I couldn’t understand what Gabriel meant.
“She gave birth to me instead of you?”
Gabriel nodded.
“Your mother was supposed to have a son.”
My mother stepped forward.
“Don’t listen to him.”
Gabriel laughed.
“You’ve lied to her for twenty-five years. At least let me tell her the truth.”
I looked at my mother.
“Is it true?”
She closed her eyes.
“Partly.”
Gabriel smiled.
“Of course.”
My mother finally spoke.
“When I was pregnant, the Guardians expected a boy.”
“Why?”
“Because the genetic sequence they were studying was most stable in male embryos.”
I looked at Maya.
“And then?”
“I gave birth to a girl.”
Me.
Gabriel continued.
“And that girl wasn’t merely resistant.”
He pointed at me.
“She was the first person whose body could rewrite the treatment.”
I remembered the laboratory.
The machine recognizing me.
SUBJECT ONE CONFIRMED.
My blood ran cold.
“That’s why you wanted me.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you take me?”
“Your mother escaped.”
My mother nodded.
“I disappeared before they could find her.”
“Then why did you let me grow up?”
Gabriel’s smile faded.
“Because I needed to know whether the ability would remain.”
He looked at Lily.
“And then you had her.”
Then Maya.
“And her.”
He spread his hands.
“Three generations of the same anomaly.”
Lily stepped forward.
“You don’t own us.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“I don’t want to own you.”
“Then what do you want?”
He pointed toward the basement.
“The original laboratory.”
My mother went pale.
“It’s still here.”
Gabriel nodded.
“And tonight, we finish the experiment.”
Michael raised his weapon.
“Not happening.”
Gabriel smiled.
“You’ve always been predictable.”
The lights went out.
A sharp crack echoed through the house.
Michael collapsed.
“Michael!”
He wasn’t dead.
A tranquilizer dart was embedded in his neck.
Claire rushed toward him.
Another dart struck her.
She fell beside him.
Lily grabbed Maya.
“Run!”
But the doors slammed shut.
Gabriel’s voice came through hidden speakers.
“You can run.”
A pause.
“But the house was built for this.”
Panels opened in the walls.
Gas began filling the room.
My mother grabbed my hand.
“Basement.”
We ran.
The basement looked exactly like the laboratory from our nightmares.
Except this one was older.
Much older.
At the center stood a machine unlike anything I’d seen before.
Three circular chambers surrounded a central console.
My mother stopped.
“No.”
Gabriel walked down the stairs.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
I stared at the chambers.
“What’s it for?”
He looked at Lily and Maya.
“The twins.”
Then he looked at me.
“And the original.”
My mother stepped between us.
“Don’t do this.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“You still don’t understand.”
He pointed toward the machine.
“It doesn’t need their blood.”
“What does it need?”
He looked at me.
“Choice.”
I frowned.
“The machine only works if all three of you willingly activate it.”
Lily laughed bitterly.
“Then you’ll never get it.”
Gabriel smiled.
“I already have.”
He pressed a button.
A screen lit up.
CONSENT RECORDING — EMILY CARTER
My face appeared.
I stared.
“What is that?”
My mother whispered:
“A recording.”
Gabriel nodded.
“From twenty-five years ago.”
The video began.
A much younger version of my mother sat in front of a camera.
She looked exhausted.
Pregnant.
Terrified.
Then she spoke:
“If they find Emily, they’ll use her to complete the treatment.”
I stared at the screen.
My mother’s younger self continued:
“So I’m leaving one final instruction.”
“If Emily ever reaches adulthood, the machine must be activated.”
“Not to extend life.”
“To end the treatment permanently.”
The video stopped.
I turned toward Gabriel.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“And you still brought me here.”
“Because your mother was right.”
He looked toward the machine.
“If the treatment is destroyed, everyone carrying it will finally become mortal.”
I stared at him.
“That’s what you want?”
He smiled.
“No.”
He looked at Maya.
“I want my daughter to choose.”
Maya stepped forward.
“Choose what?”
Gabriel’s expression softened.
“Whether humanity deserves to live forever.”
Lily shook her head.
“That’s not your decision.”
“No.”
Gabriel looked at me.
“It’s hers.”
He pointed toward Maya.
“She carries the complete treatment.”
Then toward Lily.
“She carries the destruction sequence.”
Finally, toward me.
“And you carry the ability to activate either one.”
The machine began powering up.
CHAMBER ONE: READY
CHAMBER TWO: READY
CHAMBER THREE: READY
I looked at my daughters.
Neither moved.
Then Maya whispered:
“Mom…”
“Yes?”
“If we destroy it, what happens to everyone who already has the treatment?”
Gabriel answered.
“They age normally.”
“And you?”
He smiled.
“I die.”
Maya stared at him.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why?”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Because I’ve spent my entire life trying to become something I wasn’t.”
He touched the machine.
“Maybe it’s time I let my children become whatever they choose.”
For the first time, I saw something human in him.
Regret.
He stepped away.
“I won’t force you.”
Lily looked at Maya.
Maya looked at me.
And then both girls took my hands.
The machine recognized us.
THREE SUBJECTS DETECTED.
FINAL DECISION REQUIRED.
Two buttons appeared.
PRESERVE
DESTROY
I looked at my daughters.
Then I remembered everything.
My mother’s sacrifice.
Daniel’s obsession.
Eleanor’s experiments.
The families destroyed by the Guardians.
The people whose lives had been treated as fuel.
I knew what we had to do.
I reached toward the screen.
And pressed—
DESTROY.
The machine screamed.
Gabriel closed his eyes.
Maya cried.
Lily squeezed my hand.
Then the entire laboratory filled with white light.
And somewhere across the world…
thousands of people began to age for the first time in decades.
The age of the Guardians was over.
But when the light disappeared, one message remained on the screen:
TREATMENT DESTROYED.
Then another appeared.
ORIGINAL SUBJECT: STILL ACTIVE.
I looked at my mother.
“Who’s the original subject?”
She didn’t answer.
Because behind us, someone slowly began applauding.
A voice whispered:
“Well done, Emily.”
I turned.
And saw Daniel.
Standing in the doorway.
Smiling.
Alive.
And holding a photograph of my father.
One Comment on “Part 39 : The Child Who Wasn’t Supposed to Exist”