The Fertility Program Beneath the Hospital
Chapter 02 - The Fertility Program Beneath the Hospital
The restricted elevator opened into a hallway filled with armed hospital security.
At their center stood Dr. Evelyn Voss, founder of Aurora Research and director of St. Matthew’s fertility division. She wore a white coat over an evening dress, as if she had left a private dinner to claim something that belonged to her.
Evelyn spoke calmly through the locked door.
“The child must be transferred for observation.”
Claire held the baby tighter.
“He is not leaving this room.”
Ethan lowered his head.
Then the truth came out.
Three years earlier, Claire and Ethan had struggled to conceive. Without telling her, Ethan enrolled them in an experimental fertility program through his employer’s insurance plan. He believed it was simply advanced genetic screening.
Aurora used their embryos for something else.
The company had developed a gene therapy designed to prevent a rare neurological disease. The treatment was unapproved, so Aurora tested it on embryos without fully informing the parents.
Claire’s pregnancy was their first successful birth.
The baby was not legally registered because Aurora planned to control every medical record connected to him.
Ethan discovered the truth only a month earlier.
He tried to remove their files from the program and contacted Dr. Reed, who had once worked for Aurora before becoming a whistleblower. But Evelyn learned about the plan.
The blood on Ethan’s sleeve came from a security guard who attacked him in the parking garage while trying to take the silver access card.
Claire’s anger was immediate.
“You let them experiment on our child.”
“I did not know,” Ethan said.
“You signed.”
“I signed papers I did not understand.”
Dr. Reed interrupted.
The gene therapy itself was not the only danger. Aurora had inserted a monitoring device into the baby’s umbilical tissue. The system could track vital signs, location, and even administer medication remotely during the first twenty-four hours after birth.
The hospital lockdown was not protecting the baby.
It was keeping him inside signal range.
Evelyn’s voice returned through the door.
“If the device is disconnected incorrectly, the infant may not survive.”
Claire looked at Dr. Reed.
“Can you remove it?”
He hesitated.
“Yes. But we need access to Aurora’s control system.”
Ethan held up the silver card.
The system was located two floors below the maternity ward, inside a laboratory officially listed as storage.
Then the baby stopped crying.
His skin began to turn pale.
Across the room, the monitor displayed a countdown.
00:10:00 — REMOTE DOSAGE SEQUENCE INITIATED.
May you like
Claire looked at Ethan.
“Go,” she said. “And this time, tell me the whole truth when you come back.”
