Chapter 7 - Project Second Dawn
“Final subject remaining?”
My voice barely rose above a whisper.
Detective Brooks nodded.
“We believe Bellwether maintained a secret research program called Project Second Dawn.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What was the project supposed to do?”
“We've recovered partial records. The apparent goal was to develop experimental implantable devices capable of supporting tissue growth and delivering biological materials over extended periods.”
I looked down at my enormous belly.
“Inside people?”
“Yes.”
A sickening silence followed.
The detective continued.
“Some research proposals involved reproductive medicine and tissue regeneration. The records suggest the researchers crossed ethical and legal boundaries.”
I struggled to breathe.
“Did my husband know?”
“We're still trying to determine that.”
Daniel walked to the window.
“Dad helped build medical equipment. Sarah's mother worked in administration. Her uncle owned the property.”
He turned toward us.
“Everyone was connected.”
I watched his face.
“Except me.”
Nobody answered.
That silence was unbearable.
I wasn't a person in their records.
I was a number.
M.W.-017.
I remembered Robert promising that everything would be fine.
I remembered the sharp smell of disinfectant.
I remembered waking with pain in my abdomen.
And I remembered how he avoided my questions afterward.
Detective Brooks opened another folder.
“Margaret, there's something important you need to understand.”
She placed a laboratory record on the bed.
“According to these documents, at least seventeen people were enrolled in the project. Several later reported unexplained health complications.”
“What happened to them?”
“Some received treatment elsewhere. Others could not be located when the clinic closed.”
I closed my eyes.
Seventeen people.
Seventeen families.
Seventeen lives that might have been changed without consent.
“Why am I the last one?” I asked.
The detective hesitated.
“Because your medical record appears to have remained active for years after the institute closed.”
Daniel looked up sharply.
“Active how?”
“Someone continued entering information under your subject number.”
A terrible realization washed over me.
My swollen belly had started only six months earlier.
If the implant had been placed twelve years ago, why was something happening now?
“Someone knew this would happen,” I whispered.
Detective Brooks didn't disagree.
Then Daniel's phone rang.
An unknown number.
He answered immediately.
“Hello?”
A woman's voice whispered.
“Daniel, it's Sarah.”
He stood.
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Are you hurt?”
“Listen carefully. The project didn't end twelve years ago.”
Daniel turned toward me.
Sarah continued.
“Someone restarted it.”
“Who?”
Her voice broke.
“Someone who has been watching your mother for months.”
Then she said a name.
May you like
A name that made Daniel grip the phone so tightly his knuckles turned white.
“Dr. Nathaniel Voss.”
