Chapter 74 The Next Generation
Flora
The medical table was cold against my back.
I was strapped down. Arms. Legs. Chest. I couldn't move.
Doctors surrounded me. Preparing instruments.
"Please," I said. "Don't do this."
"Mr. Kask's orders," one doctor said without looking at me.
"I'm a person," I said. "Not an experiment."
"You're both," the doctor said. "That's what makes you valuable."
A woman entered. White coat. Stern expression.
"Subject L 01," she said. "Flora Marino. Let's begin."
"Begin what?" I asked.
"Tissue extraction," the woman said. "We'll start with bone marrow."
She picked up a large needle. The kind for bone marrow extraction.
"This will hurt," the woman said. "A lot."
She positioned the needle against my hip bone.
I closed my eyes.
"Stop."
I opened my eyes. Victor Kask stood in the doorway.
"Not yet," he said. "I want to talk to her first."
The woman stepped back. "Of course, Mr. Kask."
Kask approached. Looked down at me.
"Flora," he said. "It doesn't have to be like this."
"Then let me go," I said.
"I can't," Kask said. "But I can make this easier. Cooperate. Help me understand your genetic makeup. And I'll make the procedures painless."
"I'll never help you," I said.
"Not even to save Rafael?" Kask asked.
My heart sank. "What did you do to him?"
"Nothing yet," Kask said. "But I will. Unless you give me what I want."
"What do you want?" I asked.
"Information," Kask said. "About Eva. About your memories. About everything Dr. Yuki told you."
"Why?" I asked.
"Eva was the key," Kask said. "Her genetic structure was slightly different from yours. If I can understand what made her different, I can perfect the modifications."
"Eva's dead," I said.
"But you have her memories," Kask said. "Dr. Chen implanted them in you. Which means somewhere in your mind, you know things Eva knew."
He nodded to the woman. "Dr. Singh, prepare the neural scan."
Dr. Singh moved to a computer.
"What's a neural scan?" I asked.
"A way to access your memories," Kask explained. "We'll use electromagnetic stimulation to activate different parts of your brain."
Dr. Singh wheeled over a machine. Wires. Electrodes.
"This might feel uncomfortable," she said, placing electrodes on my head.
"Don't," I said. "Please."
"Begin the scan," Kask said.
Dr. Singh activated the machine.
Pain exploded through my head. Like my brain was being pulled apart.
Images flashed. Memories. Eva's memories.
I saw her as a child. Being tested.
I saw her teenage years. Falling in love with Rafael.
I saw her final moments. The gunshot.
"There," Kask said, watching the screen. "Extract it."
The pain intensified.
And then something broke inside my mind.
A wall I didn't know existed.
Behind it were more memories. Not Eva's. Not mine.
Dr. Yuki's memories.
She'd implanted her own knowledge before she died.
And now Kask was about to find it.
I saw Dr. Yuki's memories flooding forward.
I saw the Benefactor. The real power behind Project Genesis.
And I saw their face.
Someone I recognized.
The door burst open.
Gunfire erupted.
The electrodes ripped off as someone tackled Dr. Singh.
Through blurred vision, I saw Rafael. Fighting guards.
"Rafael!" I shouted.
He reached the table. Started unbuckling the restraints.
"We have to go," he said. "Now."
More gunfire. Rafael fired back.
My restraints came free. I sat up. My head was spinning.
"Can you walk?" Rafael asked.
"I don't know," I admitted.
"Try," he said.
He helped me stand. My legs were shaky but held.
We ran for the door. Into the corridor.
Alarms blaring. Guards running toward us.
"This way," Rafael shouted.
We ran. Around a corner.
And stopped.
Twenty guards blocked the corridor. All armed.
Victor Kask stood in front.
"Did you really think it would be that easy?" he asked.
Behind us, more guards appeared. Surrounded.
"It's over, Flora," Kask said.
"Never," I said.
"Then Rafael dies," Kask said. He gestured. "Shoot him."
"Wait!" I shouted. "I'll cooperate. Just don't hurt him."
Kask smiled. "I thought you might see reason."
The guards moved forward.
That's when the explosion happened.
Massive. Earth shattering.
The facility shook. Ceiling tiles fell. Lights flickered.
"What was that?" Kask shouted.
Another explosion. Closer.
"The main power generator," a guard said. "Someone planted explosives."
"Who?" Kask demanded.
"Lucia," the guard said. "She's destroying the facility."
Kask's face twisted with rage. "Find her! Kill her!"
Guards ran everywhere. Chaos erupted.
Rafael grabbed my hand. "Run!"
We ran through chaos. Through smoke.
Another explosion. The corridor collapsed behind us.
We reached a stairwell. Started climbing.
Finally reached a door marked Emergency Exit.
Rafael kicked it open.
We emerged into forest. Into daylight.
Behind us, the facility was collapsing. Smoke rising.
"We made it," I breathed.
The final explosion cut off my words.
Massive. The entire underground facility imploded.
We were thrown forward. Hit the ground hard.
When I looked back, just a crater remained. Smoke. Debris.
"The embryos," I whispered. "My sister. They were all down there."
"I know," Rafael said quietly.
We'd escaped.
But we'd lost everything.
I started crying.
Rafael held me. "I'm sorry."
My phone buzzed.
I pulled it out. Cracked screen. Still working.
A text. Unknown number.
A video.
I pressed play.
The screen showed a room. Clean. Safe.
Portable incubators. Twenty three of them.
All the embryos. Alive. Safe.
The camera panned to a woman holding a baby.
Lucia.
Holding my newborn sister.
"Hello, Flora," Lucia's voice came through. "I got them out. All of them. Before I blew the facility. They're safe."
My blood ran cold.
"I'm keeping them," Lucia continued. "All twenty three. Plus your sister. Because someone needs to raise them properly. And that someone is me."
"No," I whispered.
"Don't try to find us," Lucia said. "You won't. I know how to disappear."
The video ended.
I stared at the phone.
We'd escaped Kask.
But now Lucia had the children.
All of them.
And she'd vanished.
"What do we do?" Rafael asked.
"I don't know," I said.
Because for the first time since this nightmare began, I truly had no idea what to do next.