"I didn't know what they were really planning! I thought we were doing theoretical research, mapping human potential, finding ways to cure diseases and extend lifespans." His voice rose with frustration. "By the time I realized they were planning to actually deploy the organisms, to force an evolutionary leap on the entire planet, it was too late."
"Too late how?"
"Too late because they'd already integrated my research into their core systems. Too late because I'd already..." He stopped, and even through the hologram I could see the shame on his face. "Because I'd already modified your DNA when you were an embryo."
I felt like someone had punched all the air out of my lungs. "You what?"
"I thought I was giving you advantages. I thought I was making sure you'd be healthy, strong, resistant to the diseases that killed my parents. I had no idea Gimda was planning to use those exact modifications as the template for their transformation organisms." He looked at me with weak eyes. "You have to believe me, Hajidan. If I'd known, I never would have—"
"You experimented on me!" I screamed. "Your own son! You turned me into some kind of lab rat before I was even born!"
"I was trying to help you!"
"Help me? Help me?" I laughed, and it sounded broken even to my own ears. "Is that why I've been weak my whole life? Why I couldn't do anything right? Because you were too busy playing god with my genetics?"
"The weakness wasn't from the modifications. That was..." He hesitated. "That was a suppression protocol I had to implement. When I realized what Gimda was planning, I tried to hide what I'd done to you. I introduced genetic markers that would make you appear normal, unremarkable. I thought if they didn't know what you were, they'd leave you alone."
"But they found out anyway."
"Not until the meteorite fell. Not until you were exposed to the organisms and your body started reacting exactly the way they'd designed it to." His hologram flickered more intensely. "The suppression protocol broke down when you were bitten. Your true genetic code activated. And now they know exactly what you are."
I slid down the bunker door until I was sitting on the ground. Everything I thought I knew about myself, about my life, was a lie. "The inherited disease. The medical reports."
"All fabricated. I needed a cover story for the regular genetic monitoring. I'm sorry, son. I'm so sorry."
"Stop apologizing!" I shouted. "Sorry doesn't fix this! Sorry doesn't undo what you did!"
"I know. But I can still try to make it right." His image solidified slightly, becoming more focused. "That's why I'm here. That's why I'm risking exposure to warn you. Ginta isn't your friend. He's a retrieval specialist. Code 012. That means he's authorized to use any means necessary to bring valuable subjects back to Gimda's main facility."
Code 012. So there were others with those tattoos, others working for Gimda. "What about his tattoo? I saw numbers on his neck."
"That's how they mark their operatives. Different codes for different roles. 012 is one of the worst. They're the hunters, the manipulators. They're trained to gain trust, to exploit vulnerabilities, to make their targets dependent on them." My father's expression darkened. "Everything Ginta has done, from saving you to caring for your wounds to leaving you alone, it's all been calculated to make you trust him. To make you follow him willingly into their facility."
I thought about how Ginta had reacted when I asked about his tattoo. How defensive he'd gotten. How he'd changed the subject. "He's been playing me this whole time."
"Yes. And if you go with him, if you enter that bunker, they'll take you to their main facility. They'll study you, weaponize you, turn you into exactly what they've been trying to create for years." My father's voice became urgent. "You need to run, Hajidan. You need to get as far away from here as possible."
"Run where? The whole world is falling apart!"
"I have coordinates. Safe houses where other refugees from Gimda are hiding. Scientists who defected, subjects who escaped. We're trying to build a resistance, but we're scattered and weak. What we need is someone like you, someone with the abilities to actually fight back."
"I don't even know how to control these powers!"
"You'll learn. You're already adapting faster than anyone on record." There was something like pride in his voice. "Despite everything I did wrong, despite all my mistakes, you're incredible, Hajidan. You're becoming something none of us could have predicted."
"Because you made me this way!"
"No. Because you're my son, and you're stronger than any genetic code." His hologram started to flicker more erratically. "I'm losing the connection. They're tracking the signal. You need to go, now, before Ginta returns."
"Wait! What about Mom? What about my sister? Are they alive?"
The pain on his face was answer enough. "I don't know. The last time I saw them was the night the meteorite fell. I tried to reach our house, but the beasts were everywhere. I've been searching for them ever since, but Gimda's networks are too extensive. If they're alive, they're either in hiding or..." He couldn't finish.
"Or Gimda has them," I finished for him.
"I'm sorry, Hajidan. For everything. For the lies, for the experiments, for not being there when you needed me most. But please, please don't let my mistakes cost you your life. Run. Survive. And when you're strong enough, maybe you can help me save what's left of our family."
"How do I find you?"
"You don't. I'll find you." The hologram was barely visible now, just a faint outline. "There's a town called Yursa, about fifty miles east of here. Head there. Ask for someone named Kalvin. He'll know what to do."
"Dad...."
"I love you, son. Your mother loves you. Your sister loves you. Remember that, no matter what happens. Remember that you're more than what I made you. You're...."
The hologram vanished, leaving me alone in the silence.
I sat there for a long moment, trying to process everything. My father had experimented on me. Ginta was hunting me. My entire life had been a lie built on top of another lie. And somewhere out there, my mother and sister might be alive, might be suffering, might be waiting for someone to save them.
But that someone couldn't be me. Not yet. I was still too weak, too confused, too broken.
The cold fire in my hands flared brighter, responding to my emotions. I watched it dance between my fingers, this power I didn't ask for, didn't understand, didn't know if I even wanted.
"TASK COMPLETED. JINK POWER LEVEL INCREASED TO 4," THE MECHANICAL VOICE ANNOUNCED.
"Shut up," I muttered. "Just shut up."
The power wasn't just in my hands anymore. It was spreading through my whole body, thrumming in my veins like a second heartbeat. Every muscle felt charged, every nerve alive with energy I'd never had before.
I stood up slowly, testing my legs. The pain from earlier was completely gone. The wounds had healed.
I looked at the bunker door with the numbers 047 carved beside it. Inside, there might be answers. Inside, there might be resources. Inside, there might be a trap that would cost me everything.
Or I could run. Head east to Yursa. Find this Kalvin person. Join a resistance I knew nothing about.
Both options felt like walking into darkness with no guarantee of finding light on the other side.
Then I heard it. The sound of footsteps. Multiple footsteps. And voices.
"Subject 047's signal is stronger here. He must be close." That wasn't Ginta's voice. It was someone else, someone colder.
"Code 089 said he'd be at the bunker. Prepare containment protocols." Another voice, female this time.
"What if he resists?
"Then we use force. The Gimda Core need him alive, but it doesn't need him undamaged.
The Gimda Core. Teresa had mentioned that. Told me to destroy it.
I pressed myself against the bunker wall, trying to stay hidden. Through the rocks and debris, I could see them now. Five people in tactical gear, moving with military precision. Each one had a tattoo visible on their necks. Code 156. Code 203. Code 178.
All of them working for Gimda. All of them hunting me.
Subject 047's signal is getting stronger. Spread out and secure the perimeter," one of them commanded.
I had two choices, it either I fight or run. And considering I barely understood how these powers worked, fighting five trained operatives seemed like a quick way to end up as a lab experiment.
I ran deeper into the mountain terrain, away from the bunker. My feet pounded against the rocky ground, and I could hear them shouting behind me, their footsteps multiplying as they gave chase.
"Target is mobile! Code 156, cut him off from the east!"
I ducked and zigzagged between the rusted mining equipment, using whatever cover I could find. My body moved faster than it ever had before, the transformation making me stronger, quicker, more aware of every obstacle.
I scrambled up a rocky incline, my hands finding purchase on stones that should have been too difficult to climb. Another energy round hit the rock beside my head, sending fragments flying. One cut my cheek, and I felt the sting followed immediately by that strange tingling as my skin tried to heal itself.
"Rapid healing initiated," the mechanical voice announced in my head.
"Not helpful right now!" I gasped, pulling myself over the ledge.
I found myself on a narrow plateau overlooking a drop that had to be at least fifty feet. Behind me, I could hear the tactical team closing in. In front of me, nothing but air and rocks below.
"Nowhere left to run, 047," one of them called out. "Come quietly and we won't have to damage you."
I looked at my hands, at the cold fire dancing between my fingers. I looked at the drop. I looked back at the five armed operatives emerging onto the plateau.
"Screw it," I muttered, and jumped.
The fall lasted both forever and no time at all. Wind rushed past my face, and I had just enough time to think about how incredibly stupid this was before plunging into freezing water. The impact drove the air from my lungs, and for a terrifying moment I couldn't tell which way was up. Then my survival instincts kicked in and I kicked hard, breaking the surface with a desperate gasp.
I was in an underground river, the current strong enough to pull me along. Behind me, I could hear shouting from above, but they weren't following. The drop must have led somewhere they couldn't easily access.
I let the current carry me, too exhausted to fight it, focusing on keeping my head above water. The river pulled me through a narrow channel in the rock, and I had to duck to avoid hitting my head on the low ceiling. Then the channel opened up and I was swept into a larger cavern lit by some kind of bioluminescent moss growing on the walls.
I could hear the sound of rushing water ahead getting louder.
"Oh no," I whispered, right before the river dropped me over another edge.
I dragged myself to the shore, coughing up water and shivering. My clothes were soaked through, and every part of me ached.
I lay there for a moment, staring up at the cavern ceiling and trying to catch my breath. The mechanical voice had gone quiet. My body was still healing the various cuts and bruises, but slower now, like it was running low on energy.