Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

Nancy stared at me and laughed out loud.

"Genome Society is a huge organization. There’s a different person in charge in each country, and they’re all in charge of different projects and experimental subjects. This person is above everyone.

"It could be me, or it could be you. Those who haven’t earned the right can’t possibly dream of contacting him directly. There are only a handful of people in Huma who have seen him in person. As the most powerful conglomerate in all of Huma, Andy knew of his identity... Unfortunately, Andy is now dead." She was clear-the only person who had ever met the head of the organization was Andy Black. However, Andy was dead.

Other than him, no one else had the right to meet the head of the organization.

"What would I need to do... in order to be able to sit with him and negotiate terms?" I asked curiously.

"Become the capital. Become the biggest capital in the whole of Huma’s business world. Once you become a powerful existence capable of influencing the business world, he’ll come meet with you on his own."

She leaned on the couch and continued with a laugh, "Some suspect that the man behind all this is the biggest conglomerate in the entire city, the mysterious CEO of Crowdstar Group... That guy is either the one running Genome Society or the one who’s most likely to be able to meet him..."

I had heard similar stories as well. The wealthy wouldn’t possibly place so much money and power in the hands of an amateur. Hence, the head had to be from the business world.

Dexter and I had many guesses... but we didn’t have any evidence.

As expected from the head of Genome Society, they hid themselves extremely well.

Nancy was right. It could be anyone. It could be any single unassuming character around us.

"In order to defeat evil, you must first become the evil... Unfortunately for you, Sofia, you no longer possess that opportunity."

She shot me a knowing smile. Just as she finished talking, someone pushed a needle into my back.

The substance entered my body, and my consciousness began slipping away.

I knew... they were here to take me away.

The conglomerates behind Genome Society couldn’t wait to verify if reincarnation was indeed possible...

Leaving with them was the only way I could grow one step closer to uncovering the secrets of the entire organization.

"Search her thoroughly. Don’t leave any jewelry on her," Nancy ordered in a deep voice. She had the driver search my body for fear I’d have a tracker on me.

"Me?" The driver froze. "She’s a woman..."

"She’s just a subject. You can just treat her like a lab rat. You don’t need to care for such things," she barked irritatedly, her voice laced with contempt.

She didn’t view me as a person.

In her eyes, I was nothing more than a clone that borrowed her DNA. I was a damned and revolting specimen that shouldn’t exist.

"Maybe it’s best if Wanda did it instead..." The driver was a middle-aged man. He probably had a daughter of his own and couldn’t get himself to do something like this. So, he had the maid in the villa search me instead.

Nancy grunted and left the living room.

I lay groggily on the couch. Once again, my entire body was numb and beyond my control despite being conscious.

This time, I wanted to infiltrate Genome Society on my own. I couldn’t possibly have Dexter risk himself every single time.

Personally involving myself... I could do it too.

Dexter only agreed to my ridiculous request because he understood how valuable I was to Genome Society at the moment. Hence, falling into their hands actually meant that I was safe. At the very least, my life wouldn’t be threatened.

"She doesn’t have any suspicious items on her, Ma’am."

Immediately after the woman spoke, some people came in and took me away.

I didn’t know how much time had passed or how long we’d been traveling for. I regained my consciousness and was met with a room full of white.

"Where am I..." My head was throbbing painfully. I woke up dressed in loose patient robes. My feet were bare, and I wasn’t wearing anything else other than a robe.

Grimacing, I looked around the room and at the operating table... It was a clean environment.

It resembled the operating room in a hospital.

It further resembled the place everyone woke up in at the game in the abandoned building.

As it turned out, the first scene of the game was modeled after Genome Society’s laboratory?

My expression darkened as I looked at the mirror on the wall. This wasn’t a mirror... It was glass. There were people watching me from the other side, but I couldn’t see them.

I got off the bed and stepped toward the glass window. No one appeared. I wasn’t quite sure what they wanted me to do.

Was this a test? Did they want to observe me?

I scoffed. They wanted to observe to see if I was actually Sophia.

I obeyed their wishes.

I turned and walked toward the door. I lifted the IV drip stand and smashed it on top of the electrical box.

The entire room darkened. The door had also unlocked itself due to the blackout.

I walked out into the barren corridor. Suddenly, a dog ran out and started charging in my direction.

"Georgie..."

It was a wolfhound that looked more like Georgie than Stevie did. It was probably a clone of Georgie as well.

The dog pounced on me and pushed me to the ground. Its eyes looked ravenous. It was like it would like nothing more than to tear everything to shreds and swallow it up.

It opened its mouth and wanted to bite me.

"Georgie!" I called out instinctively.

The dog calmed down from its crazed behavior. It looked me in the eye and slumped down beside me with a whine.

It was barely alive. The last of its energy was used to pounce on me. All it needed to do was to bite down on my neck to survive, but it didn’t.

Dogs were humane animals. At times, a dog would behave as a dog would, but that wasn’t the same case for humans.

Genome Society intentionally released a starved clone of Georgie just to see if it’d lose control and harm its owner in the midst of its insanity.

The experiment was pointless, though. Pets could be cloned, but the memories couldn’t possibly be copied over.

Was a cloned dog still the dog it was before?

I rubbed the wolfhound’s head and got up.

The corridor was empty. There were arrows that pointed me forward.

"Sofia, or Sophia." There was a room at the end of the hall. A man in a white lab coat, protective goggles, and gloves smiled at me.

He was from Genome Society-probably a doctor.

"How many people are watching me?" I asked.

"Many... Not just the conglomerates from Huma but wealthy people from various countries too. Their gazes are all fixated on you.

"As soon as the experiment results are verified, you’ll become the most talked about and most costly existence in the entire organization." He laughed maniacally. He had probably gone mad as well.

"Who else in Huma is watching me?" I asked again. I wanted to know everyone who was watching beyond this room.

"As long as you’re a member of the Global Trade Union, you’ll be able to watch... The president of Crowdstar Group, Peter Jones... Damien Coleman all of them will be able to watch."

I was pressed into a chair. I stared fixedly at the camera pinned on the wall.

They could all watch...

The president of Crowdstar Group? Who? Could he be the leader of Genome Society?

He should be seated in front of the screen, watching me right now...

He would be watching to see if I was actually Sophia Milford.

"This is a lie detector. What follows is a series of questions on the screen. You’ll need to answer them truthfully," he said solemnly as he hooked the detector up.

"All the questions were submitted by the conglomerates. First question, who are you?"

I lifted my head to look at the screen and didn’t respond.

Upon seeing my uncooperation, the man seemed to be slightly angered. He pressed the shock button.

The electricity coursed through my body and made my entire body spasm in pain.

"I’m an experimental subject..."

The lie detector beeped sharply.

I lied.

The electric waves coursed through my body once again.

I chose to submit.

"Sophia, my name is Sophia..."

The machine remained silent.

"Who do you love, Damien Coleman or Dexter Black?" The wording on the screen rolled again.

I wanted to scoff. It was blatantly clear that this question was from Damien.

How at ease of him to watch through the cameras.

Three seconds had passed. Without my answer, the electricity pierced through my body yet again, and I twitched from the excruciating pain.

The screen quieted down. The man seemed to be waiting for my reply.