PART 6: Kind CEO Gave Poor Begger His $1M Card… What She Did Next Was More Shocking
Part 6: The Shot in the Darkness
The gun fired.
For one horrifying second, Ethan didn’t move.
Ariana stood directly in front of him, her arm extended, her eyes wide with terror.
The sound of the bullet seemed to echo forever through the underground tunnel.
Then Ethan heard a groan behind him.
He turned.
Daniel was standing several feet away.
Blood slowly spread across his shirt.
He looked down at his chest in disbelief.
Then his knees buckled.
“Daniel!”
Ethan rushed toward him.
Marcus caught Daniel before he hit the ground.
Ariana dropped the gun.
“No…”
Her hands were shaking violently.
“No, no, no.”
Ethan looked at her.
She was crying.
“I didn’t mean to shoot him.”
Ethan stared at the bullet hole in Daniel’s chest.
“You shot him.”
Ariana looked horrified.
“I couldn’t control myself.”
Nathaniel stood at the other end of the tunnel, holding the small remote control.
His expression was calm.
Almost amused.
“Exactly.”
Ethan turned toward him.
“You did this.”
Nathaniel smiled.
“I warned you.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“You used her.”
“I activated something that was already inside her.”
Ariana looked at her wrist.
“What did you put inside me?”
Nathaniel shook his head.
“Not me.”
“My mother?”
“Your mother was trying to protect you.”
Ariana’s eyes narrowed.
“From you?”
“From everyone.”
Nathaniel slowly raised the remote again.
Ariana suddenly grabbed her head.
A sharp pain shot through her skull.
She screamed.
“Ethan!”
He ran toward her.
Nathaniel pressed the button again.
Ariana collapsed.
Ethan caught her.
“Stop!”
Nathaniel lowered the remote.
“Now you understand.”
Ethan looked up.
“If you touch her again, I’ll kill you.”
Nathaniel laughed.
“You still think you’re in control.”
Marcus rushed toward Daniel.
“He’s alive.”
Ethan looked over.
“How bad?”
“Bullet went through the shoulder.”
Daniel opened his eyes.
“Don’t…”
Ethan leaned closer.
“What?”
Daniel whispered:
“Don’t trust him.”
He pointed weakly toward Nathaniel.
“He’s lying.”
Nathaniel smiled.
“Of course he would say that.”
Daniel coughed.
“He always lies.”
Ariana slowly opened her eyes.
“Ethan?”
“I’m here.”
She looked terrified.
“I hurt him.”
“You didn’t choose to.”
“But I pulled the trigger.”
“Because he controlled you.”
Ariana looked at Nathaniel.
“Why?”
Nathaniel stared at her.
“Because you were always the key.”
“The key to what?”
He didn’t answer.
Instead, a loud alarm suddenly began echoing through the tunnel.
Marcus looked toward the ceiling.
“What’s happening?”
Nathaniel’s expression changed.
“The facility is shutting down.”
Daniel tried to stand.
“We have to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because when it shuts down, every door locks.”
Marcus looked at Nathaniel.
“How long?”
Nathaniel glanced at the clock.
“Six minutes.”
Ethan grabbed Ariana’s hand.
“Then we move.”
They began running.
Marcus carried Daniel over his shoulder while Ethan helped Ariana.
Nathaniel followed behind them.
Ariana looked back.
“Why is he coming with us?”
Ethan shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Nathaniel answered for him.
“Because I know the way out.”
They reached a massive steel door.
Marcus tried the control panel.
Nothing happened.
“Locked.”
Nathaniel walked forward.
He entered a code.
The door opened.
Ethan stared.
“You knew the code.”
“I built the system.”
Marcus looked at him.
“You built this facility?”
Nathaniel smiled.
“I built the original one.”
Ariana suddenly stopped.
“Original?”
Nathaniel continued walking.
“There were three.”
Ethan frowned.
“Three vaults?”
“Three facilities.”
“Where are the others?”
Nathaniel didn’t answer.
Daniel suddenly spoke.
“One is beneath the Carter headquarters.”
Ethan looked at him.
“What?”
Daniel nodded.
“The second is beneath the old hospital where you were treated.”
Ariana’s face went pale.
“The hospital?”
Daniel nodded.
“And the third…”
He stopped.
“Where?”
Daniel looked at Nathaniel.
“Ask him.”
Nathaniel continued walking.
“The third doesn’t matter.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s gone.”
Ariana stared at him.
“What happened?”
Nathaniel looked over his shoulder.
“Your mother destroyed it.”
Ariana froze.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she discovered what was inside.”
“What was inside?”
Nathaniel didn’t answer.
They finally reached the surface.
The tunnel opened behind an abandoned warehouse several hundred yards from the old house.
The storm had become violent.
Lightning flashed across the sky.
Nathaniel walked toward an old black car.
Ethan stopped him.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
Nathaniel turned.
“You can’t keep me here.”
“Why not?”
“Because you don’t understand what happens if I die.”
Ethan narrowed his eyes.
“What happens?”
Nathaniel smiled.
“The network activates.”
Silence.
Marcus immediately raised his weapon.
“Is that a threat?”
“No.”
Nathaniel looked at Ethan.
“It’s a warning.”
He stepped into the car.
Ethan rushed toward him.
Nathaniel closed the door.
The vehicle sped away.
Ethan stood in the rain watching the taillights disappear.
Marcus lowered his weapon.
“We should have stopped him.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Ethan turned.
“Why?”
“Because he’s telling the truth.”
Ariana looked at Daniel.
“What network?”
Daniel slowly sat against the warehouse wall.
“Helix.”
Marcus frowned.
“Explain.”
Daniel took a breath.
“Helix wasn’t just a company.”
“What was it?”
“A system.”
“What kind?”
Daniel looked at Ethan.
“A system designed to influence people.”
Ethan stared.
“Politicians?”
“Some.”
“Business leaders?”
“Many.”
“Military?”
“Yes.”
Ariana felt sick.
“How?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Through information.”
He pointed toward the abandoned warehouse.
“Financial records. Medical records. Communications. Secrets.”
Marcus’s expression hardened.
“Blackmail.”
Daniel nodded.
“Exactly.”
Ethan stared at him.
“So the vault contains blackmail.”
“Partly.”
“What else?”
Daniel looked away.
“Names.”
“Whose names?”
“People who don’t officially exist.”
Ariana frowned.
“Like you?”
Daniel nodded.
“Like me.”
Ethan stared at his brother.
“What did they do to you?”
Daniel smiled sadly.
“They taught me how to disappear.”
“What does that mean?”
“I never had a normal identity.”
He looked down.
“No school records. No birth certificate. No passport.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
“You didn’t exist.”
“Exactly.”
Ariana sat beside him.
“And Ethan?”
Daniel looked at him.
“He existed.”
“Why?”
“Because he was the one they wanted to test.”
Ethan stared at him.
“Test what?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Whether a human being could be conditioned to obey a command without knowing they were obeying it.”
Ariana felt a chill.
“And did it work?”
Daniel looked at Ethan.
“Almost.”
Ethan stepped backward.
“What do you mean?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Your father stopped the experiment.”
“But why?”
“Because he realized what they were creating.”
Ethan stared at the ground.
“Me.”
Daniel nodded.
“But you weren’t the only one.”
Ethan looked up.
“How many?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
“How many?”
“Thirty-seven.”
Ariana’s eyes widened.
“Thirty-seven children?”
Daniel nodded.
“Thirty-seven subjects.”
“And where are they now?”
Daniel looked toward the dark sky.
“Some are dead.”
“And the others?”
“They’re living normal lives.”
Ethan frowned.
“They don’t know?”
“No.”
“Then why are they dangerous?”
Daniel’s expression became serious.
“Because someone can activate them.”
Ariana’s stomach tightened.
“Like me.”
Daniel nodded.
“But you’re different.”
“How?”
“You don’t activate them.”
“What do I do?”
“You can stop them.”
Ariana looked confused.
Daniel continued.
“That’s why Helix wants you.”
“And why Nathaniel wanted me?”
“Yes.”
Ethan suddenly remembered something.
“The card.”
He pulled the black card from his pocket.
Daniel’s face changed.
“Where did you get that?”
Ethan stared at him.
“My father gave it to me.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“Your father didn’t give you that card.”
Ethan froze.
“I found it in my father’s desk when I was eighteen.”
Daniel stared.
“That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because the card was created before you were born.”
Ethan turned it over.
For the first time, he noticed something engraved beneath the symbol.
A date.
1978.
Ariana stared.
“That’s almost fifty years ago.”
Daniel nodded.
“And it was never meant to be used as a credit card.”
Ethan looked at him.
“What is it?”
Daniel took a deep breath.
“The card is an access key.”
“To the vault?”
“To something older.”
“Older than the vault?”
Daniel nodded.
“The original Helix system.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
“Where is it?”
Daniel looked toward the city.
“Under Carter International.”
Ethan immediately reached for his phone.
“I’m going there.”
Marcus stopped him.
“No.”
Ethan turned.
“My father is connected to this.”
“And that’s exactly why it’s dangerous.”
“I need answers.”
“You’ll get yourself killed.”
Ethan looked at Ariana.
She nodded.
“Then we go together.”
Marcus sighed.
“Of course you do.”
They returned to the city before dawn.
Carter International stood at the center of downtown.
The headquarters was a seventy-story glass tower that had become one of the most recognizable buildings in the country.
Ethan had worked there since he was twenty-two.
He knew every floor.
Every security entrance.
Every executive office.
But he had never known what was beneath it.
At 4:37 a.m., they entered through an underground parking garage.
Ethan used his biometric access.
The elevator descended.
Floor B1.
B2.
B3.
Then B4.
The elevator continued.
Ethan frowned.
“There are no floors below B4.”
Daniel looked at the display.
“Not officially.”
The elevator stopped.
The doors opened.
A dark hallway stretched ahead.
Ariana whispered:
“How old is this?”
Daniel looked at the walls.
“Older than the building.”
They walked forward.
At the end was a massive steel door.
Ethan pulled out the black card.
He pressed it against the scanner.
Nothing happened.
Daniel stepped forward.
“Use your hand.”
Ethan placed his palm against the panel.
A red light appeared.
Then another.
The system spoke.
“SUBJECT ONE IDENTIFIED.”
Ethan froze.
Ariana looked at him.
“Subject one?”
The system continued.
“GENETIC MATCH CONFIRMED.”
Then:
“SUBJECT TWO REQUIRED.”
Ariana stepped forward.
She placed her hand beside Ethan’s.
The door unlocked.
But instead of opening, a screen appeared.
A woman’s face appeared.
Ariana’s mother.
She looked younger.
Maybe thirty years old.
She stared into the camera.
“If you’re watching this, then Ethan and Ariana are together.”
Ariana’s eyes filled with tears.
Her mother continued.
“I prayed this day would never come.”
She paused.
“Your grandfather will tell you that he created Helix to protect the world.”
Ariana whispered:
“He didn’t.”
Her mother shook her head.
“He created it to control the world.”
The screen flickered.
“But your father tried to destroy it.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“My father?”
Ariana’s mother nodded.
“Edward discovered the truth.”
She looked directly into the camera.
“He learned that Nathaniel had created a system capable of manipulating people through their genetic profiles.”
Ethan’s face tightened.
“He tried to stop him.”
“He failed.”
The screen suddenly changed.
A file appeared.
PROJECT ECHO.
Ethan stared.
“What is Project Echo?”
His mother’s voice continued.
“Project Echo was designed to create a perfect successor to Nathaniel Carter.”
Ariana looked at Ethan.
Her mother continued.
“And that successor was never supposed to be Ethan.”
The screen went black.
A new image appeared.
A baby.
Then another.
Then another.
Dozens of children.
Ariana stared in horror.
“Those are the subjects.”
Daniel nodded.
“But there’s something else.”
A file appeared.
At the top was a photograph of a young boy.
He looked almost exactly like Ethan.
Ariana’s eyes widened.
“That’s him.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“Who?”
Daniel stared at the image.
“Your brother.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Daniel?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed at the photograph.
“Not me.”
The name appeared beneath the image.
SUBJECT ZERO.
Ethan’s heart stopped.
“Then who is that?”
Daniel’s face went pale.
“I don’t know.”
Ariana looked at the screen.
Then a final line appeared.
SUBJECT ZERO IS ACTIVE.
The room suddenly went dark.
A loud mechanical sound echoed through the underground facility.
Something had awakened.
Marcus raised his weapon.
“Everyone stay together.”
A door opened at the far end of the room.
Footsteps approached.
Slow.
Calm.
Deliberate.
A man stepped into the light.
He was young.
Maybe Ethan’s age.
He had the same eyes.
The same face.
The same scar across his left eye.
But he wasn’t Daniel.
Ethan stared.
The stranger smiled.
“Hello, Ethan.”
Ethan couldn’t speak.
Ariana stepped closer.
“Who are you?”
The man looked at her.
Then smiled.
“You already know.”
Ariana shook her head.
“No.”
The stranger’s smile disappeared.
“Your mother knew.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“What’s your name?”
The man looked at him.
Then answered:
“Lucas.”
Ethan frowned.
“Lucas what?”
The stranger smiled again.
“Lucas Carter.”
Daniel suddenly backed away.
“No.”
Ethan looked at him.
“You know him?”
Daniel’s voice trembled.
“Everyone thought he was dead.”
Lucas laughed.
“Everyone was supposed to think that.”
Ethan stared at the man who looked almost identical to him.
“Why do you look like me?”
Lucas walked closer.
“Because, Ethan…”
He leaned toward him.
“…you were never the original.”
Silence.
Ariana’s face went pale.
Lucas continued.
“You were the copy.”
Ethan’s entire world seemed to stop.
“No.”
Lucas smiled.
“Ask your father.”
Ariana turned toward the screen.
Her mother’s face had disappeared.
A new message appeared.
PROJECT ECHO: FINAL PHASE
Then another line.
SUBJECT ONE: ETHAN CARTER
SUBJECT ZERO: LUCAS CARTER
SUBJECT TWO: ARIANA BROOKS
Beneath it appeared one final warning.
ONLY ONE SUBJECT CAN SURVIVE THE FINAL PHASE.
Ethan stared at the screen.
Ariana grabbed his hand.
Lucas slowly stepped backward into the darkness.
And just before the lights went out again, he whispered:
“Now you finally know why they gave you the limitless card.”
The door slammed shut.
And somewhere beneath the building, a countdown began.
72:00:00
71:59:59
71:59:58
Ethan looked at Ariana.
She looked back at him.
Neither of them knew whether the countdown had started for the experiment…
or for their lives.
