Vigo's Lament: A Dystopian Thriller (Age of End Book 3) by Chris Yee Page B

development of her condition. We found some sort of mutation on the back of her brain. It does not appear harmful, and in fact, seems to be helping. Her seizures still persist, but are now far less frequent. I believe the mutation is affecting her rate of growth as well. It has somehow managed to slow her aging. She continues to grow faster than a normal child, but these results are still hard to ignore. This could possibly lead to exciting new breakthroughs in the vitality sector. If the mutation can slow Izzy’s growth, what could it do for a normal human being? This is a question I am eager to answer, but unfortunately, we cannot get a closer look without performing brain surgery; something I am not willing to risk. The odds of her death are too high.
     
    Day 553
Weight: 50 pounds
Height: 48 inches
    Izzy spends more time with me in my office nowadays. She likes it better than the labs, and I enjoy her company. No one else comes up here, so I don’t see the harm in letting her stay.
     
    It’s funny. Considering how talkative she is around me, she is very shy around the labbies. She barely says a word to them, and if I’m nearby, she hides behind me. I guess she’s shy at heart.
     
    Day -
Weight: -
Height: -
    I am writing this in haste. I fear this may be my last entry. The Spire is under attack. Simon has breached the third wall, and his men are storming in. I have issued an emergency. All of my workers should be in the safe rooms, hopefully away from danger. Regretfully, I do not think there are enough evacuation pods for everyone. I will bring Izzy to the pod in my office, but first I wanted to write this last entry. I should have had the courage to share Izzy with others. I was a coward. I let Simon’s savagery get the better of me. By the time anyone finds this, Izzy and I will be away, safe from danger. We are leaving the City and never coming back. No one will see the angel that I have created, but they should know she exists. That is why I am leaving this message. To whoever finds this journal, announce it to the world. Make sure everyone knows that a miracle happened. That miracle is Izzy. People deserve to know. Victor Greene, signing off.
     
    P.S. Screw you, Simon.

SEVENTEEN
    THEY WERE ALL speechless. Processing the information was overwhelming. They stood in silence, trying to figure out what it meant for them.
    “Wait,” Alan said, stepping back from the desk. “I’m confused. Is Izzy Greene’s daughter?”
    “He certainly loved her like a daughter,” Charlotte said, flipping to the back cover. There was a picture of Izzy’s face sewn into the inner sleeve. She clamped it shut and placed it back on the desk.
    “She’s an experiment,” Vince said. “Like me.”
    “I had no idea Greene had a secret project,” Charlotte said. “He’s been hiding it for two years. Hiding her for two years.”
    “Only three people knew about her,” Vince said. “Greene, Humphrey, and this Trish Beaumont.”
    “Two of them are dead,” Alan said. “Rest in peace Humphrey. You were a good man.”
    “Trish Beaumont,” Charlotte repeated. “That sounds familiar. Where have I heard that name?”
    “She spoke at the ceremony,” Vince said.
    “I have so many questions,” Alan said. “We should find her and squeeze some answers out.”
    Charlotte walked back to Greene’s control panel. “Finding Izzy is priority. Once she’s safe, we can track down Trish Beaumont.”
    “Don’t forget about Simon,” Vince added.
    Charlotte scrolled through the logs on the screen. “Simon and Izzy are most likely together. If we find her, we find him.” She sorted the list by date and time, placing the most recent logs on top. “They’re using labbie key cards to get around. It looks like they brought us to the cell room, and then headed up to the labs on Level 149.”
    “We were just there,” Alan said. “How did we miss them?”
    “The lab area is big. You only saw a small portion of it. There were dozens