Chapter 18 - Phase ThreeThe facility doors sealed.
Nobody could leave.
The silver symbol appeared everywhere.
Voss stared at the screens.
“You can't be here.”
A voice answered:
“We own you.”
The walls shook.
Heavy footsteps approached.
Then soldiers entered.
But their uniforms weren't military.
They were completely black.
No insignia.
No names.
Only the silver circle.
Their commander removed his helmet.
He was an old man.
Older than Voss.
“Doctor.”
Voss looked terrified.
“You were supposed to be dead.”
The man smiled.
“I've been dead for twenty years.”
He looked at me.
“But death is negotiable.”
Dad raised his gun.
The commander ignored him.
“My name is Adrian Vale.”
He looked at the baby.
“Subject Zero.”
The baby cried.
Vale continued:
“Asset recovered.”
Evan stepped forward.
“You made me.”
Vale nodded.
“Yes.”
“You made all of us.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Vale looked at me.
“To end biological aging.”
I shook my head.
“That isn't possible.”
“It wasn't.”
He pointed at me.
“Until you.”
I felt sick.
“You want my cells.”
“More than that.”
He smiled.
“We want your pattern.”
“What pattern?”
“The pattern your body uses to adapt.”
Mara stared.
“That's impossible.”
Vale looked at her.
“Is it?”
He produced a tablet.
A genetic sequence appeared.
Connor Hayes.
But there were thousands of copies.
Different countries.
Different years.
Different subjects.
I stared.
“Those are people.”
“Yes.”
“Where are they?”
Vale smiled.
“Everywhere.”
He looked at me.
“You thought you were the first.”
I saw images of children.
Different faces.
Different ages.
All connected to Genesis.
Some dead.
Some alive.
One photograph made my blood freeze.
A boy who looked like me.
Older.
Twenty-five.
Another.
Thirty.
Another.
Fifty.
Another.
Seventy.
They had been trying to recreate me for decades.
“I'm not the first,” I whispered.
“No.”
“You've done this before.”
“Yes.”
“Then why do you need me?”
Vale looked at me.
“Because every version failed.”
The baby whispered:
“Except me.”
Vale shook his head.
“You failed too.”
The baby looked confused.
“You cannot age.”
He pointed at me.
“He can.”
I finally understood.
They didn't just want regeneration.
They wanted controlled aging.
My body adapted naturally.
The baby could regenerate but couldn't age.
Evan could imitate but not stabilize.
I was the balance.
Vale stepped forward.
“We can create a human who never dies.”
Dad raised his gun.
“Over my dead body.”
Vale smiled.
“That's acceptable.”
He raised a hand.
Soldiers fired.
Dad pushed Mom aside.
He was hit.
“Dad!”
He fell.
I screamed.
Something inside me snapped.
My vision blurred.
My heartbeat accelerated.
Then everything slowed.
I could hear every footstep.
Every breath.
Every bullet casing hitting the floor.
I moved before thinking.
I grabbed the nearest soldier.
He hit the wall.
Another came.
I dodged.
Mara stared.
“Connor?”
I didn't hear her.
My body was moving by itself.
Fast.
Too fast.
I reached Dad.
He was bleeding.
I pressed my hand against the wound.
The bleeding stopped.
Everyone froze.
Even Vale.
The wound began closing beneath my palm.
Vale whispered:
“That isn't possible.”
I looked at him.
“It is now.”
The baby smiled.
“He finally woke up.”
I turned.
“What?”
The baby said:
“The part of you they were afraid of.”
Then my mother looked at me in horror.
“Connor…”
“What?”
May you like
She pointed to my eyes.
“They've changed.”
