CHAPTER 7 — THE BROTHER WHO NEVER EXISTED
I stared at the words written across the glass.
YOUR BROTHER ISN'T LUCAS.
My mind refused to accept them.
Lucas had been my brother my entire life.
We had shared a bedroom.
Shared birthdays.
Shared secrets.
I remembered him teaching me to ride a bicycle.
I remembered him taking the blame when I broke my father's antique clock.
I remembered standing beside his grave.
How could none of that be real?
“Dad?”
Isabella's voice pulled me back.
I turned.
She was crying.
Sofia was still trapped behind the glass.
I grabbed the door handle.
Locked.
“Stay here.”
I searched the walls.
There had to be another way.
There had to be.
Then I noticed something beneath the glass.
A small fingerprint scanner.
I placed my hand against it.
Nothing.
I tried again.
A red light flashed.
IDENTITY REJECTED.
I froze.
Why would my fingerprint be rejected?
I looked at Isabella.
“Try yours.”
She stepped forward.
Her tiny hand touched the scanner.
Green.
IDENTITY ACCEPTED.
The door unlocked.
I stared at her.
“What?”
She looked frightened.
“I don't know.”
The door opened.
Sofia rushed out.
I grabbed both girls.
“We're leaving.”
But before we could move, the laboratory speakers came alive.
My father's voice.
“You're finally seeing the truth.”
I looked up.
“Where are you?”
“Everywhere.”
“Show yourself.”
“You're still asking the wrong question.”
“What question should I ask?”
“Who are you?”
I froze.
The room went silent.
Then a monitor turned on.
An old video appeared.
A hospital room.
A newborn baby.
A nurse holding the child.
The timestamp read:
AUGUST 17, 2000.
My birth date.
I stared.
That was me.
Or so I thought.
The video showed my father standing beside the hospital bed.
But he wasn't smiling.
He was arguing with a doctor.
“You promised me the child would be normal.”
The doctor shook his head.
“He is normal.”
“Then why did the test fail?”
“The test didn't fail.”
“What about the memory markers?”
The doctor hesitated.
“They're unstable.”
My father's expression changed.
“Then we need another child.”
The video ended.
I stood motionless.
Isabella whispered:
“Dad?”
I couldn't answer.
A second video appeared.
This one was dated three years later.
A little boy stood in a laboratory.
He looked about three years old.
It was Lucas.
But there was something wrong.
He wasn't smiling.
A doctor was holding a needle.
My father stood behind the glass.
“Again.”
The doctor injected the boy.
He screamed.
I stumbled backward.
“No.”
Sofia whispered:
“He was Subject 001.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“He wasn't Subject 031.”
My entire body went cold.
She pointed at the screen.
“That's why they kept changing his identity.”
I shook my head.
“Lucas was born before me.”
“No.”
“That's impossible.”
Sofia stared at me.
“He was created before you.”
I couldn't breathe.
Then another screen lit up.
SUBJECT 001
ORIGINAL DESIGNATION: DANIEL
My knees weakened.
I stared at the screen.
“No.”
Sofia whispered:
“Your name was never Daniel.”
I turned toward Isabella.
“Don't listen.”
But she was staring at the monitor.
Her expression had changed.
She looked confused.
Then she whispered:
“I remember.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“The basement.”
“What about it?”
“You used to bring me here.”
My blood froze.
“I've never brought you here.”
She shook her head.
“Yes, you did.”
“When?”
“Before I was eight.”
I stared at her.
“You've been here before?”
She nodded.
“With you.”
I stepped backward.
“That isn't possible.”
She pointed toward the screen.
“You were wearing that.”
The video showed a man standing beside my father.
I recognized the clothes.
A dark suit.
A silver watch.
My watch.
The man turned toward the camera.
His face was mine.
Exactly mine.
But older.
Thirty years older.
I felt sick.
“That isn't me.”
Sofia whispered:
“It is.”
The speaker crackled.
My father's voice returned.
“You're remembering now.”
I shouted:
“WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?”
Silence.
Then:
“We made you.”
I couldn't move.
“You weren't born.”
The words seemed to echo through the room.
“You were developed.”
I stared at my hands.
My face.
My reflection in the glass.
“No.”
“Your memories were implanted.”
“No.”
“Your childhood was constructed.”
“No!”
“You never had a brother.”
I turned toward the screen.
“Lucas…”
“Was your first genetic duplicate.”
My heart stopped.
“Duplicate?”
“Yes.”
“He was designed from you.”
I looked at Isabella.
Then Sofia.
“Why?”
“Because the first version failed.”
“What failed?”
“You developed independent memories.”
I felt dizzy.
My father continued.
“We needed another version.”
I whispered:
“Lucas.”
“Yes.”
“Then who am I?”
The answer came softly.
“The second.”
Silence.
I looked at Isabella.
She was crying.
“Then am I even her father?”
My father's voice answered:
“Biologically?”
A pause.
“No.”
I closed my eyes.
“But genetically…”
Another pause.
“You are.”
That answer made no sense.
Then the door behind us opened.
I turned.
Lucas stood there.
His gun was gone.
Blood covered the side of his face.
Behind him was Elena.
She looked terrified.
Lucas stared at me.
“You heard everything.”
I nodded.
He stepped closer.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Who am I?”
Lucas looked at me.
“You're my brother.”
I almost laughed.
“You just said I never had a brother.”
“I said you never had the brother you remembered.”
“What does that mean?”
Lucas looked toward Isabella.
“She is the key.”
“To what?”
“To everything.”
Sofia suddenly screamed.
“NO!”
I turned.
A red light was flashing above the laboratory door.
Lucas shouted:
“Run!”
“Why?”
“Because they're coming.”
“Who?”
He looked at the ceiling.
“The people who built us.”
The walls began to shake.
A deep mechanical sound echoed beneath the floor.
Then a hidden section of the laboratory opened.
An elevator rose from below.
Three people stepped out.
Two armed guards.
And an elderly man in a gray suit.
I stared at him.
My father.
He smiled.
But something about him was wrong.
He looked exactly as he had twenty years ago.
Not older.
Not even a little.
He looked at me.
“My son.”
I couldn't speak.
He looked at Isabella.
Then Sofia.
And smiled.
“Both of my grandchildren.”
Elena screamed:
“Daniel, don't listen to him!”
My father raised one hand.
The guards lifted their weapons.
Then he said:
“Bring me Subject 032.”
Isabella grabbed my hand.
I pulled her behind me.
“No.”
My father smiled.
“Then I'll take both.”
He snapped his fingers.
The laboratory doors slammed shut.
And every light turned red.
A countdown appeared on the wall.
60 SECONDS.
Lucas looked at me.
“Daniel…”
“What?”
“There is only one way out.”
“Where?”
He pointed at the floor.
“Through the disposal chamber.”
I stared at him.
“The disposal chamber?”
“Yes.”
“What happens there?”
Lucas looked at Isabella.
His voice dropped.
“Whatever enters that room…”
“Doesn't come back.”
The countdown reached:
47 SECONDS.
My father smiled.
“Choose quickly, Daniel.”
“Your daughter…”
He pointed at Isabella.
“Or your life.”
I tightened my grip around Isabella's hand.
Then Sofia whispered something that made me look at her.
“Dad…”
I froze.
She was staring at my father.
“He's not your father either.”
My father stopped smiling.
For the first time, fear appeared in his eyes.
May you like
And Sofia pointed at him.
“He's Subject 000.”
