CHAPTER 8: THE COUNTDOWN
The first number appeared on the monitor.
10:00
Then it began to fall.
09:59.
09:58.
09:57.
I stared at the screen.
“What happens at zero?”
My grandfather smiled.
“You don't want to find out.”
Daniel stepped toward him.
“You won't get away with this.”
My grandfather looked at him.
“Still pretending you're brave?”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“You experimented on me.”
“I improved you.”
“You tortured me.”
“I gave you purpose.”
Daniel lunged.
My grandfather raised the remote.
Every light in the laboratory flashed red.
A warning siren erupted.
Daniel stopped.
“Take another step,” my grandfather said, “and the oxygen supply to this room shuts down.”
Everyone froze.
I looked at the babies.
The monitors were already showing changes.
OXYGEN: 94%.
Then 93%.
I felt panic rising.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
He smiled.
“The facility is simply following its programming.”
My father stepped forward.
“You built this place to kill them.”
“No.”
My grandfather looked at the rows of cribs.
“I built it to preserve them.”
I stared at him.
“Twenty-three babies?”
“Twenty-three attempts.”
“You call that preservation?”
“Most genetic lines are unstable.”
He walked toward one of the monitors.
“These children were unsuccessful.”
I looked at the babies.
“They're alive.”
“For now.”
My stomach turned.
I held Emily closer.
“Why do you need me?”
He looked at me.
“Because you are the original maternal carrier.”
“I don't understand.”
“You were never supposed to marry Adrian.”
I looked at my husband.
He had finally found us.
He stood at the entrance to the laboratory, blood running down the side of his face.
“Emma.”
I ran toward him.
“Adrian!”
He caught himself against the wall.
I immediately looked at his wound.
“What happened?”
“Your mother-in-law.”
Eleanor stepped into the room behind him.
She looked exhausted.
Her dress was torn.
Her gun was gone.
But she was alive.
Adrian pointed toward her.
“She tried to kill me.”
Eleanor glared at him.
“You betrayed your family.”
“I chose my wife.”
My grandfather laughed.
“Your marriage was never real.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
He walked toward us.
“Adrian was selected because his bloodline was compatible with yours.”
I stared at my husband.
“No.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“Emma…”
“You knew?”
“Not everything.”
“But you knew something.”
He nodded.
“I knew my family wanted me to marry you.”
“Why?”
“To produce an heir.”
My heart shattered.
“You married me for the babies.”
“At first…”
“At first?”
He looked at me.
“Then I actually loved you.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Love?”
“Yes.”
“You watched me mourn Claire.”
“I was threatened.”
“By whom?”
Adrian looked at my grandfather.
“Him.”
My grandfather smiled.
“He was always weak.”
Adrian suddenly pulled a small object from his pocket.
A key.
He threw it toward me.
I caught it.
“What is this?”
“The emergency override.”
My grandfather's expression changed.
“Where did you get that?”
“Your office.”
My grandfather stepped forward.
“Give it back.”
“No.”
Adrian moved beside me.
“This ends tonight.”
My grandfather pressed the remote.
The countdown accelerated.
08:41.
07:12.
06:55.
The oxygen monitor dropped.
91%.
90%.
I looked at the babies.
“We have to get them out.”
My father nodded.
“There's an emergency tunnel.”
Daniel shook his head.
“It's sealed.”
Adrian looked at the key.
“Not anymore.”
He pointed toward a panel behind the central monitor.
“That's the override.”
I ran toward it.
My grandfather shouted,
“STOP!”
I inserted the key.
Nothing happened.
I turned it.
A red light appeared.
ACCESS DENIED.
My grandfather laughed.
“You really thought it would be that easy?”
I looked at him.
“What do you want?”
He pointed at the baby in my arms.
“Subject Emily.”
“No.”
“She belongs to the project.”
“She belongs to me.”
“Then you can die with her.”
He pressed another button.
The laboratory floor began vibrating.
A mechanical sound echoed beneath us.
My father looked down.
“What's happening?”
Daniel's face changed.
“The lower chamber.”
“What?”
“The disposal system.”
My stomach dropped.
“You built a disposal system?”
Daniel nodded.
“For failed subjects.”
I looked at the babies.
“How long?”
“Five minutes.”
I turned toward my grandfather.
“You're going to kill them.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“You're going to choose.”
“What?”
“Three children.”
He pointed toward the bassinets.
“You can save three.”
I stared at him.
“And the others?”
“Die.”
“No.”
“Then everyone dies.”
The room went silent.
I looked at the twenty-three babies.
Some were crying.
Some were too weak to cry.
I couldn't leave them.
My grandfather knew that.
He had planned this.
He wanted me to choose.
I stepped toward him.
“You think I'm going to play your game.”
“You don't have a choice.”
I looked at the emergency override.
Then at the ventilation system.
Then at the monitors.
Something didn't make sense.
The oxygen was dropping too quickly.
I looked at Daniel.
“Why is the oxygen falling?”
He checked the system.
“It shouldn't be.”
“Exactly.”
He looked at me.
“You're right.”
I pointed toward the ceiling.
“The facility isn't removing oxygen.”
Daniel's eyes widened.
“It's pumping something in.”
“What?”
He checked the readings.
His face went white.
“Anesthetic gas.”
My father immediately covered Claire's mouth and nose with his jacket.
“Everyone protect the babies.”
Adrian grabbed a blanket.
“We need to seal the vents.”
Daniel ran toward the control panel.
“I can reverse it.”
My grandfather shouted,
“No!”
Daniel smiled.
“That's the first thing you've said that makes me think I'm doing the right thing.”
He began typing.
My grandfather raised a gun.
“Step away.”
Daniel ignored him.
The screen changed.
VENTILATION CONTROL.
MANUAL OVERRIDE.
Daniel pressed ENTER.
ERROR.
ACCESS BLOCKED.
He tried again.
Nothing.
I looked at the key in my hand.
Then at the control panel.
“Adrian.”
“What?”
“Your key.”
He looked at me.
“The override isn't for the door.”
“What?”
“It's for the system.”
I ran toward the panel.
Inserted the key.
Turned it.
This time, the screen flashed green.
ACCESS GRANTED.
My grandfather's face changed.
“No.”
I pressed the button.
The vents reversed.
Fresh air flooded the room.
The countdown stopped.
05:03.
Everyone froze.
Then the steel doors unlocked.
One.
Two.
Three.
All of them.
My father stared at me.
“You did it.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
I looked at my grandfather.
“He did.”
My grandfather's face was pale.
“You don't understand what you just activated.”
“What?”
He looked at the monitor.
A new message appeared.
PROJECT MOTHER: FINAL PHASE INITIATED.
I stared.
“What is Final Phase?”
My grandfather didn't answer.
Adrian did.
“I know.”
I turned.
He looked terrified.
“What's Final Phase?”
He swallowed.
“The reason they kept you alive.”
My heart pounded.
“Tell me.”
He looked at the three girls.
“Final Phase isn't about the inheritance.”
“Then what is it?”
He looked directly at me.
“It's about creating the next generation.”
I didn't understand.
Then the monitor displayed a new image.
A laboratory.
A woman lying on an operating table.
Pregnant.
The face was hidden.
Then the camera zoomed in.
I recognized the hospital bracelet.
MY NAME.
I stepped backward.
“No.”
Adrian grabbed my arm.
“Emma…”
“That isn't possible.”
He shook his head.
“It is.”
The screen displayed a date.
Six months from now.
Then another line appeared.
EMBRYO TRANSFER SCHEDULED.
I stared at the monitor.
“I’m not pregnant.”
Adrian's face was filled with fear.
“You aren't.”
“Then whose body is that?”
He didn't answer.
My grandfather smiled.
“Your genetic successor.”
I looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
He pointed toward Claire.
“She's the template.”
Then Emily.
“She's the upgrade.”
Then the third baby.
“She's the key.”
I felt sick.
“And the mother?”
He looked directly at me.
“You.”
I shook my head.
“I won't do this.”
“You already agreed.”
“When?”
He smiled.
“Before you were born.”
My mother suddenly screamed.
“Emma, run!”
Everyone turned.
She had grabbed a metal object from the floor.
She slammed it against the control panel.
The screen shattered.
My grandfather raised his gun.
A shot rang out.
My mother collapsed.
“Mom!”
I ran toward her.
Blood spread across her coat.
She grabbed my hand.
“Listen…”
I knelt beside her.
“Mom, stay with me.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Your grandfather didn't choose you.”
“What?”
“He chose…”
She coughed.
“…your daughter.”
I looked at Claire.
My mother whispered,
“The original Subject 00…”
Her eyes closed.
“…isn't the baby.”
I froze.
“Then who?”
She opened her eyes one final time.
“You.”
Then she stopped breathing.
The laboratory went silent.
I stared at my mother's face.
My grandfather lowered his gun.
And behind me, Claire whispered:
“Mommy…”
I turned.
She was staring at the broken monitor.
A final image had appeared through the static.
A photograph of me.
But it wasn't from childhood.
It was from six years ago.
I was lying unconscious on the hospital bed.
And beside me...
stood my grandfather.
Holding a newborn baby.
Not Claire.
Not Emily.
Not the third baby.
A fourth child.
My grandfather looked at the camera.
And beneath the photograph, one sentence appeared:
SUBJECT 00 WAS NEVER BORN.
SHE WAS CREATED.
The countdown restarted.
00:59.
00:58.
00:57.
My grandfather smiled.
“Now you understand.”
I looked at my daughters.
Then at the timer.
And finally at him.
“What happens at zero?”
He answered quietly.
“The hospital explodes.”
00:49.
00:48.
00:47.
I grabbed Claire's hand.
“Everybody move!”
We ran.
But as we reached the emergency tunnel, Adrian suddenly stopped.
I turned.
“What?”
He was staring at the monitor.
His face had gone completely white.
“Emma…”
“What?”
He pointed at the final line on the screen.
HOSPITAL LOCATION:
ST. VICTORIA MEDICAL CENTER.
I stared.
That was where I had given birth.
Six years ago.
And according to the timestamp...
the explosion was scheduled for midnight.
Tonight.
I looked at the clock.
11:13 PM.
May you like
We had forty-seven minutes.
And my newborn daughters were still inside the mansion.
