Chapter 77 The Founder
Rafael
"Not over."
Two words that changed everything.
"Who sent this?" Flora asked, her voice shaking.
"I don't know," I said. "But whoever it is knows about us."
Lucia looked at the phone. "That's not Isabella's style. Too brief."
"So someone else," I said. "Someone we haven't met yet."
My phone buzzed again. Same unknown number. "Check your email."
I pulled up my email and opened the video file.
The video showed a laboratory. More modern than Isabella's. More advanced. The camera panned across the room and focused on a figure in a white coat with their face obscured.
"Hello Rafael. Hello Flora. Hello Lucia," a distorted voice said. "Congratulations on stopping Isabella Morelli. She was becoming a problem. Too emotional. Too attached to her subjects. I appreciate you handling that for me."
"Who is this?" Flora whispered.
The figure continued. "I'm the person who started Project Genesis. Not Isabella. Not Kask. Me. Thirty five years ago I had a vision. A world where humanity could be perfected."
The figure pulled out a folder. "I have one hundred and forty seven embryos. All genetic matches to Flora. All created over the last thirty years. Isabella had fifteen children. I have fifty already born. Living. Growing."
Flora grabbed my arm. "Fifty?"
"They don't know about each other," the voice continued. "They don't know about Flora. But they will. In six months I'm releasing the first generation. Fifty enhanced humans into the world. They'll become doctors, lawyers, politicians. They'll rise to positions of power and slowly change humanity from within."
"That's genocide," Flora breathed.
"That's evolution," the voice corrected. "You can't stop this Flora. It's already begun."
The video ended.
We sat in stunned silence.
"Fifty children out there who don't even know what they are," Flora finally said. "Plus one hundred and forty seven embryos."
"We have to stop this," I said.
My phone buzzed again. "You want to find me? Come to Geneva. Switzerland. The address is attached. Come in three days. Come alone Flora. Or I release all one hundred and forty seven embryos at once."
"It's a trap," Lucia said.
"Of course it's a trap," I agreed. "But what choice do we have?"
We went to Walsh and showed him everything. He watched the video carefully.
"This is serious but I can't act on it without more evidence," he said. "An anonymous video isn't enough for an international investigation."
"What about the fifty children?" Flora asked.
"Based on what?" Walsh asked. "We don't have names or locations. Whoever sent this covered their tracks well."
"So we're on our own," I said.
"I'm putting together a task force," Walsh said. "But it'll take time."
"We don't have time," Flora said. "They want me in Geneva in three days."
"Then don't go," Walsh said. "Stay here and let us handle it."
But I could see in Flora's eyes she was already planning to go.
That night back at the hotel we made our decision.
"I'm going to Geneva," Flora said. "Alone like they asked."
"Absolutely not," I said.
"It's the only way to find them and stop them before they release those embryos," Flora said.
"Or it's how you get killed," I countered.
"Then I get killed but at least I tried," Flora said.
"No," I said firmly. "We're not doing this alone."
Lucia cleared her throat. "There might be another way. What if we make them come to us by going public and telling the world everything?"
"That'll endanger those fifty children," Flora said. "They'll be hunted and studied."
"Maybe but it's better than being tools in someone's evolution experiment," Lucia said.
We debated for hours and finally Flora made her decision.
"I'm going to Geneva but not alone," she said. "Rafael and Lucia come with me. We bring weapons and backup and we end this."
"Walsh won't approve," I said.
"Then we don't tell Walsh," Flora said.
Two days later we boarded a plane to Switzerland. Marco insisted on coming despite our protests.
"This is insane," Marco said. "We're flying into a trap with no plan."
"The plan is simple," Flora said. "Find the person behind Project Genesis. Stop them. Save the embryos."
We landed in Geneva at night and drove into the mountains. The address led to an old research facility. Abandoned according to public records but the security cameras told a different story.
"Someone's here maintaining this place," Lucia said.
We parked a mile away and approached on foot. The facility was massive with multiple buildings and high fences and guard towers.
"This isn't just a laboratory," I said. "It's a compound."
"How do we get in?" Marco asked.
"Front door," Flora said. "They invited me."
She walked toward the main gate and we followed with our hands on our weapons. The gate opened automatically and we walked through the courtyard to the main building. The door opened before we could knock.
Inside was a reception area. Clean and modern and empty.
"Welcome," a voice said over an intercom. "Flora please proceed to the elevator. Everyone else stays here."
"Not happening," I said.
"Then I activate the facility's self destruct and everyone dies including the one hundred and forty seven embryos stored in sub level three," the voice said.
Flora looked at me. "I have to go alone."
"Flora please don't do this," I said.
"It's okay," she said. "I'll be okay."
She kissed me and walked to the elevator. The doors closed and she was gone.
I stared at the elevator with my heart pounding.
"She'll be fine," Lucia said but she didn't sound convinced.
We waited. Five minutes felt like five hours.
Then the intercom crackled. "Rafael you should see this. Take the elevator to the second floor. Room 201."
I looked at Marco and Lucia. "Stay here. If I'm not back in ten minutes call Walsh."
I took the elevator to the second floor and found room 201. The door was open.
Inside was a viewing room with one way glass looking into a laboratory. And in the laboratory was Flora standing face to face with someone.
Someone whose face I couldn't see from this angle.
But then they turned.
And my blood ran cold.
Because I knew that face.
We all knew that face.
It was Dr. Yuki.