Chapter 14 - The Final Confession
Julian closed the distance, the scalpel held with surgical precision despite his shaking hands. He didn't look at Elena anymore. His eyes were fixed on Lily, looking at his daughter not as flesh and blood, but as a piece of defective equipment that needed to be decommissioned.
""Step away from her, Elena,"" Julian commanded softly. ""Or I will sever your carotid artery before you can take another breath.""
""Julian, please... she's your daughter,"" Elena begged, stalling, her eyes darting across the dark floor searching for any weapon, any advantage. Her hands brushed against the debris near the console—and found the audio dictation recorder Julian had dropped earlier. The red recording light was still glowing silently.
""She is an asset,"" Julian hissed, stepping within striking distance. ""She was designed to be the proof of concept. Do you think it was an accident she was born with that specific genetic marker? I selected your lineage specifically for this trial. Your family's neurological history made her the perfect candidate. You were never my wife, Elena. You were an incubator.""
The cold, monstrous revelation hung in the air like poison.
Behind Julian, a bloodied hand shot out from the floor, grabbing his ankle with iron force.
David was alive.
Julian stumbled, his balance compromised by his broken arm. In that split second, Elena didn't cower. She stepped forward, driving the hard corner of the digital voice recorder straight into Julian’s eye socket.
Julian screamed in agony, dropping the scalpel as his hands flew to his face.
Elena caught the falling blade in mid-air. She didn't stab him. Instead, she drove the point of the scalpel directly into the primary hydraulic valve of the heavy fire-suppression system behind him.
High-pressure carbon dioxide gas exploded from the severed valve with a deafening roar, blast-freezing Julian’s chest and face with sub-zero chemical mist. The force of the decompression blasted Julian backward through the shattered glass partition of the observation booth, where he collapsed among the broken shards, gasping for oxygen in a cloud of freezing vapor.
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Elena scooped Lily into her arms, grabbed the audio recorder, and pulled David to his feet.
""Move!"" she screamed over the blaring sirens that suddenly sprang to life as the facility’s automated disaster containment protocols engaged. ""The whole sector is locking down!""
