the truth. I don't want any of you to lie to me any longer." He turned and left without another word.

I smiled at Owen and then rushed after my father. We didn't speak until we got back to our quarters. He sat heavily in one of the chairs. I sat on the couch next to him. Warpaint stood by the arm of the couch.

"You know everything then?" my dad asked. "Everything that is in my room? About your mom?"

"Yes," I said. "And I think I agree with her. I think you should have let the original Vai and my mom remain dead. Her essence is stuck as the ship's computer and I'm not a complete version of the original Vai. Although, I'm more complete than Other Vai, I'm still not complete. I don't know where I fit. I'm not even a real person."

My dad sat forward. "You are the original Vai, even if your body isn't. Your mom is the original too. She just doesn't have her body. You are both my family." I heard the desperation in his voice that he needed it to be so even if he knew differently.

I probably should have let it rest there, but I didn't. "How many clone Vais were there before me? I overheard that I was the closest to the original Vai. That meant you experimented before you got me."

He sat back in his chair and studied me before he answered. "There were other Vai clones before you, but they all fell short in some way. They all had the original Vai's essence, but for whatever reason - maybe there was an issue with the Laumalie preserver - none of them were quite right. You are. That's why I know you are the original Vai."

I shook my head. "The original Vai's essence? How did you originally get it? When he died did you already have your Laumalie preserver?"

"Yes," my dad said. "I was prepared before he died. I was working on it when your mom died. That was how I was able to get her essence. I originally tried to work with A.I.s - a perfect body that wouldn't get sick and die. That is why she works as the ship's computer. You wouldn't. When I learned you were sick - I couldn't lose you. That was when I got permission to start cloning."

"How do you know it captured all of his essence?"

"It had to," he said with that same desperation. "Look at you. You are him. Your essence is the original Vai. You are the same."