CHAPTER 13 — THE LAST DNA ENVELOPE
CHAPTER 13 — THE LAST DNA ENVELOPE
The capsule began filling with clear liquid.
“Lily!”
I lunged forward.
Luka caught me around the waist.
“Don't!”
“She'll drown!”
“She can't breathe in there!”
My grandfather watched from his wheelchair.
His expression was calm.
Almost peaceful.
Victor stood beside him.
“She's not drowning.”
“Then open the capsule!”
Victor smiled.
“She is being prepared.”
“For what?”
“For the truth.”
I looked at my daughter through the glass.
Her tiny body floated beneath the surface.
Machines surrounded her.
Her eyes were closed.
I could barely breathe.
“Open it.”
Victor shook his head.
“Not until you give me what I need.”
“What?”
“Your blood.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You already have my DNA.”
“No.”
His smile disappeared.
“Not the DNA in the hospital records.”
He stepped closer.
“I need the original.”
My mother suddenly understood.
“The envelope.”
Victor looked at her.
“Yes.”
Her face went pale.
I turned toward her.
“What envelope?”
She didn't answer.
“Mom?”
Still nothing.
Victor laughed.
“She never told you.”
“Told me what?”
He looked at my mother.
“Tell her.”
My mother closed her eyes.
“There was one sample.”
“What sample?”
“Yours.”
I stared at her.
“When?”
“Before you were born.”
I shook my head.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does.”
She looked at Lily.
“When the twins were born, the doctors took blood from both of you.”
Anna stepped forward.
“And?”
“Victor destroyed Elena's sample.”
I frowned.
“But one survived.”
My mother nodded.
“Your grandfather kept it.”
I looked toward the old man.
He smiled.
“The last original sample.”
Victor held up a small black case.
Inside was a sealed white envelope.
My name was written across it.
ELENA VALE — ORIGINAL DNA
My heart began pounding.
“Why didn't you destroy it?”
My grandfather answered.
“Because I knew one day you would need it.”
“For what?”
“To understand what you are.”
I stared at him.
“I am your granddaughter.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“You are my greatest experiment.”
I felt sick.
Luka stepped forward.
“Open the capsule.”
Victor raised his gun.
“Stay where you are.”
Luka didn't move.
Victor looked at him.
“You know what happens if you disobey.”
Luka smiled.
“You've already tried that.”
He pulled the trigger.
Nothing happened.
Victor frowned.
Luka dropped the empty magazine.
“You forgot.”
He held up another weapon.
“I don't use your weapons anymore.”
Mercer moved.
Two guards fired.
Luka returned fire.
The room exploded into chaos.
I ran toward Lily.
My mother grabbed my arm.
“Wait!”
“She's dying!”
“No.”
She pointed toward the machine.
“Look.”
I stopped.
The monitor showed Lily's heart rate.
Normal.
Her oxygen level was normal.
The liquid wasn't water.
It was a suspension solution.
A blue light moved through the chamber.
“What is it doing?”
Mercer looked at the readings.
“Activating her cells.”
“Can we stop it?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
He looked at the white envelope.
“That's why Victor needs your original DNA.”
I ran toward the case.
Victor saw me.
He rushed forward.
I grabbed the envelope first.
He seized my wrist.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“You don't understand what you're holding.”
“My daughter's life.”
“Exactly.”
He twisted my arm.
I refused to let go.
Then Anna attacked him.
Victor shoved her away.
She crashed into the wall.
“Anna!”
She got back up.
“Don't worry about me.”
She looked at me.
“Open it.”
“What?”
“The envelope.”
I stared at it.
“What is inside?”
“The truth.”
I tore it open.
Inside was a small glass vial.
And a folded document.
My hands shook as I opened it.
The first line made my blood freeze.
SUBJECT: ELENA VALE
GENETIC STATUS: ORIGINAL MATERNAL CARRIER
Below that was another sentence.
WARNING: DO NOT COMBINE WITH E-01.
I looked at Anna.
“Why?”
She stared at the paper.
“I don't know.”
I read further.
Combined sequence may produce irreversible cellular transfer.
I stopped.
“Cellular transfer.”
Mercer looked over.
“That's it.”
“What?”
“The memory transfer.”
My grandfather smiled.
“Now you understand.”
I turned toward him.
“You wanted me and Anna together.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted our DNA combined.”
“Yes.”
“To transfer your memories into Lily.”
He nodded.
“And then?”
I stared at him.
“Then you would live through her.”
His smile widened.
“Exactly.”
My grandfather slowly stood.
Everyone froze.
He shouldn't have been able to stand.
His wheelchair had been a performance.
Victor looked at him.
“Sir?”
My grandfather pushed the chair aside.
His movements were slow.
But steady.
“I have waited twenty-five years.”
My mother whispered:
“You lied.”
He looked at her.
“I survived.”
“You were supposed to be dead.”
“Death is a technical problem.”
He walked toward Lily's capsule.
“Your daughter is the answer.”
I stepped in front of him.
“You won't touch her.”
He smiled.
“I'm already inside her.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
He pointed at the monitor.
The sequence running through Lily's system had begun changing.
The machine displayed a name.
VALE PRIME — MEMORY TRANSFER: 31%
I screamed.
“Stop it!”
Mercer rushed to the control panel.
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“The system is locked.”
“Then unlock it!”
“I need the maternal key.”
I held up the vial.
“This?”
“Yes.”
I looked at the capsule.
Then at my grandfather.
He smiled.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“If you don't, she dies.”
Mercer shook his head.
“That's a lie.”
My grandfather turned.
“What?”
“She won't die.”
Mercer looked at me.
“The system needs Elena's DNA to complete the transfer.”
“And if I don't give it?”
“The process will fail.”
My grandfather's smile disappeared.
Victor stared at Mercer.
“You're lying.”
“No.”
Mercer entered a command.
“The system has already started rejecting the transfer.”
The monitor changed.
MEMORY TRANSFER: 29%
Then:
27%
25%
My grandfather's face hardened.
“Stop him.”
Victor raised his weapon.
Luka shot it from his hand.
Victor screamed.
Mercer continued.
“Twenty percent.”
My grandfather rushed toward the console.
My mother blocked him.
He shoved her aside.
I grabbed his arm.
“You're not touching my daughter.”
He looked at me.
“You have no idea what you are throwing away.”
“I don't care.”
“You could live forever.”
“I don't want your life.”
“You could save humanity.”
“You're using a baby to save yourself.”
His face twisted.
“History requires sacrifice.”
I slapped him.
The room went silent.
He stared at me.
I stared back.
“Not my child.”
The monitor flashed.
MEMORY TRANSFER: 10%
Lily suddenly opened her eyes.
She looked directly at me through the glass.
“Mommy…”
I froze.
Her voice came through the speakers.
It was faint.
But unmistakable.
“Mommy.”
I began crying.
“I'm here.”
She smiled.
“Don't be scared.”
My heart broke.
She was an infant.
She shouldn't have been speaking.
Mercer stared at the monitor.
“Impossible.”
Lily continued.
“I remember.”
My mother covered her mouth.
“What does she remember?”
Lily's eyes closed.
Then the monitor displayed:
MEMORY TRANSFER: 0%
The system shut down.
The capsule opened.
Liquid drained away.
I ran forward.
I pulled Lily into my arms.
She was warm.
Breathing.
Alive.
I held her against my chest.
“I'm here.”
She looked at me.
Then whispered:
“Grandfather.”
I froze.
My grandfather staggered backward.
“No.”
Lily looked toward him.
“You hurt Mommy.”
My grandfather's face went white.
“How?”
Lily's eyes remained fixed on him.
“You were there.”
He shook his head.
“You couldn't remember.”
Lily smiled.
“I can.”
A sudden alarm sounded.
Mercer looked at the main monitor.
“Something's wrong.”
“What?”
“The system is shutting down.”
“Isn't that good?”
“No.”
He pointed toward the screen.
PROJECT ZERO — FAILSAFE ACTIVATED.
“What does that mean?”
“It means the entire facility is going to self-destruct.”
My blood went cold.
“How long?”
“Eight minutes.”
Luka grabbed Ethan.
“We leave now.”
Victor tried to run.
Luka stopped him.
“Not without him.”
He pointed toward my grandfather.
My grandfather laughed.
“You think you can escape?”
Luka looked at him.
“Yes.”
“You'll never outrun what I created.”
Luka smiled.
“You're wrong.”
He looked at me.
“She already did.”
We ran.
Mercer carried the black drive.
Ethan carried medical equipment.
My mother held Anna's hand.
I carried Lily.
Behind us, alarms screamed.
Doors began closing.
We reached the main corridor.
A steel door slammed down.
Luka threw himself against it.
“Go!”
“No!”
“Go!”
He held it open.
I ran beneath it.
Then Ethan grabbed Luka.
Together they forced the door upward.
We escaped.
The facility shook.
We reached the underground train.
Mercer started the engine.
The train moved.
Behind us, explosions rocked the tunnel.
I held Lily close.
She was asleep.
For the first time, she looked like an ordinary baby.
I kissed her forehead.
“You're safe.”
She opened one eye.
Then whispered:
“Mommy…”
“Yes?”
“Don't trust Daddy.”
I froze.
Ethan heard her.
So did Luka.
Everyone went silent.
I looked at Ethan.
“What did she mean?”
He stared at Lily.
“I don't know.”
My daughter closed her eyes again.
Then the black drive in Mercer's hand beeped.
A new file appeared.
LAST DNA ENVELOPE — OPENED.
Mercer frowned.
“I didn't open it.”
“Then who did?”
He turned the screen toward me.
A video had appeared.
My grandfather's face filled the display.
But he wasn't sitting in the facility.
He was younger.
Much younger.
He was standing beside a pregnant woman.
My mother.
I stared.
The recording began.
“If you're watching this, Elena…”
My grandfather smiled.
“…then the plan worked.”
My mother began trembling.
The younger version of my grandfather continued:
“Your mother believes you were born naturally.”
I looked at my mother.
She was crying.
“But that isn't true.”
The video changed.
An ultrasound appeared.
Two embryos.
Then one disappeared.
My heart stopped.
My grandfather's voice continued:
“Only one child was ever conceived.”
I stared at Anna.
She went pale.
“No…”
The screen displayed a final genetic report.
E-01 — ARTIFICIAL REPLICATION
E-02 — ORIGINAL
My breath caught.
Anna wasn't my twin.
She was a copy.
A biological replica created from my DNA.
I looked at her.
She was crying.
“No.”
My grandfather's recorded voice continued:
“Anna was created after Elena was born.”
The train went silent.
My mother covered her face.
I looked at Anna.
She looked at me.
And for the first time, I saw something I hadn't noticed before.
Her scar.
The same scar above my eyebrow.
But on hers…
it was perfectly placed.
A replica.
A manufactured memory.
A manufactured life.
My grandfather's final words echoed through the train:
“Anna was never meant to live.”
The screen went black.
Then one final message appeared.
PROJECT ZERO HAS ONLY ONE ORIGINAL SUBJECT.
ELENA VALE.
I stared at my daughter.
And suddenly I understood why Victor had never simply tried to kill me.
Why my grandfather had waited.
Why they had spent my entire life watching me.
Why Lily mattered.
Because the last DNA envelope hadn't contained the secret to Lily.
It had contained the secret to me.
I wasn't the heir to Project Zero.
I was its beginning.
And somewhere behind us, inside the burning facility, someone had survived.
Someone who now knew exactly what I was.
Someone who had just sent a final message.
May you like
“Find Elena.”
“Before she remembers who she really is.”
