Chapter 13 - My father had been dead for twelve years.But his voice came through the speakers.
Calm.
Older.
Unmistakable.
“Perfect.”
Nobody moved.
Adrian slowly raised his weapon.
“Impossible.”
The voice continued.
“You finally brought them home.”
I searched the room.
Nothing.
No projector.
No microphone.
Then a hidden wall opened.
A chair emerged.
Empty.
On the chair was an old recording device.
I approached it.
The device activated.
My father appeared on a screen.
He looked exactly as I remembered him.
Black suit.
Silver hair.
Cold eyes.
He smiled.
“Adrien.”
My hands tightened.
“You always were my favorite mistake.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“You said I was the heir.”
My father's recorded image looked at him.
“You were.”
“Then why did you create him?”
“To replace you.”
Silence.
Adrian's face hardened.
My father continued.
“You failed because you developed emotion.”
He looked at me.
“Adrien succeeded because he didn't know he was part of the experiment.”
I felt sick.
“I wasn't chosen because I was special.”
“No.”
“Why me?”
“You were normal.”
My father smiled.
“That was the point.”
I looked at the children.
“You planned my marriage.”
“Yes.”
“Lucia?”
“She was compatible.”
“My children?”
“The finest result.”
“And Sophie?”
He paused.
Then smiled.
“The most important.”
I took a step toward the screen.
“What did you do to her?”
“Nothing.”
“You turned her into a weapon.”
“She was born one.”
I shook my head.
“No child is born a weapon.”
“You're wrong.”
His recorded face became serious.
“Power doesn't begin with violence.”
He leaned closer to the camera.
“It begins with obedience.”
The screen changed.
Thousands of people appeared.
Doctors.
Police.
Politicians.
Executives.
Judges.
Mafia members.
All connected by lines.
“This is Project Mercy.”
He explained that the network had been dormant for years.
The children weren't controlling people directly.
They were identifying compatible neural patterns.
Once identified, the network could influence behavior.
Not perfectly.
Not permanently.
But enough.
Enough to manipulate elections.
Enough to start wars.
Enough to destroy businesses.
Enough to remove enemies.
I felt cold.
“Who controls it?”
My father smiled.
“Whoever owns the children.”
The recording ended.
The room was silent.
Then Sophie stood.
She walked toward the monitor.
“Grandpa.”
Everyone froze.
She touched the screen.
“I remember.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“He put me in the room.”
Elena rushed toward her.
“What room?”
“The red room.”
Sophie began shaking.
“He made me watch the children sleep.”
She covered her ears.
“He said they belonged to me.”
I knelt beside her.
“What else?”
She looked at me.
“He told me something about Mommy.”
“Lucia?”
Sophie nodded.
“She didn't die.”
I looked at Adrian.
“Then where is she?”
Sophie pointed toward the destroyed server room.
“She went to save someone.”
“Who?”
Sophie whispered:
“You.”
A sound came from behind us.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Everyone raised their weapons.
Then Lucia stepped from the shadows.
Alive.
Bleeding from the forehead.
Still holding the pistol.
I ran toward her.
For one second, neither of us spoke.
Then she reached for me.
I held her.
She cried against my chest.
“I am sorry.”
I couldn't speak.
Eight months of grief.
Anger.
Love.
All collided.
Then I pulled back.
“Tell me everything.”
She nodded.
But before she could speak, Adrian pointed his gun at her.
“You knew.”
Lucia looked at him.
“Yes.”
“You helped create the children.”
“I helped save them.”
“You lied.”
“I had to.”
Adrian's finger tightened.
I stepped between them.
“No.”
Lucia looked at me.
“There is something you need to know.”
“What?”
She looked at the three babies.
“Only one of them carries the original sequence.”
My heart stopped.
Theo.
Miles.
Nora.
One of them was the true control subject.
“Which one?”
Lucia's eyes filled with tears.
“I don't know.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was never told.”
She looked toward Adrian.
“He knows.”
Everyone turned.
Adrian slowly lowered his gun.
“I know.”
Silence.
“Which baby?”
Adrian looked at the triplets.
Then at me.
“Theo.”
I felt relief for one second.
Then Adrian continued.
“That is what they want you to believe.”
He pulled a small device from his pocket.
Pressed a button.
Theo began screaming.
Miles screamed.
Nora screamed.
All three.
The same as the first night.
Adrian looked at me.
“Because there's another control.”
He pointed at Sophie.
“And she was never the key.”
May you like
He pointed toward Nora.
“She is.”
