🚨 HE THOUGHT HE WAS SAVING HIS GRANDFATHER. HE WAS HELPING A KILLER.

"They can't do that!" Leo yelled over the deafening hum of the hovering drone. "There are hundreds of kids in this school! A whole town of innocent people!"

"To Apex Vanguard, this town is an acceptable loss," Arthur said, stumbling toward Leo, his hand pressed firmly against his bleeding abdomen. "If they can't control the Prometheus Gene, they will destroy every trace of it so no rival power can reverse-engineer it."

The drone’s red laser flickered, shifting into a high-frequency targeting beacon. A high-pitched tone began to emit from the device—a lock-on signal for the orbital missiles overhead.

"We have three minutes before impact," Clara said, checking her tactical wrist computer. "The blast radius will cover a ten-mile zone. Everything and everyone will be reduced to ash."

Richard scrambled backward on his hands and knees, clutching his throat, his face pale with horror. "No... no, they promised me full immunity! They promised me the research data!"

"You were a pawn, Richard!" Arthur spat, coughing up a spatter of blood. "You were always just a caretaker until the asset matured!"

Leo looked out the window. High in the grey afternoon sky, three glowing red trails ignited.

The missiles had been launched.

180 seconds to total annihilation.

"We have to evacuate the students!" Leo shouted, moving toward the cafeteria exit.

"There's no time, Leo!" Clara grabbed his arm, her grip desperate. "Even with your speed, you can't get two hundred kids out of a ten-mile blast zone in three minutes! We have to get to the underground bunker beneath the athletic fields!"

"The bunker only holds four people, Clara!" Arthur said grimly.

Leo looked at his grandfather. He looked at Clara. He looked at Richard, who was trembling on the floor like a coward.

And then, Leo realized the truth.

The missiles weren't tracking the school. They weren't tracking the town.

They were tracking him.

The Prometheus Gene emitted a distinct, high-frequency bio-electromagnetic signature—a signal so unique that satellite guidance systems could pinpoint it from orbit.

"It's me," Leo whispered. "The missiles aren't targeting the location. They're targeting my energy signature."

"Leo, don't think like that—" Arthur started.

"If I stay here, everyone dies," Leo said, his voice dropping into a quiet, absolute certainty. "Maya, Sam, the students... this whole town. But if I leave... if I run fast enough, far enough away..."

"The missiles will follow you," Clara realized, her jaw dropping in horror. "You'll be taking three tactical warheads directly to your body!"

"Can I survive it?" Leo asked, looking at Arthur.

Arthur stared at his grandson, tears pouring down his cheeks. He knew the answer. The Prometheus Gene was powerful—it could repair broken bones, heal bullet wounds, neutralize deadly neurotoxins. But ground-zero of a thermobaric warhead? Cellular incineration at ten thousand degrees?

"I... I don't know," Arthur choked out, his voice breaking. "The cellular regeneration has never been tested against atomic-level thermal energy. You could... your cells might burn faster than they can replicate. You could be erased, Leo!"

"Then I guess we're going to find out," Leo said.

"Leo, wait!" Richard suddenly shouted from the floor.

Leo stopped, turning his head to look at his fake father.

Richard reached into his coat with trembling, blood-stained fingers. He pulled out a small, encrypted black drive and held it out toward Leo.

"What is that?" Leo asked.

"The source code," Richard rasped, tears welling in his eyes. "The complete research data for the Prometheus Gene... and the master override keys to shut down Apex Vanguard’s global network. I kept it as insurance... in case they ever turned on me."

Richard looked up at Leo, a pathetic, broken man searching for redemption in the final minutes of his life. "If you survive... use it to burn them down."

Leo slowly took the drive from Richard's hand. He slid it into his pocket, then looked at Clara.

"Get everyone into the bunker," Leo commanded. "Now."

Without waiting for a response, Leo turned and sprinted toward the double doors of the cafeteria.

He didn't run out to the parking lot. He ran straight up the stairs, smashing through the doors leading to the high school roof.

He stood at the edge of the roof, looking up into the sky. The three glowing red missile trails were dropping through the clouds, descending toward the school like screaming falling stars.

60 seconds.

Leo closed his eyes. He felt the power thrumming deep within his chest—the golden light, the genetic miracle born from grief and science.

He didn't know if he was a real boy or a clone. He didn't know if his memories were real or staged. But he knew who he was right now.

"Come and get me," Leo whispered.

He leapt off the roof, hitting the ground in a sprint that shattered the asphalt beneath his sneakers.

Leo ran like a demon through the empty streets of the town, moving at impossible, superhuman speeds—a blur of motion leaving a trail of golden light behind him.

Behind him, overhead, the three red missile trails shifted violently in mid-air, angling away from the high school, altering their flight path to chase the golden light racing toward the abandoned quarry three miles outside of town.

In the bunker beneath the school, Arthur, Clara, Maya, and Sam watched the radar screen on Clara's wrist unit.

The three red dots were moving away from the school.

"He's doing it..." Sam whispered, tears streaming down his face. "He's drawing them away!"

Maya covered her mouth, sobbing hysterically as she watched the single golden dot on the screen sprint into the deep, rocky crater of the abandoned quarry.