Chapter 4: The Girl Who Was Never Born
The words echoed through the underground chamber like a gunshot.
"...I'm the one who created you."
Evelyn stood frozen.
Every memory she had ever cherished...
Every bedtime story.
Every birthday.
Every warm hug.
Every whispered "I love you."
Suddenly felt like a lie.
Her lips trembled.
"No..."
Dr. Adrian Ross stepped slowly out of the glass capsule.
His hair was streaked with silver.
His face carried years of exhaustion.
But his eyes...
They were filled with unbearable guilt.
"I knew this day would come."
"You deserve the truth."
Evelyn shook her head violently.
"You lied!"
"You said you were my father!"
Dr. Ross closed his eyes.
"I said I raised you."
"I never said I was the man who gave you life."
Silence swallowed the room.
Then Evelyn whispered the question she had feared her entire life.
"...Who am I?"
Dr. Ross didn't answer.
Instead, he walked toward an ancient computer hidden beneath decades of dust.
He placed his hand on the scanner.
ACCESS GRANTED.
The wall behind him split open with a deafening rumble.
A secret archive slowly emerged.
Thousands...
No.
Tens of thousands...
...of children's files.
Each folder carried a photograph.
Each photograph looked almost identical.
Different hair.
Different names.
Different birthdays.
But the same eyes.
The same face.
The same little smile.
Evelyn stared in horror.
"They..."
"They look like me."
Dr. Ross nodded.
"They are you."
Her heartbeat stopped.
"No..."
"You've had many names."
"Evelyn."
"Emma."
"Grace."
"Olivia."
"Anna."
Each name hit like another knife.
"You were never the first."
"You were never the only one."
Dr. Ross opened one folder.
SUBJECT E-001
Status:
DECEASED
Another.
E-019
Status:
FAILED
Another.
E-087
Status:
TERMINATED
Then...
He opened the final file.
E-999
Status:
ACTIVE
Photograph:
Evelyn.
She stepped backward.
"I don't understand..."
Dr. Ross looked directly into her eyes.
"You weren't born."
"You were built."
The chamber seemed to tilt beneath her feet.
Her childhood flashed before her.
Birthday cakes.
School drawings.
Her favorite teddy bear.
The first time she scraped her knee.
The nights she cried because she missed her mother.
Were those memories...
Real?
Or implanted?
Tears rolled down her face.
"Was any of it true?"
Dr. Ross struggled to answer.
"Everything you felt..."
"...was real."
"But many of the memories..."
"...were given to you."
Before Evelyn could speak again...
A deafening explosion rocked the underground complex.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
Emergency lights switched to crimson.
A robotic voice echoed throughout the facility.
WARNING.
EXTERNAL BREACH DETECTED.
UNAUTHORIZED MILITARY FORCE INSIDE THE COMPLEX.
Colonel Marcus Vale had found them.
Except...
He wasn't alone.
Security cameras flickered on.
Dozens of black helicopters surrounded the mountain.
Hundreds of heavily armed soldiers stormed the entrance.
But these weren't government troops.
Their uniforms carried no flags.
No names.
No insignias.
Only a silver emblem.
A single eye.
Watching.
Dr. Ross turned pale.
"No..."
"They found us first."
Evelyn looked at him.
"Who are they?"
For the first time...
The brilliant scientist looked truly afraid.
"They funded Project EVE."
"They own governments."
"They create wars."
"They decide who becomes president."
"And they never intended to let you live."
The steel blast doors exploded inward.
Smoke poured into the chamber.
A tall man dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit walked calmly through the fire.
He wasn't carrying a weapon.
He didn't need one.
Every soldier behind him lowered their heads in respect.
He smiled at Evelyn.
"Good evening."
"My name is Victor Kane."
"I've waited fifteen years to meet my greatest investment."
Evelyn instinctively stepped closer to Dr. Ross.
Victor laughed.
"You still think he's protecting you?"
He reached into his coat...
...and tossed a faded photograph onto the floor.
It slid to Evelyn's feet.
She picked it up.
Her hands began shaking uncontrollably.
The picture showed Dr. Adrian Ross.
Standing beside Victor Kane.
Both men smiling.
Both shaking hands.
The date was written on the back.
One week before Project EVE officially began.
Evelyn slowly looked up.
Her voice was barely audible.
"You knew him..."
Victor's smile widened.
"Oh, Evelyn..."
"I didn't just know him."
"I was the one who hired him."
Dr. Ross lowered his head.
Unable to deny it.
The man Evelyn trusted more than anyone...
May you like
Had been working for the enemy from the very beginning.
TO BE CONTINUED...
