Darkness. The door sealed shut behind me. I stood still, heart pounding, breath shallow. No lights. No sound.

Then—

Flick.

The lights blinked on, one by one, casting a pale, sickly glow over the room.

And I almost collapsed.

Rows. Rows of cylindrical glass tubes, glowing faint green. Inside each one floated a figure—

Me.

Or something that looked exactly like me.

I stumbled back, hitting the wall.

On a central console, a name blinked in red:

SUBJECT 7!

SUBJECT 7!

SUBJECT 7!

All of them.

What the hell was this?

Were they… my brothers? No. No one ever said anything about it. No one mentioned siblings. But these weren’t just brothers—they were me. like Copies or

Clones.

How many were there? Ten? Twenty? No—more. Some were fully formed, floating still and silent. Others were half-grown, incomplete, suspended in growth chambers like paused thoughts. One tube had cracked glass, empty. A sticky green residue clung to the inside.

The room buzzed with a low, humming energy. Strange symbols, like the ones I saw in the hidden room earlier, pulsed on the floor beneath each tube. They responded to my movement, shifting colors—from green to red—as I stepped closer.

Why me? Why so many?

I leaned closer to one of the tubes. The face inside looked peaceful, like it was asleep. But I noticed the lips—they were twitching, almost like it was trying to speak. A whisper of breath fogged the inside of the glass.

I pressed my hand against the surface.

Was this one alive? Awake?

The console beeped again. A new word joined the blinking names:

AWAITING COMMAND

My fingers hovered over the panel. Could I… wake them?

Then another thought gripped me:

What if they weren’t asleep?

What if they were being held back?

I glanced at the far end of the room. A darker section, sealed behind reinforced glass. It had a different aura—no lights, no tubes. Just a single chair. A chair with restraints.

Interrogation? Termination?

I didn’t get the chance to wonder longer.

Suddenly—

CLANG.

A metal rod slammed down on the back of my head. My vision exploded in white. Pain shot through me like fire.

I collapsed to the floor, face first, the world spinning.

I heard boots rushing in.

A voice—cold, sharp—echoed around me:

“Contain the anomaly. Initiate lockdown. Subject 7 must not be allowed to interact with the prototypes.”

Hands grabbed me, rough and metallic. I was being dragged.

My last glimpse before blacking out:

One of the tubes opened. Steam hissed. And inside it—

The other Subject 7 opened his eyes. Darkness swallowed me. Again.