CHAPTER 23: SUBJECT N-01

Samuel Mercer stood inside a sealed medical chamber.

Wires ran from his chest to an old control system.

His hair was white. His face was thin. Burn scars covered one side of his neck.

Ethan approached the glass.

“Dad.”

Samuel lifted his eyes.

“You should not have brought Ava.”

“She refused to leave me.”

Samuel smiled weakly.

“She is a Mercer.”

Conrad entered the chamber behind them.

“You kept my son from me.”

Samuel’s expression became cold.

“I kept him alive.”

“You let me believe he died.”

“Because Eleanor planned to turn him into Subject N-02.”

Ethan looked at Ward.

“Then who was N-01?”

Ward stared at Samuel.

“You?”

Samuel nodded.

“Evelyn began Northstar with adults. Athletes injured beyond recovery. Soldiers who could no longer walk. People no one expected to survive.”

Conrad touched the glass.

“You volunteered.”

“At first.”

Ethan examined the wires.

“What did they do to you?”

“Changed the way my body heals. Changed the way it ages. Changed more than they understood.”

Claire held Ava close.

“Samuel cannot leave the chamber. His body depends on the stabilizing system.”

“Can we move him?”

Samuel shook his head.

“Not until Evelyn returns.”

Ethan looked around.

“Evelyn Hart is alive?”

A second glass door opened behind Samuel.

A woman in a white medical coat stepped inside.

She was in her late sixties, but her face resembled the woman in the old photograph.

Evelyn Hart looked directly at Ethan.

“My son.”

Conrad reached for the glass.

Evelyn ignored him.

“You grew up.”

Ethan felt no joy.

Only anger.

“You let another woman raise me.”

“I begged Samuel to take you.”

“Why?”

“Because Eleanor wanted your blood.”

Ava looked frightened.

“What is special about his blood?”

Evelyn’s eyes moved toward her.

“Nothing anymore.”

She touched the glass.

“Yours is different.”

Claire stepped between Ava and the chamber.

Evelyn continued.

“Northstar was never about healing athletes. That was only the beginning.”

The floor vibrated again.

A warning appeared above the chamber.

EXTERNAL ACCESS DETECTED.

Evelyn looked toward the security monitors.

May you like

MY SISTER THREW A HOT SKILLET AT MY 4-YEAR-OLD—THEN MY MOTHER’S TEXT EXP...

The next part began before I had time to understand the last one.Hospital social worker Denise reads Helen's message and immediate...

MY MOTHER THREW MY SIX-WEEK-OLD BABY TOWARD THE FIRE—THEN MY QUIET FATHE...

At my backyard baby shower, my mother lifted my six-week-old daughter and said, "You gave birth before your sister... you betrayed...

I FOUND MY EX SLEEPING AT THE AIRPORT WITH TWINS WHO HAD MY EYES—THEN A...

I Found My Ex, Who Vanished 6 Years Ago, Sleeping at JFK With 2 Kids Who Had My Eyes. Then I Heard My Mother Say, “Their Mother Sh...

Eleanor’s men had entered the emergency tunnel.

And Marcus Dane was leading them.