The elevator groaned as it descended.
Lena clutched the black keycard, her heartbeat echoing in the silence. She had told Jay she needed air. That she needed time to think. He believed her. Or maybe… he wanted her to go.
The basement level opened with a mechanical hiss.
Cold air slapped her face. The lights above buzzed, flickering faint yellow.
She walked past rusted doors and broken gurneys until she found it:
Vault B4 — the door marked with a faded red X.
She slid the keycard through the panel.
Click.
The door opened with a long, metallic groan.
Inside: cold white walls, rows of glass chambers and within them, figures. Still. Silent. Sleeping.
Clones.
Some half-formed. Others fully grown.
Some… looked like Jay.
Her stomach twisted. "How many of him did they make?"
Then she saw it - Chamber 12. The name on the screen:
*JAY DONOVAN — TERMINATED.*
But the chamber was empty.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed behind her.
She spun.
A man stood there.
Not Jay.
But close.
Same eyes. Same jawline.
But darker. Hollow.
The other Jay.
"You weren't supposed to find this," he said softly.
Lena's breath caught. "You're real."
He stepped closer. "I was first. I remember everything. The cliff. The choice. The fall."
Her voice shook. "Why fake your death?"
He smiled, bitter. "Because I wasn't the one they wanted to save."
A moment passed before he added, "They erased me."
Lena backed up. "You left me."
"I tried to protect you," he said. "Until he woke up."
His eyes narrowed. "But now… I'm done watching. You belong with me. Not with him."
He reached for her arm.
She ran.
Lena raced down the corridor, his footsteps pounding behind her.
She ducked into a side hallway, slammed the door, and slid a pipe through the handle. Her chest heaved.
On the wall, she saw a fire alarm.
She yanked it.
The sirens screamed through the underground.
She didn't stop running.
Jay found her at the parking lot. "Lena!"
She collapsed into his arms.
"He's here. The first Jay. He's alive."
Jay didn't ask how she knew.
He just pulled her close. "Then it's time to end this."