The red heart opened like a giant eye.
A wave of darkness exploded from Daniel’s chest, swallowing the laboratory lights. Ryan shielded his face as hundreds of whispers filled the chamber.
“MY CHILDREN... COME HOME.”
Adam struggled to stand.
“Father didn’t create us to destroy the organism,” he whispered. “He created us to become its family. Every experiment was designed to give it a different part of humanity.”
Ryan turned toward Father.
“Is that true?”
Father lowered his head.
“I wanted to control it. I believed that if I created living vessels, I could separate its intelligence from its power. But the organism changed the experiment. It learned our emotions, our memories... and our family bonds.”
Adam pointed toward Daniel.
“He was the first vessel. I was the prison. You were the controller. But there was another purpose for Elias.”
Ryan looked toward the stranger.
Elias stood near the broken doorway, his face pale.
“I was supposed to become its voice,” he said. “The one who could communicate with the world beyond the door.”
Father stepped forward.
“Enough! We can still stop it!”
Daniel laughed. His enormous body stretched toward the ceiling, while black tendrils covered the walls.
“Stop me? You brought us together, Father. You gave me brothers. You gave me a mother. Now the family is complete.”
A massive tendril burst through the floor and struck the control panel.
Zara pulled Father away just before the explosion.
“Captain! We need to get everyone out!”
Hamza fired at the advancing infected, but the bullets disappeared inside their black skin.
“There’s nowhere to go!” he shouted.
Ryan looked at the red heart inside Daniel.
“Meher, can you hear me?”
Her voice returned through the radio.
“Barely! Ryan, the seventh lock is reaching full activation. The heart is trying to connect with something beyond the doorway.”
“How do we stop it?”
“Find the original control chamber! It should be directly beneath Daniel. But be careful. The organism will use your memories against you.”
Suddenly, the floor beneath Ryan became transparent.
He saw a massive underground chamber filled with golden machinery. At its center stood a small child inside a glass container.
The child looked exactly like Ryan.
A message appeared above the chamber:
ORIGINAL SUBJECT: RYAN MALIK
Ryan stepped backward.
“That can’t be me. I’m here!”
Father’s face turned white.
“Ryan... the child in that chamber is the original.”
Adam grabbed Ryan’s arm.
“Then who are you?”
Daniel’s red heart began beating again.
The creature opened its mouth and spoke in Ryan’s own voice.
“You are the copy, brother.”
Ryan stared at his father as the seventh symbol finally ignited.