Chapter 13: The Brother Who Chose Revenge
Darkness filled the basement.
The lights had disappeared.
The old computers shut down.
The only sound was the breathing of everyone trapped inside.
Then Thomas’s voice echoed through the speakers again.
“Father.”
A pause.
“You spent years believing you controlled everything.”
Michael stood frozen.
He knew that voice.
Not just from the television.
Not just from the messages.
He knew it from somewhere deeper.
A childhood memory.
A brother whispering to him in the dark.
A promise.
We’ll get out together.
Robert Carter looked toward the ceiling.
For the first time, Michael saw something unusual on his father’s face.
Fear.
“Thomas.”
His voice was quieter than before.
Almost human.
The speakers crackled.
“You remember my name.”
Robert looked around.
“You were always my son.”
Thomas laughed.
A cold, painful laugh.
“No.”
A pause.
“I was your experiment.”
Nobody spoke.
Michael looked at Robert.
For years, he imagined his father as a powerful man who never doubted himself.
Now he saw something different.
A man who had finally met someone he couldn’t control.
Thomas continued:
“You erased me.”
Robert remained silent.
“You took my childhood.”
Another pause.
“You took my mother.”
Michael closed his eyes.
Every word carried pain.
Not anger alone.
A lifetime of abandonment.
Thomas continued:
“And then you created Michael.”
Robert looked at Michael.
“I created a survivor.”
“No.”
Thomas’s voice became sharper.
“You created your replacement.”
The basement lights suddenly turned back on.
Everyone looked upward.
A camera descended from the ceiling.
Thomas was watching them.
Robert looked at the camera.
“Show yourself.”
A few seconds passed.
Then the basement door opened.
Everyone turned.
Thomas stood there.
Michael felt like he was looking at a ghost.
His brother.
Alive.
Older.
Broken.
But alive.
For several seconds, the two brothers simply stared at each other.
Neither moved.
Neither spoke.
Then Thomas looked at Michael.
“I wondered if you would remember me.”
Michael swallowed.
“I do.”
Thomas’s expression changed slightly.
A small crack in the anger.
“You do?”
Michael nodded.
“Not everything.”
A pause.
“But enough.”
Thomas looked away.
“Good.”
Michael stepped forward.
“Thomas…”
The name seemed to affect him.
Not like an enemy.
Like a wound being touched.
“You shouldn’t call me that.”
Michael frowned.
“Why?”
Thomas looked at him.
“Because you’re the only person who forgot me.”
The words hurt.
Michael shook his head.
“I was a child.”
Thomas smiled sadly.
“I know.”
A pause.
“That’s why I hated you.”
Michael stared.
“Because I was a child?”
“No.”
Thomas looked at Robert.
“Because you were the one he chose.”
Silence.
Robert stepped forward.
“Thomas, enough.”
Thomas immediately turned.
“You don’t get to tell me when it ends.”
Robert’s expression hardened.
“You are still emotional.”
Thomas laughed.
“And you are still arrogant.”
Michael watched them.
Two people who had spent years fighting over control.
Neither willing to admit they were both victims.
Then Thomas looked at Richard.
“You.”
Richard smiled.
“I knew you would come.”
Thomas’s expression became cold.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
Richard stepped forward.
“Because you were predictable.”
The room changed.
Michael noticed.
Thomas and Richard weren’t allies.
They hated each other.
Thomas looked at Michael.
“He lied to you.”
Michael frowned.
“Who?”
Thomas pointed at Richard.
“All of this.”
Richard laughed.
“Interesting coming from you.”
Thomas ignored him.
“He wants you to believe your father was the beginning.”
A pause.
“He wasn’t.”
Michael looked confused.
“Then who was?”
Thomas looked at Dr. Shaw.
She lowered her eyes.
Michael noticed.
“Dr. Shaw.”
She looked at him.
“I’m sorry.”
His heart sank.
“What?”
Thomas spoke.
“She knows.”
Michael looked between them.
“Knows what?”
Dr. Shaw took a breath.
“Robert was not the first person involved.”
The silence became heavier.
Thomas continued:
“Before Northbridge.”
“Before Project Second Chance.”
“There was another project.”
Michael felt a chill.
“What project?”
Thomas answered:
“Project Origin.”
Richard’s expression changed.
“Enough.”
Thomas smiled.
“Afraid?”
Richard’s face became serious.
For the first time, Michael saw fear in him too.
Thomas continued:
“Project Origin was created to study human behavior.”
Michael looked at Dr. Shaw.
“By who?”
She whispered:
“Your grandfather.”
The room went silent.
Michael stared.
“My grandfather?”
Dr. Shaw nodded.
“Your family has been involved in this for generations.”
Michael felt sick.
His entire family history was a chain.
One generation creating the next.
One secret protecting another.
Thomas looked at him.
“You thought Robert was the monster.”
A pause.
“He was.”
“But he was also a product.”
Michael shook his head.
“No.”
Thomas stepped closer.
“He learned from them.”
A pause.
“And he continued what they started.”
Robert suddenly spoke.
“You don’t understand.”
Everyone looked at him.
Robert’s voice became serious.
“I was trying to end it.”
Thomas laughed.
“You expect him to believe that?”
Michael looked at his father.
“Were you?”
Robert stared at him.
For the first time…
He looked uncertain.
“I made mistakes.”
Michael’s expression hardened.
“Mistakes?”
He pointed around the basement.
“You call this a mistake?”
Robert looked at the old laboratory.
“I was trying to protect my family.”
Thomas stepped forward.
“You destroyed it.”
Robert looked at him.
“I was protecting you.”
Thomas’s face changed.
“Protecting me?”
His voice cracked.
“You locked me away.”
A pause.
“You erased my existence.”
Another pause.
“You made Michael forget he had a brother.”
Robert looked down.
For the first time, he had no answer.
Michael saw it.
His father was not defending himself.
Because there was nothing to defend.
Then suddenly…
A loud alarm started.
Everyone froze.
Red lights flashed.
Daniel looked at the system.
“Someone activated a security protocol.”
Richard smiled.
“No.”
Thomas looked toward the ceiling.
His face changed.
“What?”
Richard looked satisfied.
“He activated himself.”
Michael frowned.
“Who?”
Richard turned toward the entrance.
The basement door slowly opened.
A man walked in.
No weapon.
No guards.
No fear.
Everyone became silent.
Because Michael recognized him.
Not from photographs.
Not from files.
From his childhood.
A man who was supposed to have disappeared.
A man who had been missing for decades.
Thomas whispered:
“No…”
Robert looked shocked.
Impossible.
The man smiled.
“Hello, Robert.”
A pause.
“Hello, children.”
Michael stared.
“Who are you?”
The man looked at him.
And answered:
“I’m the reason your family was never free.”
Thomas stepped back.
Robert’s face went pale.
Dr. Shaw whispered the name.
“Alexander Carter.”
Michael froze.
Carter.
Another member of his family.
Another ghost from the past.
The man smiled.
“Your grandfather.”
The world stopped.
Because Michael finally understood.
The nightmare did not begin with his father.
It began long before he was born.
And now…
May you like
The person who started everything had returned to finish it.
End of Chapter 13
