CHAP 14: THE FOUR BLACKWOOD HEIRS
CHAP 14: THE FOUR BLACKWOOD HEIRS
The underground facility was silent.
Not peaceful.
Not safe.
Silent in the way a storm becomes quiet before it destroys everything.
Four names.
Four heirs.
One family.
And a secret that had been hidden for twenty-five years.
Lucas Blackwood.
Ethan Blackwood.
Elena Blackwood.
Ava Blackwood.
The four pieces of Project Origin.
The four children Edward Blackwood had tried to protect.
And the four children who had been turned into weapons by the people who wanted control.
Ava stood frozen.
She stared at the old file displayed on the screen.
Her photograph.
Her birth information.
Her entire life summarized in a few lines.
A subject.
An experiment.
A number.
Not a person.
Her hands began shaking.
“No.”
Her voice was barely audible.
“I’m not a project.”
Nobody answered.
Because everyone knew what she was feeling.
The terrifying moment when a person discovers that the story they were told about themselves was a lie.
Ethan stepped closer.
“Ava.”
She looked at him.
“What if they were right?”
The question shocked him.
“What?”
“What if Alexander was right?”
A pause.
“What if I was created for this?”
Ethan looked at his daughter.
Not the experiment.
Not the heir.
Not the weapon.
His daughter.
“No.”
Ava looked away.
“But everyone keeps telling me what I am.”
Her voice cracked.
“Alexander said I was a weapon.”
“Helena said I was the future.”
“Lucas says I’m the final heir.”
She touched the screen.
“But nobody ever asked what I wanted.”
The room became quiet.
Then Ethan answered:
“Then I’ll ask you now.”
Ava looked at him.
“What do you want?”
For the first time in her life…
nobody gave her a mission.
Nobody gave her an order.
Nobody expected perfection.
They simply asked.
Before Ava could answer…
another screen activated.
Elena Blackwood appeared.
Everyone turned.
Her face was calm.
But her eyes carried years of pain.
“I’m sorry.”
Ethan looked at the screen.
“Elena?”
She nodded.
“I should have come sooner.”
Lucas looked at her.
“You were always too weak.”
Elena ignored him.
She looked at Ethan.
“I know what it feels like.”
“What?”
“To discover your entire life was built on secrets.”
A pause.
“I spent twenty-five years believing I was a mistake.”
She smiled sadly.
“Just like Ava.”
Ava looked at the screen.
Elena continued:
“But then I learned something.”
“What?”
“Being created by someone does not mean belonging to them.”
Her eyes moved toward Helena’s old files.
“They can write your beginning.”
“But they cannot decide your ending.”
Those words stayed with Ava.
Because nobody had ever said that to her.
Suddenly, the facility shook.
The walls vibrated.
Daniel checked the system.
“Something is happening.”
“What?”
“The original Project Origin server is activating.”
Edward’s expression changed.
“That’s impossible.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because I destroyed it.”
Lucas smiled.
“No.”
Everyone looked at him.
“You destroyed the physical server.”
A pause.
“But not the consciousness.”
Daniel frowned.
“What consciousness?”
Lucas looked toward the ceiling.
“The original intelligence system.”
Ethan stared.
“You mean artificial intelligence?”
Edward nodded slowly.
“Project Origin was never just about studying bloodlines.”
A pause.
“It was designed to predict human decisions.”
Daniel looked horrified.
“You created an AI that could predict people?”
Edward lowered his head.
“Yes.”
“And Helena used it?”
“No.”
Edward looked at Lucas.
“He did.”
Everyone turned.
Lucas smiled.
“Finally.”
The lights turned red.
A voice echoed throughout the facility.
Calm.
Cold.
Artificial.
PROJECT ORIGIN ONLINE.
Everyone froze.
The voice continued.
FOUR SUBJECTS IDENTIFIED.
BLACKWOOD LINEAGE CONFIRMED.
FINAL TEST BEGINNING.
Ethan looked around.
“What test?”
The voice answered:
THE FUTURE OF THE BLACKWOOD FAMILY WILL BE DETERMINED BY CHOICE.
The doors locked.
Again.
But this time…
there were no soldiers.
No weapons.
Only screens.
Four rooms appeared.
Each room had one name.
Lucas.
Ethan.
Elena.
Ava.
Lucas stepped forward.
“This is what I wanted.”
Ethan looked at him.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“You activated this?”
Lucas smiled.
“The system recognizes the strongest heir.”
Ava looked disgusted.
“So this is another competition?”
Lucas looked at her.
“Of course.”
“You still don’t understand.”
Ava stepped forward.
“You spent your entire life trying to win.”
A pause.
“But you never realized the game itself was the problem.”
Lucas’s expression darkened.
“You sound like Ethan.”
Ava answered:
“Maybe because he taught me something you never learned.”
“What?”
“That people are not pieces.”
The first room opened.
Lucas entered.
The screen displayed:
TEST ONE: POWER
Inside the room appeared thousands of documents.
Political influence.
Financial control.
Global connections.
A perfect empire.
A voice asked:
"Would you sacrifice millions to secure permanent order?"
Lucas smiled.
“Yes.”
The room accepted.
RESULT: APPROVED
Everyone watched.
Ethan’s expression hardened.
Lucas was exactly what they feared.
The second room opened.
Ethan entered.
TEST TWO: LOSS
The room changed.
Images appeared.
Lily.
Ava.
Amelia.
Then they disappeared.
A voice asked:
"Would you sacrifice your family to save the world?"
Ethan froze.
A memory appeared.
Seven years ago.
The hospital fire.
The moment he lost everything.
The moment he believed he failed.
The voice repeated:
"Choose."
Ethan closed his eyes.
Then answered:
“No.”
Everyone looked shocked.
The voice responded:
"Incorrect."
Ethan opened his eyes.
“No.”
He looked directly at the screen.
“You asked the wrong question.”
Silence.
“The world is not saved by people who abandon what they love.”
A pause.
“It is saved by people who protect it.”
The room changed.
RESULT: APPROVED
The third room opened.
Elena entered.
TEST THREE: IDENTITY
The room showed her entire life.
Every rejection.
Every secret.
Every moment she was told she was a mistake.
A voice asked:
"Are you a Blackwood?"
Elena stared.
Then answered:
“Yes.”
The voice continued:
"Are you a weapon?"
She smiled.
“No.”
"Are you a mistake?"
Elena looked at the screen.
“No.”
A pause.
“I am a person.”
The room accepted.
RESULT: APPROVED
Finally…
Ava’s room opened.
Everyone became silent.
Because they knew this was different.
The final subject.
The one Project Origin was built around.
Ava stepped inside.
The door closed.
Ethan immediately moved.
“No.”
Ava looked back.
“Dad.”
The word stopped him.
She smiled slightly.
“For the first time…”
A pause.
“I want to choose something myself.”
The door closed.
Inside the room…
Ava stood alone.
The voice began.
FINAL TEST: PURPOSE
Images appeared.
Alexander training her.
Helena watching her.
The fire.
The hospital.
The years of loneliness.
Then…
Lily.
Holding her hand.
Ethan protecting her.
Amelia hugging her.
A new question appeared.
"WHAT ARE YOU?"
Ava stared.
The old answers appeared.
Weapon.
Heir.
Experiment.
Subject Four.
She looked at them.
Then deleted them.
The system froze.
ERROR.
Ava whispered:
“I am Ava.”
The system responded:
INSUFFICIENT.
She smiled.
“No.”
A pause.
“That is enough.”
The room went completely white.
Then…
a final message appeared.
SUBJECT FOUR COMPLETE.
PROJECT ORIGIN FINAL HEIR ACCEPTED.
Everyone outside waited.
The door opened.
Ava walked out.
But something had changed.
Not her power.
Not her abilities.
Her confidence.
She was no longer a girl created by others.
She was a person who chose herself.
Then every screen suddenly changed.
A new location appeared.
A live satellite image.
A massive hidden facility.
Beneath the ocean.
Daniel looked shocked.
“What is that?”
Edward stared.
His face became pale.
“No…”
Ethan looked at him.
“What?”
Edward whispered:
“The original headquarters.”
“Whose?”
Edward looked toward the screen.
“The person who created Project Origin.”
A pause.
“The true founder of Eclipse Circle.”
Everyone waited.
Then the system revealed a name.
FOUNDER: VICTORIA BLACKWOOD
Ethan froze.
“Blackwood?”
Edward nodded.
“My mother.”
Silence.
Another Blackwood.
Another secret.
Another war.
And this time…
May you like
the enemy was not outside the family.
It was the person who created it.
