LOGINWe landed in Singapore at dawn.The facility was under siege."Reeves got here first," Torres said, surveying through binoculars. "Thirty hostiles. Military equipment. They have the building surrounded.""Can we breach?" Damien asked."Not without significant casualties. They have the high ground. They have numbers. They have time."Victoria studied the tactical situation. "Then we do not breach. We make them come to us. We turn their siege into their trap.""How?""Hope goes public. Right now. Live broadcast. Global. She tells the world everything. About the modifications. About the reversal sequence. About Reeves trying to stop us. We turn her into a symbol. Make those four million children the most watched story on Earth. Make it impossible for Reeves to operate in darkness.""That exposes Hope to the entire world," I protested. "Every intelligence agency. Every government. Every organization will want her. Will hunt her.""They already do. But if she is famous, if she is watched b
Victoria commandeered a helicopter from a nearby airstrip. Private. Expensive. The kind that did not ask questions when armed, bloodied people climbed aboard."Where to first?" the pilot asked, visibly nervous."Geneva," Victoria said. "World Health Organization headquarters. We need their distribution network. Now."The flight took forty minutes. The temperature gauge on the reversal sequence container dropped steadily. Minus seventy-five degrees. Minus seventy-eight. Approaching critical failure."We need more cooling," Hope said, studying the readouts. "The container was designed for stationary storage, not transport. The vibration from the helicopter is accelerating the warming.""How long do we have?" Damien asked."At current rate? Six hours. Maybe seven. Then the reversal sequence denatures. Becomes completely useless. Four million children stay modified forever."Torres was on her phone, speaking rapidly. "I am calling every contact I have. FBI. CIA. Interpol. Someone has to h
The facility lights flickered. We were halfway to sub-level three when the first explosion rocked the building."They are through the main door," Torres said. "We have maybe three minutes before they reach us.""Keep moving," Victoria commanded.We ran down sterile corridors. Everything was white. Clean. Horrifying in its clinical perfection. This was where Marcus had played god. Where he had broken people and rebuilt them into weapons.Hope led the way, navigating from memory. Nine years old and she knew every corner of this nightmare facility.Another explosion. Closer this time. Dust rained from the ceiling.Then we heard it. Screaming. Inhuman screaming. From multiple directions."The containment systems are failing," Hope said. "The subjects are waking up. We need to move faster."We reached a stairwell. Started descending. That is when we heard the motorcycles.The sound was impossible. Underground facility. No vehicle access. But the roar of engines was unmistakable. Getting lo
Victoria's transport drove for three hours before she finally spoke."We have a problem."Damien tensed. "What kind of problem?""The vaccine recall failed. Twenty percent of the shipments were already administered before I could stop them. Four million children. Modified. Permanently."The number hit like a physical blow. Four million. Four million children now carrying Marcus's genetic slavery embedded in their DNA."Can they be treated?" I asked."Unknown. The genetic modification I developed was for adults. Children's DNA is more plastic, more susceptible to change. The alterations might be permanent. Or they might naturally degrade as the children grow. We will not know for years."Hope spoke for the first time since leaving. "They can be treated. I built in a reversal sequence. A genetic key that can undo the modifications. But it requires a second injection within seventy-two hours. After that, the changes become permanent."Everyone stared at her."You built in a reversal?" Vi
The bullet missed.Hope's hand jerked at the last second. The shot went wide, slamming into the wall beside Damien's head."I missed," Hope whispered, staring at her shaking hand. "I never miss. Grandfather made me perfect. I never miss.""You did not miss." Damien lowered his weapon, stepping closer. "You chose not to hit me. There is a difference.""No. That is impossible. My programming does not allow choices. My genetics do not permit disobedience. I am hardwired to eliminate threats. You are a threat. I should have killed you without hesitation."Torres kept her gun trained on Hope. "Damien, she is too dangerous. We need to neutralize her now.""She is nine years old, Rebecca.""She is a genetically modified psychopath who has been planning to enslave the human race. Age is irrelevant."Hope laughed. It sounded wrong. Too adult. Too cold. "Agent Torres is correct. I am dangerous. I have already shipped twenty million vaccine doses. Twenty million children will be modified within
The first vaccines shipped on Tuesday.Fifty thousand doses. Africa. Asia. South America. Poor regions. Desperate regions. Places where people trusted—Ashford Foundation. Trusted help. Trusted—Hope.I watched the trucks leave. Carrying genetic modification. Carrying—Doom. For fifty thousand children. First wave. First—Victory.Hope stood beside me. Nine years old now. One year since Marcus died. One year of—Her rule. Her expansion. Her—Perfect planning."By next month—five hundred thousand doses. By next year—fifty million. By decade—" She smiled. Nine years old. "Everyone. Every child. All modified. All—ours."But something was wrong.My phone buzzed. Message from unknown number. Should have deleted. Should have—Ignored. But opened it anyway.Video file. Encrypted. Took thirty seconds to decrypt. Then—Damien.Alive. Impossible. But there. On screen. Real. Speaking."Flora. If you are seeing this—I survived. Barely. Marcus kept me alive. Drugged. Imprisoned. For four years. Bu







