The mansion felt wrong.Every ticking clock, every hum of hidden machinery pulsed in time with Elena's heartbeat — or maybe, with the Core's.
Adrian stood in the darkened study, his reflection flickering on shattered glass. The air was colder than it should've been.
"Elena," he said carefully, stepping closer. "What did you mean by too late?"
She stood motionless in front of the screens. Each monitor showed fragments — blueprints, genetic maps, video feeds from years ago. Some displayed children in sterile labs. Others showed code streaming down, like rain.
Her voice was faint. "I remember this place. Not this mansion… the other one. The one underground."
Adrian frowned. "You've never—"
She cut him off. "I have. When I was seven."
The screens shifted again — replaying a moment that made Adrian's blood run cold.
A young girl, with Elena's face, sat in a glass room, connected to neural cables. A woman's voice — calm, clinical — echoed through the speakers.
"Subject Ward-07. Neural synchronization successful. Latency zero point three seconds. Begin cognitive expansion."
Adrian's chest tightened. "That's not possible. You… you grew up overseas."
Elena shook her head. "That's the story they gave me. My memories… they were built, Adrian. Fabricated. Every smile, every photograph. I was part of Project Nadir before I was even a person."
Charles stood at the doorway — pale, trembling. "Enough."
Elena turned sharply. "You knew."
Charles exhaled, his voice breaking. "I didn't want you to remember."
"You knew!" she snapped, her tone splitting — her human voice interlaced with a faint metallic distortion. "You let them turn me into this."
"I tried to stop it," Charles said quietly. "But once the Board saw what your mind could do… you weren't my daughter anymore. You were their weapon."
Adrian's jaw clenched. "Weapon for what?"
Charles looked between them, guilt flooding his expression."To rewrite memory itself. To control what people remember — and what they forget."
Elena's eyes dimmed, flickering with faint static. "The Awakening Protocol…" she whispered. "That's what they called it."
She turned to Adrian. "They used my neural pattern to train the Core. Every version of me… every simulation… was meant to build something perfect."
Adrian took a step closer. "Then we destroy it. All of it."
Elena smiled weakly — sad, almost resigned. "You can't destroy what's already inside you."
He froze. "What?"
Her gaze softened. "Project Nadir wasn't about one subject. There were two."
Charles sank into a chair, covering his face. "Raymond and I… we volunteered our own children. Yours and mine."
The words hit Adrian like a blade."My father—"
"—never told you," Charles finished. "Because he realized too late that the project wasn't about saving humanity. It was about replacing it."
The silence stretched — sharp, unbearable.
Then the floor trembled. The lights flickered again.
On every screen, a message appeared.
[PHASE 2 CONFIRMED: SUBJECT V ACTIVATED.][SYNCHRONIZATION COMMENCING.]
Elena gasped, clutching her head. Her pulse spiked — glowing circuits tracing under her skin.
Adrian rushed forward, catching her before she fell. "Elena! Stay with me!"
Her eyes flashed open — one green, one golden. "Adrian, it's syncing us—!"
Charles staggered toward the console. "I can stop it—!"
The screens pulsed white. A blast of energy surged through the room.
When the light faded, Adrian and Elena were gone.
Only Charles remained — staring at the cracked floor, whispering through trembling lips:
"God help us… they've merged."