Aurelia braced herself. An unfamiliar sensation began to torment her body, causing her to tremble uncontrollably. Her head throbbed as if it was on the verge of explosion. The noise around her was muffled, but the shockwave that coursed through her body felt as if it was going to crush her.
Mackenzie could only watch his wife suffer, knowing he was powerless to intervene. The Alternates in their glass pods were shaking, but they were asleep still, their eyes closed. They were all clenching their hands as if they could feel a pain shooting through their bodies. Mackenzie felt a profound sadness that everything had come to this. They were also living beings, but the process of having the Alternate kill the human counterpart was wrong. This was the cruel part of what Dr Waweski had created. He wanted to annihilate humanity. The Alternate clones suffered in their pods, eventually the movement in the pods stopped, they were silent, their eyes closed. The clones' heartbeats no longer showed on the monitors. The Alternates were dead
Aurelia collapsed to the floor, unconscious. Mackenzie rushed over to her, cradling her in his arms. She was dying. Dr Duvall removed his ear protection, surprisingly maintaining consciousness. Mackenzie shouted at Duvall to do something to save Aurelia.
Dr Duvall sprinted over to a cabinet and grabbed a box. The box was labelled with Aurelia O'Connor's name. He reached for Aurelia's arm and administered a needle into it.
"What's that?" Mackenzie asked, his voice filled with desperation.
"It's an Alternate vaccine containing Aurelia's blood. We extracted it from her before she died, before she was an Alternate. It will help regenerate her cells," Duvall replied, his voice steady despite the chaos.
Mackenzie watched as Aurelia began to regain consciousness. She looked up at Mackenzie, her eyes filled with a mix of confusion and relief.  Aurellia rose to her feet, her gaze sweeping over the silent Alternates in their pods. A pang of sorrow gripped her heart as she took in the sight of their lifeless forms. The alarms began to blare throughout the Alternates Institute, a harsh reminder of the impending danger. She exchanged a glance with Mackenzie, both of them aware that the guards would be upon them any minute.
Suddenly, Dr Duvall appeared in the doorway, effectively blocking their only exit. His stern face was unreadable, but his intentions were clear. He was not going to let them leave.
"Why are you stopping us?" Mackenzie demanded.
Dr Duvall smiled. "I was the one who gave away the location of the safe house to Dr Waweski."
Mackenzie's eyes widened in surprise. "Why would you do that?"
"I bugged Mrs Ashton's office ages ago," Duvall confessed, his voice devoid of any remorse. “I saw you and Aurelia as threats to me and the entire programme."
"But you destroyed the Alternate's, there's nothing left," Mackenzie argued, confusion etched on his face. Duvall chuckled, "You really think that was it? That we didn't have a backup plan?"
Aurelia stood up, her heart pounding in her chest. She reached down and picked up the gun lying next to Dr Waweski's lifeless body. Her hand was steady, despite the chaos unfolding around her.
Across the room, Duvall moved towards the computer in the control room. His fingers danced over the keys, typing out a message that appeared on the screen: "Dr Waweski is dead. I am in control now."
Aurelia read the words, a chill running down her spine. Who was this message for? The uncertainty made her feel uneasy, but she pushed it aside.
"You planned this, didn't you?" she shouted, pointing the gun at him. Duvall turned to face her, a smug smile on his face. "Yes," he admitted, his voice calm and collected. "The safe house attack, ensuring Mackenzie returned to the Institute, activating the Kill Order... it was all part of the plan." Mackenzie moved closer to Aurelia, his eyes never leaving Duvall. "Why did you save me? Why didn't you just let me die?" Aurelia asked him.
"I wanted to see if the treatment I gave you worked," Duvall replied, his eyes cold. "And it did. So now, I don't need you anymore, Mrs O'Connor."
Duvall turned back to the computer, his fingers flying over the keypad. He was reactivating the Kill Order. Aurelia could see what he was about to do. As Duvall's finger hovered over the ACTIVATE button, Aurelia pulled the trigger.
The gunshot echoed in the room, and Duvall cried out, falling to the floor. His arm was wounded, blood was seeping out of his arm. Mackenzie looked at his wife with admiration in his eyes. Aurelia kept the gun in her hand, turning to the computer and keypad. She started shooting, bullets ripping through the screens and buttons. Alarms began to blare, the noise deafening.
"Let's get out of here," Mackenzie said, grabbing his wife's hand. They ran towards the exit, leaving the control room and the injured Dr Duvall behind.