Chapter 37 - Bloodline Encryptions
Two hours later, the Manhattan Financial Tower was swarming with federal agents, Homeland Security officials, and armored transport vehicles. Heinrich von Berg and Victoria were led out in heavy steel restraints, their heads bowed beneath jackets while flashing press cameras documented the catastrophic fall of the European pharmaceutical titan.
Dominic walked me through the cordoned lobby, our security detail forming an impenetrable perimeter around Noah and me.
"Federal prosecutors are seizing all domestic assets of Aethelgard," Dominic reported, handing me a bottle of water. "The evidence we pulled from your father's vault was enough to trigger the RICO Act across three continents. Julian’s testimony seals the conspiracy charges. He’s looking at thirty-five years with no possibility of parole."
"And Noah?" I asked, looking down at my son's peaceful face as he slept through the chaos. "The enzyme?"
Dominic signaled toward a waiting medical transport van parked outside. Inside sat Dr. Evelyn Reed, my late father’s former chief geneticist, whom Dominic’s team had extracted from protective custody in Zurich the night before.
Dr. Reed looked up from a mobile centrifuge unit, her silver-streaked hair pulled into a tight bun. "Clara. Bring him here."
I climbed into the sterile van, sitting across from her. Dr. Reed gently swabbed Noah’s tiny heel with alcohol, took a microscopic drop of blood with an automated lancet, and inserted it into a portable sequencer. We waited in tense silence for three agonizing minutes while the digital spectrum analyzed his cellular structure.
A green chime sounded from the console.
*Analysis Complete: Standard Human Genome. Zero Synthetic Markers Detected.*
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I gasped, tears instantly springing to my eyes. "He... he doesn't have it?"
Dr. Reed smiled warmly, reaching across to place a gentle hand over mine. "Arthur loved you more than anything on this earth, Clara. Do you really think he would ever inject a lethal, synthetic gene into his own bloodline? He knew the Consortium was monitoring his lab notes. He fabricated the entire genetic marker sequence in the files. Noah is just a perfectly healthy, beautiful baby boy."
