We don't speak for several seconds after Elara's revelation.
I stare at my hands, trying to process everything.
Born.
The word feels strange. It's too ordinary for something that has just shattered everything I know.
"What was it like?" I finally ask.
Elara's expression softens, "The old world?"
I nod.
"Families were complicated," Elara says. "People were born because two people chose to have children. Sometimes they planned for them. Sometimes they didn't. Babies were… surprises. Children grew differently. People aged differently."
"And they couldn't control any of it?" Jax asks.
"Not completely."
Rian frowns, as though he doesn't believe her. "That sounds chaotic."
"It was," Elara smiles faintly, "and beautiful."
I swallow, bracing myself with what I'm about to ask, "Then why did they stop?"
"Because cloning worked," Elara says, leaning forward. "At first, it was medicine. Organ replacement. Disease prevention. Then came full genetic replication. People discovered they could create another version of themselves."
"To replace themselves when they died," Jax says, though it sounds more like a statement rather than a question.
"Exactly."
The room grows quieter for several more minutes.
Finally, Elara continues, "People wanted to live forever. If their bodies failed, they wanted another one waiting. Eventually, cloning became normal. Then necessary. Families stopped having children naturally. Governments began regulating replication. One clone at a time, one genetic continuation per lifetime, and no simultaneous copies."
"And natural birth?" I ask.
Elara's expression hardens. "It was declared too unpredictable." She pauses. "Eventually, it was banned altogether. They called it the Natural Purge"
My stomach twists and I vaguely see Rian's face pale.
Elara continues quietly, "Natural-born people were rounded up. Some were sent to remote settlements where survival was nearly impossible. Others disappeared into research facilities."
I stare at her. I just know I misheard her. "Experimented on?"
"Yes."
My hands feel cold.
"Director Kane designed much of the system," she adds.
Rian stiffens, before asking, "My father?"
Elara nods, "He helped turn reproduction into a controlled process."
He looks away, without saying another word. However, I barely notice because my mind has caught on something else.
"If I'm natural," I say, my voice cracking, "who are my real parents?"
Elara hesitates, "I don't know."
The answer hurts more than I expect.
"But I know what your adoptive parents told me," she says, giving me a sympathetic smile. “Your parents, Daniel and Sofia, were scientists at one of the facilities. Eventually, they had become horrified by what they were being ordered to do. They were asked to study natural-born subjects… people. Your birth mother was one of the people in the facility; you were just a baby when they captured her.”
I gasp, as I cover my mouth. Was I once captured too? Before I could ask the question, Elara answers as though she knew what I would ask.
“Apparently, your mother hid you away somewhere near where she was captured. She told Sofia about it and begged her to find you and protect you. Your adopted mother felt the need to grant her request, so she frantically searched for you that night until she found you. It didn’t take much for Daniel to agree to help.”
"Why them?" I ask.
"They were already questioning the system," Elara says, shrugging her shoulders. “Though, if you were to ask Sofia, she would chuck it up to any leftover feelings or motherhood instincts that carried over from her original “natural born” self. Since clones are unable to reproduce, she felt taking you as her only way to experience what it truly means to be a mother, rather than being assigned to a child by the government.”
My throat tightens, as the realization hits me, "They rescued me?"
"Yes."
"And then raised me?"
"They did."
Elara's eyes softened. "They found a way to disappear without disappearing, living in plain sight. That’s when Daniel created something that could fool the ordinary scanners."
I look down at my wrist. My marker. The thing I'd spent my entire life believing proved I belonged. It had been a lie. A protective one, but still a lie.
Jax leans forward, looking at my wrist, "Wait… That doesn't make sense."
Elara raises an eyebrow. "Which part?"
"The marker," he points toward me. "Markers are bioluminescent genetic seals. They're embedded during cloning. They identify the clone and connect them to the government network."
"Correct."
"Then how does she have one?"
"She doesn't."
I gasp again, this time holding my breath. Where is he going with this? What did Elara mean?
Jax stares, as though he understands, "Her marker is synthetic."
Elara nods, "The real markers do far more than identify people. Tracking is simply the part citizens are allowed to know about."
She stands and walks toward a wall covered in old diagrams. "They monitor genetic stability. Clone lifecycle stages. Replication eligibility. Death confirmation."
Rian's expression darkens, "Death confirmation?"
"Whether a clone is actually dead before another genetic copy can legally be created." Elara points to another diagram. "And emotional anomalies."
Jax frowns this time. "Emotional?"
"Yes, stress spikes,” Elara says, glancing over at him. “Fear responses. Certain neurological patterns."
I suddenly feel exposed now. "So they can monitor how people feel?"
"Within limits," she continues. "Markers activate under specific circumstances. Government scans. Proximity to cloning facilities. Approaching biological death. Detection of two matching genetic sequences. And compliance checks."
My mind flashes back to the gym. The scanner. The error. "Clone Verification Day," I whisper.
Elara nods, "A pleasant name for something much more invasive."
I remember my marker that morning. It hadn't glowed, or at least not really. It had looked faint and thin… barely there.
"Mine didn't do any of that."
"Because yours can't."
She looks directly at me. "It's designed to mimic a real marker, but it has no genetic connection to a clone lifecycle."
Then she explains the signals. "A steady glow means compliant. A flicker indicates instability. A pulse means investigation required."
I shiver, "Mine was just... faint."
"Because it's synthetic."
"And the scanner?"
Elara’s voice lowers, "It expected a genetic response. Your marker had nothing to synchronize with."
"So the system saw missing data," Jax's eyes widen, "and labeled her… 'Naturally Viable Subject.'"
Silence.
My stomach still hasn’t stopped turning.
Elara continues, "That designation is more dangerous than an ordinary error. Without Daniel's marker, the system would have identified you as unregistered natural life a long time ago."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning the government would consider you a viable genetic resource."
I’m feeling sick now, "They'd take me and use me."
"Yes. Though keep in mind that as it stands now, they will still take you and use you as soon as they find you."
My thoughts immediately go to Director Vale. He wouldn't just want me captured. He would want to understand me or more like my DNA. Everything that makes me different.
“What for,” I ask, though I’m not sure if I want to know the answer.
"He wants to use your genetic code to improve cloning. Your fresh, naturally occurring genetic material would be extraordinarily valuable to him."
Rian suddenly stands. "How do you know all of this?" His voice is strained.
I don’t blame him; this is his father we’re talking about.
"How do you know what my father is doing?"
Elara looks at him for a long moment, "Because I used to work there."
“At the facility?” Rian asks, going still.
"Yes, with Daniel and Sofia," Her gaze hardens, "and for a time, I worked directly with your father."
Rian's face falls. "On the cloning projects?"
"Yes." Elara looks toward the window. "I believed we were helping humanity."
Her voice became quieter. "Then I learned what we were really building." She turns back toward us. "So I left."
I stare at her. The woman who lives beyond government reach. The scientist who has helped build the very system that is now hunting me.
For the first time since the scan, I feel like I’m finally standing near the truth and somehow…
The truth frightens me more than the unknown ever has.