Chapter 13 - The countdown continued.Fifty-eight minutes.
Julian stared at the screen.
“This is a bluff.”
Victor smiled.
“Check the network.”
Julian pulled out his phone.
Messages flooded in.
Banks.
Lawyers.
Board members.
Government investigators.
Every account linked to Mercer Holdings had been frozen.
Adrian's face appeared on a breaking-news feed.
MYSTERY HEIR TAKES CONTROL OF MERCER EMPIRE.
Mara looked sick.
Victor's plan wasn't just about money.
It was about chaos.
Once every secret identity became public, dozens of families would collapse.
Children would be questioned.
Executives would be arrested.
People would lose everything.
Julian looked at Adrian.
“You need to help us.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“I don't know how.”
“You know the system.”
“They kept me inside this place my whole life.”
“You know the security.”
“I know enough to get us killed.”
Mara approached him.
“Adrian.”
He looked at her.
“You're my son.”
He froze.
She touched his face.
“I don't care what they made you.”
He started crying.
“You don't know me.”
“I don't need to.”
She touched Noah's cheek.
“He knows you.”
Noah reached toward Adrian.
Adrian hesitated.
Then touched the baby's hand.
The baby wrapped his fingers around Adrian's.
Adrian whispered:
“Brother.”
For the first time, Victor looked uncertain.
Julian noticed.
That was the first crack.
Victor feared something.
Not Noah.
Not Mara.
Adrian.
Julian understood why.
Adrian knew the facility.
He knew the codes.
And, more importantly, he had Victor's conditioned memories.
Julian asked:
“What did they teach you about the core server?”
Adrian frowned.
“Why?”
“Because that's where the files are.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
A memory surfaced.
“Sublevel nine.”
Julian looked at Mara.
“Let's go.”
They moved.
Victor shouted:
“Stop them!”
Guards surrounded the hallway.
Julian fired at the ceiling.
“Back away!”
Adrian stepped forward.
The guards froze.
He said one sentence.
“Code seven.”
Every guard lowered their weapon.
Julian stared.
“What did you just do?”
Adrian smiled faintly.
“Apparently I know more than I thought.”
They entered the elevator.
Sublevel nine.
The doors opened.
A massive server room stood before them.
Mara stared.
“How do we stop the upload?”
Adrian pointed.
“There.”
A central terminal.
Julian approached.
The screen required biometric confirmation.
It displayed:
JULIAN MERCER
Julian placed his hand on it.
Denied.
He tried again.
Denied.
Adrian stepped forward.
The system recognized him.
IDENTITY CONFIRMED: JULIAN MERCER
Adrian stared.
“Even the machine thinks I'm him.”
Mara whispered:
“Then let it.”
Adrian placed his hand on the scanner.
The system unlocked.
Hundreds of encrypted files opened.
Julian searched.
“There.”
A master file.
PROJECT MERCER: ORIGIN
He opened it.
The first page contained a single photograph.
Victor.
Julian's mother.
And a doctor.
Below them:
SUBJECT: FIRSTBORN TWINS
Then the next page.
Mara.
Adrian.
Noah.
Julian's stomach tightened.
“Three children?”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed.
The file had been altered.
A red note appeared:
ORIGINAL SUBJECTS: 2
Then another line.
THIRD CHILD CREATED FROM EMBRYONIC MATERIAL.
Mara stared.
“What third child?”
Julian looked at Noah.
His blood ran cold.
“Noah.”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
He opened another file.
A genetic sequence appeared.
Noah's DNA didn't match Adrian.
Not fully.
Julian's DNA matched.
Mara's DNA matched.
But another sequence was present.
Unknown.
Adrian looked at it.
“This isn't human inheritance.”
Julian frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Adrian read the report.
“Artificial modification.”
Mara backed away.
“They changed my baby.”
Julian looked at her.
“What did they do?”
Adrian scrolled.
Then stopped.
His expression went blank.
“What?”
Adrian whispered:
“It's not a modification.”
“What is it?”
“A marker.”
“What kind?”
He looked at Julian.
“A tracking marker.”
Mara grabbed Noah.
“He's been tracked?”
Adrian nodded.
“Since birth.”
Julian looked toward the server.
“Can we remove it?”
Adrian's eyes widened.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because it's not inside him.”
“Then where?”
Adrian slowly turned toward Mara.
Her necklace.
The silver pendant.
Mara touched it.
“What?”
Adrian whispered:
“That's the transmitter.”
Mara ripped it from her neck.
The pendant hit the floor.
A tiny red light blinked.
Then the entire server room shook.
Victor's voice came through the speakers.
“You finally found it.”
Julian looked at the ceiling.
Victor laughed.
“Now watch what happens when you destroy it.”
The screen changed.
A satellite view appeared.
A red target locked onto their location.
Mara stared.
“What is that?”
Adrian whispered:
“A missile.”
Julian's face went white.
May you like
Victor said:
“Thirty seconds.”
