“LILY!”
I dropped to my knees beside the opening.
Darkness swallowed her.
My mother’s hands caught my shoulders.
“Emily, wait!”
“She’s down there!”
“I know.”
“I have to get her!”
My mother pointed toward a metal staircase hidden beneath the floor.
“That’s the old test chamber.”
“Then let’s go.”
Michael and Margaret followed us.
We descended into darkness.
At the bottom, we found a corridor lined with glass rooms.
Some were empty.
Some contained old equipment.
And one contained Lily.
She was strapped to a metal chair.
Dr. Shaw stood behind her.
“You came.”
I stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
Shaw smiled.
“I only need one thing.”
“What?”
“Her consent.”
Lily looked at me.
“Don’t give it to her.”
Shaw sighed.
“Unfortunately, your daughter is stubborn.”
My mother stepped forward.
“She’s exactly like me.”
Shaw’s expression hardened.
“That’s why I need her.”
She touched a control panel.
A screen appeared.
It displayed Lily’s genetic profile.
“Your mother spent decades trying to destroy my work.”
“And you spent decades hurting people.”
“I spent decades improving humanity.”
“No.”
My mother shook her head.
“You spent decades trying to escape death.”
Shaw smiled.
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Everything.”
Shaw looked at Lily.
“She’s the final piece.”
Lily struggled against the restraints.
“You’ll never control me.”
Shaw laughed.
“You misunderstand.”
She pointed at the screen.
“The treatment doesn’t require your cooperation.”
I froze.
“What are you saying?”
“The treatment is already inside you.”
My mother went pale.
“Impossible.”
Shaw smiled.
“Your daughter was exposed before she was born.”
I stared at her.
“When?”
“Fourteen years ago.”
I remembered the hospital.
The surgery.
The strange medications.
The mysterious package.
The woman who had died on the operating table.
My husband’s ex.
Claire.
Shaw continued:
“Claire wasn’t Lily’s mother.”
My mother interrupted.
“Stop.”
But Shaw kept talking.
“Claire was a carrier.”
Lily stared at her.
“Then what am I?”
Shaw answered:
“The first successful human.”
Silence.
My mother shook her head.
“No.”
Shaw smiled.
“Yes.”
She pressed a button.
The machine beside Lily activated.
Lights turned blue.
Lily screamed.
I lunged toward her.
“Stop!”
Guards grabbed me.
My mother fought them.
Michael fired.
Chaos erupted.
Then Lily’s restraints opened.
She stood.
The machines suddenly shut down.
Shaw stared at the monitor.
“What happened?”
Lily looked at her.
“I don’t know.”
The screen flashed:
TREATMENT REJECTED.
Shaw’s face went white.
“No.”
My mother smiled.
“She isn’t compatible.”
Shaw shook her head.
“She has the gene.”
“Yes.”
“Then why?”
My mother looked at me.
“Because Emily changed everything.”
I frowned.
“What did I do?”
My mother answered:
“When you were pregnant, you refused the medication Shaw prescribed.”
I remembered.
A routine prenatal treatment I’d declined because I’d been worried about side effects.
My mother smiled.
“That decision saved Lily.”
Shaw stared at us.
“You’re lying.”
“No.”
My mother stepped toward her.
“My daughter made one ordinary choice.”
She pointed at Lily.
“And that choice broke your entire experiment.”
Police sirens sounded above us.
Shaw’s guards began surrendering.
Michael approached.
“You’re finished.”
Shaw looked at Lily.
“No.”
She smiled.
“You still don’t understand.”
She pressed one final button.
Every screen in the laboratory changed.
A list appeared.
Hundreds of names.
Then thousands.
My blood ran cold.
“What is that?”
Shaw smiled.
“The subjects.”
My mother stared.
“They’re all alive.”
I looked at the list.
Some names were from decades ago.
Others were children.
One name caught my eye.
Emily Carter.
I froze.
Beside it was a date.
Treatment scheduled: August 22, 2026.
Tomorrow.
I looked at my mother.
“Why am I on that list?”
She didn’t answer.
Shaw smiled.
“Because your daughter wasn’t the final experiment.”
She looked directly at me.
“You were.”
The room went silent.
Then every door in the laboratory locked simultaneously.
And a countdown appeared.
24:00:00
23:59:59
23:59:58
My mother whispered:
“Oh, Emily.”
Then she looked terrified.
“They’ve been waiting twenty-five years for you.”
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