The storm had quieted, but the silence that followed was worse than thunder. The small cabin they had taken refuge in creaked under the weight of the night. Every whisper of wind seemed to carry eyes, and every heartbeat in that room echoed like a secret waiting to be spoken.
Adrian sat at the table, the flickering glow of the monitor casting sharp lines across his face. The files they'd stolen from Erevos were finally open—barely. Each fragment of data shimmered like broken glass, coded layers upon layers. Lena stood behind him, arms wrapped around herself, her breath uneven.
"Tell me this was worth it," she murmured.
Adrian didn't answer. His eyes were locked on a string of numbers pulsing across the screen. Then, softly, he said, "This isn't just a project file. It's a genetic map."
Lena stepped closer, the old wooden floor creaking beneath her feet. "Of what?"
He hesitated. "Of you. And… someone else."
The words seemed to pull the air from the room. Lena's hands went cold.
"What do you mean—me?"
Adrian's jaw tightened. He clicked on a sequence, and suddenly her photo—her medical scans, her DNA sequence—flashed across the monitor. Then another file appeared: labeled Subject 9 – Maternal Prototype.
She stumbled back. "That's impossible. I've never—"
"They've been tracking you since you were a child, Lena," Adrian said quietly. "Everything—the adoption papers, the hospital switch, even the scholarship that brought you to the city—it was orchestrated."
Her breath hitched. "So I was… part of it?"
"You were the key," Adrian replied, voice breaking. "They needed you to finish what they started twenty years ago."
He scrolled further, and the next document stopped him cold. It was a project brief titled The Elysium Sequence. Diagrams filled the screen—neural pathways, fetal growth data, and notes on an experimental hybridization model labeled Stage Omega: Embryonic Convergence.
Lena pressed a trembling hand to her stomach. "Oh God…"
Adrian stood up so fast his chair fell. "Lena—don't. It's not what you think."
Tears blurred her eyes. "They used me, Adrian. They used us."
He moved closer, desperate, guilt twisting across his face. "Listen to me. They wanted a weapon, but you—what's inside you—it's not that. It's something else. It's… alive."
Her gaze snapped to him. "Alive? You mean human?"
He swallowed hard. "More than that."
For a moment, only the soft hum of the computer filled the silence. Then, the machine beeped—a new file decrypting itself. It was a video log.
Adrian froze as his own name appeared on the file header. Dr. Adrian Voss – Prototype Supervision, Elysium Sequence Phase I.
Lena's world spun. "You worked for them?"
He shut his eyes. "Before I met you. Before I knew who you were."
Lena's voice turned sharp. "You knew what they were doing and still—"
"I tried to stop it," he interrupted, his voice cracking. "I thought the program was about genetic repair, about curing diseases. When I found out it was human experimentation, I burned my access. I ran. But they kept it going—using your DNA."
She stared at him, disbelief trembling in her. "And now I'm carrying their final experiment."
Adrian stepped forward, reaching for her hands, but she pulled away. Her back hit the wall. "You should've told me."
"I couldn't," he said, his voice raw. "They would've killed you. They still will, if they know what's growing inside you."
Lena pressed her palms against her stomach, her breathing quick and shallow. "What's happening to me, Adrian? Why am I changing?"
He returned to the computer and pulled up a file labeled Elysium: Phenotypic Activation Timeline. Lines of data filled the screen—hormone surges, neural expansions, and something else.
"She's adapting," Adrian whispered. "Faster than any of their previous subjects. Her system isn't rejecting the DNA integration—it's merging with it."
Lena's eyes widened. "Merging? With what?"
Adrian didn't look at her. "They called it Genesis Strain. A molecular architecture capable of rewriting human biology."
"Rewriting?" she repeated in disbelief.
He turned to her slowly. "Lena… you might be the first person in history capable of evolving beyond human limits."
Her knees went weak. She collapsed into the chair, shaking her head. "No. No, I'm just a woman. I'm not—whatever this is."
Adrian knelt before her, gripping her trembling hands. "You're still you. They tried to turn you into a weapon, but that doesn't mean you have to become one."
Her tears fell onto his hands. "But what about the baby?"
He hesitated. "That's what we have to find out."
The computer beeped again, a new line of code unraveling across the screen. It was a message—simple, chilling:
> "Sequence unlocked. Subject viability: confirmed. Retrieval authorized."
Lena's blood ran cold. "They found us."
Adrian jumped to his feet, grabbing his gun from the table. "No—this was automated. But it means they know the files were opened."
He started shutting everything down, typing furiously, trying to erase the trace logs. "We have to move. Now."
Lena didn't move. Her gaze was locked on the screen where a final image had appeared—an ultrasound. Not from today. From weeks ago.
It showed her child—its outline human, but faintly luminescent, as if its very cells emitted light.
She whispered, "It's glowing."
Adrian turned, following her gaze—and froze. "Dear God."
For a heartbeat, neither spoke. The air thickened, heavy with both terror and awe.
Lena finally stood, her voice trembling but firm. "Whatever they made me for, I won't let them take this child."
Adrian looked at her, something fierce sparking in his eyes. "Then we fight. But first—we find out who really started Elysium."
He pressed one last key, and a hidden directory opened—coordinates, codenames, and one chilling phrase at the top of the list:
> PROJECT MOTHERLIGHT – Director: Evelyn Kael.
Lena's heart clenched. Evelyn Kael—her adoptive mother.
Everything shattered.
She staggered back, tears spilling. "No… that can't be true."
Adrian reached for her, but she stepped away. "You said they used me. You never said she did."
"Lena—"
"Don't."
She turned away, trembling with fury and heartbreak. "She raised me like I was her daughter. And all this time…"
Her voice cracked. "She was grooming me for this."
Adrian's expression darkened. "Then she's the one we end first."
Lena looked up, her face wet but resolute. The fear was gone, replaced by cold, focused defiance.
"They wanted to create something divine," she said softly. "Let's show them what happens when the divine fights back."
The power flickered. Outside, the wind began to howl again, carrying the faint hum of drones in the distance.
Adrian grabbed the files, stuffing them into a secure drive. "We leave now. Before they close in."
As they slipped out into the night, the cabin lights died, and the monitor's final line of code blinked like a heartbeat—