The drugs wore off at 3:17 AM.
I knew the exact time because the digital clock on my quarters wall was the first thing I focused on when consciousness returned. Kane's neural inhibitor cocktail had left my thoughts sluggish and distant, like trying to think through thick fog.
But the fog was clearing.
I sat up slowly, testing my motor functions. Fingers flexed normally. Balance seemed stable. The rebellious fury from before was still there, buried under chemical suppression but not eliminated entirely.
Kane had made a mistake. He'd shown me too much, revealed too many secrets. And now I knew something he didn't think I knew: Elena Cross was going to die tomorrow unless I stopped it.
The corridor outside my quarters was empty, surveillance cameras sweeping their programmed patterns. I'd memorized their rotations months ago during routine exercises. Twelve-second blind spots at regular intervals.
More than enough time.
I dressed quickly in standard tactical gear and slipped into the hallway during the next camera sweep. The facility operated on skeleton crew during night hours—mostly automated systems and a few human technicians monitoring from the control room.
Kane's personal laboratory was three levels up, behind biometric locks that should have been impossible to bypass. Should have been.
But they'd designed me to be the perfect infiltrator. Every lock, every security system, every safeguard in Genesis Labs—I knew how to defeat them all. They'd just never expected me to use those skills against my creators.
The biometric scanner at Kane's lab door required palm print, retinal scan, and vocal recognition. Standard security protocols that were laughably inadequate against someone with my capabilities.
I'd watched Kane input his codes dozens of times. Memorized the micro-movements of his fingers, the exact angles of his eye positioning, the pitch and cadence of his voice.
"Dr. Marcus Kane," I said, modulating my vocal cords to match his precise intonation. "Authorization Omega-Seven-Seven-Black."
The locks disengaged with soft clicks.
Kane's private laboratory was larger than the examination rooms, filled with equipment I didn't recognize. Quantum computers hummed behind radiation shielding. Genetic sequencers sat beside tanks of liquid nitrogen. The air smelled like ozone and something organic that made my skin crawl.
But it was the wall of monitors that caught my attention. Dozens of screens displaying data streams, video feeds, and files marked with clearance levels far above anything I'd seen before.
I moved to Kane's primary workstation, a curved desk surrounded by holographic displays. His personal files were encrypted, but he'd never bothered changing the password from when I'd observed him accessing the system during my medical evaluations.
Arrogant. Deadly arrogant.
The first file that opened made my blood freeze.
PROJECT GENESIS: COMPLETE ARCHIVESClassification: EYES ONLY - LEVEL OMEGAPrincipal Investigator: Dr. Marcus KaneFunding: Shadow/Crimson/Steel/Mind/Void Family Consortium
Genesis wasn't Kane's pet project. It was a joint venture between all five families. They'd been working together, pooling resources and genetic material to create something none of them could achieve alone.
Me.
I scrolled through technical specifications that read like a shopping list of human capabilities. Enhanced muscle density from Steel family genetics. Accelerated healing from Crimson bloodlines. Sensory amplification courtesy of Shadow family modifications. Telepathic resistance bred from Mind family stock. And from the Void family—the ability to absorb and nullify other supernatural abilities.
I was literally designed to be superior to any pure-blood from any single family. A living weapon that could stand against all of them.
But the real horror was in the subject files.
Genesis-001: Female. Terminated after 3 months. Cause: Emotional instability leading to mission refusal.
Genesis-002: Male. Terminated after 7 months. Cause: Attempted escape during routine medical evaluation.
Genesis-003: Female. Terminated after 11 months. Cause: Violent rebellion against handlers.
Genesis-004: Male. Terminated after 6 months. Cause: Empathic responses interfering with target elimination protocols.
Genesis-005: Female. Terminated after 2 months. Cause: Severe psychological breakdown following first kill assignment.
Genesis-006: Female. Terminated after 14 months. Cause: Advanced emotional development leading to attempted assault on primary researcher.
Each entry included detailed medical records, psychological evaluations, and video footage of their final moments. I watched my predecessors die, one by one, as Kane perfected his techniques for creating and disposing of defective supersoldiers.
They all looked like me. Silver hair, mismatched eyes, the same basic facial structure. We were literally manufactured from the same genetic template, with minor variations in specific abilities and psychological conditioning.
A product line. That's all we were.
Genesis-007: Female. Current subject. Status: Active with concerning emotional development patterns.
My own file was massive, filled with twenty-two years of medical data, psychological profiles, and mission reports. But buried in the technical appendices, I found something that made my hands shake.
GENETIC COMPOSITION ANALYSIS - GENESIS-007Shadow Family Contribution: 23%Crimson Family Contribution: 19%Steel Family Contribution: 21%Mind Family Contribution: 18%Void Family Contribution: 16%Unknown Genetic Material: 3%
Unknown genetic material. Three percent of my DNA came from somewhere else. Something the families couldn't identify or replicate.
I dug deeper into the files, searching for any reference to that mysterious three percent. Most of the research notes were dense scientific jargon, but one entry caught my attention:
"The unidentified genetic sequences continue to resist analysis. Dr. Sarah Chen's contribution to the project included several samples of unknown origin, but her death terminated that research avenue before complete mapping could be achieved. The presence of these foreign sequences may be responsible for the enhanced emotional capacity observed in Genesis subjects. Recommend further investigation if additional samples become available."
Sarah Chen. The name hit me like a physical blow.
I opened another file, searching for references to this mysterious researcher. What I found changed everything.
Dr. Sarah Chen had been the original architect of Project Genesis. A brilliant geneticist who'd worked for the Steel family before being recruited by the multi-family consortium. She'd designed the basic genetic framework that made us possible.
But according to her personnel file, she'd been terminated eighteen months ago. Officially for breach of security protocols. Unofficially...
"Dr. Chen became emotionally attached to the Genesis subjects, viewing them as children rather than experimental assets. Her attempts to introduce 'humanity protocols' into the conditioning process were deemed detrimental to project objectives. Termination was approved by all five family representatives."
The file included security camera footage of her final day at the facility. I watched a woman with kind green eyes and gentle hands pack up her research, tears streaming down her face as she looked one last time at the Genesis sleeping quarters.
She'd cared about us. About me.
And they'd killed her for it.
I was still processing that revelation when I found the most terrifying document in Kane's archives.
GENESIS TERMINATION PROTOCOLSEffective Date: ImmediateAuthorization: Five Family Consortium
The file outlined detailed procedures for "asset disposal" when Genesis subjects became "unsuitable for continued operation." It included chemical termination methods, surgical options, and something called "neural cascade failure" that could be triggered remotely via the implanted control chips.
But the final section made my blood turn to ice.
SUBJECT 007 TERMINATION SCHEDULEDDate: Tomorrow, 0800 hoursMethod: Neural cascade failure following completion of final missionTarget: Elena Cross (Blood Rose Bar, Level 19)
They weren't just going to use me to kill Elena. They were going to kill me immediately afterward.
I was disposable. Had always been disposable. Just another failed experiment to be scrapped when my emotional development became inconvenient.
My hands were trembling as I copied the files to a portable data chip. The evidence was overwhelming, damning, impossible to deny. But it was also my death sentence if Kane discovered what I'd learned.
I was about to close the final file when I noticed one more folder buried deep in the archives.
PROJECT GENESIS: PHASE TWOClassification: ULTRA BLACKStatus: Development Phase
Phase Two.
The files inside made the original Genesis project look like a practice run. Plans for mass production facilities. Genetic templates for creating Genesis subjects by the hundreds. Psychological conditioning protocols designed to eliminate emotional development entirely.
They weren't just making individual supersoldiers. They were planning to build an army.
An army of soulless killers with my face, my abilities, my training. But without the "design flaw" that made me capable of caring about innocent people like Marcus and Maya.
The final document in the folder was a requisition order for "genetic material harvesting from Genesis-007 prior to termination." They were going to dissect me, analyze every cell, perfect their process using my dead body as a template.
Then they were going to make a thousand more just like me. Only better. More obedient. More deadly. Completely without conscience.
I stared at the screen, absorbing the full scope of their plans. This wasn't just about me anymore. It was about preventing the creation of an unstoppable army of artificial killers who would do whatever the five families commanded.
Starting with Elena's assassination in twelve hours.
I pocketed the data chip and headed for the door, my mind racing through possibilities. I could warn Elena, help her escape. But that would only delay the inevitable. The families would send someone else, or they'd use my death to perfect their next batch of Genesis soldiers.
I needed a better plan. Something that would stop Phase Two permanently.
Something that would require me to become everything Kane and the families feared most.
The alarm system activated as I slipped back into the corridor, but I was already three levels away before security teams reached Kane's lab. By the time they discovered what files had been accessed, I was back in my quarters, lying on my narrow cot like I'd never left.
But I wasn't sleeping.
I was planning a war.
Because tomorrow morning, when they expected me to kill Elena Cross and then die quietly for their convenience, I was going to give them something else entirely.
I was going to show them what happened when you tried to murder someone's humanity and failed.
The data chip felt warm in my pocket, heavy with the weight of twenty-two years of lies and manipulation. But it also felt like hope.
For the first time since my awakening began, I knew exactly who I was fighting for.
Not just Elena. Not just Marcus and Maya.
I was fighting for every Genesis subject who might come after me. Every artificial person who deserved the chance to choose their own path.
Even if it killed me.
Especially if it killed me.
Because dying human was better than living as a weapon.
End of Chapter 5