The revelation that Hercules's grandmother was the true leader of The Circle had shattered everything he thought he knew. For three days after their meeting at his father's grave, Hercules had been in hiding. He could not trust anyone. He could not trust the Free Alliance. He could not even trust his own instincts anymore.His grandmother, whose name was Victoria Ashford, had explained that The Circle was never meant to be a force for evil. She had said that The Circle was created as a way to preserve humanity during times of great danger. She had said that consciousness transfer technology was meant to save people from extinction.But Hercules did not believe her. He had seen what The Circle did. He had seen the clones. He had seen the weapons. He had seen the corruption.Eleanor found him in a safe house on the outskirts of the city. She looked tired. She looked like she had not slept in days."We need to talk," Eleanor said. "We have a serious problem.""What kind of problem?" Herc

The news that Hercules's friends had been moved hit him like a physical blow. All the planning, all the preparation, all the risk they had taken, and his friends were no longer even in the location they were supposed to be in."Where did they go?" Hercules asked, his voice tight with frustration.Colonel Mitchell was still on the phone, getting more information from his contact. Finally, he hung up and turned to face Hercules."According to the intelligence I just received, your friends were transported about four hours ago," Colonel Mitchell said. "They were moved to a facility in Canada. A facility called the Northern Research Complex. It is hidden deep in the mountains north of Vancouver.""How far away is that?" Hercules asked."About two thousand kilometers from here," David said, studying a map on his tablet. "Even if we fly, it would take us eight to ten hours to get there. And that is assuming we can get the use of an aircraft without being detected.""We cannot get an aircraf

Victoria Ashford stepped into the conference room with an air of complete confidence. Behind her were several armed soldiers, but they did not appear to be threatening. Instead, they looked like they were there more for protection than for aggression."Victoria," General Reeves said, her hand moving toward a weapon. "I did not expect to see you here.""I know," Victoria said with a slight smile. "That is because I have been very careful about keeping my movements secret. But I have also been very careful about following your movements, Margaret. I have known about your little resistance for almost two years."The revelation hit like a bomb. General Reeves's face went pale."You knew?" General Reeves asked. "If you knew, why did you not stop me?""Because I wanted to see how far you would go," Victoria said. "I wanted to see if you would be able to uncover the truth about The Circle on your own. I wanted to see if you would be able to help my grandson understand what The Circle really

The hours following the cascade effect were chaos. Around the world, medical systems were failing. Consciousness transfer devices had gone offline. Hospitals were struggling to adapt to operating without consciousness transfer technology.But in the Northern Research Complex, a new plan was being formed. Eleanor, Dr. Chen, General Reeves, and Colonel Mitchell worked together to develop a protocol for selective consciousness transfer technology reactivation. The goal was to restore the medical applications of consciousness transfer while preventing The Circle from using the technology for control.The first priority was hospitals. Medical teams around the world needed consciousness transfer equipment to restore the consciousness of patients whose neural systems had been damaged by accidents or disease.The second priority was the clones that had been created by The Circle. Millions of clones existed in various stages of consciousness. Some of them were fully conscious and aware that th

Thirty years after Victoria Ashford's conviction, the world believed that The Circle had been destroyed. The world believed that consciousness transfer technology had been successfully regulated. The world believed that the nightmare was over.But in a remote location in the ocean, on an artificial island that had been secretly constructed, a new Circle was being born.The leadership of the new Circle was not American or European. It was not led by people from the old power structures. The new Circle was led by people from developing nations. People who believed that consciousness transfer technology should be shared freely with all humanity. People who believed that immortality should not be reserved for the wealthy and the powerful.On the surface, the new Circle seemed noble. They claimed that they were democratizing consciousness transfer. They claimed that they were making immortality available to everyone, not just the elite.But in reality, the new Circle was more dangerous tha