PART 8: Subject Zero
PART 8: Subject Zero
The video played.
And nobody in the room breathed.
Not because it was frightening.
Because it was impossible.
A little girl sat on the screen.
A little girl with messy hair.
A little girl wearing a hospital gown.
A little girl who looked exactly like me.
Five years old.
Maybe younger.
My fingers started shaking.
“No…”
The word escaped my mouth.
“That’s not me.”
But my own voice sounded unsure.
Because deep inside…
I knew.
The child on the screen was me.
My grandmother moved closer.
Her face was pale.
She looked like she was watching a nightmare she had spent years trying to forget.
“Turn it off.”
Her voice cracked.
The speakers answered.
A man laughed.
“Still protecting her, Eleanor?”
The voice.
The same voice.
Calm.
Controlled.
Like he owned the room.
My father looked around.
“Show yourself.”
The man ignored him.
The video continued.
Young me was crying.
A woman in a white coat stood beside me.
My mother.
Younger.
Terrified.
“Mom…”
I whispered.
My heart hurt.
Because I remembered almost nothing from that time.
Only fragments.
A hospital smell.
Bright lights.
My mother holding me.
Telling me everything was okay.
But now I knew.
She was lying.
Not to hurt me.
To protect me.
On the screen, my mother looked toward the glass.
“Please.”
Her voice trembled.
“Let my daughter go.”
A man stepped into view.
His face was hidden.
Only his shadow appeared.
He said:
“Your daughter is not a normal child.”
My mother immediately moved in front of me.
“She is a child.”
The man laughed.
“That’s what you tell yourself.”
My hands curled.
I hated him.
Even without seeing his face.
I hated him.
My mother’s voice became stronger.
“She has a name.”
The man stepped closer.
“And she has potential.”
My father suddenly spoke.
“Who is that?”
Nobody answered.
Because everyone already knew.
Genesis.
The man continued:
“Subject Zero is our greatest success.”
I felt sick.
Subject Zero.
Me.
Not Emma.
A number.
A file.
A thing.
My grandmother suddenly stepped forward.
“Enough.”
The speaker went silent.
For a moment.
Then the man laughed.
“Eleanor.”
A pause.
“You always did have a dramatic entrance.”
My grandmother’s expression changed.
“You.”
Everyone looked at her.
“You know him.”
She didn’t answer.
That was enough.
I turned.
“You knew?”
Her eyes filled.
“Emma…”
“No.”
My voice broke.
“Not again.”
She looked destroyed.
“I knew of him.”
“Who is he?”
Silence.
Then she whispered:
“Damien Vale.”
My father froze.
Claire looked shocked.
“Vale?”
My grandmother nodded.
“The founder of Genesis.”
The room went silent.
The voice laughed.
“Finally.”
A pause.
“She remembers.”
I stared at the speaker.
“You’re Damien?”
The man answered.
“Yes, Emma.”
Hearing my name from him felt wrong.
Like he had stolen it.
“Why?”
The question came out before I could stop it.
“Why did you do this?”
Silence.
Then:
“Because your mother discovered the truth.”
My mother’s face appeared again on the video.
Damien continued.
“She thought she could destroy everything.”
A pause.
“She thought exposing Genesis would save you.”
My heart tightened.
“What happened?”
The screen changed.
Another recording.
My mother running.
Holding a small child.
Me.
She looked terrified.
Damien’s voice continued.
“She stole you.”
The room froze.
My grandmother looked at the screen.
My father looked sick.
Claire whispered:
“No…”
Damien continued:
“She took the most valuable research subject we had.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
My voice became louder.
“My mother loved me.”
“Yes.”
Damien answered.
“That’s exactly why she was dangerous.”
A pause.
“Love makes people irrational.”
I wanted to break the screen.
But I couldn’t move.
Because there was one question.
The question that had haunted me since the beginning.
“What am I?”
The room became silent.
Even Damien paused.
Then he answered:
“You are the first successful result of the Genesis program.”
My breathing stopped.
“No.”
He continued.
“You were born with a rare genetic trait.”
A pause.
“We studied it.”
“We enhanced it.”
“We protected it.”
My grandmother shook her head.
“She was born naturally.”
Damien laughed.
“Was she?”
Everyone looked at Eleanor.
My grandmother looked away.
And that tiny movement destroyed me.
Because it meant she knew something.
“What does he mean?”
Eleanor’s lips trembled.
“I…”
My voice became angry.
“Tell me.”
She closed her eyes.
“Your mother never told me everything.”
“That’s not an answer.”
She looked at me.
“The doctors said there were complications during your birth.”
My stomach tightened.
“What complications?”
She whispered:
“They said your genetics were unusual.”
A pause.
“They said you survived something that should have been impossible.”
I stared.
My entire life.
My entire identity.
Built on missing information.
Damien’s voice returned.
“Your mother took you because she believed you deserved a normal life.”
A pause.
“But she didn’t understand.”
The screen showed my mother holding me.
“She couldn’t remove what you were.”
My blood ran cold.
“What I am?”
Damien answered:
“The reason Genesis exists.”
Nobody moved.
Then my father stepped forward.
“You’re lying.”
Everyone looked at him.
For the first time…
He sounded like the father I remembered from childhood.
Protective.
Angry.
“You don’t get to talk about her like she’s a thing.”
Damien laughed.
“Robert.”
A pause.
“You were always the weak one.”
My father’s face changed.
“You made a deal.”
The room froze.
I looked at him.
“What deal?”
My father closed his eyes.
“No.”
My voice shook.
“Dad.”
He didn’t answer.
My grandmother whispered:
“Robert…”
He looked at me.
And I saw the truth.
He had been carrying it.
All these years.
“I tried to protect your mother.”
A pause.
“But I failed.”
My heart sank.
“What did you do?”
His voice broke.
“I gave Genesis information.”
The words destroyed the room.
My father.
The man who hurt me.
The man who lied.
The man who claimed he protected me.
Had helped them.
I stepped back.
“No.”
“Emma, listen.”
“No!”
Tears filled my eyes.
“Everyone says they were protecting me.”
A pause.
“But everyone hurt me.”
My father looked broken.
“I was wrong.”
Before I could answer…
The front doors exploded open.
Security rushed.
A group of people entered.
Not many.
Only five.
But everyone froze.
Because the person leading them walked calmly into the mansion.
An older man.
Gray hair.
Black coat.
A scar across his face.
He looked directly at me.
And smiled.
Not cruelly.
Almost proudly.
“Emma.”
A pause.
“I’ve waited a long time to meet you.”
Damien Vale.
The founder of Genesis.
The man behind everything.
He looked at my grandmother.
“My daughter tried to hide you.”
Everyone froze.
“Your daughter?”
Damien smiled.
Then said:
“Yes.”
“Eleanor was never your protector.”
May you like
A pause.
“She was your creator.”
