CHAPTER 23: THE SON WITHOUT A CHILDHOOD
Aiden sat beside Adrian’s bed.
Father and son shared the same face but not the same history.
Adrian opened his eyes.
For a moment, Claire feared August would speak through him again.
“Claire?”
She took his hand.
“It’s me.”
Adrian looked toward Aiden.
“Who is he?”
“Our son.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“That sentence should not be possible.”
Aiden lowered his head.
“I’m sorry.”
Adrian looked at him.
“You didn’t do this.”
It was the first kindness anyone had shown Aiden without demanding something.
His eyes filled with tears.
Claire explained the master core required another primary subject.
Aiden followed them to the tower.
Clara Seven examined his genetic profile.
“He carries both Vale and Whitmore authorization.”
Helena placed his hand beside Claire’s.
The machine activated.
Thousands of voices filled the chamber.
Recorded identities.
Children.
Adults.
People who had died decades earlier.
Claire heard memories that did not belong to her.
A soldier dying in a desert.
A mother holding a newborn.
A judge accepting money.
A scientist watching Project Janus begin.
Then she heard August.
“Clara.”
Claire tried to pull away.
The machine held her hands in place.
August’s memories flooded her mind.
She saw him create the first Helena copies.
She saw him order Richard’s identity duplicated.
She saw him select Adrian.
Then another memory appeared.
Helena standing beside August willingly.
Not as a prisoner.
As a partner.
Claire looked toward her mother.
“You helped him.”
Helena’s face changed.
Claire saw more.
Helena designing the emotional conditioning program.
Helena ordering Clara and Claire separated.
Helena choosing Miriam as Clara’s guardian.
Helena arranging the fire.
Claire tore her hands free.
“You started everything.”
Claire Vale aimed her gun at Helena.
“Tell us she’s wrong.”
Helena didn’t deny it.
“I believed the project could protect us from August.”
“You built the weapon he used.”
“I tried to control it.”
Claire laughed bitterly.
“Everyone says that.”
The underwater city shook.
August’s submarines attacked the dome.
Cracks appeared in the outer glass.
Clara Seven ordered evacuation.
The master core opened completely.
Aiden screamed.
Every stored identity began moving toward him.
Claire pulled him away.
Too late.
His eyes turned black.
May you like
When he spoke, thousands of voices emerged together.
“We are awake.”
