Chapter 19 - MARCUS LEARNED HIS FATHER CREATED EDEN—BUT THE WILL HIDDEN UNDER HIS NAME WAS WRITTEN FOR SOFIA
Marcus did not react immediately.
“My father was a mechanic.”
Arthur shook his head.
“Your adoptive father.”
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
“Don't.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, you're not.”
Marcus stepped forward.
Daniel moved between them.
“Marcus.”
“I spent my life protecting this family.”
“I know.”
“And now you're telling me my biological father built the program that destroyed half of them?”
Arthur answered quietly.
“Yes.”
Marcus laughed once.
Then walked outside.
Sofia followed.
Rain had weakened to mist.
Marcus stood beside the swimming pool.
“You don't have to talk.”
“Good.”
Sofia waited.
After a minute, Marcus spoke anyway.
“My father taught me to change oil.”
“Adoptive father.”
Marcus looked at her.
“My father.”
Sofia smiled faintly.
“Good correction.”
He understood.
“You know.”
“Yes.”
“Does biology matter at all?”
“It matters.”
Sofia looked at the water.
“It just doesn't get to erase everything else.”
Marcus nodded.
They returned inside.
Arthur explained Director Gray.
Real name:
Dr. Nathaniel Cole.
Marcus froze at the surname.
His birth certificate listed father unknown.
Mother: Laura Cole.
Laura had died shortly after childbirth.
Nathaniel Gray had used his mother’s surname professionally to hide his identity.
Project Eden began with Nathaniel’s research into genetic repair.
Initially legitimate.
Then wealthy investors became interested in enhancement.
Longer lifespan.
Disease resistance.
Cognitive resilience.
Nathaniel resisted.
Then compromised.
Then crossed lines.
Sofia asked:
“Why does Marcus own the last patent?”
“Because Nathaniel protected it from investors.”
“What does it do?”
Arthur hesitated.
“Corrects a specific DNA repair defect.”
“That sounds useful.”
“It is.”
“Then why hide it?”
“Because the delivery mechanism can also alter reproductive cells.”
Silence.
Germline editing.
Changes inherited by future children.
Marcus stared at the laptop.
“I don't want it.”
Sofia nodded.
“Then transfer it.”
The attorney tried.
Blocked.
Patent transfer required fulfillment of Nathaniel Cole’s private will.
Marcus laughed.
“Of course there's a will.”
They opened it.
Video.
Nathaniel appeared.
Middle-aged.
Calm.
He looked surprisingly like Marcus.
“If my son is watching this…”
Marcus froze.
“…then Eden failed.”
Nathaniel continued.
“Marcus, I am sorry.”
Marcus looked away.
“I left because men with money wanted my work.”
Sofia listened.
Nathaniel had hidden Marcus with an adoptive family.
He believed distance would protect him.
Then he made the mistake everyone in this story seemed to make.
He decided for the child.
Nathaniel continued.
“The E-0 vector cannot belong to one person.”
Marcus whispered:
“Then why leave it to me?”
The video answered.
“Because only you can destroy it.”
A code appeared.
But transfer required a witness.
Not Daniel.
Not Arthur.
Not an attorney.
Sofia Ramirez.
Sofia frowned.
“I wasn't born when he recorded this.”
Arthur checked the date.
Twenty-five years ago.
Sofia had been an infant.
“How did Nathaniel know my name?”
Nobody knew.
Nathaniel continued.
“Sofia is Luis Ramirez’s daughter.”
Sofia’s eyes filled.
Not biological.
Nathaniel used Luis’s definition.
“If she grows into the person Luis believes she can become, trust her.”
Sofia covered her mouth.
Marcus looked at her.
Nathaniel continued.
“If she does not…”
He smiled sadly.
“…then she'll refuse to help you anyway.”
Sofia laughed through tears.
Luis had apparently told everyone she would be difficult.
Correctly.
The destruction protocol required Marcus and Sofia to travel to Eden’s original laboratory.
Location:
Beneath St. Catherine Medical Center.
Abandoned.
Scheduled for demolition in two days.
Daniel immediately said:
“I'm coming.”
The will denied access to anyone except patent owner and witness.
Daniel frowned.
“I hate old lawyers.”
Sofia smiled.
“Stay.”
He looked at her.
“You sure?”
“No.”
“Good answer.”
Marcus and Sofia traveled with federal agents.
The laboratory sat beneath an abandoned hospital.
Dust.
Rust.
Old fluorescent lights.
They entered using Nathaniel’s code.
Inside were hundreds of empty glass cabinets.
Marcus stared.
“My father built this.”
Sofia looked at him.
“You didn't.”
He nodded.
At the center stood a steel console.
Marcus inserted his fingerprint.
Sofia provided hers.
The system activated.
DESTROY E-0 VECTOR?
YES / NO.
Marcus looked at Sofia.
“Yes.”
“Definitely.”
He pressed it.
Nothing.
Then:
SECONDARY ARCHIVE DETECTED.
Sofia frowned.
“What archive?”
A wall opened.
Inside were hundreds of vials.
Marcus stared.
“No.”
Human samples.
Original Eden subjects.
Including Isabella.
Elias.
Margaret.
And one:
SOFIA RAMIREZ.
Sofia’s blood went cold.
“How did they get this?”
Date:
Two days after her birth.
Marcus whispered:
“They've had your DNA your entire life.”
Sofia reached toward the vial.
Then stopped.
Evidence.
Federal agents would need it.
Another vial.
DANIEL HAWTHORNE.
VICTORIA ASHFORD.
CLAIRE KANE.
Every major person.
Then one labeled:
GRAY, NATHANIEL.
Marcus stared at his biological father’s sample.
The system displayed:
E-0 VECTOR SOURCE.
Sofia frowned.
“Nathaniel tested it on himself.”
Arthur had not told them that.
Marcus looked sick.
“Was he Subject Zero medically?”
Maybe.
Then another record.
E-0 EXPOSURE: SUCCESSFUL.
OFFSPRING MONITORING REQUIRED.
Marcus stared.
“Offspring.”
Him.
The patent wasn't merely left to Marcus because he was Nathaniel’s son.
Marcus himself might carry the modified gene.
Sofia looked at him.
“You need testing.”
“No.”
“Marcus.”
“I've been tested my whole life.”
“Not with consent.”
He looked at her.
That landed.
“You're right.”
They agreed.
Independent testing later.
Then footsteps echoed behind them.
Federal agents shouted.
Gunfire.
Marcus pulled Sofia behind the console.
A woman entered.
Catherine Ashford.
Alive.
Real.
Victoria’s mother.
She held a gun.
Sofia stared.
“Catherine.”
“Step away from the console.”
“No.”
Catherine looked at Marcus.
“Your father was a coward.”
Marcus’s expression hardened.
“Maybe.”
“He could have changed humanity.”
“He experimented on people.”
“He cured people.”
“Both can be true.”
Sofia recognized her own words reflected through Marcus.
Catherine aimed at the destruction controls.
“You cannot destroy E-0.”
Sofia stood.
“Why?”
“Because I'm dying.”
Silence.
Catherine lowered the gun slightly.
She had a degenerative genetic condition.
E-0 was the only treatment that had ever stopped it.
Without access, months.
Maybe weeks.
Victoria’s mother had spent decades protecting Eden partly because Eden kept her alive.
Sofia understood.
That did not excuse her.
But it complicated her.
“Put the gun down.”
Catherine cried.
“I don't want to die.”
Sofia’s voice softened.
“Neither did the people Eden experimented on.”
“I know.”
“Then don't become the person who sacrifices them to save yourself.”
Catherine’s hand shook.
Marcus looked at the console.
“We don't have to destroy the treatment.”
Sofia turned.
“What?”
“We destroy ownership.”
He understood the distinction.
Make E-0 open-source.
Public.
No private control.
Catherine stared.
“You can do that?”
The attorney had said patent destruction was one option.
But abandonment into public domain was another.
Sofia smiled.
“Better.”
Marcus selected:
RELEASE TO PUBLIC DOMAIN.
Catherine lowered the gun.
The system processed.
E-0 became publicly accessible.
No owner.
No monopoly.
No Eden.
Catherine collapsed into tears.
Federal agents arrested her.
Before they took her away, she looked at Sofia.
“Tell Victoria…”
Sofia waited.
“I loved her.”
Sofia shook her head.
“Tell her yourself.”
Catherine looked surprised.
“You're alive.”
Sofia continued.
“You don't get to turn me into your goodbye letter.”
Catherine almost smiled.
Then she was taken away.
Marcus exhaled.
“Done.”
Sofia looked around.
“Maybe.”
The console beeped.
One hidden file remained.
NATHANIEL COLE — PERSONAL.
Marcus opened it.
A photograph.
Nathaniel holding a baby.
Marcus.
Beside him stood Luis Ramirez.
And behind them—
a young Charles Hawthorne.
Nathaniel’s note:
IF MARCUS EVER FINDS THIS, TELL HIM THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLES.
Marcus frowned.
“What truth?”
Another file.
DNA PATERNITY REPORT.
Marcus opened it.
His face changed.
Sofia stared.
“What?”
Marcus handed her the report.
Nathaniel Cole was not Marcus’s biological father.
Charles Hawthorne was.
Sofia stopped breathing.
Marcus stared into the darkness of the laboratory.
And whispered:
“Then why did Nathaniel call me his son?”
From behind them, an old speaker suddenly activated.
Nathaniel Cole’s recorded voice answered:
“Because Charles asked me to raise you.”
Marcus turned.
The recording continued.
“And because I loved you more than he ever could.”
Then the final sentence:
“But if Charles told the truth before he died, Marcus already knows why he was placed inside Hawthorne security.”
Sofia looked at Marcus.
He looked equally confused.
Until his face suddenly changed.
A memory.
“What?”
Marcus whispered:
“Charles gave me an order.”
“When?”
“The night before he died.”
“What order?”
Marcus looked at Sofia.
“To protect a woman I had never met.”
Sofia’s heart pounded.
“Who?”
Marcus stared.
May you like
“Isabella Ramirez.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
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