Chapter 12: The Genesis Child
Chapter 12: The Genesis Child
The helicopter lifted off through the mountain fog.
Marcus sat across from Evelyn Cross.
Neither of them spoke.
Between them rested the dented metal case that dozens of people had already died trying to obtain.
Rachel Kane watched silently from the cockpit.
No one touched the case.
No one even looked away from it.
Because everyone understood one thing.
Whatever lay inside...
Was worth killing for.
Three hours later...
The Sentinel headquarters beneath Thorne Tower went into complete lockdown.
Every entrance required biometric verification.
Every communication line was encrypted.
Every windowless corridor was guarded.
Khloe remained under constant medical observation in the secure medical wing.
Six Sentinel operators rotated outside her room.
No visitors.
No exceptions.
Marcus entered quietly.
Khloe was awake.
She smiled weakly.
"You found her."
Marcus nodded.
"I did."
He gently kissed her forehead.
"How's our little fighter?"
Khloe placed his hand on her stomach.
Right on cue...
The baby kicked.
Marcus laughed for the first time in days.
"He's stubborn."
Khloe smiled.
"He gets that from you."
For a few precious seconds...
The war outside no longer existed.
They were simply a husband and wife waiting to meet their son.
Then Rachel's voice came through the intercom.
"Marcus."
"We're ready."
Reality returned.
Inside the secure conference room...
Evelyn carefully placed the metal case on the table.
Daniel Brooks activated three independent recording systems.
Arthur Sterling folded his hands.
Detective Laura Bennett opened a notebook.
Rachel remained standing near the door.
Evelyn entered the access code.
The locks clicked open.
Inside...
There were no diamonds.
No stacks of cash.
No secret government contracts.
Only three leather journals.
A hard drive.
Several laboratory notebooks.
And dozens of medical photographs.
Marcus frowned.
"This is Genesis?"
Evelyn nodded.
"No."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"This is its history."
She opened the first journal.
The handwriting belonged to William Thorne.
"Your father began Project Genesis twenty-eight years ago."
Marcus remained silent.
"He wasn't trying to create a weapon."
Arthur nodded slowly.
"I always believed that."
Evelyn continued.
"He was trying to save children born with fatal genetic diseases."
Daniel looked surprised.
"So Genesis was medical research?"
"It began that way."
She turned another page.
"Your father believed damaged human cells could be repaired before disease developed."
Laura frowned.
"That would change medicine forever."
"It would."
Evelyn's voice became heavier.
"And that's exactly why the wrong people wanted it."
Daniel opened the hard drive.
Thousands of research files appeared.
Most contained laboratory data.
Then another folder caught his attention.
Unauthorized Human Trials
The room fell silent.
Marcus looked toward Evelyn.
"What is this?"
She closed her eyes.
"The reason I disappeared."
Arthur slowly lowered his head.
"No..."
Evelyn nodded.
"Someone inside the project continued the research after William shut it down."
Marcus felt anger rising.
"Who?"
"I never discovered the mastermind."
"But..."
She opened another file.
"I discovered the victims."
Photographs filled the screen.
Children.
Hospitals.
Medical reports.
Each file carried the same code.
GEN-01
GEN-02
GEN-03
Marcus whispered,
"They experimented on children."
Evelyn nodded through tears.
"When William found out..."
"He destroyed the laboratory."
"He reported everyone involved."
Laura looked confused.
"Then why weren't they arrested?"
Evelyn answered quietly.
"Because someone far more powerful protected them."
Marcus slowly walked toward the window.
"My father never told me any of this."
"He wanted you to live a normal life."
Evelyn smiled sadly.
"He thought he had buried Genesis forever."
Rachel folded her arms.
"But he was wrong."
Evelyn nodded.
"Very wrong."
Daniel suddenly froze.
"Wait."
Everyone looked at his monitor.
"I found another encrypted folder."
Its title read:
Subject Zero
Marcus immediately remembered the photograph.
Daniel opened it.
Only one video file appeared.
The timestamp showed...
Twenty-two years earlier.
The recording began.
A newborn baby cried.
William Thorne stood beside a hospital bed.
Evelyn smiled at the infant.
Arthur looked confused.
"Who's the baby?"
Evelyn slowly answered.
"The first successful Genesis patient."
Marcus stared.
"You cured someone?"
Evelyn nodded.
"Your father did."
Daniel enlarged the medical chart.
Patient Name:
REDACTED
Laura frowned.
"The name's missing."
Evelyn whispered,
"I removed it."
Marcus looked at her.
"Why?"
"To keep that child alive."
Before anyone could ask another question...
Every light in the room suddenly flickered.
Daniel looked up.
"That's strange."
The backup systems activated automatically.
Then—
Every computer screen turned black.
One line of red text slowly appeared.
WELCOME BACK, DR. CROSS.
Daniel's fingers flew across the keyboard.
"I'm locked out."
Another line appeared.
YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED HIDDEN.
Rachel immediately drew her pistol.
"Where's that coming from?"
Daniel shook his head.
"Inside the building."
Marcus frowned.
"The mole."
Daniel nodded.
"They're already here."
Emergency alarms echoed throughout Sentinel Headquarters.
Not fire alarms.
Security alarms.
Rachel pressed her earpiece.
"Report."
A guard answered between heavy breaths.
"Level Three!"
"Multiple intruders!"
Gunfire erupted over the radio.
The transmission ended abruptly.
Marcus looked toward Khloe's medical wing.
"No..."
Rachel was already running.
"Protect Khloe!"
The Sentinel Team split instantly.
Arthur escorted Evelyn toward the secure bunker.
Laura headed for the security center.
Marcus sprinted toward the medical floor.
Outside Khloe's room...
Two Sentinel operators lay wounded.
Three masked attackers advanced down the corridor using military precision.
One tossed a smoke grenade.
The hallway disappeared beneath thick gray smoke.
Marcus rounded the corner.
He fired twice.
One attacker fell.
The others took cover.
These weren't ordinary mercenaries.
They moved like special forces.
One shouted,
"Primary target is the fetus!"
Marcus felt ice run through his veins.
Not Khloe.
The baby.
He rushed into the room.
Khloe was already trying to get out of bed.
"What happened?"
Marcus grabbed her hand.
"We're leaving."
She looked toward the hallway.
Gunfire echoed closer.
"Our son..."
Marcus placed one hand on her stomach.
"I swear..."
"No one is touching him."
At the same moment...
Deep beneath the headquarters...
Evelyn suddenly stopped walking.
Arthur looked back.
"What is it?"
She stared at one security camera mounted above the corridor.
Then quietly whispered,
"They're not attacking to kill us."
Arthur frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Evelyn slowly looked toward the metal case she still carried.
"They're distracting us."
Her eyes widened.
"Oh God..."
Rachel's voice crackled over the emergency channel.
"Evelyn?"
She grabbed Arthur's arm.
"The journals!"
Arthur looked confused.
"What about them?"
"They're copies."
He froze.
"The originals..."
Evelyn's face turned pale.
"...were never in the case."
Silence.
Then she whispered the sentence that changed everything.
"The real Genesis research..."
She looked directly at Marcus through the open radio channel.
"...is inside Khloe."
Every heartbeat in the building seemed to stop.
Marcus slowly turned toward his wife.
Khloe stared back at him in confusion.
Evelyn continued, her voice trembling.
"William didn't hide Genesis in a vault..."
"He encoded the final research..."
"...into your son's DNA before he was ever conceived."
The gunfire outside intensified.
Because the attackers hadn't come for documents.
They hadn't come for money.
They hadn't even come for Khloe.
They had come...
May you like
To capture the only living copy of Project Genesis.
End of Chapter 12
