"Subject 016 was you?"
"Congratulations. You're beginning to understand."
"But why?"
Adrian smiled bitterly.
"Because your father believed I was dangerous."
Ethan remembered what Reeves had said.
His brother had been trained by the Black Circle.
He had been raised inside the organization.
But there was something Adrian wasn't telling him.
"Why did he think you were dangerous?"
Adrian's expression changed.
"Because when I was seven years old, I discovered something inside the original archives."
"What?"
"The names of the seventeen children."
Ethan frowned.
"And?"
"One of those names belonged to someone who was never supposed to exist."
Adrian leaned closer.
"Me."
Ethan stared at the screen.
"What are you talking about?"
"My biological identity was erased. The people who raised me weren't my real parents. My birth records were fabricated. My entire childhood was built around a lie."
He paused.
"Just like yours."
Ethan shook his head.
"You're trying to make me believe we're victims."
Adrian laughed.
"Maybe we are."
"Then why are you kidnapping children?"
The smile disappeared from Adrian's face.
For the first time, he looked genuinely angry.
"Because nobody protected us when we were children."
Ethan stared at him.
Adrian continued.
"Do you know what happened when our mother took me away? I was placed in a facility outside the city. I spent eleven years being trained to obey people who didn't even know my real name."
His voice became quieter.
"They taught me how to lie. How to manipulate witnesses. How to make people disappear."
Ethan looked away.
"That doesn't excuse what you're doing."
"No. It doesn't."
Adrian paused.
"But it explains why I stopped caring about excuses."
The television screen suddenly changed.
A new video appeared.
It showed a hospital corridor.
A young woman was running while holding a baby.
Behind her, two men in black uniforms were chasing her.
Ethan recognized the woman.
His mother.
He looked back at the screen.
"Where did you get this?"
"Security footage from the night I disappeared."
The video continued.
His mother entered a room and placed the baby inside a small medical cabinet.
Then she turned toward the camera.
Her lips moved.
Adrian paused the recording.
"Read her lips."
Ethan looked carefully.
The words were clear.
Take him instead.
Ethan froze.
"What does that mean?"
Adrian stared at him.
"She didn't take me to save me."
He paused.
"She took me because she was trying to protect you."
Ethan felt his chest tighten.
"Protect me from what?"
Adrian leaned forward.
"From the truth about our birth."
Before Ethan could respond, the television went black.
A door opened behind him.
Two men entered.
One was wearing a police uniform.
The other wore a dark suit.
The officer approached Ethan.
"Stand up."
"Where is my daughter?"
The man ignored him.
"You're being transferred."
"Where?"
The officer leaned closer.
"Somewhere your brother can't reach."
Ethan suddenly recognized his voice.
It was Captain Miller.
He grabbed Ethan by the shoulder.
"Get moving."
Ethan struggled.
"Where's Adrian?"
Miller smiled.
"Right where I want him."
Meanwhile, across the city, Victoria Morgan was standing inside an abandoned hotel.
She had managed to escape the school before the armed men arrived.
Her phone vibrated.
A message appeared.
Ethan has been captured.
She immediately called Robert.
He answered after the first ring.
"Where are you?"
"Where's Miller taking him?"
"I don't know."
"Robert, listen to me. Adrian has contacted us."
Silence.
Then Robert asked:
"What did he say?"
"He wants Ethan."
Robert closed his eyes.
"Then it's already started."
"What?"
"The final stage."
Victoria gripped her phone.
"What final stage?"
Robert took a deep breath.
"Twenty-three years ago, we created a contingency plan. If the Black Circle ever lost control of the original subjects, they would activate the final protocol."
Victoria went silent.
"Robert..."
He continued.
"Every identity connected to Project Genesis would be exposed. Every witness, every child, every officer. The entire city would become part of the investigation."
"Why would they do that?"
"Because the Black Circle would rather destroy everything than allow anyone to control the evidence."
Victoria looked out through the broken hotel window.
"How do we stop it?"
Robert hesitated.
"There's only one way."
"Tell me."
"We need the original recording."
"Where is it?"
Robert answered quietly.
"Inside the old courthouse. Behind the judge's chair."
Victoria looked toward the door.
"Then I'm going."
"Wait."
"What?"
Robert's voice became almost a whisper.
"If you find it, don't play it."
"Why?"
"Because the recording doesn't just expose the Black Circle."
He paused.
"It exposes the person who created it."
Victoria felt a chill.
"Who?"
Robert didn't answer immediately.
Then he said:
"Your father."
Victoria froze.
For twenty-three years, she had believed her father died while investigating police corruption.
Now she was being told that he had created the very organization she had spent her life trying to destroy.
Her phone vibrated again.
Another message.
This time, it contained an audio file.
She pressed play.
A man's voice emerged.
"Victoria, my daughter."
She stopped breathing.
It was her father's voice.
The recording continued.
"If you're hearing this, then you've finally discovered the truth."
A short pause.
"I know you've spent your life believing I was murdered by the Black Circle."
He laughed softly.
"But I was never their victim."
Victoria covered her mouth.
Her father's final words were almost impossible to hear.
"I was their leader."
The recording ended.
Victoria slowly lowered the phone.
Then another message appeared.
YOUR FATHER WANTS TO SEE YOU. TONIGHT. 11:00 PM.
Below it was an address.
The old police headquarters.
Victoria stared at the screen.
For the first time in twenty-three years, she felt afraid.
Not of being killed.
Not of losing the investigation.
But of discovering that the man she had spent her entire life trying to avenge had been the monster all along.
Meanwhile, Ethan was being transported inside a black vehicle.
His hands were still tied.
Miller sat opposite him.
"You've caused quite a lot of trouble, Officer Cole."
Ethan stared at him.
"Where are you taking me?"
Miller smiled.
"To meet someone."
"Adrian?"
"No."
He leaned closer.
"Your real father."
Ethan felt his blood run cold.