CHAPTER 5 — "The USB Proved Ethan Was Never Supposed to Exist."
The underground city fell into complete silence.
Even the explosions above seemed distant.
Every pair of eyes was fixed on the tiny USB drive in Ethan's trembling hand.
The woman slowly whispered,
"Don't plug it into anything connected to the internet."
"They'll know."
An old engineer hurried over carrying a dusty laptop from a locked cabinet.
"No Wi-Fi."
"No network."
"No signal."
"It's safe."
He inserted the USB.
For several seconds...
Nothing happened.
Then a single folder appeared.
PROJECT E-01
Protected.
Password required.
Everyone stared at the screen.
Ethan sighed.
"We don't know the password."
Before anyone could respond...
The laptop unlocked itself.
No password.
No warning.
Just one message.
DNA VERIFIED. WELCOME HOME, ETHAN.
A chill swept across the room.
The first video began playing.
The footage was dated...
August 14, 2018.
A bright laboratory.
Doctors wearing white coats.
Military officers standing behind bulletproof glass.
Rows of newborn babies slept inside transparent incubators.
Each carried a metal tag.
E-02.
E-03.
E-07.
E-12.
Dozens of them.
A narrator spoke calmly.
"Project E was designed to create genetically enhanced children capable of extraordinary pattern recognition and adaptive intelligence."
The room froze.
The video continued.
One by one...
Red lights flashed above the incubators.
SUBJECT DECEASED.
Another.
Another.
Another.
Every baby died within hours.
Except one.
A green light appeared.
SUBJECT E-01 — STABLE.
The camera zoomed in.
The tiny baby slowly opened his eyes.
Hazel eyes.
Exactly like Ethan's.
The woman covered her mouth.
"Oh my God..."
The old engineer stepped backward.
"He's the only survivor."
Ethan couldn't breathe.
"No..."
"My mother..."
The next video answered him.
A young nurse burst into the laboratory carrying the baby.
"He's not an experiment!"
"He's my son!"
Everyone stopped moving.
It was Ethan's mother.
Younger.
Terrified.
Holding the newborn tightly against her chest.
Security guards chased her through the laboratory.
She reached a frightened mechanic working beside the vault's giant locking system.
"Thomas!"
It was Ethan's father.
The mechanic didn't hesitate.
He grabbed the baby.
Pulled a hidden lever.
And an enormous steel door opened beneath the laboratory floor.
A secret escape tunnel.
The family disappeared underground seconds before armed guards flooded the room.
The recording suddenly ended.
A final file opened automatically.
It wasn't a video.
It was an audio recording.
A man's exhausted voice filled the room.
Thomas Carter.
"If you're hearing this..."
"...I didn't make it back."
"They lied to everyone."
"Blackstone never built a bank."
"They built a laboratory."
"The vault..."
"...isn't protecting money."
"It's sealing something alive."
Every light in the underground city suddenly went out.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Then...
The emergency generators failed too.
Someone screamed.
Children cried.
Outside...
Heavy footsteps echoed through the tunnels.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Not human footsteps.
Far too heavy.
Metal scraping against concrete.
A terrified guard ran into the control room, bleeding from his forehead.
"They're inside!"
"We couldn't stop them!"
"What is it?" the woman shouted.
The guard couldn't answer.
He simply pointed toward the main tunnel.
Everyone turned.
Out of the darkness...
A twelve-foot-tall armored figure slowly emerged.
Its glowing blue eyes scanned the crowd.
Then...
It looked directly at Ethan.
A mechanical voice echoed through the underground city.
"SUBJECT E-01 IDENTIFIED."
"PRIMARY DIRECTIVE..."
The machine paused.
As if recognizing him.
Then it spoke six words that froze every heart in the room.
"Welcome back, Creator."
May you like
END OF CHAPTER 5
➡️ Chapter 6: Ethan discovers the terrifying machine isn't hunting him—it has obeyed only one person for eight years. The impossible truth? Every secret weapon Blackstone ever built believes an eight-year-old boy is its original creator.
