Chapter 8 - THE MAN I HATED BROUGHT MY SON BACK
Julian chose the meeting place.
A church parking lot in Oak Park.
Public.
Cameras.
Police nearby but out of sight.
Emily waited beside Adrian.
Every minute felt like a year.
Then an old blue sedan entered the lot.
Passenger door opened.
Evan jumped out.
“Mom!”
The word stopped Emily’s heart.
Not Ms. Carter.
Mom.
He ran.
Emily dropped to her knees and caught him.
His arms wrapped around her neck.
She cried into his hair.
“I knew you’d find me.”
“You left the robot.”
“Yes.”
“Smart boy.”
“Father says I’m not supposed to brag.”
Adrian reached them.
Evan threw one arm around him too.
For several seconds, the three of them stayed tangled together on the pavement.
A family with no language yet for what they were.
Then Emily looked at the car.
Julian sat behind the wheel.
Older.
Scar across one cheek.
Eyes she once loved.
Now she felt nothing simple.
He stepped out slowly with both hands visible.
Adrian’s security moved.
Julian stopped.
“I’m unarmed.”
Emily stood.
“Why did you take him?”
“I didn’t.”
“School footage—”
“Simon took him. I followed.”
“How?”
“I’ve been following Simon for four years.”
Emily wanted to strike him.
Instead, she asked:
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“Because Simon monitored you.”
“You keep saying you protected me.”
“I know.”
“You don’t get to use that word.”
Julian lowered his eyes.
“No.”
Good.
Evan was taken to a secure vehicle with Martin.
Only after he was safely away did Emily continue.
“What does Simon want?”
Julian handed her a drive.
“The complete Helix archive.”
“We already have part of it.”
“Not this part.”
The drive documented the original program.
Dominic Kane had funded Helix for genetic disease prevention.
Simon transformed it into unauthorized embryo creation.
Julian helped.
Emily stared at him.
“You weren’t just monitoring me.”
“No.”
“You knew from the beginning.”
“Yes.”
“You knew during my procedure.”
His face tightened.
“Yes.”
Emily’s stomach turned.
“You knew they transferred an embryo into me without my consent.”
“I learned afterward.”
“When?”
“Two weeks later.”
“And you still approached me.”
“I was ordered to.”
“Stop saying ordered like you were a machine.”
Julian looked destroyed.
“I know.”
Adrian spoke.
“Why was my signature forged on medical consents?”
“Because Simon wanted longitudinal data.”
“You witnessed them.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was still inside his network.”
Emily laughed bitterly.
“The heroic spy defense?”
“No.”
Julian looked at her.
“I did terrible things before I started trying to undo them.”
That answer she could accept more than excuses.
“What happened with Sarah?”
Julian’s face changed.
“She found me.”
“And?”
“We were going to expose everything.”
“Then she died.”
“Yes.”
“Simon?”
“I believe so.”
“You believe?”
“I never proved it.”
Adrian asked:
“What does Simon mean by proving Evan wasn’t an accident?”
Julian opened a final file.
PROJECT MERIDIAN.
Emily stared at the name.
“That’s my company.”
“Your company did not exist when the project started.”
“Then why call it Meridian?”
“Because you used that word in your Helix psychological intake.”
Emily remembered.
Question: How do you describe your life goal?
Answer: Find the meridian between intelligence and usefulness. Build something that matters.
Simon had stolen the word.
Julian continued.
“He selected you intentionally.”
Emily felt sick.
“For my genetics?”
“And your intellect.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“And me?”
“Your family line. Resources. Health profile.”
“So Evan was designed.”
Julian shook his head.
“No child can be designed that precisely. But Simon believed he could improve probabilities.”
Emily looked at her son’s car.
Evan was seven.
Loved dinosaurs.
Hated peas.
Talked to hotel strangers because they looked lonely.
He was not a project.
Not a probability.
Not evidence.
“He’s a child.”
“Yes.”
“Then why does Simon need us together?”
Julian looked at Adrian.
“Because he created more embryos.”
Silence.
“How many?” Emily asked.
“Twelve.”
Her breath stopped.
“What happened to them?”
“Some failed.”
“And the others?”
Julian swallowed.
“Three were frozen.”
Emily’s hands shook.
“And?”
“One was implanted.”
“When?”
“Four months ago.”
“Into whom?”
Julian looked at her.
“I don’t know.”
May you like
Then he said the part that changed everything.
“Simon is trying to create Evan’s full biological sibling.”
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