“You may regret asking.”“I already regret trusting everyone who came before you.”Marcus lowered his eyes.“That makes two of us.”Ethan stepped closer.“Tell me.”Marcus took a long breath.“Your childhood treatment wasn’t an isolated experiment.”Ethan’s expression changed.“What do you mean?”“The Order called it Project Genesis.”Alexander’s face immediately hardened.Marcus noticed.“You remember.”Alexander said nothing.Ethan looked between them.“Project Genesis?”Marcus nodded.“It wasn’t created for you. You were one part of it.”“What was the purpose?”“To create a human being capable of surviving direct exposure to artificial Origin energy.”Ethan’s heart began pounding.Marcus continued quietly.“The Twelve Keys were never the final objective. The Order wanted to reproduce the energy that existed before the Keys were separated from the Origin. They believed that if they could recreate that energy artificially, they could create something far more powerful than any Key ho

Ethan’s expression hardened as he opened the individual files. The first Key holder had been a university student when the Order recruited her. The second had worked as a security officer. The third had been a laboratory technician. The fourth had been a professional athlete. None of them had been born as legendary beings. They had all been ordinary people who had been placed inside a system that gradually transformed them into something extraordinary. Their files also revealed something more disturbing: not all of them had willingly remained with the Order. Several records contained warnings about psychological conditioning, loyalty programs, restricted movement, and enforced cooperation. Some Key holders had become completely loyal to the organization, believing that the Order’s research protected humanity. Others eventually discovered what had been done to previous subjects and tried to leave. A few had rebelled openly. Their records were marked with phrases such as RECALCIT

She placed the papers on the table.“The Second is living near the eastern district. He runs a small repair shop now. The Third is the doctor whose file you probably found in Marcus’s database. The Fourth is a police officer. The Fifth left the city years ago, but I believe he’s still alive. The Sixth works with an agricultural research group outside the city. The Seventh disappeared completely.”Ethan listened carefully.“The Eighth became a businessman. The Ninth is the professor. The Tenth joined a private security company. The Eleventh has been moving between cities under different identities.”He looked at the final page.“And the Twelfth?”Claire’s expression changed.“The Twelfth is different.”“How?”“He never escaped.”Ethan’s eyes narrowed.“Where is he?”Claire hesitated.“The Order still has him.”Ethan’s expression hardened.“Where?”“I don’t know exactly. But I know what they’re using him for.”Claire looked directly at Ethan.“They’re using the Twelfth Key holder to sta

Three days later, Daniel discovered something buried beneath the city’s corporate records. A private biotechnology company called Helix Dynamics had been operating for nearly twelve years, publicly specializing in medical research and advanced energy therapy. On paper, the company had an impressive reputation, several government contracts, and partnerships with major hospitals and universities. But Daniel found a series of financial transfers connecting one of its subsidiaries to accounts already associated with the Order. Even more suspicious was the building itself. Its public research laboratories occupied the first six floors, while the architectural plans showed three additional underground levels that were missing from every public document. “We have a match,” Daniel said, enlarging the building schematics on the screen. “The company doesn’t officially have a basement. But someone keeps paying for security down there.”Claire studied the plans before quietly pointing at one s

Adrian remained silent.For the first time since they had escaped the underground facility, Ethan felt something shift between them.Adrian had been the person he trusted most when it came to understanding his abilities, the man who had trained him when Ethan barely understood what his own body was capable of.But now that trust had begun to crack.Ethan remembered Adrian’s warnings, his knowledge of the Order, his history as Prototype One, and the fact that he had spent years inside the organization before becoming the man standing beside them.There were too many unanswered questions.Adrian knew things he refused to share.He had disappeared before the attack.And someone had somehow obtained their exact location.Ethan turned away without another word.Adrian watched him go, but he did not follow.They found another temporary hiding place that night, this time inside an abandoned storage facility that Claire had never used before.Nobody slept.Daniel rebuilt their communication s