Chapter 58 - The Awakening
The eyes of the boy in the tank were not crystalline grey like Subject Four. They were dark, deep hazel—the exact shade of Daniel’s late wife, Elena.
He pressed his small hands against the inside of the thick glass, his chest heaving inside the fluid as the automated system began purging the solution. Bubbles rushed toward the ceiling of the tank.
*“Five minutes to cryo-thermal purge. Manual override required.”*
"The tank is draining," the magistrate shouted. "If the purge sequence executes while he's still connected to the pulmonary shunt, the sudden drop in temperature will freeze his lungs solid!"
"Where is the release key?" Daniel roared, springing up to the dais and slamming his palms against the console.
Lines of encrypted script scrolled across the monitors.
*BIOMETRIC VERIFICATION REQUIRED: MATERNAL OVERRIDE OR ANCHOR SYNC.*
"It needs Claire’s biometric data," the magistrate cursed, scanning the panel. "Or the dead woman's."
"No," Leo said, his voice suddenly steady despite the tears streaming down his cheeks. He stepped up beside Daniel, his small fingers reaching out toward the illuminated scanner pad. "It said *Anchor Sync*. It needs a matching biometric resonance to confirm that the duplicate isn't rejecting the transfer."
"Leo, wait," Daniel grabbed his arm. "We don't know what will happen to your neuro-implant if you interface with that system."
"He's dying in there, Dad," Leo said, looking Daniel straight in the eye with a courage that defied all synthetic design. "And he's me. Or I'm him. It doesn't matter. You taught me to never leave family behind."
May you like
Before Daniel could stop him, Leo slammed his palm onto the glass sensor.
A blinding flash of electric blue light surged through the console. Leo arched his back with a strangled cry as the data stream bridged directly into the chip at the base of his skull. Across the glass tank, the boy in the stasis fluid convulsed in exact synchronization.
