Chapter 2816: Story 2817: The Mother of Monsters

Ryan stepped closer to the glass tank.

“Mother? What did he do to you?”

His mother pressed both hands against the glass. Strange black veins spread beneath her skin, glowing faintly like burning wires.

“Your father found something beneath Karachi,” she whispered. “He wanted to control it. But he needed a living body capable of surviving its power.”

Ryan turned toward his father.

“Tell me she’s lying!”

Father lowered his eyes.

“I was trying to save humanity.”

Zara raised her weapon. “You experimented on your own family?”

Before Father could answer, the tank began shaking.

His mother screamed.

“Don’t let him open the seventh lock!”

A loud metallic crack echoed through the chamber. Every machine activated simultaneously. Red lights flashed across the walls, and black liquid began flowing through transparent pipes.

Meher’s voice burst from the radio.

“Ryan! Something is happening! The organism is activating every connection beneath the city!”

Hamza checked his weapon. “How do we stop it?”

Father approached the control panel.

“We must disconnect the central heart from the mother vessel.”

Ryan stared at the woman inside the tank.

“Is she really my mother?”

Father hesitated.

“She was your mother. But the organism has changed her.”

A terrible smile appeared on her face.

“Changed me? Your father is the one who changed us all.”

Suddenly, the glass shattered.

A wave of black liquid exploded across the chamber. Ryan raised his golden hand, creating a glowing shield. The liquid struck it and formed dozens of human faces.

One face belonged to Adam.

“Brother,” it whispered. “Help me.”

Ryan stepped forward.

“Adam? Where are you?”

The faces merged into a giant mouth.

“Inside the heart.”

A massive mechanical door slammed shut behind them. From the ceiling, thick cables descended and wrapped around Hamza and Zara.

“Ryan!” Zara shouted.

Ryan released a golden blast, cutting the cables. Hamza fell to the floor, while Zara rolled away from another approaching tendril.

Then the woman climbed out of the broken tank.

Her feet touched the ground, but she did not walk. Black tendrils carried her forward like spider legs.

Father stepped between her and Ryan.

“Please, don’t make me do this again.”

She tilted her head.

“You already did, my love.”

A second voice emerged from her mouth, deeper and older.

“THE SEVENTH LOCK IS OPENING.”

Ryan’s chest burned. Six golden symbols appeared across his skin. The seventh remained dark.

Elias suddenly entered the chamber, holding a small metallic device.

“Ryan! Your father has hidden the truth. You aren’t the key to the door.”

He pointed at the woman.

“She is.”

The creature’s eyes turned completely black.

Then every infected voice in Karachi spoke together through the radio:

“WELCOME HOME, FIRSTBORN.”

Ryan looked at Elias.

“Who is the real firstborn?”

Elias slowly raised the device.

“That’s what your father has been trying to hide.”