CHAPTER 10 — THE HIDDEN LABORATORY

The message stayed on every screen.

WELCOME HOME, BROTHER.

Nobody understood.

Not at first.

The words were impossible.

Wrong.

A mistake.

A manipulation.

That was what Nicolás wanted to believe.

Because the alternative was something far worse.

He looked at Mateo.

The baby stood in the middle of the room, holding the small transmitter.

Not crying.

Not afraid.

Just watching.

“Sofía…”

Her eyes never left the device.

“Yes?”

“Take him.”

She moved slowly.

Carefully.

Like approaching a frightened animal.

But Mateo did not resist.

The moment she lifted him, his body relaxed.

The transmitter fell from his hand.

And the screens went dark.

For several minutes, nobody spoke.

Then Alejandro broke the silence.

“Rafael lied.”

Everyone looked at him.

“What?”

Alejandro stared at the dead screens.

“He always changed the truth to control people.”

Nicolás looked at him.

“You think that message was fake?”

“I think everything he does has a purpose.”

Sofía looked at Mateo.

“Then what was the purpose?”

Nobody answered.

Because the truth was becoming harder to find.

Every answer created more questions.

The hidden room beneath the nursery was opened completely.

This time, they did not search for clues.

They searched for the truth.

The passage continued farther than anyone expected.

Much farther.

The mansion had not been built around the secret.

The secret had been built around the mansion.

At the end of the tunnel was a metal door.

Old.

Heavy.

Locked with a biometric system.

Nicolás stared.

“Who has access?”

The security chief checked.

“No records.”

Alejandro stepped closer.

Then stopped.

His expression changed.

“What?”

He touched the scanner.

A small light appeared.

Green.

The door opened.

Everyone froze.

Sofía looked at him.

“How?”

Alejandro stared at his own hand.

“I don't know.”

But somewhere deep inside, he did.

The answer frightened him.

The room behind the door was not a storage area.

Not a hiding place.

It was a laboratory.

A real one.

Cold white walls.

Medical equipment.

Computers.

Observation windows.

And in the center…

three chairs.

Three sizes.

One for a child.

One for a teenager.

One for an adult.

Sofía felt sick.

“This is where it happened.”

Alejandro said nothing.

Because he knew.

He had been here before.

As a child.

Even if he did not remember.

The computers still worked.

Impossible.

After all these years.

Someone had maintained them.

Someone had continued the project.

Nicolás walked toward the main screen.

A password appeared.

GENESIS FINAL PHASE

He entered every combination he could think of.

Nothing.

Then Mateo began moving.

Sofía noticed.

The baby was staring at the keyboard.

“He recognizes it.”

Everyone turned.

“What?”

She approached.

“Look at him.”

Mateo reached toward the screen.

Not randomly.

Not like a baby touching lights.

Like he knew.

Nicolás slowly placed his hand over the keyboard.

Mateo touched one key.

The system unlocked.

Nobody spoke.

The screen opened.

A message appeared.

SUBJECT M-01 VERIFIED.

Sofía's face went pale.

“M.”

Nicolás looked at her.

“Mateo.”

The system continued.

FINAL SUBJECT ACTIVATED.

The files opened.

Hundreds of pages.

Reports.

Videos.

Medical records.

But one file was different.

CREATOR NOTES.

Nicolás opened it.

The first line was written by Esteban Velasco.

His father.

The greatest weakness of humanity is emotion.

Sofía read the next lines.

Fear creates reactions.

Pain creates adaptation.

Attachment creates vulnerability.

The words made her angry.

A child had been reduced to numbers.

To data.

To results.

Nicolás continued reading.

Then he stopped.

His face changed.

“What?”

Sofía asked.

He did not answer.

She looked at the screen.

The file contained a family tree.

Not a normal one.

A genetic chart.

Three names were highlighted.

ALEJANDRO VELASCO.

DIEGO REYES.

MATEO VELASCO.

Connected.

But not how they expected.

“The children…”

Nicolás whispered.

Sofía looked at him.

“What?”

He turned.

“Rafael wasn't choosing random children.”

The room became silent.

“He was choosing descendants.”

Alejandro stepped closer.

The truth hit him.

“The experiment was never about creating something new.”

He looked at Mateo.

“It was about finding something that already existed.”

Sofía stared.

“What existed?”

Nicolás looked at the screen.

The answer appeared.

A genetic marker.

A rare inherited trait.

Something passed through generations.

Something that made certain children unusually sensitive to their environment.

The condition was real.

But the suffering was created.

The experiment had taken something natural and turned it into a weapon.

A video file opened automatically.

A man appeared.

Rafael.

Older.

Sitting inside the same laboratory.

“If you are watching this…”

He smiled.

“You finally found the beginning.”

Nicolás stepped closer.

“Where are you?”

Rafael ignored him.

“You always believed I wanted your empire.”

A pause.

“I never wanted your money.”

The screen showed old photographs.

Esteban.

Alejandro.

Nicolás.

Children.

Families.

“I wanted proof.”

Rafael looked directly into the camera.

“Proof that the Velasco bloodline could survive anything.”

Sofía felt disgust.

“You destroyed children for an idea.”

Rafael continued.

“Your father created the foundation.”

A pause.

“I perfected it.”

Then another file appeared.

A recording from twelve years ago.

The date.

The day Diego died.

Sofía stopped breathing.

“No…”

She moved closer.

The video played.

A young Diego appeared.

Alive.

Sitting inside the laboratory.

A voice behind the camera spoke.

Rafael.

“Tell me what you feel.”

The boy looked scared.

“I want my sister.”

Sofía covered her mouth.

Her brother.

Alive.

The recording continued.

Then another person entered the room.

A person nobody expected.

Nicolás.

But younger.

Standing there.

Watching.

Sofía stepped back.

“No.”

Nicolás looked horrified.

“I was never there.”

But the video showed him.

Clear.

Impossible.

Alejandro stared.

“Nicolás…”

“I don't remember this.”

The video continued.

Young Nicolás looked at Diego.

Then said something.

Something that destroyed the room.

“End the test.”

Everyone froze.

Because Nicolás had been there.

But he had not been the monster.

The next words proved it.

“End the test.”

A pause.

“Or I will expose everything.”

The recording stopped.

Nobody moved.

Sofía looked at Nicolás.

“You knew.”

“No.”

“You were there.”

“I was there, but I didn't know.”

His voice broke.

“I found out.”

A long silence.

“I tried to stop him.”

Alejandro stepped forward.

“Then why don't you remember?”

Nicolás looked at the screen.

Because suddenly he remembered something.

A car accident.

A head injury.

A period of missing memories.

A lie everyone told him.

Someone had erased parts of his past.

The laboratory alarm suddenly activated.

Red lights flashed.

A countdown appeared.

SELF-DESTRUCTION SEQUENCE INITIATED.

Everyone froze.

“Rafael.”

Alejandro looked around.

“He knew we would find this.”

Nicolás grabbed the files.

“Get everything.”

Sofía picked up Mateo.

The countdown continued.

Five minutes.

Four.

Three.

Then the laboratory speakers activated.

A child's voice spoke.

Not Rafael.

The same child from the video.

“The truth hurts, doesn't it?”

Everyone stopped.

The child continued.

“You spent your whole life looking for the monster.”

A pause.

“But you never asked why he needed to be created.”

The screen showed one final image.

A photograph.

A child.

A boy.

Standing beside Rafael.

The child looked exactly like Nicolás.

Same eyes.

Same face.

Same scar.

The file name appeared.

SUBJECT N-01.

Alejandro whispered:

“No…”

Sofía looked at Nicolás.

“What is it?”

Nicolás stared at the screen.

His entire life collapsed in one second.

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Because the boy in the photograph…

was him.