Chapter 79 The woman in the mirror
Rafael
The Swiss authorities kept us for three days.
Questions. Statements. Interviews. Over and over.
They wanted to understand what had happened. Who was responsible. How far this conspiracy went.
We told them everything. About Kask. About Isabella. About Dr. Yuki. About Project Genesis.
They didn't believe us at first. Thought we were crazy.
But then they found the seventy three embryos. Ran genetic tests. Confirmed they were all matches to Flora.
That changed everything.
"This is the biggest scientific scandal in history," the lead investigator told us. "Genetic experiments. Human trafficking. Multiple murders. This is going to take years to unravel."
"What happens to the embryos?" Flora asked.
"That's being debated," the investigator said. "Some people want them destroyed. Say they're too dangerous. Others want them preserved. Studied. It's complicated."
"They're children," Flora said. "Not science experiments. They deserve a chance at life."
"That's not my decision to make," the investigator said.
On the third day, they finally let us go. We flew back to New York. Back to some sense of normalcy.
Except nothing was normal anymore.
Flora couldn't sleep. Kept thinking about L-001. The hidden embryo. The one we couldn't save.
"Who could have sent that message?" she asked for the hundredth time. "Who else knew about Project Genesis?"
"Could be anyone," I said. "Dr. Yuki had colleagues. Students. People who worked with her over the years."
"Or it could be someone we know," Lucia said. She'd been staying with us. Helping us process everything. "Someone who's been hiding in plain sight."
"Like who?" Flora asked.
"Think about it," Lucia said. "Who's been involved from the beginning? Who's had access to information about Project Genesis?"
We made a list. Wrote down every name.
Kask. Dead.
Isabella. In prison.
Dr. Yuki. Dead.
Dr. Chen. In prison.
Catherine. In prison.
Antonio Martinez. Dead.
Helena Russo. In prison.
Dr. Rossi. Missing. Disappeared after Geneva.
"Rossi," I said. "She was there at the end. She helped us. Or we thought she did."
"But she disappeared," Lucia said. "Right when things got dangerous. Like she knew what was coming."
Flora pulled up her phone. Searched for information about Dr. Rossi.
"Look at this," she said, showing us. "Dr. Elena Rossi. Graduated from University of Geneva. Thirty years ago. Specialized in genetic engineering."
"University of Geneva," Lucia repeated. "Same place Dr. Yuki taught."
"They knew each other," I said. "They were colleagues."
"Or more than colleagues," Flora said. "What if Rossi was Yuki's partner? What if they created Project Genesis together?"
It made sense. Too much sense.
"We need to find her," I said.
But how do you find someone who doesn't want to be found?
We spent weeks searching. Contacted authorities in a dozen countries. Hired private investigators. Followed every lead.
Nothing.
Dr. Rossi had vanished completely.
And then, six months after Geneva, Flora got a message.
Unknown number. A photo.
She opened it and her face went white.
"What is it?" I asked.
She showed me.
The photo showed a woman holding a newborn baby. The woman's face was obscured. But the baby's face was clear.
She looked exactly like Flora.
The message below read: "L-001 has been born. Healthy. Perfect. The real Project Genesis begins now. Thank you for your help, Flora. You eliminated all my competition. Now I can work in peace."
Flora was shaking. "They used us. This whole time. They used us to clear the way."
"Who?" I demanded. "Who sent this?"
Another message came through.
"You want to know who I am? Look in the mirror, Flora. You'll figure it out eventually."
Look in the mirror.
What did that mean?
Flora stared at her reflection. At her face. Her eyes.
"Wait," she said slowly. "L-001. The first genetic match. Created before me."
"So?" Lucia asked.
"So what if L-001 isn't an embryo anymore?" Flora said. "What if she's already grown? What if she's been alive this whole time?"
My blood ran cold.
"Are you saying there's another adult version of you?" I asked.
"Not just another version," Flora said. "The original version. Created thirty years ago. Before Eva. Before me. Before anyone knew Project Genesis existed."
"Who would she be?" Lucia asked. "Where would she be?"
Flora's phone buzzed again. A video call. Unknown number.
She answered.
A woman appeared on screen. Maybe fifty years old. But her face was familiar. Very familiar.
Because she looked exactly like Flora. Just older.
"Hello, Flora," the woman said. "I'm Dr. Elena Rossi. Or rather, that's one of my names. My real name is Subject L-001. But you can call me Elena. I've been waiting so long to finally talk to you."
We stared at the screen in shock.
"You're a genetic match," Flora whispered.
"I'm the original genetic match," Elena corrected. "Created by Dr. Yuki thirty two years ago. The very first success. I was raised by her. Trained by her. Taught everything she knew. And when she started creating more matches, I helped her. I was her assistant. Her partner. Her daughter."
"You created us," Flora said.
"I helped," Elena said. "Yuki did the science. I did everything else. Recruited Kask. Recruited Isabella. Managed the money. Cleaned up the messes. For thirty years, I've been the invisible hand behind Project Genesis."
"Why?" Rafael demanded. "Why do any of this?"
"Because I believe in it," Elena said simply. "Enhanced humans are better than natural ones. Stronger. Smarter. More capable. We're the future. And I'm going to make sure that future happens."
"By creating an army of genetic matches?" Flora asked.
"By creating a new species," Elena corrected. "I have seventy three embryos from Geneva. Plus the fifty children living normal lives. Plus L-001. My daughter. The next generation. In twenty years, enhanced humans will be everywhere. And in fifty years, we'll be the dominant species on Earth."
"That's genocide," I said.
"That's evolution," Elena said. "And you can't stop it. Because you don't even know where I am. You don't know where the embryos are. You don't know anything."
The video ended.
We sat in stunned silence.
"She's right," Lucia finally said. "We don't know where she is. We don't know where those embryos are. We can't stop her."
"Then we find help," Flora said. "We go public. Tell the world everything. Force her into the open."
"Or we endanger those fifty children," I said. "And the seventy three embryos. She could kill them all out of spite."
"So what do we do?" Flora asked. "Just give up? Let her win?"
"No," I said. "We keep searching. We keep fighting. We don't give up."
But even as I said it, I knew the truth.
Elena had won.
She had the embryos. She had L-001. She had everything.
And we had nothing.
Flora's phone buzzed one more time.
A final message from Elena.
"Don't worry, Flora. You'll see me again. Sooner than you think. Because I'm coming to visit. And when I do, we're going to have a very long conversation about your future. And your role in my new world."
Flora showed me the message.
"She's coming here," Flora said.
"When?" I asked.
"Soon," Flora said.
And somewhere out there, Elena was watching.
The real war was just beginning.