The screen stayed black.
Just one word lingered like a scar across it:
SUBJECT 5B — ISABELLA
Isabella couldn't breathe.
"I'm a clone," she whispered. "I'm not even real."
Adrian's fists clenched. "We don't know that. It could be a lie. A setup."
She shook her head, backing away from the terminal like it might catch fire. "It makes sense. The Protocol… the seizures… the syncing device Cain dropped. I'm not a person—I'm a f**king project."
"You're mine," Adrian growled. "That's all I know. That's all I care about."
But his eyes betrayed him.
Doubt flickered there. Grief. A fracture she saw before he turned away.
That broke her more than the truth ever could.
Elsewhere — The Breach Facility, Under Council Control
Rows of children. Teenagers. Some sedated. Some staring into nothing.
All bloodmarked. All engineered.
Council Member Virelli stared through the glass.
"Activate the Breach," he said. "Purge all failed strands."
A technician typed fast. "But what about Subject 5B?"
"She's already corrupted. Emotionally compromised. She's a threat, not an heir."
Another key was pressed.
PURGE INITIATED
Bloodlines outside Protocol Tier One: MARKED FOR TERMINATION.
Back at the Safehouse — 2:14 a.m.
Isabella stood under the icy shower, clothes still on, trying to feel something.
Adrian burst in, phone in hand. "We have a problem."
She didn't turn. "Another one?"
"The Council's initiated the Breach. They're wiping out every bloodline they didn't approve. Families. Children. They're burning the world to keep control."
She stepped out, dripping, shaking. "Let them. If I'm not real, why should I care about their rules?"
"Because you're more than code, Isa."
She looked up, eyes hollow. "I thought I was the cure. Turns out I'm just another disease."
Adrian grabbed her wrists. "Then be the mutation. Be what they can't control."
She closed the distance between them.
Their foreheads touched.
And then she kissed him—slow, deep, with a kind of desperation that went deeper than sex. Like she needed to be claimed, anchored, reminded she still existed.
Adrian responded with force.
He lifted her against the wall, tore the wet fabric from her skin, hands mapping her body like it held all the answers.
She moaned into his mouth.
"This doesn't change who you are," he growled. "They don't get to define you. I do."
"Then make me real."
He did.
Right there, against the stone—no softness, no hesitation. Just raw, breathless proof that whatever she was… she was his.
After — 4:00 a.m.
She lay on the bed, bruised and alive. Adrian beside her, silent.
Then the knock came.
Three sharp raps.
Adrian was up in an instant, gun in hand. Isabella pulled on the nearest shirt.
The door opened.
Cain stood there—shirtless, blood at his temple, but calm as ice.
"You want answers?" he asked. "Come with me."
Adrian raised the gun. "You think we're just going to trust you now?"
"I don't care what you trust. I care what's coming." Cain stepped forward. "The Breach isn't just about killing the bloodlines. It's about replacing them. With clones like us. But not all clones are equal."
Isabella crossed her arms. "Then why are you here?"
"Because I read the rest of the file." His eyes locked onto hers. "I'm not Subject 5B."
Silence.
"You are," she said.
Cain tossed a data chip on the table. "No. I'm Subject 5B. I was the one spliced from Luciana. You were created from… someone else. Someone they erased."
Adrian picked up the chip. "Then what's she?"
Cain smiled—slow and dangerous.
"She's the anomaly."
Council Chambers — Emergency Broadcast Room
A red alert flashed across all communication lines.
UNKNOWN SIGNATURE DETECTED. BREACH PROTOCOL COMPROMISED.
The technician paled. "Sir, we've lost control of the Breach. The signal is overriding our commands."
Virelli snapped, "From where?"
"Unknown. But it's syncing with Subject 5B's neural architecture."
Virelli's mouth dried.
"Then the clone isn't the threat."
The other Council members looked at each other.
"She is."
Back at the Safehouse — Dawn
Isabella paced. Her body was humming again—not with fear, but with a kind of power. Surging. Rebellious.
Adrian inserted the new chip. The screen flickered.
This time, it wasn't Julian's voice.
It was Luciana.
"If you're watching this, Cain has already lied. You're not Subject 5B. He is. You were built in secret. Off-grid. From a donor we couldn't control. That's why the Council fears you. You can't be coded. You can't be erased."
Isabella's hand trembled.
"You are the anomaly," Luciana said. "The first and last of your kind. No backup. No clone. No override."
The message ended.
Cain met her eyes. "Now you understand. You're not like me. You're worse."
Adrian looked at her—truly looked—and something like awe crossed his face.
"You're not the heir," he whispered. "You're the extinction event."