Chapter 80 Exactly what she wanted
Flora
Three months passed. Three months of waiting for Elena to make her move. But nothing happened. No messages. No calls. No signs of her at all.
"Maybe she changed her mind," Rafael said one morning.
"She's coming," I said. "She's just waiting for the right moment."
The fifteen girls from Isabella's laboratory had been placed in foster care. Subject L-05, the twelve year old, had chosen the name Sophie. She lived with a family in Connecticut now.
"They're good to me," Sophie told me during one visit. "They don't treat me like an experiment."
"That's how it should be," I said.
The seventy three embryos from Geneva had been transferred to a secure facility in Germany. Multiple countries debating what to do with them. Some wanted them destroyed. Others wanted them preserved.
My phone buzzed at two in the morning. Unknown number.
"Hello?" I said quietly.
"Hello Flora," Elena's voice came through. "Did I wake you?"
I sat up immediately. "What do you want?"
"To talk," Elena said. "You're fighting for those embryos. I respect that. But you need my help. The vote is in three weeks. Those embryos will die unless something changes."
"What are you suggesting?" I asked.
"A press conference next week in Geneva. You, me, and my daughter. We show the world we're not monsters."
"And if I refuse?" I asked.
"Then those embryos die and their blood is on your hands."
The line went dead.
Rafael stirred beside me. "Who was that?"
"Elena," I said. "She wants a press conference."
I called Lucia. Told her about Elena's offer.
"It could work," Lucia said carefully. "If we control the narrative."
I called Sophie. Asked for her opinion. She also said yes.
Over the next week I coordinated with Elena. We agreed on a location, time, and participants. The press conference was scheduled for Friday afternoon in Geneva.
We arrived in Geneva Thursday evening. Sophie and her parents were in the room next door. Lucia met us in the lobby. "Every major news outlet will be there. This will be broadcast worldwide."
Friday afternoon we arrived at the conference center. The room was enormous with hundreds of seats and cameras everywhere.
At two PM the doors opened and press flooded in. Lucia introduced me.
I walked onto the stage. Camera flashes were blinding.
"My name is Flora Rossi," I said. "I am the product of genetic engineering. Enhanced humans are not a threat. We're just people trying to live normal lives."
Sophie came out next. "My name is Sophie. I'm twelve. I like soccer and math. The only difference is how I was born and that shouldn't matter."
Then Elena walked out carrying a baby.
"This is my daughter," Elena said. "She's healthy and happy. She deserves a chance at life just like the seventy three embryos waiting in Germany."
A reporter shouted. "Are you saying there are more enhanced humans we don't know about?"
"Fifty of them," Elena said. "Living normal lives. They're not dangerous. They're just people."
The room erupted.
That's when the first gunshot rang out. Security swarmed the stage. Rafael grabbed me and pulled me down. More gunshots erupted.
Elena was still standing. Almost smiling.
"This is exactly what I expected," Elena said into the microphone. "This is what happens when people feel threatened by change."
Security pulled her off stage. We were rushed to waiting cars.
In the car Rafael held me. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," I said but my hands were shaking.
My phone buzzed. A message from Elena. "That went well. Nothing like violence to prove my point."
I stared in horror. "She knew someone would try to kill us. She wanted this."
"Why?" Rafael asked.
"Because now the world sees us as victims and public opinion will shift."
The shooting made international headlines. Public opinion shifted overnight. Suddenly enhanced humans weren't the threat. They were victims.
Two days later the vote happened in Germany. The seventy three embryos would be preserved and protected and given a chance at life. Enhanced humans had won.
"I should be happy," I said. "We saved them."
"But Elena got what she wanted too," Rafael said.
A week later Lucia sent us a video. A news segment.
"Breaking news. Authorities discovered a secret laboratory. Inside they found dozens more genetically enhanced children."
The camera showed police leading children out. Ages ranging from infants to teenagers.
"Authorities believe this facility was run by Dr. Elena. She is wanted for questioning."
The segment ended.
"There are more," I breathed.
My phone rang. Elena's voice came through. "I assume you saw the news? I liberated them. Those children were being studied and treated like lab rats."
"You kidnapped them," I said.
"I saved them," Elena corrected. "And I have a proposal. There are three more facilities in the US, China, and Russia all studying enhanced humans. I'm going to free them all."
"That's kidnapping on a massive scale," I said.
"That's liberation," Elena said. "I'm sending you an address. A facility in upstate New York. Twenty enhanced children being held there. If you care, you'll go see for yourself."
The line went dead.
I told Rafael everything. "It could be a trap," I said.
"Probably," he agreed. "But what if there really are children being held?"
Two days later we drove to upstate New York. To the address Elena provided. It looked like a normal research facility.
We parked across the street and watched. Around four PM a van pulled up. Guards led out a group of children. Maybe ten of them. Ages five to twelve. They all looked scared. One little girl was crying.
"They're enhanced humans," I whispered. "Look at how the guards are treating them."
We watched more vans arrive. More children.
"Elena was telling the truth," Rafael said.
My phone buzzed. A message from Elena. "Did you see? Are you going to help me free them?"
"She's manipulating us again," I said.
"I know," Rafael said. "But those children need help."
We called Walsh and told him everything. He was quiet. "That facility is government sanctioned. My hands are tied without evidence of wrongdoing."
"Those children looked like prisoners," I said.
"But were they?" Walsh asked. "I need more than surveillance footage."
After we hung up my phone rang. Elena again. "I heard you called Walsh. How did that go?"
"How did you know that?" I demanded.
"I have a network," Elena said. "Walsh can't help but I can. I have a team. We can extract those children tonight."
"You want us to help you kidnap twenty children," I said.
"I want you to help me save them," Elena corrected. "Tonight at midnight. Meet me at the coordinates I'm sending."
The call ended. Rafael and I looked at each other.
"We can't do this," I said.