Chapter 10 - The duplicate Sofia fired.Marco pushed the real Sofia down.
The bullet struck the wall.
Anna's agents returned fire.
The duplicate disappeared into the tunnel.
Matteo chased her.
He entered a narrow corridor lined with mirrors.
Every few feet stood another door.
Behind one was a laboratory.
Behind another, a control room.
Behind another, a nursery.
He stopped when he saw the nursery.
Twenty-seven cribs.
Each labeled with a date.
October 17.
October 18.
October 19.
The same dates repeated.
Copies.
Generations.
The project had started long before his daughters were born.
A voice spoke behind him.
“You finally see it.”
Matteo turned.
The duplicate Sofia stood at the end of the corridor.
She wasn't holding her weapon anymore.
“Who are you?”
She looked almost exactly like Sofia.
But her eyes were empty.
“Model S-17.”
“Where is the real Sofia?”
“Dead.”
Matteo shook his head.
“She is alive.”
“Biologically.”
“What does that mean?”
“She has been restored.”
Matteo didn't understand.
The duplicate smiled.
“Your family has spent decades replacing people.”
She touched her face.
“Sometimes with copies.”
“Why?”
“Because copies obey.”
Matteo's stomach turned.
“You replaced politicians.”
“Yes.”
“Judges.”
“Yes.”
“Police.”
“Yes.”
“Who else?”
The duplicate looked at him.
“Your mother.”
Matteo froze.
His mother had died when he was fifteen.
“You're lying.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“She was the first successful replacement.”
Matteo couldn't breathe.
His entire childhood had been built on another lie.
“Who killed her?”
“Your father.”
“Why?”
“Because she wanted to expose Orpheus.”
Matteo looked down.
The pieces fit.
His father's control.
The archive.
The doubles.
The false deaths.
His entire family history was contaminated.
Then the duplicate smiled.
“But you are still asking the wrong question.”
Matteo raised his eyes.
“What?”
“Who is the copy?”
A gunshot rang out behind him.
The duplicate fell.
Matteo turned.
Elena stood there.
She was holding the gun.
Her hands shook.
“I didn't have a choice.”
Matteo looked at her.
“Did you know her?”
Elena swallowed.
“She came to me years ago.”
“Why?”
“To tell me something.”
“What?”
Elena stared at the body.
“She said I was not supposed to survive.”
Matteo approached.
“Who sent her?”
“My father.”
“Which father?”
Elena went silent.
Matteo suddenly understood.
The question was not about blood.
It was about identity.
The project had manipulated the meaning of father.
The old man appeared at the end of the corridor.
“You finally understand.”
Matteo raised his gun.
His father smiled.
“Do you know why Sofia was allowed to survive?”
Matteo said nothing.
“Because she was useful.”
“And Marco?”
“Useful.”
“Leonardo?”
“Useful.”
“Isabella?”
“Useful.”
The old man looked at Elena.
“But Elena…”
He smiled.
“…was the only one I was afraid of.”
“Why?”
“Because she remembers.”
Matteo stared.
“Remembers what?”
The old man answered:
“What happened before you were born.”
Matteo's mind stopped.
Elena whispered.
“I remember.”
The old man smiled.
“Yes.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“I remember you.”
Matteo turned toward her.
“You met him before your birth?”
“No.”
She opened her eyes.
“I remember him from another body.”
Silence.
Matteo's father smiled.
Elena pointed at him.
“He was there when my mother was murdered.”
The old man's expression changed.
For the first time, fear.
Elena continued.
“I remember because I'm not Elena.”
Matteo's heart dropped.
She looked at him.
“My name was Isabella.”
Matteo stared.
The old man whispered:
“Impossible.”
Elena smiled through tears.
“You thought you changed my memory.”
May you like
She raised the gun.
“But you only changed my name.”
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