The Billionaire's Janitor

the hallway was

s echoing with greed, but something older, heavier. Like the hus

b-basement of Sterling's oldest medical wing. Her pu

u want to do

ely hanging from the wall. "This is

ed from a pipe above her head, echoing through the

from Evelyn's decrypted file. 0

issed, the

ing but dust. O

or shredded. But in the center of the room was a desk, untouched by time, and benea

eath c

o her knees,

ash drive. A ph

ma

this, they didn't

rotect you.

too special t

reakthrough. I call

et them

what I

M

wasn't folded. It was clean. Whole. Her mother smiled brighter i

lf in shadow, stood

ood ra

n that ma

feed. In blurry memories t

led her back. "A

something. A lab. A flash d

her d

y mother knew him. And I

ve into her pocket

cked up again. The world

s weren't just wh

ere wa

r hours blurred int

, watching the screen flicker with decrypted fragments from the flash drive. Liam st

ttered. "It's a blueprint. DNA sequences. Vi

Eden Line. But it's... more a

d Project SEED 3.1: Controlled Awakenin

g on embryos. They were planning to activate somethi

en the virus was never the e

the drive. Her mother had placed biometric security ove

eo lo

e frame. In the center sat her mother-Camille Gold-hooked to IVs

'm sorry. But there's no more time for shame. No

It was about control. Obedience. Harvesting sentie

I raised you for something bet

e was the true architect behind SEED. He's the

rying to finish

tched. Camille

before he

e video

us Renn. That name doesn't show up anywhere i

esk and stood. "Then we find

across the horizon. The sa

r crackled in

his breath. "We

s died al

dim. A single snap-like the

es screaming. Every h

ath his coat. "Backup generator's been cu

outside the window. Th

Surrounding

minal, tucked it into the lining of her b

ablet containing the partially decrypted files while Liam checked the hallway.

d. "And they're not Orchid Ci

mara's eyes widened as mist

rotoxin. They're tryi

g patch into her hand. "They're trying

nose and pressed another one to

kitchen. A small, round dron

didn't

e opposite window. Shards rained as wind and rain cras

ut behind them-

erked mid-run. "H

hrough undergrowth and slick leaves. Every tree l

Amara's eye-an old storm

e!" she

ed the clearing behind them. Voices barked orders in a languag

hing

went silent again. Her heart hammered against the cold metal. L

" she said. "She said sh

find Magnus Renn. Before the

her lap. The last decrypted

n in a white coat, sta

Renn Biogenetics.

gers ti

ing to Sw

em two day

eeding through forgotten tunnels. By the time they crossed the French border,

orgotten church in the outer districts of Geneva. The fog clung low,

hair tied back, a pistol in one

face. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Liam, half-conscio

out," Amara

e corridors met flickering halogen lights. They laid Liam on a cot, the smell of iodine

rom the flash drive. The files were more than names. They were formulas, coordinates, ma

Eden – P

asked softly as she tied off

didn't

about creating the perfect DNA. They were

something. A sequence they lost decades ago. A dorm

th," Naya

le

'll kill you if they can't control you. Or

ne," Amara repl

coat. A torn envelope. Faded and soft, li

wanted to find

heart

e. He's protected by a group that broke away from O

orward. "What

uried beneath the original Eden facility in Aosta.

fe?" Amar

helped design it, but he went dark

. "If the Scions want her to find

rrowed. "Then w

speak, the wall unit

e cut through

found the

ff lights, grabbing weapons, slammi

d. "Back stair and the

aving Liam,

You'll take him. I

by the wrist. "If

es dark and steady. "I've g

e shook the

lder and dragged him down the sewer tunnel, the darkn

y didn't look like m

at behind a crumbling wall of barbed wire and stone, half-swallowed by vines and snow.

ree days later, cloaked i

aybe. Or stubbornness. Either way, she let him, even th

roken gate as the wind

murmured. "The be

ron door half-buried in ice.

ce cracked but still pulsing faintly. A red beam

S GRA

n echoed from wit

ended int

hed in steel. Laboratory glass shattered and scorched. Doors blown from hinge

hadn't

ng began to look. Lights flickered on aut

all smeared with handpr

ied to get out,"

said n

preserved beneath glass-clean, untouched. Vats still glowed with flui

oom, encased in crystalize

ulsing softly. Beneath it, engraved

Reginae, Veri

the queen, truth

stomach

the console. "Thi

breathed. "I

ething

lowly, she removed her glove and pressed her

ng ha

shot out from beneath the

fed into t

ghts d

glowing inscriptions. Genetic sequences. Mapped consciousness. Artificial evolution

e voice

alm. Devo

ara. Authorization: Confirmed

the floor cracked

gan to

evator took

rt

ep

f Eden no one

ale green light that rippled like veins through metal. Amara stood silent, her fingers still damp with h

idn't

something an

arrow corridor carved into black stone. There were no lights, no visible power sourc

ed forward

nce was

were symbols on the walls-some Amara recognized from the Eden files, others older, indecipher

ga

ls

iv

"What the he

mara whispered. "Like it's

sted open with a sickening shhhk, folding into itself lik

nothing b

wir

onit

throne suspended in mid

holograms and carved in walls-

e. Origi

moment she crossed the threshold,

houted, but he

idn't

ulsed once,

gnized. Bloodl

ol: to awaken

knees we

e Naya had shown her. They'd said it was a failsafe. A biological k

ht it had

t was

e was

robotic. Not digital.

orn. You were chosen. Your body is the vessel. You

A silver beam extende

e Seedkeeper

stood

ted... she wouldn't just b

something e

ing no

ed from the c

gun

She could only watch through the transparent wall as

ad fou

ai

e... they wo

g with her heartbeat. A choice. Lif

tung he

for this," s

u are th

gun

ce, shouti

a tu

d

sank into

not from pain. Fr

f the Seedk

thousand voices. The weight of c

th

le

ened h

mber glowed