Chapter 5: The Laboratory of Forgotten Souls
Chapter 5: The Laboratory of Forgotten Souls
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The hidden lab beneath Rosengard was a labyrinth of steel and glass, its corridors lined with containment units that hummed with eerie vitality. Seraphina's flashlight beam danced over the walls, revealing faded labels: *Subject Alpha*, *Subject Beta*, *Subject Omega*.
Lucian trailed behind her, his gun drawn but his expression unreadable. "This place… it's a graveyard."
"No," Seraphina murmured, her voice hollow. "It's a nursery."
At the end of the corridor, a single containment unit glowed faintly. Inside, a child sat cross-legged on the floor, her dark hair a tangled curtain over her face. She couldn't have been older than six.
Seraphina's breath hitched. "Hello?"
The child looked up, her eyes a mirror of Seraphina's own—stormy gray with silver flecks.
"Mother," the child whispered.
The word struck like a thunderclap. Seraphina staggered back, her mind reeling. *This isn't possible.*
Lucian stepped forward, his voice steady. "What's your name?"
The child tilted her head, her gaze unnervingly ancient. "I am Subject Omega. But you can call me… *Aanya*."
Seraphina's knees buckled. Lucian caught her, his grip firm.
"This is a trick," she hissed. "Xavier's playing with my head."
The child pressed a small hand against the glass. "You don't remember, do you? The lab. The needles. The *pain*."
Seraphina's vision blurred. Fragments of memory surged—white coats, blinding lights, a voice screaming her name. *Aanya.*
"You're not real," she whispered.
The child smiled, her teeth too sharp for innocence. "I'm as real as you are, Mother. And soon, he'll come for us both."
**Eleanor's Betrayal**
Aboveground, Eleanor Vance stood in Xavier's office, her cerulean eyes gleaming with triumph. "They've found the lab."
Xavier leaned back in his chair, his violet eyes alight with amusement. "And?"
"And the child," Eleanor said, her voice trembling with excitement. "She's perfect. Just as you predicted."
Xavier steepled his fingers. "Seraphina will break. And when she does, she'll be mine."
Eleanor hesitated. "What about Lucian?"
Xavier's smile turned feral. "Let him play the hero. Heroes always die first."
**The Lab's Secrets**
Seraphina and Lucian combed through the lab's records, their findings a tapestry of horror. Project Aanya wasn't an experiment—it was a *resurrection*.
"They cloned you," Lucian said, his voice tight. "Or… parts of you. Your memories, your consciousness. They implanted them into Seraphina Vale's body after her death."
Seraphina stared at the child—*Aanya*—who now slept fitfully in her containment unit. "Why?"
"Because you were the best," Lucian said, his gaze piercing. "A world-renowned surgeon. A prodigy. They wanted to replicate your mind, your skills. But something went wrong."
"Wrong?" Seraphina echoed.
Lucian handed her a file. The photo on the first page made her blood run cold.
It was her—Aanya Malhotra—lying on an operating table, her body hooked to machines. The date stamped on the file was six months before Seraphina Vale's "death."
"You were dying," Lucian said quietly. "A terminal illness. They tried to save you by transferring your consciousness into a new body. But the process… it wasn't perfect."
Seraphina's hands trembled. "So I'm not Seraphina. I'm… a copy."
"No," Lucian said firmly. "You're *you*. Aanya. Seraphina. It doesn't matter. What matters is what you do now."
The child stirred, her voice a haunting whisper. "He's coming."
**Xavier's Arrival**
The lab's lights flickered, then died. Emergency generators kicked in, casting the room in crimson gloom.
Xavier's voice echoed through the speakers, smooth and mocking. "Did you miss me, little sparrow?"
Seraphina's grip tightened on the scalpel she'd taken from the lab. "Show yourself, you coward."
He materialized from the shadows, his violet eyes gleaming. "Such fire. I've missed it."
Lucian stepped between them, his gun aimed at Xavier's chest. "This ends now."
Xavier laughed. "Oh, Detective. You're adorable when you're angry."
The child—Aanya—screamed, her voice a piercing wail. The containment unit shattered, glass raining down like shards of ice.
Xavier's grin widened. "And so it begins."
**End of Chapter 5**