CHAPTER 10: THE FATHER WHO NEVER DIED
CHAPTER 10: THE FATHER WHO NEVER DIED
The hospital seemed to stop existing.
The alarms.
The shouting.
The footsteps.
Everything disappeared beneath one impossible truth.
The man standing at the entrance was supposed to be dead.
For twenty years.
Dr. Adrian Cole stared at him.
His mind refused to accept what his eyes were seeing.
The man was older.
His hair was completely gray.
Deep lines crossed his face.
But there was no mistake.
The eyes.
The voice.
The presence.
It was him.
“Father…”
The word escaped Adrian’s mouth before he could stop it.
The man smiled.
A small, almost emotional smile.
“Hello, Adrian.”
The hallway erupted.
Doctors stepped back.
Patients whispered.
Security guards raised their weapons.
But nobody fired.
Because nobody understood what they were looking at.
A ghost.
A man who had returned from the dead.
Sophia Ashford watched calmly.
Almost proudly.
Because unlike everyone else…
she was not surprised.
Adrian slowly shook his head.
“No.”
His voice became louder.
“No, this isn’t real.”
The man walked forward.
“My son.”
Adrian stepped back.
“Don’t call me that.”
The man stopped.
For the first time, something like sadness appeared on his face.
“I knew you would react this way.”
“You died.”
“No.”
A pause.
“I disappeared.”
Adrian looked toward Sophia.
Then Daniel.
Then back at the man.
“How many people knew?”
The man answered immediately.
“All of them.”
The response hit like a punch.
Adrian looked around.
The hidden laboratory.
The experiments.
The lies.
The missing memories.
Everyone had known except him.
“Why?”
His voice cracked.
“Why would you do this?”
His father looked at him.
“Because you were never meant to live a normal life.”
Adrian stared.
“What does that mean?”
Sophia stepped forward.
“I can explain.”
Adrian turned.
“No.”
His voice was cold.
“I want him to.”
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then his father sighed.
“My name is Richard Cole.”
He looked around the hospital.
“And twenty years ago, I discovered something that changed everything.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“You mean you created Helix.”
Richard shook his head.
“No.”
A pause.
“I discovered it.”
Everyone went silent.
Richard continued.
“Before Thomas Ashford. Before Sophia. Before Daniel.”
He looked at the black triangle symbol.
“Helix existed.”
Sophia’s expression remained calm.
But Adrian noticed something.
She respected him.
Not feared.
Respected.
That frightened him more.
“What was Helix created for?”
Richard looked at Elena.
“To prevent humanity from collapsing.”
Elena frowned.
“That’s what every monster says.”
Richard looked at her.
“And maybe that is why monsters are created.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“You experimented on me.”
Richard did not deny it.
“Yes.”
The hallway became silent.
“You used your own son.”
Richard’s face showed pain.
“Yes.”
Adrian’s eyes filled with anger.
“How could you?”
Richard looked down.
“Because I believed I had no choice.”
Adrian laughed.
“No choice?”
He pointed toward the hospital.
“You destroyed lives.”
Richard remained calm.
“Because the alternative was worse.”
Nobody spoke.
Richard continued.
“Twenty years ago, scientists discovered a coming crisis.”
Adrian frowned.
“What crisis?”
“A biological collapse.”
Sophia continued.
“Human genetics were becoming less stable.”
Adrian looked at her.
“That sounds convenient.”
Sophia ignored the accusation.
“Diseases were evolving faster. Human bodies were becoming less resistant.”
Richard nodded.
“We searched for a solution.”
Daniel quietly said:
“And found Adrian.”
Everyone turned.
Adrian froze.
“What?”
Richard looked at him.
“You were born with a rare genetic mutation.”
A pause.
“Your body repaired itself unusually fast.”
Adrian shook his head.
“I was a child.”
“Yes.”
Richard looked away.
“That is why I hesitated.”
The words surprised Adrian.
“You hesitated?”
Richard nodded.
“For years.”
A silence.
“Until Helix found out.”
Sophia looked at him.
“Your father tried to hide you.”
Adrian looked confused.
“From you?”
“Yes.”
Sophia’s voice became colder.
“Richard wanted to destroy the research.”
Richard looked at her.
“Because it became immoral.”
Sophia smiled.
“And that is where we disagreed.”
The two looked at each other.
Two people who had built the same dream.
Then destroyed it in different ways.
Adrian looked at Richard.
“So what happened to my memories?”
Richard’s expression changed.
Pain.
Regret.
“We had an accident.”
Daniel looked down.
“The first Phoenix procedure failed.”
Adrian remembered fragments.
The machines.
The lights.
The voices.
A child crying.
Him.
Richard continued:
“You were dying.”
Adrian froze.
“What?”
“Your body rejected the treatment.”
Richard swallowed.
“I had one choice.”
A pause.
“Erase the memories.”
Adrian stared.
“You erased my life.”
Richard looked devastated.
“I saved your life.”
The same words.
Again.
Everyone had said them.
And Adrian hated that part of him still wanted to believe them.
Suddenly, a loud alarm sounded.
Sophia looked at the clock.
11:45 PM.
Her expression changed.
“It is time.”
Adrian turned.
“For what?”
Sophia looked at Elena.
“The final extraction.”
Elena immediately stepped backward.
“No.”
Richard looked at Sophia.
“This was not the agreement.”
Sophia looked at him.
“You no longer control the project.”
A pause.
“Neither does Thomas.”
Everyone became silent.
Adrian noticed.
“Where is Thomas?”
Nobody answered.
Then every screen in the hospital turned on.
A live video appeared.
Thomas Ashford.
He was sitting inside the underground laboratory.
But something was wrong.
He was not in control.
His hands were restrained.
His face was bruised.
Behind him stood unknown people wearing the black triangle symbol.
Thomas looked directly into the camera.
For the first time…
he looked afraid.
“Adrian…”
The billionaire’s voice trembled.
“You need to listen.”
Sophia looked irritated.
“Turn it off.”
Nobody moved.
Thomas continued.
“She lied.”
He looked at Sophia.
“She lied to everyone.”
Sophia’s face remained emotionless.
Thomas continued:
“Helix was never about saving humanity.”
A pause.
“It was never about medicine.”
Adrian stared.
“Then what was it?”
Thomas looked into the camera.
And said the words that changed everything.
“It was about creating a replacement.”
The hallway went silent.
Thomas continued:
“Humanity was never the goal.”
A pause.
“The goal was to create something better than humans.”
Sophia finally stepped forward.
“Enough.”
But Thomas kept speaking.
“Your child…”
He looked at Elena.
“Is not the next stage.”
Elena froze.
“Then what is?”
Thomas’ face became pale.
“The child is the key to waking the first one.”
Everyone stopped breathing.
Adrian looked confused.
“The first one?”
Thomas whispered:
“The original Phoenix subject.”
A long pause.
“The person Helix has been trying to recreate for twenty years.”
The lights suddenly turned off.
Again.
Darkness.
Then a single emergency light appeared.
And beneath it…
a door opened.
A person walked out.
Someone nobody expected.
Someone who had been hidden beneath the hospital the entire time.
Adrian stared.
Because the person walking toward them…
looked exactly like him.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same age.
The person stopped in front of Adrian.
And whispered:
“I have been waiting for you.”
Adrian could not breathe.
Sophia smiled.
“Finally.”
She looked at everyone.
“Meet Subject Zero.”
A pause.
May you like
“The first Phoenix.”
TO BE CONTINUED...
