Chapter 10 - SUBJECT TWELVE
The fetus was twenty-two weeks developed inside an experimental artificial womb.
Helix Crown claimed the program was for premature infant research.
The Mercer files revealed something else.
Eggs taken from me during unauthorized procedures had been fertilized using selected donors.
Twelve male embryos were created.
Eleven failed.
Subject Twelve survived.
Genetically, he was my son.
I had never consented to his creation.
Sarah wanted the chamber shut down.
Eleanor wanted the child protected.
Helix Crown’s board wanted the research preserved.
Diane wanted the boy recognized as Mercer heir.
Everyone spoke about him as property.
No one asked what life he would have if he survived.
Federal agents raided the laboratory.
The chambers were gone.
Sarah and Eleanor had been forced to move before sending the video.
Ortiz found blood on the floor and a broken phone.
Helix Crown’s security director, Aaron Pike, disappeared with a refrigerated transport vehicle.
The route led toward a private research facility in Nevada.
Rebecca obtained federal warrants.
Then Diane offered a deal from jail.
She knew where Pike was going.
In exchange, she wanted immunity from murder charges and recognition as guardian of Subject Twelve.
I visited her behind glass.
She looked smaller without the dining room, the stick, and the ancestral portraits.
“You created him,” I said.
“I preserved our future.”
“He is not your future.”
“He is my grandson.”
“He is my son.”
Diane smiled.
“Now you understand why daughters matter.”
The cruelty was complete.
Girls were worthless until their bodies could produce boys.
I ended the visit.
Diane shouted after me.
“You will need me when he starts dying!”
Dr. Brooks reviewed the artificial womb data.
Subject Twelve had a severe heart defect.
Only one known genetic match could provide the cellular therapy needed.
May you like
My unborn daughter.
The girl Diane tried to erase was the only person who could save the grandson she worshipped.
