Chapter 14: The Last Experiment
The first thing I felt was cold.
The second was pain.
The third was Ava screaming my name.
"Daddy!"
I tried to move.
Nothing happened.
My chest burned.
For one terrifying moment, I thought I was dead.
Then I heard Serena.
"Daniel... stay awake."
Her voice was weak.
I opened my eyes.
She was lying a few feet away, blood staining her dress.
Ava was kneeling beside me.
Noah was behind her, crying.
Marcus was firing down the corridor.
Thomas was shouting something.
And Elena was gone.
I tried to speak.
"Ava..."
"I'm here."
She grabbed my hand.
"I'm here, Daddy."
I squeezed her fingers.
"You're safe."
She shook her head.
"No, we're not."
She looked behind me.
I followed her gaze.
A red light was blinking above a massive steel door.
EXPERIMENTAL CHAMBER
Claire stood beside it.
Her face was pale.
"Richard activated the final protocol."
"What protocol?"
She looked at Ava.
"The last experiment."
My stomach tightened.
"What does that mean?"
Claire pointed toward the door.
"Your father built this room for you."
"For me?"
"For Subject Zero."
Marcus shouted from the hallway:
"We need to move!"
Thomas yelled:
"They're closing the exits!"
I forced myself upright.
Pain tore through my chest.
Ava immediately supported me.
"Daddy, don't."
"I'm fine."
I wasn't.
But I couldn't stop.
We moved toward the chamber.
Claire opened the door.
Inside was a circular room.
A chair sat in the center.
Surrounding it were monitors.
Cameras.
Medical equipment.
And one enormous screen.
The moment I entered, the screen turned on.
Richard appeared.
His face was calm.
Almost peaceful.
"Daniel."
I stared at him.
"You shot me."
"Yes."
"You shot Serena."
"I needed you frightened."
I looked at Ava.
"You've been doing this my whole life."
"Correct."
"Why?"
Richard smiled.
"Because fear reveals truth."
I shook my head.
"No."
He leaned closer to the camera.
"Fear reveals instinct."
He looked at Ava.
"And instinct reveals inheritance."
Ava stepped closer to me.
Richard continued:
"Everything you've done tonight was predictable."
"You knew we'd find the basement."
"Yes."
"You knew we'd find the clinic."
"Yes."
"You knew Thomas would betray you."
Richard smiled.
"That was the easiest part."
Thomas stepped forward.
"What?"
Richard laughed.
"You think you uploaded the archive?"
Thomas froze.
"What did you do?"
"I let you."
Thomas's face went pale.
Richard continued.
"The archive you released was fabricated."
Silence.
Thomas stared at his device.
"No."
"Every name."
"Every location."
"Every financial record."
"False."
Thomas looked at me.
Richard smiled.
"You've just sent the world after innocent people."
Thomas's hands began shaking.
"You bastard."
"Yes."
I looked at Claire.
"Can we shut this down?"
She shook her head.
"Not from here."
"Then how?"
"The control system is linked to the chamber."
Richard interrupted.
"Correct."
A countdown appeared.
10:00
Nine minutes.
Richard said:
"At zero, the chamber will begin the final test."
"What test?"
He smiled.
"The one we couldn't complete when you were five."
I stared at the chair.
"No."
"You're going to remember."
I felt my stomach drop.
"Remember what?"
"Everything."
The door locked.
Ava tried the handle.
"Daddy!"
I pulled her back.
"Stay behind me."
Richard spoke through the speaker.
"You have nine minutes."
"Let us out."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I want to see what you choose."
"What?"
Richard looked at Ava.
"If you save yourself, she dies."
Then the screen changed.
A countdown appeared beside Ava's face.
AFFECTIVE RESPONSE TEST
I felt sick.
"Leave her alone."
"If you refuse the test, the chamber floods."
"With what?"
"Anesthetic gas."
Claire shouted:
"Richard, stop!"
He ignored her.
"Daniel, sit in the chair."
"No."
"Then Ava suffers."
I looked at my daughter.
She was terrified.
But she wasn't crying.
She looked at me.
"Daddy."
"What?"
"Do it."
"No."
"It's okay."
"No, it isn't."
She grabbed my hand.
"You always tell me not to be afraid."
I knelt.
"I tell you that because I'm supposed to protect you."
She whispered:
"Then protect me."
The words broke me.
I sat in the chair.
Metal restraints locked around my wrists.
A device descended over my head.
A screen appeared.
My childhood.
Five years old.
The first experiment.
My father stood behind the glass.
The same woman.
The same room.
But this time, I noticed something.
There was another child.
A little girl.
She was sitting in a second chair.
She looked terrified.
She was about the same age as me.
The screen zoomed in.
Her face became clear.
I stopped breathing.
It was Ava.
Not seven-year-old Ava.
A younger version.
Maybe three.
Impossible.
Richard's voice echoed.
"You've seen this before."
"No."
"You forgot."
The video continued.
My five-year-old self turned toward the little girl.
I heard my own childhood voice.
"Don't cry."
The little girl looked at me.
"Who are you?"
I said:
"I'm your brother."
My heart stopped.
Ava was watching the screen.
She whispered:
"That's me."
Claire covered her mouth.
Richard continued:
"Subject Zero and Subject Twelve were raised separately."
I shook my head.
"Why?"
"To see whether attachment could survive separation."
The video showed the children being taken away.
My younger self screamed.
"Don't take her!"
The screen went black.
I started crying.
I hadn't remembered.
Not consciously.
But my body remembered.
Every nightmare.
Every fear.
Every unexplained panic when Ava cried.
Every time I had felt like I knew her before.
It wasn't instinct.
It was memory.
Richard had erased it.
But he hadn't erased everything.
Ava looked at me.
"Daddy."
I opened my eyes.
She was crying.
"You remembered me."
I nodded.
"Yes."
Then the restraints suddenly released.
I stood.
The chamber alarm began screaming.
Claire shouted:
"The system is failing!"
Richard appeared on the screen.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
"No."
Thomas smiled.
"What happened?"
Claire looked at the control panel.
"Someone is overriding the system."
"Who?"
She stared at the screen.
"I don't know."
The chamber doors opened.
A woman walked in.
She was old.
Gray hair.
Wearing a white coat.
I recognized her immediately.
She was the woman from my childhood recordings.
The doctor who had conducted my first experiment.
She looked at me.
Then at Ava.
"I'm sorry."
I raised my weapon.
"Who are you?"
She slowly raised her hands.
"My name is Dr. Evelyn Cross."
I froze.
"Cross?"
She nodded.
"I was your father's lead researcher."
"Why are you here?"
"To finish what I started."
I aimed at her.
"Stay away from my children."
She shook her head.
"I'm here to save them."
Richard's voice exploded through the speakers.
"Kill her."
She looked toward the camera.
Then smiled.
"You've lost, Richard."
The screen flickered.
Thomas stared at his device.
"What did you do?"
Dr. Evelyn answered:
"I didn't upload the archive."
She looked at me.
"I uploaded the original."
Richard's face appeared again.
For the first time...
he looked terrified.
"How?"
Dr. Evelyn smiled.
"Because I was the one who created Subject Zero."
I stared at her.
"What?"
She looked directly into my eyes.
"Your father didn't create you."
She glanced at Ava.
"He didn't create her either."
"Then who did?"
Dr. Evelyn whispered:
"Your parents did."
I felt the room go silent.
"What?"
She continued:
"Your father wanted a perfect subject."
"But your mother wanted a child."
I stared.
"Which mother?"
She looked at Ava.
"The woman you've been calling Grandma."
My heart stopped.
"She was your real mother."
I couldn't speak.
Dr. Evelyn's voice softened.
"Your father stole you from her."
Then she looked at Ava.
"And seven years later..."
She paused.
"He tried to do the same thing again."
The lights suddenly went out.
A gunshot echoed.
When they came back on, Dr. Evelyn was gone.
And on the main screen was a single message.
MIDNIGHT.
The clock showed 11:59.
Richard's voice whispered through the darkness.
"Now you finally remember."
Then the final countdown appeared.
00:59
Ava grabbed my hand.
"Daddy?"
I looked at her.
She was terrified.
"What happens at midnight?"
I didn't know.
Then Serena, barely conscious, whispered from the floor:
"Daniel..."
I turned.
She looked at me.
"At midnight..."
She swallowed.
"...they activate every Subject Zero in the world."
My blood froze.
"Every what?"
She closed her eyes.
"Every child who survived."
The countdown reached:
00:10
Claire screamed:
"Shut it down!"
00:09
Marcus ran toward the control panel.
00:08
Thomas raised his weapon.
00:07
My mother appeared on the monitor.
She looked directly at me.
00:06
"Daniel."
00:05
"There's one thing your father never knew."
00:04
She smiled through her tears.
00:03
"You're not Subject Zero."
00:02
Ava squeezed my hand.
00:01
My mother whispered:
"You're the cure."
May you like
The screen went black.
And the entire facility exploded into darkness.
