Chapter 14 - Subject ZeroThe woman stepped from the shadows.
White hair.
Walking cane.
Calm eyes.
Noah’s father recoiled.
“No.”
The woman smiled.
“Hello, son.”
Noah stared.
“Who is she?”
His father couldn’t answer.
Elias did.
“Your grandmother.”
Noah’s face went blank.
“My grandmother died before I was born.”
The old woman smiled.
“That’s what they told you.”
Elias looked terrified.
“You were supposed to be dead.”
“I was supposed to stay hidden.”
Hale’s image vanished from the screen.
The old woman approached the console.
“Victor Hale thinks he controls the Protocol.”
She laughed.
“He controls the public version.”
Daniel stared.
“Then who controls the real one?”
She touched the console.
Every screen activated.
Thousands of names appeared.
Politicians.
Doctors.
Judges.
Executives.
Military officers.
Celebrities.
Noah’s mother whispered:
“How many?”
“Enough.”
Evan stared.
“You created this?”
The woman shook her head.
“I created the first patient.”
She pointed to herself.
“I was dying.”
She explained the origin.
Years ago, she had developed a degenerative illness.
No treatment worked.
So she designed a neural archive that could preserve memories.
Then someone discovered the archive could manipulate memories.
The project changed.
The experiment changed.
And eventually, the children were created.
Noah looked at her.
“Why us?”
“Because you three were the first stable generation.”
His mother stepped closer.
“And what did you want?”
The woman looked at Lily.
“Immortality.”
Silence.
“Not a body that lives forever.”
She touched her temple.
“A mind that can move.”
Daniel’s face went cold.
“You want to transfer yourself.”
“Into the children.”
Noah stepped backward.
The old woman smiled.
“You are not my grandchildren.”
Evan clenched his fists.
“We are not your property.”
“No.”
She looked at Noah.
“You are my future.”
The chamber doors closed.
The neural system activated.
Hale appeared on another screen.
For the first time, his expression was frightened.
“Mother.”
Noah stared.
Hale called her mother.
The old woman smiled.
“Yes, Victor.”
Noah finally understood.
Victor Hale was her son.
The Mercy Protocol was a family empire.
Elias had tried to stop it.
Noah’s father had tried to expose it.
And now three children held everything.
The grandmother approached the interface.
“Begin transfer.”
Noah shouted:
“No!”
He grabbed a metal rod.
He smashed the console.
Sparks flew.
The woman screamed.
“Stop him!”
Doors opened.
Guards rushed in.
Evan attacked the first.
Daniel tackled the second.
Mara took Lily.
Noah ran.
His father followed.
They reached the laboratory exit.
Then Noah heard his grandmother whisper:
“Run.”
He stopped.
His father looked back.
The old woman was smiling.
“Run as far as you want.”
She pressed a button.
“Your mother already has the implant.”
Noah turned.
His mother froze.
A tiny red light appeared beneath the skin behind her ear.
She looked horrified.
“Noah…”
Her voice trembled.
May you like
“I can hear them.”
Then she collapsed.
