CHAPTER 13: HELLO, MOTHER
“Hello, Mother.”
The words echoed through Room 317.
I couldn't move.
Adrian stood across from me, perfectly still.
His eyes were black.
Not dark brown.
Not reflecting the red emergency lights.
Black.
Completely black.
Claire buried her face against my side.
“Mommy…”
I pulled her behind me.
Adrian tilted his head.
The movement was wrong.
Too precise.
Too mechanical.
Then he smiled.
“Why are you afraid?”
I stared at him.
“Adrian?”
He blinked.
For half a second, his eyes returned to normal.
“Emma?”
I almost ran to him.
Then his eyes went black again.
“Stay back!”
He stopped.
A faint smile appeared.
“You always were protective.”
My father raised his gun.
Adrian looked at him.
“Put it down.”
My father didn't move.
“Who are you?”
Adrian's expression changed.
“That's the wrong question.”
He looked at me.
“The correct question is…”
His voice became colder.
“…who am I supposed to become?”
The terminal behind him flashed.
ACTIVATION COMPLETE.
ADMINISTRATOR ACCESS: GRANTED.
I looked at Evelyn.
“What did they do to him?”
She shook her head.
“They didn't put someone inside him.”
“Then what?”
“They unlocked something.”
I stared at Adrian.
“What?”
“His genetic memory.”
My stomach tightened.
“That's impossible.”
“No.”
Evelyn pointed toward the terminal.
“Your grandfather spent years creating a biological administrator.”
“A person?”
“A living key.”
I looked at Adrian.
“They built him to control the project.”
“Yes.”
“And me?”
Evelyn looked at me.
“You were built to create the heirs.”
A chill ran through me.
“So our marriage…”
“Was part of the design.”
Adrian suddenly laughed.
“Not just the marriage.”
He walked toward the terminal.
“The entire family.”
He touched the screen.
A hidden file opened.
PROJECT HEIR.
Then hundreds of photographs appeared.
Adrian as a baby.
Adrian at three.
Adrian at seven.
Adrian at twelve.
Adrian at eighteen.
And me.
At the same ages.
I stared at the photographs.
We had been photographed together our entire lives.
At school.
At birthdays.
At family gatherings.
Even before we officially met.
I turned toward my father.
“You watched us.”
He lowered his gun.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
“No.”
I pointed toward the screen.
“You were monitoring us.”
“Yes.”
“Because they wanted us together.”
He nodded.
I felt sick.
“What happened when I resisted?”
My father looked away.
“They adjusted the circumstances.”
“What circumstances?”
“Your relationships.”
My stomach dropped.
“You interfered with my life.”
“I tried to keep you away from Adrian.”
“But I married him anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
My father finally looked at me.
“Because you were already in love.”
I stared at Adrian.
He looked back at me.
For one brief second, I saw my husband.
The man who held my hand during labor.
The man who whispered that everything would be okay.
The man who cried when Claire took her first steps.
Then his eyes turned black again.
“Emma.”
I stepped backward.
“Don't.”
“I remember.”
“What?”
“Everything.”
My blood ran cold.
“Everything?”
“My childhood.”
“The project.”
“The tests.”
“The instructions.”
“The marriage.”
He looked at me.
“And you.”
I couldn't speak.
“What do you remember about me?”
He smiled.
“You were the only thing they never managed to control.”
I felt tears fill my eyes.
“Then fight.”
He looked confused.
“Fight what?”
“Whatever they put inside you.”
His expression changed.
The black in his eyes flickered.
Brown.
Black.
Brown.
He grabbed his head.
“Emma…”
I moved toward him.
“I'm here.”
He fell to his knees.
“Make it stop.”
I knelt beside him.
“What?”
“The voices.”
“What voices?”
He covered his ears.
“They keep telling me what to do.”
“Who?”
“The Whitmores.”
My grandfather's voice suddenly came through the speakers.
“Adrian.”
Adrian froze.
“Stand.”
He stood.
“Go to the chamber.”
Adrian's face became blank.
I grabbed his arm.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“I have to.”
“No, you don't.”
“I can't stop.”
I looked at Evelyn.
“Can you disable it?”
“Maybe.”
“Then do it.”
She ran to the terminal.
I held Adrian's hand.
His fingers were freezing.
“Stay with me.”
“I don't know if I can.”
“You can.”
“Emma…”
“Look at me.”
His eyes met mine.
Brown.
For three seconds.
Then black.
He whispered,
“I love you.”
I swallowed.
“I love you too.”
His eyes flickered again.
He suddenly grabbed my hand.
“Then trust me.”
Before I could answer, he shoved me backward.
The chamber door slammed shut between us.
“ADRIAN!”
I ran to the door.
Locked.
Evelyn rushed toward the control panel.
“He's entering the administrator chamber.”
“Open it!”
“I can't!”
“Then break it!”
“I need access!”
I looked through the glass.
Adrian stood inside.
A circle of machines surrounded him.
Cables attached to his arms.
His chest.
His neck.
A screen appeared.
ADMINISTRATOR SYNCHRONIZATION.
15%.
20%.
25%.
I slammed my hands against the glass.
“ADRIAN!”
He looked at me.
His eyes were brown.
He mouthed:
“Run.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
He mouthed it again.
“RUN.”
The synchronization climbed.
40%.
50%.
60%.
Then the hospital lights flickered.
My grandfather's voice came over the speakers.
“You cannot save him.”
I screamed,
“Why?”
“Because he was never designed to survive the activation.”
I froze.
“What?”
“He was designed to transfer.”
“Transfer what?”
“The administrator.”
I stared at Adrian.
“Transfer it where?”
My grandfather laughed.
“To you.”
My blood turned cold.
Evelyn's face went pale.
“That's why she was the primary subject.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“The administrator can't remain inside Adrian.”
“Why?”
“His body rejects it.”
“So?”
“So it needs another host.”
I looked at Adrian.
Then at myself.
“No.”
Evelyn nodded.
“That's what your grandfather has been preparing.”
The screen changed.
ADMINISTRATOR TRANSFER:
TARGET: PRIMARY SUBJECT.
I stepped backward.
“No.”
The chamber door opened.
Adrian collapsed.
I rushed inside.
“Adrian!”
I caught him.
His eyes were closed.
His body was burning.
I touched his face.
“Wake up.”
Nothing.
I looked at the machines.
“Stop the transfer!”
Evelyn shouted,
“I can't!”
“Why?”
“It's already started!”
The screen flashed.
TRANSFER: 12%.
I felt something in my chest.
A sudden pressure.
Then a sharp pain behind my eyes.
I screamed.
The room blurred.
Memories flooded into my mind.
Not mine.
Adrian's.
He was a child.
Sitting in a white room.
A doctor stood over him.
“Who is she?”
A photograph appeared.
Me.
Adrian looked at it.
“Emma.”
“Who is Emma?”
“My mother.”
The memory changed.
Adrian was ten.
The same room.
A doctor asked,
“What do you feel when you see her?”
“Safe.”
“Good.”
Another memory.
Adrian was seventeen.
My grandfather stood beside him.
“You will marry her.”
Adrian said,
“I love her.”
My grandfather smiled.
“That is why you will.”
The memory changed again.
Adrian was twenty-three.
Standing outside my apartment.
Holding flowers.
Whispering to himself:
“I don't care what they planned.”
Then he knocked.
I remembered that day.
I had opened the door.
He smiled.
And for the first time, our lives became our own.
Or so I thought.
The memories stopped.
I opened my eyes.
Adrian was staring at me.
His eyes were brown.
“Emma.”
I touched his face.
“You're here.”
“For now.”
“Fight it.”
“I am.”
The transfer reached 35%.
His body convulsed.
I screamed.
“Stop!”
My grandfather's voice returned.
“Let it happen.”
“No!”
“You cannot fight biology.”
I looked at the terminal.
Then I saw something.
A small line beneath the transfer percentage.
TRANSFER REQUIRES MATERNAL CONSENT.
I froze.
“Evelyn.”
She looked.
“What?”
“It needs my consent.”
“Yes.”
“So if I don't consent…”
“The transfer fails.”
I looked at my grandfather's camera.
“You can't force me.”
His voice became cold.
“Then I'll force you another way.”
The hospital speakers crackled.
A baby's cry echoed through the room.
I froze.
It was Emily.
Then another.
Claire.
Then the third baby.
My grandfather said:
“Every minute you refuse…”
The monitor displayed three life signs.
“...one child loses oxygen.”
I stared at the screen.
NO OXYGEN.
Claire.
Emily.
Subject 04.
Their oxygen levels began falling.
I felt helpless.
“You're lying.”
“No.”
Evelyn rushed to the monitor.
“He's controlling the nursery.”
I looked at Adrian.
He was barely conscious.
“What do I do?”
He whispered,
“Don't consent.”
I stared at him.
“If I don't, they'll die.”
“Don't.”
“Adrian…”
He grabbed my wrist.
“Listen to me.”
His voice was weak.
“The system has one weakness.”
“What?”
“It can't distinguish between consent…”
He coughed.
“…and sacrifice.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
He smiled faintly.
“You have to make it think…”
He struggled to breathe.
“…you're giving it what it wants.”
I understood.
A plan formed.
I looked at Evelyn.
“Can you fake the consent?”
“Maybe.”
“Can you redirect the transfer?”
She nodded slowly.
“If we route it into the backup system…”
“What happens?”
“It overloads.”
“And the children?”
“Free.”
I looked at Adrian.
“Can you keep the system active long enough?”
He nodded.
“Probably.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“You're not dying for this.”
He smiled.
“I already died once.”
Then his eyes turned black again.
The administrator was returning.
I stood.
“Do it.”
Evelyn began typing.
The screen flashed.
MATERNAL CONSENT REQUIRED.
I placed my hand on the scanner.
My grandfather's voice whispered:
“Good girl.”
I looked directly into the camera.
“You want my consent?”
“Yes.”
“You have it.”
The system beeped.
CONSENT ACCEPTED.
TRANSFER INITIATED.
50%.
My grandfather laughed.
Then Evelyn pressed ENTER.
The screen went red.
TRANSFER ROUTE: BACKUP.
My grandfather's voice stopped.
“What did you do?”
Evelyn smiled.
“Your mistake.”
The transfer jumped.
70%.
80%.
90%.
The hospital began shaking.
My grandfather screamed through the speakers.
“STOP!”
I looked at the monitor.
100%.
Then:
ADMINISTRATOR TRANSFER FAILED.
SYSTEM OVERRIDE.
ALL SUBJECTS RELEASED.
Every door in the hospital opened.
The nursery alarms stopped.
The babies' oxygen levels stabilized.
I collapsed against the wall.
We had done it.
Then Adrian suddenly screamed.
I turned.
The black in his eyes disappeared.
His body went limp.
“ADRIAN!”
I caught him.
He whispered one final sentence.
“It's not over.”
“What?”
His eyes opened.
Brown.
Terrified.
“The administrator didn't transfer into you.”
I froze.
“Then where did it go?”
He looked toward the hallway.
“Your grandfather.”
Silence.
Then the hospital speakers crackled.
My grandfather's voice was gone.
A different voice spoke.
A woman's voice.
My voice.
But older.
Colder.
And it said:
“Thank you for releasing me.”
Evelyn's face went white.
I whispered,
“Who is that?”
She stared at the ceiling.
“The real Subject 00.”
Then every monitor displayed the same image.
A woman.
Standing outside the hospital.
Watching us through the security cameras.
She looked exactly like me.
May you like
But this time...
she was smiling.
