Chapter 10 - Chaos has a sound.It is gunfire.
Screaming.
Alarms.
Glass breaking.
People running without knowing where they're going.
The federal agents moved with military precision.
Black armor.
Suppressed rifles.
Night-vision equipment.
They weren't police.
They weren't FBI.
They were something else.
Caleb pulled Elena behind a concrete pillar.
Marco grabbed Sophie.
I held Nora.
Adrian carried Miles.
Victor disappeared into the smoke.
Then I saw the insignia on one agent's shoulder.
A silver serpent.
Caleb recognized it.
“That's not federal.”
“What is it?”
“Mercy Security.”
My stomach dropped.
“These aren't here to stop the project.”
“No.”
Caleb fired.
The agent fell.
More entered.
Adrian shouted:
“Move!”
We ran through the laboratory.
Sophie followed.
The group split at a corridor.
Marco took Elena.
Caleb took Sophie.
I followed Adrian.
He knew the tunnels.
Better than anyone.
We reached a steel door.
Adrian opened it.
Inside was a massive chamber.
Hundreds of servers.
Medical equipment.
Cryogenic tanks.
And one enormous screen.
The screen displayed the faces of children.
Seven.
Then the image changed.
Three.
Theo.
Miles.
Nora.
Their names appeared beside genetic sequences.
A final line appeared:
PHASE TWO: ACTIVATION PENDING.
I stared.
“What is phase two?”
Adrian didn't answer.
“Tell me.”
He looked at me.
“Your children will be used to activate the network.”
“Do what?”
“Identify everyone carrying Project Mercy markers.”
I looked at the screen.
“What?”
“Your babies can identify every person who was altered by the program.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It doesn't need to make sense.”
He pointed toward the servers.
“It's a biological key.”
I suddenly understood why everyone wanted them.
Whoever controlled the children could identify thousands of compromised people.
Politicians.
Judges.
Police.
Executives.
Criminals.
Entire institutions.
The triplets weren't just heirs.
They were the key to controlling the entire network.
Adrian stepped closer.
“Your father spent thirty years building this.”
“And he trusted you?”
“No.”
“Then why did he choose you?”
“He didn't.”
Adrian looked at the screen.
“He chose Theo.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“Your son wasn't selected after birth.”
“He was selected before conception.”
I shook my head.
“That isn't possible.”
Adrian handed me a file.
Inside was a document signed eleven years before my marriage to Lucia.
GENETIC COMPATIBILITY PROTOCOL.
Participants:
ADRIEN MORETTI.
LUCIA BIANCHI.
ADRIAN MORETTI.
I stared at my own name.
“What is this?”
Adrian answered quietly.
“You were chosen to father the control subject.”
I couldn't breathe.
“My marriage was arranged.”
“Yes.”
“The pregnancy…”
“Planned.”
“My wife…”
“Manipulated.”
“And the triplets?”
“Designed.”
I wanted to destroy the screen.
Instead, I heard crying.
Theo.
Somewhere nearby.
I turned.
A small monitor showed him.
Alone.
In another chamber.
I ran.
Adrian followed.
We entered the nursery.
Theo was lying in a glass cradle.
Around his body were sensors.
A machine was counting his heartbeat.
Every number appeared on the screen.
I tore the sensors away.
The alarm screamed.
Theo opened his eyes.
Then he smiled.
“Daddy.”
The first clear word he had ever spoken.
I froze.
Adrian stared at him.
The monitor flashed.
AUTHORIZED VOICE DETECTED.
GENETIC KEY ACCEPTED.
Every server in the laboratory activated.
Lights turned green.
Doors unlocked.
Across Chicago, thousands of devices came online.
Adrian stared at the screens.
“What happened?”
I held Theo tighter.
The answer appeared on every monitor.
PHASE TWO INITIATED.
A map of Chicago appeared.
Red points began lighting up.
One by one.
Hundreds.
Then thousands.
Adrian whispered:
“The network is awake.”
I looked at him.
“Can we shut it down?”
He shook his head.
“Not anymore.”
“Why?”
He looked at Theo.
“Because your son just activated it.”
Then the giant screen changed.
A single message appeared.
WELCOME BACK, A-02.
May you like
Adrian stepped backward.
And for the first time since I had met him, my brother looked afraid.
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