Chapter 13 - The Final ProtocolThe machine hummed in the hidden room.
Rachel stared at it.
“What happens if I refuse?”
Isabella smiled.
“Then people you love will die.”
Daniel's weapon remained trained on her.
“Let them go.”
“No.”
Elise weakly pulled herself upright.
“Rachel, listen to me.”
Rachel turned.
“Mom?”
“Your father created the first genetic key.”
She pointed toward the machine.
“He believed it could be destroyed.”
“But it couldn't.”
“No.”
Elise looked at Daniel.
“Because your father added a safeguard.”
Daniel frowned.
“What safeguard?”
“Trust.”
He stared.
Elise continued.
“The system wasn't designed to function through coercion.”
Isabella's expression changed.
“Enough.”
Elise ignored her.
“It requires willing participation from both bloodlines.”
Rachel understood.
“The marriage.”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked at the machine.
“They made us believe our relationship was part of the experiment.”
“It was.”
“Then why does consent matter?”
Elise smiled faintly.
“Because your father changed the final protocol before he died.”
Isabella raised her weapon.
“Stop.”
Daniel realized something.
The entire manipulation had been designed to create distrust.
The bruises.
The threats.
The lies.
Everything.
Because the system needed Rachel and Daniel to cooperate willingly.
If they trusted each other, Project Mercy could be dismantled.
If they hated each other, Isabella could control the process.
Daniel looked at Rachel.
“She's afraid of us finding out.”
Rachel nodded.
Isabella fired.
Daniel pushed Rachel away.
The bullet struck the wall.
Victor burst into the room.
He fired at Isabella.
Chaos exploded.
Elise crawled toward the machine.
Rachel ran to her.
“Mom!”
“Listen.”
Elise handed Rachel a small drive.
“The shutdown sequence.”
Rachel looked at it.
“How?”
“Three steps.”
“Tell me.”
Elise whispered:
“Your blood.”
Rachel stared.
“My blood?”
“And Daniel's.”
The machine had to recognize both genetic signatures before it could be shut down.
Daniel understood.
“This entire thing was built to force us to activate it.”
“Yes.”
Rachel looked at Isabella.
“And she needs us to complete it.”
Isabella lunged.
Daniel stopped her.
They fought across the room.
Victor helped Elise up.
Rachel reached the machine.
She inserted the drive.
A message appeared.
AWAITING DUAL AUTHORIZATION.
Daniel joined her.
Rachel looked at him.
“If we do this, everything could be erased.”
“Good.”
“What if we die?”
Daniel took her hand.
“Then we do it together.”
The machine scanned them.
SUBJECT R-M6 CONFIRMED.
SUBJECT D-M1 CONFIRMED.
Then:
CONSENT REQUIRED.
Rachel looked at Daniel.
He nodded.
She pressed her palm against the scanner.
Daniel did the same.
The system paused.
Then a new message appeared.
FINAL PROTOCOL INITIATED.
Isabella screamed.
“No!”
Victor grabbed her.
She fought.
“You don't understand what you've done!”
Daniel looked at her.
“We understand exactly.”
The archive began uploading.
Every hidden record.
Every payment.
Every name.
Every medical file.
Everything was being transferred to external servers.
Rachel stared at the progress bar.
“Why is it uploading?”
Elise gasped.
“Your father.”
“What?”
“He designed a second safeguard.”
Daniel understood.
The system wasn't deleting the evidence.
It was releasing it.
The files would automatically transmit to every authority listed in the archive.
Isabella realized it too.
She looked terrified for the first time.
“Stop it.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
The upload reached sixty percent.
Then seventy.
Isabella pulled free from Victor.
She raised her gun.
At Rachel.
Daniel turned.
The gun fired.
A second shot followed.
Rachel screamed.
But Daniel was still standing.
He looked down.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Rachel caught him.
“Daniel!”
He staggered.
Isabella smiled.
“Now.”
Then someone behind her fired.
Isabella collapsed.
Rachel looked up.
The shooter stood in the doorway.
Adrian Voss.
Alive.
He lowered the weapon.
His eyes met Rachel's.
“I told you I'd come back for you.”
Then the machine flashed one final message.
UPLOAD COMPLETE.
Every secret Project Mercy had buried for seventeen years was now outside their control.
But one final file had opened.
May you like
The title made Rachel's blood freeze.
ORIGINAL CREATOR: RACHEL MORGAN.
