"Can't shut it down. Override protocols. Safety measures." Victor was still groggy but thinking. "But we can redirect it. Reverse the flow. Send the bioweapon back to wherever it came from.""Can you do it in ninety seconds?""I can try."He stumbled to the control panel, his fingers moving across the interface with practiced precision despite his weakness.Meanwhile, Jayce had gotten Ella's tube open. The real Ella fell into his arms, unconscious but breathing."Ella! Wake up! Please!" He checked her pulse. Strong. Steady. She was alive.Her eyes opened slowly. "Jayce? Is it really you?""It's me. The real me. I'm getting you out of here.""The clone. The one pretending to be me. Is she—""She's dead. Died saving us. I'll explain later. Right now we need to—"An alarm started blaring. Red lights flashing."SIXTY SECONDS," an automated voice announced. "BIOWEAPON RELEASE IN SIXTY SECONDS.""Victor!" Sarah screamed. "Please tell me you're almost done!""Almost! Just need to—there!" Vic

"They're clones! They're not real!" One of Leonard's people argued. "They're alive! They think and feel and dream! We can't just leave them!" Victor was typing frantically. "I can trigger mass awakening! Release them all from their tubes! Give them a chance to escape!" "That's dozens of clones! They could be dangerous! They could be programmed to kill us!" Daniel protested. "Or they could be innocent people who never asked to be created! We give them a chance! That's what makes us better than The Collector!" Victor hit the final key. "There! Mass awakening initiated! All tubes releasing!" Throughout the building, they heard glass shattering. Fluid rushing. Voices—confused, scared voices—calling out. "What's happening? Where am I? Who am I?" The clones were waking up. "We need to guide them out!" Ella started toward the stairs. "They'll panic! Run the wrong way! Get trapped!" "I'll do it!" Sarah volunteered. "I know the building layout! I can lead them to safety!" "Tak

"We need everyone on this. No exceptions."Morning came with Leonard organizing the safe house like a military command center. Screens everywhere showing data. Research files spread across every surface. The freed clones were given tasks—filing, organizing, cataloging. Everyone who could work was working."This is everything?" Victor asked, looking at the assembled research. "All of Richard Walker's life's work?""Everything we could save. Some was lost in the headquarters explosion. But most survived." Leonard pulled up digital files. "Problem is, it's massive. Forty years of research. Tens of thousands of pages. Finding the hidden clues about Margaret's kill switch could take months.""We have two days," Jayce reminded him. "Start with anything labeled 'Project Genesis.' That's what my grandfather called the original AI-human hybrid experiment."They worked in shifts. Twelve hours on, twelve hours off. Victor coordinating the search. Sarah helping translate old technical documents.

"Grandmother. Or should I say, genetic abomination? I've been looking for this for years. The original shutdown command. Not a kill switch for your clones. A shutdown code for you. For your AI components." Lily held up the syringe. "One injection and your human-AI integration fails. You become fully human again. Mortal again. Killable again.""Lily. My dear Lily. You wouldn't dare." Margaret's voice was calm but her eyes showed concern. "I'm your family.""You're nobody's family. You're a machine wearing a human face. And I'm done pretending you're anything else." Lily walked forward. "Everyone get behind me. This is going to get ugly."Margaret lunged at Lily with superhuman speed. But Lily was ready. She sidestepped and jammed the syringe into Margaret's neck, injecting the entire contents.Margaret screamed. Not a human scream. A digital sound. Like computers crashing. Like systems failing.She fell to her knees, clawing at her neck. "What did you do? WHAT DID YOU DO?""I gave you

"You're supposed to be dead."Jayce kept his weapon pointed at Victoria despite his shock. Behind her, he could hear the others approaching, drawn by the commotion."I was supposed to be. Buried under tons of rubble. But I'm a survivor. Always have been." Victoria raised her hands slowly. "I'm not here to fight. I'm here to help.""Help? You tried to kill us multiple times. You released a bioweapon that killed eight hundred people. You kidnapped Ella and tortured Master Chen. And now you want to help?""I want to stop my father. I want to stop Thomas before he kills everyone I care about. Everyone I have left." Victoria's voice broke. "I know I've done terrible things. I know I deserve to die for them. But Thomas? What he's planning? It makes everything I did look like child's play.""Shoot her," Daniel said, appearing with his own weapon. "End her right here. She doesn't deserve mercy.""Maybe not. But I deserve information." Jayce gestured for Victoria to sit. "Start talking. What's