Viktor broke down in sobs, clinging to Alia not like a guard dog, but as if she were his only sanctuary. His tears soaked into Alia's shoulder as he began to speak in a fractured voice:
"Alia, my father was no ordinary doctor. He was the greatest Mafia Lord in Russia. He was blinded by the lust for power. And your father... he wasn't just my father's friend; he was the actual mastermind behind this 'Project Blood Legacy'."
Viktor looked into Alia's eyes and continued:
"Your father was a scientist. He was the one who gave my father the idea that by altering standard DNA, it was possible to create a generation that would rule the world. My father provided the money and the power, and your father provided his intellect—he didn't even hesitate to turn his own child into a laboratory guinea pig. Your father is just as responsible for this hell, Alia!"
Alia stood frozen. For so long, she had believed her father was an innocent man who might have been forced into this. But hearing Viktor's words, the ground seemed to slip from beneath her feet. Her own blood had betrayed her.
Alia whispered:
"So that means both our fathers worked together to destroy our lives? In the name of friendship, they turned us into each other's enemies and slaves?"
Viktor rested his forehead against Alia's and said:
"Yes. They wanted to forge us into 'weapons' for their Mafia empire. From today, we are no longer their project, Alia. We are now their greatest nightmare." Viktor's sorrow instantly turned into deep affection. He took Alia's face into his hands and pressed a long, tender kiss to her lips. In that touch, there were no laboratory codes only the desperate need of two souls holding onto each other.
Pulling back slightly, Viktor whispered with pure adoration:
"Love you... you look so lovely, Alia. No matter what is in our blood, this love belongs only to us. No one programmed this."Alia rested her head on Viktor's chest and closed her eyes. The storm that had been raging in her mind finally settled with those three words. She whispered back softly:
"Love you too, Viktor..." As the romantic tension between Alia and Viktor dissipated, they geared up for the most grueling mission of their lives. Alia finally grasped that her father was not merely a scientist; he was an elite, high-level power player orchestrating international conspiracies from behind the scenes.
Viktor presented her with classified documents revealing that her father's public persona was that of a successful Bangladeshi businessman. However, that was just a front. In reality, he was a Doppelgänger—a master of disguise and deception who operated simultaneously across the globe, leading high-stakes covert operations and wielding immense international influence.
Alia realized that her father's Doppelgänger identity was the true key to the laboratory's secrets. His high-level network was what allowed the "Blood Legacy" project to remain hidden for so long.
They decided to head immediately to a remote, mountainous region in America where a derelict branch of her father's secret laboratory still stood. They knew that reaching it would mean not only fighting off Zainkha's men but also bypassing elite American security agencies.
Alia gripped her loaded weapon, her gaze fixed on Viktor.
"If my father lived as a shadow, then I will be the one to incinerate that shadow. Let's go, Viktor. We need to see that American hell for ourselves."
Viktor called the pilot of their private jet to prepare for immediate takeoff. Leaving the glittering illusions of Las Vegas behind, they soared toward a dark and dangerous mystery. As morning arrived, Alia dressed in a sharp, houndstooth pattern suit, looking every bit the powerful novelist-turned-warrior. Viktor matched her perfectly, wearing the same patterned suit. Standing together, they looked like two formidable predators ready to dismantle the empire their fathers built.
"Our fathers wanted us to share the same DNA," Viktor remarked, glancing at her. "Now, we share the same uniform as we go to destroy their legacy. You look stunning, Alia."
Alia secured her weapon and replied coldly, "Beauty is just our shield today, Viktor. Our true selves will emerge inside that lab. Let's begin." They stepped off the jet, facing the misty mountains where the entrance to the secret facility lay hidden.In an instant, the atmosphere turned electric. Before the guard could even process the name "Anastasia," Alia and Viktor moved with the synchronized precision of the genetically enhanced beings they were.
The guard's finger tightened on the trigger, but he was already too late.
Alia didn't wait for Viktor. With a lightning-fast motion, she grabbed the barrel of the rifle and diverted it upward just as a shot rang out, the bullet grazing the ceiling. Simultaneously, she delivered a brutal kick to the guard's midsection, forcing the air out of his lungs.
As the guard stumbled, Viktor appeared behind him like a ghost. He didn't use a gun; instead, he gripped the guard's neck in a tactical hold, neutralizing him in seconds. The guard collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
Alia calmly adjusted her houndstooth suit and turned back to the biometric panel.
"He was just a fly, Viktor. The real spiders are waiting inside."
With one final click from her device, the massive steel doors began to groan and slide open, revealing a long, dimly lit corridor that smelled of chemicals and old secrets. The "Blood Moon" was finally rising.Alia didn't waste a single second. Before the guard could even twitch his finger on the trigger, she unleashed a masterclass in martial arts.
First, with the lethal speed of Krav Maga, she swiped the rifle's barrel upward in a blur. Before the guard could process what was happening, she executed a flawless Taekwondo move, driving a crushing kick into his knee. As he cried out in pain and lost his balance, Alia instantly transitioned into a Jiu-Jitsu technique, locking his arm behind him with agonizing precision.
In an instant, the guard was disarmed and pinned to the floor. Alia pressed her knee into his back, her voice dropping to a deadly chill:
"Did you really think a mere rifle could stop me? I'm not just a novelist; I was engineered to clean up trash like you."
The guard groaned in agony, stammering, "You... you're the daughter of the Doppelgänger!"
Alia applied pressure to a specific nerve on his neck, rendering him unconscious instantly. She stood up, calmly brushing off her houndstooth suit, her face radiating the fierce energy of a warrior. Viktor stood by, watching this devastating display with pure admiration.
Viktor gave a lopsided smirk and said:
"I almost forgot my wife is a high-level hand-to-hand combat expert. As a Mafia Lord, I think I should start being a little more careful around you."
Alia finished hacking the biometric panel and the massive doors groaned open, revealing a vast, dark corridor. She looked at Viktor and replied:
"The time for being careful is over, Viktor. Now, it's time to strike."The moment Alia neutralized the first guard, a fresh squad of armed commandos surged from the far end of the corridor. Without giving Alia a chance to catch her breath, Viktor stepped forward, descending into his most devastating form.
As a Mafia Lord, Viktor's fighting style was both brutal and surgical. Before the lead commando could even level his weapon, Viktor flicked a tactical knife from his sleeve. Moving with the lethal grace of a cheetah, he struck the commando's wrist and snatched the rifle, using it as a club to crush the helmet of the second attacker.
Viktor wasn't just using brute force; every move was calculated like a grandmaster's chess play. When three men surrounded him, he vaulted off the wall, delivering an acrobatic kick that sent one flying, while slamming the other two into each other with bone-breaking force.
Even in the heat of battle, Viktor's houndstooth suit remained impeccably sharp. As he pinned the final commando against the wall and snapped his neck, his eyes burned with the fire of his old 'programming,' yet he remained in absolute control of his own soul.
Adjusting his tie and breathing heavily, Viktor glanced back at Alia with a smirk:
"It's been a while since I had the chance to stretch my legs. Your father's 'welcome committee' isn't half bad, Alia!"
Alia, who had been standing by with her revolver ready for backup, watched as the corridor was cleared by Viktor alone. She gave a faint, impressed smile:
"It seems the Mafia Lord's blood hasn't rusted yet. Come on there's a much bigger mystery waiting for us at the end of this hall.As they reached the end of the corridor, they found a massive gate made of iron and glass. Upon opening it, a bone-chilling scene unfolded. They entered a vast control room, shrouded in darkness except for the glow of a colossal screen.
On that screen, a video footage loop was playing—but it was no ordinary video. It showed the interior of the laboratory from ten years ago. But the shocking part was that they could see living versions of their childhood clones. Miniature versions of Alia and Viktor were moving inside separate cryogenic tanks.
Suddenly, the video cut off, and a live feed of the present day flickered to life. A man appeared on the screen whose face was an exact match for Alia's father, but his gaze was far more cruel. He sat in a modern office in Bangladesh, calmly sipping from a cup of coffee.
A deep, solemn voice echoed from the screen:
"Welcome, my greatest creations. I knew you would come here one day. Those you see in the video are not just the past—they are your 'backups.' If you defy me today, I will build a new world using these younger versions of you."
Alia trembled with rage as she stared at the screen. She realized her father was not just a businessman or a scientist; he sought to become an immortal Doppelgänger through his clones.
Viktor gripped Alia's hand tightly and shouted at the screen:
"This game ends today! We will burn this lab and this filthy project to ashes."
The man on the screen let out a dark laugh:
"So be it. Let's see if you can survive the 'self-destruction' mode of this facility."
Instantly, red lights began flashing throughout the control room, and a mechanical voice resonated: "T-minus 5 minutes to destruction.""Amidst the flashing red lights and the blaring sirens, that old nightmare surged back into Alia's mind. The control room screen blurred, and they were pulled back to that cursed day ten years ago.
Memory: The Beginning of Darkness
Alia was strapped into that laboratory electric chair. Violent electrical surges coursed through her body, her blood-curdling screams shaking the very foundations of the facility. Viktor was forced to keep his finger on the button. Tears of blood welled in Alia's eyes from the sheer agony.
Eventually, Alia went limp. Her body no longer responded. Viktor screamed like a madman, pounding against the glass walls, but the guards seized him under his father's orders.
The lead scientist (Alia's father) gave the command in a freezing tone:
"The project is a success. Wipe all emotional memories from their brains. Let there be no trace of them recognizing one another. From this day forward, they are nothing but 'soldiers' of our project."
They were then laid on separate beds. Tubes were inserted into their noses, and a blue 'memory eraser' fluid began to pump into them. Both Alia and Viktor lost consciousness completely.
The next morning, when they woke up, they lay side by side as strangers. Alia's long golden hair and Viktor's piercing blue eyes remained the same, but the childhood love and memories they once shared had vanished. They looked at each other, but there was no spark of recognition only an infinite, hollow void.