The door closed behind him with a soft hiss.
Jimmy stood in a narrow corridor, emergency lights casting a pale green glow over steel walls and a concrete floor. The air was cold, filtered, sterile. He moved forward, rifle up, footsteps muffled. The corridor led to a T-junction. Left: SERVER CORE - AUTHORIZED ONLY. Right: DR. ELIAS MERCER - DIRECTOR.
Jimmy went right.
The hallway opened into a large observation room, glass windows looking down into a massive circular chamber below. Banks of servers lined the walls, cables snaking across the floor. But the chamber was wrong. Quiet. Still. In the center, where a glowing AI core should have been suspended, there was nothing. Just an empty cradle and a mess of disconnected cables.
And standing at the railing, looking down at the emptiness, was a man.
Thin, gray-haired, wearing a white lab coat. He didn't turn when Jimmy entered.
"Took you long enough," Dr. Mercer said. His voice was calm, almost bored.
Jimmy raised his rifle. "Turn around. Slow."
Mercer turned. His face was older than the files had shown. Deep lines, tired eyes. But there was no fear. No regret. Just a cold, analytical gaze.
"You must be Jimmy. Chen's errand boy."
"I'm the man who's going to kill you."
"Maybe." Mercer glanced at the rifle, then back at Jimmy's face. "But first, you should know something. About yourself."
"I know enough."
"Do you?" Mercer took a step closer. "Do you know why you have no memories before high school? Why your childhood is blank?"
Jimmy's finger tightened on the trigger. "Shut up."
"Because you're a clone, Jimmy. Just like Ashley. Just like Jenna. HELIX made you in this very facility. Your first memory, the one where you met Ashley is high school. It was programmed. A designed event to ensure you would bond with her. To ensure you would protect her." Mercer's smile was thin, almost admiring. "You're a product. A very successful one, I might add."
"That's not true."
"It's in your file. Sub-Level 4, Personnel Records. Designation: JM-229." Mercer tilted his head. "You're not real. Your past is a fabrication I personally wrote."
Jimmy's hands shook. The rifle wavered. His chest felt like it was caving in.
"Why?" The word came out raw.
"Why?" Mercer laughed softly. "Because I needed protectors. Soldiers. The old world was rotting. It deserved to burn. But something had to survive. Something... better. You and Ashley and Jenna. You're the first draft. Once the cleansing is complete, we'll build a new humanity."
"You're insane."
"Perhaps. But I'm also right." Mercer gestures to the empty chamber below. "The AI is already in its new home. The virus is spreading exactly as designed. In a few years, the only humans left will be the ones I've chosen. The clones. The new race."
Jimmy started at him. The rifle was aimed at Mercer's chest. One squeeze. It would be over.
Mercer spread his arms. "If you kill me, you'll never find the core. You'll never be the hero. Never save anyone. You need me alive."
Jimmy didn't answer. He dropped the rifle. It clattered on the floor.
Then he lunged.
Mercer was faster than he looked. He sidestepped Jimmy's first punch, and drove his knee into Jimmy's stomach. Jimmy grunted but he didn't stop. He grabbed Mercer's lab coat, twisted, and slammed him against the railing.
Mercer's hand went to his pocket. A blade flicked out. Small, sharp, and surgical.
Jimmy saw it too late. The knife sank into his outer thigh.
He screamed.
It was raw, animal. A sound ripped from somewhere deep. Pain exploded up his leg, white-hot, blinding. He staggered, nearly fell. Blood soaked through his jeans in seconds.
But he didn't let go.
Mercer tried to pull the knife out, but Jimmy clamped a hand over his. With his other hand, he grabbed Mercer by the throat and drove his forehead into Mercer's face.
The old man's nose broke with a wet crunch. He let go of the knife. Jimmy tore it from his own leg. A fresh wave of agony, another scream, and flung it away. Then he punched Mercer. Again. Again.
Mercer slumped on the floor, dazed, blood streaming from his nose.
Jimmy stood over him, breathing hard, his leg on fire. He could feel the blood running down his calf, pooling in his boot. But he didn't stop.
He grabbed Mercer by the collar of his lab coat and started dragging him toward the door.
His limp was severe. Every step sent a spike of pain through his hip. Teeth clenched, jaw tight, he dragged the man who had ruined everything. He didn't speak. He didn't look back.
The others were waiting in the corridor outside the steel door. Nick held Caitlyn in his arms, her head loling against his shoulder. Ashley had a bandage half-wrapped around Caitlyn's arm. Jenna stood beside them, rifle ready.
Then the door opened.
Jimmy emerged, dragging Mercer behind him by his collar. The old man's heels scraped the concrete. His face was bloody, his lab coat twisted. Jimmy's leg left a dark, wet trail of blood on the floor.
Nick's jaw dropped. "What the fuck? Why is he alive?"
Ashley stared, her hands freezing mid-wrap. "Jim... you're bleeding... your lrg-"
"He has information." Jimmy didn't stop walking. He just kept dragging Mercer down the corridor, past them, toward the tunnel that led back to the shaft. "The AI is gone. He moved it. He knows where it is."
Jenna fell in beside him. "We're just... taking him with us."
"Yes."
Mercer laughed weakly, blood bubbling from his nose. "You're all going to die anyway."
Jimmy yanked the collar tighter, choking off his words. He limped on, each step a battle.
Nick shifted Caitlyn's weight. "What about her? She needs real help."
"We find a place to hole up." Jimmy's voice was flat, exhausted. "A safe place where we can help her."
Ashley grabbed a spare shirt from her pack and pressed it against Jimmy's thigh as he walked. He didn't slow down.
They moved into the tunnel. The darkness swallowed them.
Behind them, the steel door closed with a final, echoing boom.