Chapter 14: The Girl Who Was Never Born
The machine began to hum.
At first, it was barely audible.
A low vibration beneath the floor.
Then the walls began shaking.
Ethan looked at Ava.
The little girl stood perfectly still.
Her face was pale.
Her eyes were fixed on the floor.
"Daddy..."
Ethan stepped toward her.
"What did you mean?"
Ava didn't answer.
Emily grabbed Ethan's arm.
"There's no time."
"I need to know."
"Later."
"No."
Ethan looked at Ava.
"She just said she's not my daughter."
Ava looked at him.
"I am."
Her voice was trembling.
"But I'm not supposed to exist."
Another tremor shook the room.
Robert shouted:
"Everyone out!"
Michael was already moving toward the emergency exit.
Richard pulled Sophie and Lily forward.
Margaret crawled away from the fallen beam.
Helena remained trapped beneath the metal.
She was laughing.
Ethan turned toward her.
"What is Ava?"
Helena's smile widened.
"You really want to know?"
"Tell me."
"She's the first."
"The first what?"
"The first successful artificial human."
Silence.
Ethan stared at Ava.
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
"That's not the whole truth."
Helena laughed.
"Of course it isn't."
Ethan turned toward Emily.
"Tell me."
Emily took a breath.
"Ava was created from your genetic material."
Ethan froze.
"But she wasn't carried by me."
"Obviously."
"Then who?"
Emily looked at Margaret.
"Your mother."
Ethan's eyes widened.
"Margaret?"
Margaret lowered her head.
"I carried her."
Ethan looked at the woman.
"Why?"
Margaret finally spoke.
"Because we needed a test."
"For what?"
"For you."
Ethan felt sick.
"She was created before I was born."
Margaret nodded.
"Years before."
"Then how can she look like Sophie?"
Margaret smiled.
"Because Sophie looks like her."
Ethan stared.
"They're genetically related."
"Very closely."
"How closely?"
Margaret didn't answer.
Emily whispered:
"They're clones."
Ethan's entire body went cold.
Sophie and Lily stood nearby.
They were staring at Ava.
Three little girls.
Three identical faces.
Three sets of eyes.
Ethan looked at them.
"You're saying..."
Emily nodded.
"Ava was the prototype."
"Sophie and Lily were born naturally."
"But their DNA was compared to Ava's."
"And modified."
Ethan shook his head.
"No."
Emily stepped closer.
"That's why Meridian wanted them."
"Because they were successful."
Ethan looked at Ava.
"What happened to her?"
Helena answered from the floor.
"She died."
Ava looked at her.
"No."
Helena's smile disappeared.
Ava continued:
"You killed me."
Everyone froze.
Ava pulled down her sleeve.
A long scar ran along her arm.
"They put me in the machine."
She pointed toward the floor.
"I woke up six years later."
Ethan stared.
"Six years?"
Ava nodded.
"They told me I was sick."
Emily knelt beside her.
"You're not sick."
Ava looked at her.
"Then why do I hear voices?"
Emily froze.
"What voices?"
Ava pointed toward the machine.
"Those."
A deep mechanical pulse filled the room.
Ethan looked at the machine.
"What is it doing?"
Robert's face had gone pale.
"It's activating the neural archive."
Michael frowned.
"What's that?"
Robert pointed toward Ava.
"Her memories."
Ethan stared.
"Stored in the machine?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because Ava's brain was unstable."
Robert continued.
"They recorded her memories externally."
Ava looked at Ethan.
"I remember everything."
"What?"
"Everything they did."
Ethan stepped closer.
"What happened to Emily?"
Ava's eyes filled with tears.
"They took her."
"Where?"
"To the room beneath the nursery."
Ethan's heart stopped.
"The night she disappeared."
Ava nodded.
"I saw it."
Ethan's voice shook.
"Tell me."
Ava looked at Margaret.
"She told the doctors to kill Mommy."
Margaret shouted:
"She's lying!"
Ava flinched.
Emily grabbed her hand.
Ava continued.
"But Daddy stopped them."
Ethan looked at Robert.
Robert closed his eyes.
"You rescued Emily."
"Yes."
"Then why did you let me believe she was dead?"
"Because Margaret had already ordered your death."
Ethan stared.
"What?"
Robert nodded.
"She wanted to eliminate everyone who knew about Ava."
Ethan looked toward Margaret.
"You tried to kill me."
Margaret's expression hardened.
"You were a threat."
"I'm your grandson."
"You were an uncontrollable variable."
Ethan's face went cold.
"That's all I ever was to you."
Margaret didn't answer.
Ava suddenly screamed.
The machine's hum became louder.
Emily looked toward the control panel.
"Something's happening."
The screens activated.
A genetic sequence appeared.
Then another.
Then another.
Four sequences.
Ethan.
Sophie.
Lily.
Ava.
And finally...
the baby.
The five sequences merged.
The screen displayed:
COMPLETE GENETIC ARCHITECTURE.
Robert stared.
"No."
Michael asked:
"What?"
Robert whispered:
"That's impossible."
"What?"
"The sequence is complete."
Ethan looked at him.
"Meaning?"
Robert pointed at the screen.
"The disease can be cured."
Everyone went silent.
Ethan looked toward his mother.
Margaret slowly smiled.
"Now you understand."
She struggled to stand.
"The work is finished."
Emily shook her head.
"No."
Margaret looked at her.
"Yes."
She pointed toward the baby.
"His cells completed the final sequence."
Ethan tightened his arms around his son.
"You won't touch him."
Margaret smiled.
"I don't have to."
A loud metallic click sounded.
The chamber doors opened.
Hundreds of armed men appeared.
Michael raised his weapon.
"There are too many."
Richard whispered:
"Where did they come from?"
Robert looked at the men.
"Meridian security."
Ethan looked around.
"Then we fight."
Robert shook his head.
"No."
"What?"
"You don't understand."
He pointed toward the ceiling.
"The entire facility is surrounded."
Ethan looked at Michael.
"Can we get out?"
Michael checked his weapon.
"Not through the main entrance."
"Then find another."
Michael pointed toward a narrow tunnel.
"There."
Everyone started moving.
Ethan carried the baby.
Sophie and Lily followed.
Emily held Ava's hand.
Robert stayed behind.
Ethan stopped.
"Dad?"
Robert looked at him.
"Go."
"Come with us."
"I'll slow you down."
"You've already spent my entire life protecting me."
Robert smiled sadly.
"Then let me protect you one last time."
Ethan shook his head.
"No."
Robert pushed him toward the tunnel.
"Go."
Gunfire erupted behind them.
Ethan ran.
They entered the tunnel.
It was dark.
Narrow.
Cold.
The sound of bullets echoed behind them.
Sophie began crying.
"Daddy!"
"I'm here."
"Don't let them take us."
"I won't."
They reached a steel door.
Michael tried the handle.
Locked.
Richard looked around.
"There's no way out."
Then Ava stepped forward.
She placed her hand against the door.
A small electronic beep sounded.
The lock opened.
Everyone stared.
Ethan looked at her.
"How?"
Ava shrugged.
"They built me to open it."
The door swung open.
Beyond it was a hidden garage.
Three vehicles were waiting.
One belonged to Ethan.
One belonged to Robert.
The third had no license plate.
Michael stared at it.
"That's mine."
Ethan frowned.
"You have a car here?"
"I didn't leave it here."
Michael approached it.
A note was taped to the windshield.
He pulled it off.
His expression changed.
"What?"
Michael handed it to Ethan.
Ethan read the message.
YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES.
DON'T TRUST ROBERT.
Ethan looked at his father.
But Robert wasn't there.
He had stayed behind.
Then another message appeared on the back.
Ethan's blood ran cold.
THE MAN YOU CALLED YOUR FATHER IS NOT ROBERT CARTER.
Ethan slowly turned toward the tunnel.
"Michael..."
Michael stared into the darkness.
Then a figure stepped out.
Robert.
Blood covered his shirt.
He was holding a gun.
Ethan raised his weapon.
Robert stopped.
"Don't."
Ethan's voice was cold.
"Who are you?"
Robert stared at him.
"I told you the truth."
"No."
Ethan held up the note.
"Someone says you're not my father."
Robert's face changed.
Michael suddenly raised his gun.
"Drop yours."
Robert obeyed.
Then he looked at Ethan.
"You finally found it."
"What?"
"The original file."
Ethan stared.
Robert whispered:
"Your father was never Adrian."
Ethan's heart pounded.
"Then who?"
Robert looked at the baby.
Then at Ava.
Then at Sophie and Lily.
Finally, he looked at Emily.
"Your father is the only person who can explain why all five children exist."
Ethan stepped forward.
"Where is he?"
Robert smiled sadly.
"He's been standing beside you the entire time."
Ethan froze.
Michael slowly turned toward Emily.
Emily's face went white.
Ethan looked at his wife.
"Emily?"
She began crying.
"No."
Ethan's voice shook.
"Is it you?"
Emily shook her head.
Then she whispered:
"I'm sorry."
Ethan stared.
"Why are you sorry?"
Emily looked toward the road.
A black vehicle had appeared outside.
The door opened.
A man stepped out.
Ethan couldn't see his face.
But Emily immediately recognized him.
She whispered:
"He's here."
Ethan raised his weapon.
The man entered the garage.
Then he removed his sunglasses.
Ethan stared.
The face was familiar.
Too familiar.
It was the face from the photograph.
The face of Adrian.
But Adrian was standing beside them.
The man looked at Ethan.
And smiled.
"I'm not Adrian."
He paused.
"I'm your real father."
Behind him, the Blackwater facility exploded.
The shockwave sent everyone to the ground.
May you like
And when Ethan looked up...
Emily was gone.
