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Chapters (108)
  1. Also Available from V. E. Schwab and Titan Books
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Genesis: Six Weeks Ago
  5. I: Resurrection
  6. I
  7. II
  8. III
  9. IV
  10. V
  11. VI
  12. VII
  13. VIII
  14. IX
  15. X
  16. XI
  17. XII
  18. XIII
  19. XIV
  20. XV
  21. XVI
  22. XVII
  23. XVIII
  24. II: Revelation
  25. I
  26. II
  27. III
  28. IV
  29. V
  30. VI
  31. VII
  32. VIII
  33. IX
  34. X
  35. XI
  36. XII
  37. XIII
  38. XIV
  39. XV
  40. XVI
  41. XVII
  42. XVIII
  43. XIX
  44. XX
  45. XXI
  46. XXII
  47. XXIII
  48. XXIV
  49. XXV
  50. XXVI
  51. III: Ascension
  52. I
  53. II
  54. III
  55. IV
  56. V
  57. VI
  58. VII
  59. VIII
  60. IX
  61. X
  62. XI
  63. XII
  64. XIII
  65. XIV
  66. XV
  67. XVI
  68. XVII
  69. XVIII
  70. XIX
  71. XX
  72. XXI
  73. XXII
  74. XXIII
  75. XXIV
  76. XXV
  77. XXVI
  78. IV: Judgment Day
  79. I
  80. II
  81. III
  82. IV
  83. V
  84. VI
  85. VII
  86. VIII
  87. IX
  88. X
  89. XI
  90. XII
  91. XIII
  92. XIV
  93. XV
  94. XVI
  95. XVII
  96. XVIII
  97. XIX
  98. XX
  99. XXI
  100. XXII
  101. Exodus
  102. I
  103. II
  104. III
  105. A Message from Victor Vale
  106. Common Ground
  107. About the Author
  108. Document Outline

Now he simply had to wait for it to grow.

Image 51

XXV

XXVI

FOUR YEARS AGO

EON—LABORATORY WING

THOMAS Haverty was a man of vision.

So he wasn’t at all surprised when Stell stripped him of his post at EON. Wasn’t surprised when security escorted him from the lab, took his access card, his files, his crisp white coat. So many men of genius were stymied by shortsighted fools. Scientists condemned before they were lauded. Gods crucified before they were worshipped.

“This way, Mr. Haverty,” said a soldier in a black suit.

“Doctor,” he corrected as he stepped through the scanner, spread his arms, and let them search his clothes, his skin, his skeleton, all to make sure he hadn’t stolen anything from the lab. As if Haverty would do something so obvious, so stupid.

They escorted him all the way to the parking lot, and proceeded to search his car, too, before returning his keys and signaling the security post to let him out. The gates slid closed behind him with grim finality.

Haverty drove the twenty-four miles back to the outer edge of Merit, to a small apartment on the southern side of the city. He let himself in, set the keys in their designated tray, peeled off his coat and shoes, and rolled up his sleeves.

A few stray flecks of Mr. Cardale’s blood still stained the inside of his wrist, beyond the protection of his latex gloves. Haverty considered the dots for a moment, the strange pattern like a smattering of stars, a constellation waiting to be discovered.

He held his wrist out and went to his office. A windowless room, sterile and white and lined with refrigerated shelves of samples, vials of blood, small glass jars containing a dozen different drugs, folder after folder of hand-copied notes.

No, Haverty hadn’t been foolish enough to steal from EON on his way out. Instead, he’d done it every day. Stolen his research one piece at a time. A single sample. A slide. An ampule. Each token small enough to be claimed an accident, if he’d been caught. A slip of the mind.

Patience really was the highest virtue. And progress was a thing achieved one halting step at a time.

Every night—or morning—when he’d returned home, Haverty had taken up a notepad and reprinted word for word the notes he’d made in the sanctum of the EON compound.

Men ahead of their time were always, by definition, outside of it.

Haverty was no different. Stell couldn’t see—EON couldn’t see—but he knew that the ends would justify the means. He would show them.

He would crack the ExtraOrdinary code, and change the face of science, and they would welcome him back. They would worship him.