Dark Truths and Forgotten Memories

The fluorescent lights buzzed weakly overhead, flickering against the grime-coated walls of the abandoned lab. The gang stood frozen, their breath shallow as Dr. Elias Monroe regarded them with weary eyes.

"You wanted answers?" Monroe said, voice low and heavy. "Fine. But be warned—Project Prometheus wasn’t just about gender reassignment. That was only the beginning. The real goal was something much, much worse."

Jess clenched her fists. "Then start talking."

Monroe sighed, stepping further into the lab. He gestured to the dusty control panel and shattered monitors. "This place was meant to be erased, just like the people who were brought here. You already know about the test subjects buried in Sleepy Hollow, don’t you?" He glanced at Leanna, who was still gripping the documents she had found. "That was the first round of trials. They were children—orphans, runaways, or kids whose parents signed them away for ‘experimental treatments.’ Prometheus wasn’t just about changing people. It was about creating something new."

Hannah paled. "The genetic inheritance experiments…"

Monroe nodded grimly. "They wanted to engineer humans who could pass their modifications to their offspring. The gender reassignment was proof of concept—a way to rewrite the body at a fundamental level. If that worked, they planned to take it further. Enhanced intelligence. Strength. Disease resistance. A new generation of people built from scratch."

"And the first subjects?" Kevin asked, his voice tight.

Monroe's face darkened. "They didn’t survive."

A heavy silence filled the room.

"They all developed complications—tumors, organ failure, accelerated aging. Some lost their minds. The researchers pushed forward, trying to ‘perfect’ the process, but it was never stable. One by one, the children…" Monroe exhaled sharply. "They disappeared. Officially, they died from ‘natural causes.’ In reality? They were erased to cover up the failures."

Jess felt a wave of nausea roll through her. The drawings in the cells. The “I don’t want to disappear” scribbled on the walls. These weren’t just nameless victims. They were children who had begged to be remembered.

"And yet someone restarted the project," Leanna murmured.

Monroe’s expression turned grave. "Yes. And that means they fixed whatever went wrong. Or at least, they think they did."

Jess’s blood ran cold. "And I was proof of that."

Monroe met her gaze, his expression unreadable. "You were never meant to exist, Jess. At least, not naturally. Your transformation wasn’t random. It was orchestrated. You were selected."

Jess staggered back, shaking her head. "No. That’s impossible. I was just… it was an accident."

"Was it?" Monroe asked, tilting his head. "Or were you always meant to be part of this?"

The words sent a shiver down her spine. Before she could respond, Leanna’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She hesitated, then pulled it out.

"It’s Jess’s mom."

Jess’s heart nearly stopped. "What?"

Leanna glanced at the others before putting the call on speaker. "Hello?"

Her mother’s voice was calm. Too calm. "Leanna. Is Jess with you?"

Jess stepped forward. "I’m here, Mom."

A long pause. Then, a quiet sigh. "I assume you’ve found the lab."

The room felt like it dropped ten degrees.

"How do you know about this place?" Jess demanded.

"Because I was part of it," her mother admitted. "I worked on Project Prometheus."

Jess’s breath hitched. The room tilted slightly as flashes of something long buried stirred in her mind. Sleepy Hollow. A dark room. The hum of machinery. A woman’s voice telling her to be brave.

"I don’t… I don’t understand," Jess whispered. "You knew?"

Her mother’s voice was strained. "I didn’t want you to find out like this. I tried to keep you away from it. But you were always part of this, Jess. You just don’t remember."

The memory came fast and sudden. A hospital bed, wires hooked to her arms. A man’s voice saying, We have to move her before she stabilizes. Her mother’s arms, wrapping around her, holding her tightly.

“He’s just a child!”

Jess stumbled back, gripping the edge of a rusted table for support. "I was here."

Leanna reached for her. "Jess—"

"I was part of this from the beginning," Jess whispered. "They didn’t just choose me. I was already one of them."

Monroe exhaled. "Then you were the only one who survived."

The realization hit like a sledgehammer. She had been an experiment all along. Jason Carter was never just a normal person. Jess wasn’t just a product of chance.

She was proof that Project Prometheus had worked.

And now, they knew she was alive.