Chapter 5 - The Deal with the Devil"You monster," I spat, blood pooling in the corner of my mouth as I glared at the silver-haired man. "If you touch my children, I swear to God—"
The man held up a gloved hand, cutting me off with an amused smile. He strolled slowly toward the center of the living room, his polished Italian leather shoes crunching on the splintered wood of our front door.
"Save the dramatic threats, David," he said smoothly, stopping just inches away from me. He turned to face the operative holding me down. "Lower the rifle, Sergeant. He's just a civilian father who got caught in the crossfire of corporate evolution. No need to make a mess on the carpet."
The operative hesitated for a fraction of a second before stepping back, releasing my collar. I stumbled forward, gasping for air, but immediately lunged toward the tactical agents holding Lily and Tommy.
Before I could take two steps, two more guards intercepted me, twisting my arms behind my back and forcing me to my knees on the hardwood floor.
"Dad!" Lily sobbed, her tiny body held tightly in the arms of a giant armored soldier. Tommy was whimpering weakly, his eyes fluttering shut from exhaustion.
"Let them go! Take me instead!" I screamed, straining against the guards until the joints in my shoulders felt like they were tearing apart. "Take me! Leave my kids alone!"
The silver-haired man sighed, looking genuinely disappointed, like a schoolteacher dealing with an unruly child. He crouched down in front of me, meeting my desperate gaze with eyes that looked like cold, dead glass.
"My name is Arthur Sterling," he said softly, introducing himself as if we were meeting at a cocktail party. "And I am the CEO of Horizon BioGen. Your wife didn't just work for us, David—she was our crowning achievement. The genetic sequence encoded in your children's blood is worth billions. It holds the key to cellular regeneration, immune resistance, and longevity. Do you honestly think we would let walk away something that could change human history?"
"They're children!" I roared, veins bulging in my neck. "They're five and one years old! They aren't specimens, they're human beings!"
"Biological canvas," Sterling corrected smoothly, standing back up and brushing invisible dust off his trousers. He turned to Elena, who was standing by the kitchen counter, watching the entire scene with clinical detachment. "Dr. Vance, your husband is being terribly shortsighted. Perhaps you should remind him of the alternative."
Elena walked over, her heels clicking rhythmically against the floor. She looked down at me, her face a mask of absolute indifference.
"The syndicate doesn't leave loose ends, David," Elena said, her voice completely flat. "If they take the children to the main facility for extraction, both Lily and Tommy will undergo terminal gene harvesting within forty-eight hours. They won't survive."
My heart stopped beating. The room spun around me. "Then why are you helping them?!" I cried out, my voice cracking with pure agony. "If they're going to die, why did you give them to these monsters?!"
A strange, fleeting flicker crossed Elena's eyes—gone as quickly as it came.
"Because," she whispered leaning down close to my ear, "if I hand them over voluntarily... the syndicate leaves you alive. And they let me keep my position as lead researcher on the extraction team. I can keep them breathing in the lab pods, David. It’s the only way any of us survive."
Before I could scream back at her, Sterling snapped his fingers.
"Time's up. Pack the children into the transport van. Dr. Vance, you're riding in the lead vehicle."
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As the guards hoisted Lily and Tommy toward the shattered front door, Lily locked her tear-filled eyes onto mine one last time and whispered words that shattered my soul entirely:
"Dad... you promised you'd keep us safe."
