Enma and Aeri were in the underground lab. The young teenager was breathing loudly, completely panicking while her oldest sister was busy hijacking the house’s system to hear and see what was going on upstairs.

  ? Could you stop please ? I’m listening to what’s going on in the living room and you’re making too much noise. ? asked Enma, visibly annoyed.

  ? They could find us. There’s probably a scanner among the policemen. It will see us. ?

  ? It’s fine. The scanner will only take a sample of our DNA and look where we usually stay in the house. Can’t you see that I’m doing something ? ?

  ? What are they talking about ? ? asked Aeri.

  ? Mom is saying that we’re not here, that she hasn’t seen us in a month. ?

  ? Do you think they will believe her ? Did she even report our disappearance to the police ? ?

  ? She did it if she wasn't stupid. Shut up now, they’re entering. There’s a scanner, it’s going into our rooms. ?

  Enma looked at her sister, pensive. Of course they’ve been into their rooms recently. Which means that fresh DNA can be found. Their mother’s lie would be soon discovered. They could track down the footsteps to the lab. Enma had access to the whole house now. She could either start the cleaning system, but the coincidence would be too suspicious ; hijacking a scanner was quite a bold option, too bold for the young woman. She shared her worries with her little sister. Aeri looked surprised.

  ? We don’t actually need to erase them, we could just corrupt them. ? explained the teenager.

  ? And how are we supposed to do that ? ?

  ? Well you know how we use the dna modeling system and a carbone converter to create artificial plants ? Basically speaking if you reverse the converter, that will kill the plant. We could use that to alter our dna. ?

  ? You have a carbon converter in your pockets ? ?

  ? Well I’ve got one in my room. I used to modify it and see what happens to artificial plants. Not only artificial plants but also every organic system that I could find. ?

  ? Why would you even do that ? ? Asked Enma, disgusted by what she just heard.

  ? It was fun. ? said Aeri.

  While Enma was keeping a close eye on the policemen, Aeri activated her carbon converter. The oldest was describing the scanner’s movement while the youngest was corrupting the few traces of DNA, before they were spotted. Then Enma erased from the video surveillance the carbon converter. Now that all marks were gone, Enma could focus on her mother again.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  ? How is it going ? ?

  ? I don’t know. They’re talking about mom’s work. I think that guy suspects something. Do you know who he is ? He didn’t even introduce himself. ?

  Aeri zoomed on the man’s badge. There was no name on it. It was simply a government one. That man was probably an agent. Which would be weird under normal circumstances. Why would the government be interested in a simple car accident? But, if it’s their mother’s work that they’re interested in, that would change a lot.

  ? They’re leaving ? said Enma ? let’s go see mom. ?

  Alayna fell quite easily into a deep sleep. She was exhausted and needed a break. When she opened her eyes, she heard a baby crying. The scientist was navigating in an ocean of blood towards the noise. When the cries finally stopped, she dived into it. Nothing could be seen. She grabbed what seemed to be an arm. She brought back what she thought was the baby back to the surface. Alayna screamed, terrified by what she was holding. The ocean of blood turned into an ocean of fire. The woman screamed for her daughters again and again. She could see her own arms melt. Her bones were pitch black. The floor fell under her feet. Alayna closed her eyes again, and when she re opened them, she was in front of her former lab. Except it was in shambles. She tried to walk but couldn’t. Her legs were stuck in the rock. She felt like her heart was gonna explode. What she found earlier was standing in front of her, smiling. The scientist was unable to breathe. She heard another scream.

  “Mom… Mom, are you okay ? Mom wake up!”

  Alayna opened her eyes. Her daughters were standing in front of her, looking worried. The woman took some time to regain her composure. Aeri gave her a glass of water that her mother drank voraciously. Enma sat down next to her while her younger sister layed down on her mother’s lap. The mother played a little with her daughter’s hair. Enma interrupted the silence.

  “The guy who works with the government, he suspects something?”

  “Yes, probably. The government must know that I never fully stopped working on the Unity project. We can stay here for a while. But we will have to be careful. They will jump at any opportunity to seize the lab and my research.”

  “What’s gonna happen to us if they find us ?” Asked Aeri.

  “I don’t know honey, but I promise you, I will protect you no matter what.” She put one of her hands on Enma’s cheek and looked her in the eyes, “both of you.”

  For the next two months, Alayna had to go back to work. At first people would look at her and judge her. Thinking that she gave birth to little murderers. After some time the gossip stopped and people forgot that the accident ever happened. She was back in her official lab. During the day Enma and Aeri had to stay hidden in the underground lab, to not be seen. It was spacious and after a while they were able to accommodate themselves with the environment. There was nothing to do for the young girls and that is why they started looking around. They would read the multiple studies that were left by their mother, about engineering, AI, medicine, matter constructing. When Enma started reading about the Unity project, there was a paragraph that striked her.

  “Both systems will merge together, to make sure that the robotic part isn’t seen as an intruder, but a complete part of the body. Thus the AI will evolve with the baby’s brain while maintaining its primary functions and not hindering the baby’s development. Our theories and researches show that by limiting the AI development, setting the limits to a normal baby’s development; there would be less malfunctions, making the subject easier to grasp what is in its control. Constant surveillance could help further studies in developing new technologies. We are talking about better prosthesis, possibly immortality.”

  “Immortality…” whispered Enma. She was feeling conflicted at the idea of possibly being immortal. What that entails. What would society look like if Norians weren’t mortal beings anymore. Scientists were playing with the limits of what was realistically possible and what was of the realm of divinity. It made sense now why the higher ups were so interested in the Unity project and why it was shut down. Every leader wants to mark history, even shape it if they can, but no one wants to give that opportunity to anyone. The only enemy of the one who holds power is time. Except if you vanquish it. Enma looked at her sister.

  “We’re in such a mess, you can’t even realize. Our mother may be a genius but she has monstrous ideas.”