The private elevator descended to Eleanor's sanctuary beneath Drake Industries. Alex watched his wife's reflection in the polished doors, her composure perfectly maintained despite the chaos they'd left behind."The security feeds are scrubbed," Kane's voice came through their implants. "The guests are being handled.""Memory wipes?" Alex asked."Standard procedure," Eleanor's voice was soft. "Would you prefer mass panic?"The elevator stopped. Eleanor's heels clicked against marble as she walked to the center of her private office. The city sparkled beyond floor-to-ceiling windows, oblivious to what had transpired."You promised me truth," Alex said.Eleanor poured two drinks. "The truth is complicated.""Try me.""Your father discovered something in the Mars samples." She handed him a glass. "Something that changed everything we thought we knew about evolution.""The beings?""No." Eleanor's form flickered momentarily. "What they were running from."Luna's voice cut through their im

David Conway sat in Eleanor's office, looking exactly as he had fifteen years ago. Unchanged. Untransformed."You knew," Eleanor paced before him. "All this time, you knew what they really wanted.""I tried to warn you." David's smile hadn't changed either. "But you were so certain you could control it."Luna burst through the door. "The Mars samples are destabilizing.""Already?" David checked his watch. "Ahead of schedule.""You expected this?" Alex stood between Eleanor and Luna."I expected everything." David rose. "Even this fascinating triangle you've created.""We don't have time for games," Eleanor's form flickered. "The hunters are coming.""The hunters are already here." David touched Eleanor's desk, fingers trailing. "Inside each transformed human. Growing. Waiting."Luna pulled up holographic data. "The samples are showing increasing neural activity.""Of course they are." David walked to the window. "They can hear their siblings approaching.""The Mars samples are alive?"

The control room's emergency lights cast red shadows as Eleanor faced the central display. Global transformation readings climbed toward critical levels."You knew," Luna's voice cut through the chaos. "You knew what Project Genesis really was.""Not at first." Eleanor's fingers traced emergency protocols. "Not until it was too late."Alex stood between them. "Tell me the truth. All of it.""The truth?" Eleanor laughed bitterly. "Which version? The one where I saved humanity? Or the one where I damned it?"Luna pulled up archived files. "Project Genesis wasn't about evolution.""It was always about evolution," Eleanor countered."No." Luna projected the original schematics. "Look, Alex. Really look."The designs flickered in holographic detail."A quantum consciousness encoder," Alex studied the plans. "You weren't trying to transform bodies.""I was trying to save minds." Eleanor's form shifted rapidly. "Before they came.""Before who came?" Luna demanded."The ones who seeded us." E

The headline screamed across Eleanor's tablet: "GENESIS PROJECT LEADER'S HUSBAND CAUGHT IN RESEARCH TRYST.""Turn it off," Alex paced the conference room. "It's not what they're making it out to be.""Is it not?" Eleanor's voice remained eerily calm as she swiped through photos. "You and Luna, connecting neural interfaces. Her hands on your temples. Your faces inches apart.""We were calibrating the consciousness matrix!""While I was in Washington." Eleanor set down the tablet. "How convenient."The door burst open as Sebastian Drake strode in, designer suit immaculate despite the transcontinental flight."Darling sister! Always such a pleasure to clean up your messes.""I didn't call you, Sebastian.""No, the board did." He dropped into a chair. "Something about protecting their trillion-dollar investment from scandal."Luna entered, faltering when she saw Sebastian. "I should go...""Stay." Eleanor's tone left no room for argument. "We need to address this.""First rule of crisis m

"The board has lost confidence in your leadership," Howard Chen's face filled the conference screen. "The scandals, the questionable research protocols...""The transformation of humanity isn't a quarterly earnings report," Eleanor stood before the board members, both present and virtual. "It requires vision.""It requires stability," Patricia Winters countered. "Something your family seems incapable of providing."Sebastian lounged in the corner. "Now, now, Patricia. Family drama makes for excellent press.""This isn't a joke, Sebastian," Howard snapped. "Drake Industries' stock has dropped fifteen percent.""Seventeen," Sebastian corrected, checking his phone. "But who's counting?"Luna slipped into the room, catching Sebastian's eye. He winked."The neural mapping proceeds on schedule," Eleanor projected new data. "The transformation protocols-""Are potentially dangerous," Board Member Jenkins interrupted. "According to your own mother's testimony."Eleanor's jaw tightened. "My mo