Chapter 12: The Man Who Called Ethan “Son”
The doors slammed shut behind Ethan.
Metal locks dropped into place.
One.
Two.
Three.
The sound echoed through the abandoned facility.
Ethan stood motionless.
Across the vast laboratory, Emily was restrained beside Margaret.
Robert stood several feet behind him.
Michael had his weapon raised.
And in the center of the room stood the man who had just called Ethan his son.
Adrian Vale.
The man Ethan had believed dead.
The man who looked enough like Ethan to make his stomach twist.
Adrian smiled.
"You came."
Ethan didn't move.
"Let Emily go."
Adrian glanced at her.
"She'll be released."
"When?"
"When you understand."
"I understand enough."
"No."
Adrian's smile faded.
"You understand almost nothing."
Margaret stepped forward.
"Adrian."
He turned toward her.
"Mother."
Ethan froze.
He looked at Margaret.
Then Adrian.
"Mother?"
Margaret's face remained emotionless.
Adrian smiled.
"Yes."
Ethan's mind raced.
"You two..."
Margaret interrupted.
"Adrian is my son."
Ethan looked at Robert.
Robert nodded slowly.
Ethan felt sick.
"So you're brothers?"
Robert's voice was quiet.
"Yes."
Adrian laughed.
"Half-brothers."
Ethan stared.
"Then who is my father?"
Adrian stepped closer.
"I am."
Robert immediately shouted:
"Don't believe him!"
Adrian looked amused.
"Still protecting your lies, Robert?"
Ethan raised his gun.
"Enough."
Adrian stopped.
Ethan's voice shook with rage.
"One of you is lying."
He looked at Margaret.
"You're my mother."
Then at Robert.
"You're my father."
Then Adrian.
"You're saying you're my father."
His eyes moved toward Emily.
"And she's supposedly my biological mother."
Ethan's voice broke.
"How can all of this be true?"
Emily began crying.
"Ethan..."
"Tell me."
She shook her head.
"I wanted to."
"When?"
"Years ago."
"Then why didn't you?"
"Because I was afraid."
"Of what?"
Emily looked toward Adrian.
"Of him."
Adrian smiled.
"Smart woman."
Ethan stepped closer.
"What did you do to Emily?"
"Nothing."
"She's been imprisoned."
"Because she knows something."
"What?"
Adrian looked at Margaret.
"Tell him."
Margaret remained silent.
Adrian sighed.
"Fine."
He pointed toward a large screen.
It turned on.
A medical record appeared.
Ethan's name was at the top.
DATE OF BIRTH.
The date matched the one on Ethan's official documents.
Then another line.
BIOLOGICAL MOTHER: EMILY VALE.
Ethan stopped breathing.
BIOLOGICAL FATHER: ADRIAN VALE.
His hands began trembling.
Robert looked down.
Ethan stared at the screen.
"Emily Vale?"
Emily closed her eyes.
"That was my name before I married you."
Ethan's mind spun.
"You were married to Adrian?"
Emily nodded.
"For three years."
Adrian smiled.
"She left me."
"Because you were experimenting on children."
Adrian's smile disappeared.
"Because she betrayed me."
Emily shouted:
"You murdered them!"
"Some."
The room fell silent.
Ethan stared at Adrian.
"You killed children?"
Adrian's expression remained cold.
"Children who were never going to survive."
Ethan's rage erupted.
"They were human beings!"
Adrian shrugged.
"And you were supposed to be the greatest result."
Ethan froze.
"What?"
Adrian pointed toward him.
"You weren't born naturally."
Ethan's face went pale.
Emily whispered:
"That's not true."
Adrian continued.
"Your father created you."
Ethan looked at Robert.
Robert didn't deny it.
Adrian smiled.
"Not entirely."
Ethan's breathing became shallow.
"What does that mean?"
Robert finally spoke.
"You were conceived naturally."
Ethan stared.
"But we modified your embryo."
Silence.
"Why?"
Robert looked toward Adrian.
"Because Adrian had the disease."
Ethan frowned.
"What disease?"
"The same disease Margaret has."
Robert continued.
"We altered the embryo using a genetic sequence from our family."
Ethan looked at his hands.
"So I'm genetically modified?"
"Partially."
Adrian stepped forward.
"You were our experiment."
Ethan's eyes filled with anger.
"You used me."
"Yes."
"And my children?"
Adrian looked toward the newborn.
"They are the next generation."
Ethan's grip tightened.
"No."
Adrian's voice became softer.
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
"Your genetic sequence is unstable."
Ethan frowned.
"Meaning?"
"Your body is suppressing the disease."
"For how long?"
Adrian smiled.
"Until your forty-fifth birthday."
Ethan froze.
"Why forty-five?"
"Because that's when the mutation activates."
Robert stepped forward.
"Adrian."
"Let him hear it."
Adrian looked at Ethan.
"At forty-five, your body begins to deteriorate."
Ethan swallowed.
"How long do I have?"
"Sixteen years."
Silence.
Ethan stared.
"You're lying."
Adrian shook his head.
"Ask your father."
Ethan looked at Robert.
Robert couldn't meet his eyes.
The truth landed harder than any bullet.
Ethan's life had been manipulated before he was even born.
His memories erased.
His identity changed.
His wife had hidden the truth.
His children had been hunted.
All because of his blood.
Then Ethan noticed something.
A medical chart beside Adrian.
It showed his mother's condition.
Then his father's.
Then his own.
Then his children's.
There was one more line.
SUBJECT 04.
Ethan looked at it.
"Who is Subject 04?"
Adrian didn't answer.
Ethan walked toward the screen.
A photograph appeared.
A child.
A little girl.
Maybe six years old.
She looked almost identical to Sophie and Lily.
Ethan stared.
"Another child?"
Emily began crying.
Adrian said nothing.
Ethan turned.
"Who is she?"
Robert's face had gone pale.
"Her name is Ava."
Ethan's heart pounded.
"Where is she?"
Adrian answered:
"Dead."
Emily screamed:
"No!"
Ethan looked at her.
"She isn't dead."
Emily shook her head.
"They told me she was."
Adrian smiled.
"Exactly."
Ethan's stomach dropped.
"Where is she?"
Adrian looked toward a hallway.
"Here."
A door opened.
A little girl walked into the laboratory.
Ethan stopped breathing.
She looked exactly like Sophie.
Exactly like Lily.
But she was wearing a white hospital gown.
A barcode was tattooed on her wrist.
Sophie whispered:
"She's my sister."
Lily stepped forward.
"Triplet?"
The girl looked at them.
Then at Ethan.
"Daddy?"
Ethan couldn't move.
Emily began sobbing.
"Ava."
The little girl ran toward her.
But Margaret grabbed her.
"Not yet."
Ethan raised his gun.
"Let her go."
Margaret smiled.
"You still think this is about the children."
Ethan's voice became cold.
"Then what is it about?"
Margaret pointed toward a machine.
"The children are merely the proof."
"Proof of what?"
"That your father succeeded."
Ethan looked at Robert.
"Succeeded at what?"
Margaret answered.
"Creating a bloodline that doesn't die."
Ethan stared.
Adrian stepped closer.
"That's why Meridian exists."
Robert shook his head.
"No."
Adrian looked at him.
"You still deny it?"
Robert's voice hardened.
"We were trying to cure a disease."
"You were trying to control evolution."
"Because you turned it into something monstrous."
Adrian smiled.
"And now the world will see it."
He pressed a button.
The walls opened.
Behind them was a massive chamber filled with hundreds of glass containers.
Inside were medical samples.
Blood.
DNA.
Embryos.
And photographs.
Hundreds of children.
Ethan stared in horror.
"How many?"
Adrian looked at him.
"Four hundred and twelve."
Ethan's blood ran cold.
"Where are they?"
"Some are alive."
"Some?"
"Some weren't compatible."
Ethan's stomach turned.
Emily shouted:
"Stop!"
Adrian ignored her.
"Your children are the first successful generation."
He pointed toward Ethan.
"And you are the original."
Suddenly the entire building shook.
An alarm began screaming.
Michael looked at the control panel.
"We have a problem."
"What?"
"The archive is being uploaded."
Robert's face changed.
"To where?"
Michael stared at the screen.
"Everywhere."
Ethan looked at him.
"Who is uploading it?"
Michael shook his head.
"I don't know."
A countdown appeared.
00:09:58.
Adrian looked confused.
"That's impossible."
The screens suddenly displayed a message.
MERIDIAN FILES RELEASED.
Ethan stared.
Every secret was going public.
Then another message appeared.
PROJECT CARTER: COMPLETE.
Adrian's face went white.
"What have you done?"
Ethan shook his head.
"Nothing."
A woman's voice came through the speakers.
Not Margaret.
Not Emily.
Not Adrian.
A voice Ethan had never heard before.
"You've all been playing the same game."
Everyone froze.
The voice continued.
"But none of you ever asked who created Meridian."
Adrian looked around.
"Who are you?"
The voice laughed.
"Adrian, you really should remember."
The lights went out.
Then a single spotlight illuminated the center of the laboratory.
A woman stood there.
Older.
Elegant.
Holding a folder.
Ethan stared.
He didn't recognize her.
But Robert did.
His face collapsed.
"No."
The woman smiled.
"Hello, Robert."
Ethan looked at his father.
"Who is she?"
Robert whispered:
"Your grandmother."
Ethan's heart stopped.
The woman looked directly at him.
"And Ethan..."
She smiled.
"I've been waiting thirty-seven years to meet my grandson."
Then she opened the folder.
Inside was a photograph of Ethan as a newborn.
May you like
Written underneath were six words:
HE WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE BORN.
