Chapter 13: The Doctor Who Created My Prison
The name echoed in my mind.
Dr. Samuel Reed.
The man who treated me after the crash.
The man who helped me survive.
The man whose voice had been calm when I woke up in the hospital.
The man who told me I was lucky to be alive.
For three years, I remembered him as the person who gave me hope.
Now I wondered if he was the person who stole everything from me.
The most painful betrayals were not the ones that came from enemies.
They were the ones that came from people you thanked.
People you trusted.
People who stood beside your bed while pretending to save you.
Rachel couldn't look at me.
That was the first thing I noticed.
Not fear.
Not guilt.
Shame.
"You knew."
My voice was quiet.
Rachel swallowed.
"I suspected."
I laughed.
"Suspected?"
My anger rose.
"My daughter is somewhere with the man who controlled my medical records, and you suspected?"
She looked at me.
"I didn't know he was involved with Lily."
"But you knew he was involved with me."
Silence.
That was the answer.
I turned away.
Because if I looked at her too long, I didn't know what I would do.
Three years.
Three years of trusting the wrong people.
The list kept growing.
Vince.
My mother.
My father.
Rachel.
Dr. Reed.
How many more?
How many people had been standing around me while I was trapped?
Detective Hayes stepped between us.
"Ethan."
I looked at him.
"We need to stay focused."
He was right.
Anger was useful.
But anger without direction was just fire burning the person holding it.
My daughter was still alive.
That was the only thing that mattered.
"Lily."
I looked at the screen where her image had disappeared.
"We find her."
Gabriel moved toward the central computer.
"Dr. Reed won't stay here."
I looked at him.
"Where will he go?"
Gabriel typed quickly.
"Somewhere William can't control."
I frowned.
"Impossible."
Gabriel smiled slightly.
"You still don't understand."
"What?"
"William Carter is powerful."
"But he is not the only person who knows how to play this game."
The screen changed.
A map appeared.
A location flashed.
An underground medical facility.
Not Novacore.
Not Carter Institute.
Something else.
"Where is this?"
Gabriel looked serious.
"The first Phoenix recovery center."
I stared.
"I thought this place was the first."
"No."
He shook his head.
"This was where William experimented."
"That facility was where we tried to help people."
"And Dr. Reed was there."
My expression changed.
"With you?"
Gabriel nodded.
"He was one of my assistants."
The pieces started connecting.
Dr. Reed wasn't a random doctor.
He was part of Phoenix from the beginning.
A person who understood everything.
The injuries.
The recovery.
The experiments.
The secrets.
And he had been placed beside me.
Waiting.
We moved through the facility quickly.
William's security team was getting closer.
The sound of footsteps echoed through the halls.
But something bothered me.
William had every opportunity to stop us.
Yet he hadn't.
He was letting us leave.
Why?
I stopped.
"Wait."
Everyone turned.
"What?"
I looked around.
"Something is wrong."
Hayes frowned.
"We don't have time."
"No."
I looked toward the cameras.
"William wants us to find Lily."
Nobody spoke.
Gabriel stared at me.
"Why would he?"
"Because everything he does has a purpose."
I looked at the screen.
"He didn't lose control."
"He created a path."
My mother became pale.
"Ethan..."
"What?"
She looked at William's symbol on the wall.
"He always has a final stage."
I felt cold.
"Final stage?"
She nodded.
"Every experiment."
"Every project."
"Everything has a final stage."
I looked at Lily's file.
Then at the map.
"Then we're not rescuing Lily."
Silence.
"We're completing his experiment."
Before anyone could respond, every screen in the facility turned on.
William appeared.
Calm.
Almost peaceful.
"Ethan."
I looked up.
"What now?"
He smiled.
"I wanted to see if you would understand."
"Understand what?"
"That you are no longer reacting."
A pause.
"You are predicting."
The words bothered me.
Because they were true.
For years, I survived by reacting.
Someone hurt me.
I responded.
Someone lied.
I searched.
Someone attacked.
I defended.
But now...
I was thinking like them.
Planning.
Anticipating.
And William noticed.
"You finally became what I was looking for."
I stared at him.
"No."
His expression changed.
"No?"
"I became what I needed to become."
A pause.
"Not what you wanted."
For the first time, William looked almost proud.
That angered me more.
"You still think this is a victory."
"It is."
"Why?"
"Because now you understand."
"Understand what?"
"Power."
I shook my head.
"No."
I looked directly at him.
"I understand responsibility."
The screen went silent.
Then William said:
"Your father always disappointed me."
I froze.
"But you..."
A pause.
"You may finally be worthy of the Carter name."
I felt disgust.
"I don't want your name."
"Everyone wants something."
"No."
I looked at the camera.
"I want my daughter."
The smile disappeared.
Just for a second.
But I saw it.
William Carter was afraid.
Not of me.
Of what Lily represented.
We reached the underground recovery center three hours later.
The place was abandoned.
Or appeared abandoned.
The building was old.
The walls cracked.
The machines covered in dust.
But deep inside...
Someone was there.
A light was on.
We entered carefully.
Then we heard a voice.
"Ethan."
I froze.
Dr. Reed stepped out.
Older than I remembered.
Tired.
But calm.
In his arms was a folder.
Not a weapon.
Not a threat.
A file.
"You came."
I stared at him.
"Where is my daughter?"
He looked at me.
"Safe."
"Where?"
"Close."
My anger exploded.
"Stop doing this!"
The room went silent.
"No more secrets."
"No more experiments."
"No more people deciding what I deserve to know."
Dr. Reed lowered his eyes.
"You have every right to hate me."
"Good."
"But before you do..."
He held out the file.
"Read this."
I didn't move.
"What is it?"
"Your complete medical history."
"I already know my medical history."
"No."
He looked at me.
"You know the version William allowed you to see."
My hands trembled.
I took the file.
The first page.
My name.
My birth date.
Then something impossible.
A section I had never seen.
GENETIC ANOMALY CONFIRMED.
I kept reading.
Then I reached the final page.
A photograph.
A newborn baby.
Me.
Beside another baby.
My heart stopped.
Twins.
No.
That couldn't be right.
I looked at Dr. Reed.
"What is this?"
His face was full of sadness.
"The reason William started everything."
My voice shook.
"Explain."
He whispered:
"You were never the only Subject Zero."
I stared at him.
"Then who was the other?"
Dr. Reed looked toward the hallway.
A small figure appeared.
A girl.
Lily.
But she wasn't alone.
Someone stood behind her.
Someone who looked exactly like me.
Same eyes.
Same face.
Same age.
Impossible.
Dr. Reed whispered:
"Your twin brother."
My blood turned cold.
"My brother?"
The man stepped forward.
And then he spoke.
A voice I had never heard.
But a face I had spent my entire life looking at.
"Hello, Ethan."
A pause.
"I've been waiting for you."
He smiled.
"Because I'm the person who was supposed to live your life."
The world stopped.
Because the greatest secret of Project Phoenix...
May you like
wasn't that they created a monster.
It was that they created a replacement.
