“Dad, please! This isn’t right, we have to find another way!”

The words tumble out, desperate, as I follow him down the harshly lit, sterile corridors of the lab. My bare feet slap against the cold metal floor, each step sending a shiver through me. My hospital gown clings to my skin, paper-thin, offering little warmth against the chill that fills the lab. For weeks, I’ve been here in these gowns, subjected to endless tests, the “preparations” he’s insisted on. But today feels different. Everything about the way he moves, the look on his face—there’s a finality in it that presses down on me, heavy and unyielding.

He strides ahead, purposeful, his silence more imposing than any words. This is Dr. Julian Voss—my father, yes, but more than that to the rest of the world. The Dr. Voss, humanity’s last hope, a man who carries the weight of Earth’s extinction on his shoulders. He’s not just a scientist; he’s the architect of survival, the one who has pushed further than any other to secure the last threads of humanity. And I know, watching his back as he leads me down this endless corridor, that he has sacrificed more than I can imagine to get here.

We reach the docking bay, and he stops. I stop, too, staring at what’s waiting there—a cryo pod, pristine and sealed, positioned in the center of the bay, ready to be loaded onto a nearby ship. A chill spreads through me, colder than the metal beneath my feet. My stomach drops as I turn to him, searching his face for any trace of warmth, any hint of the father I knew. But his gaze is steely, resolved. Dr. Voss, the man entrusted with humanity’s future.

I whisper, my voice barely finding its way out. “Dad… what is this?” I look up at him, meeting his gaze, and the sight of his blue eyes—those same eyes we share—sends a pang through me. He’s always looked at me with a fierce protectiveness, but now his gaze is hard, unyielding, filled with a cold determination that feels like the very last thing I’d ever see.

“This is the only way,” he says, his voice low and unwavering. There’s no trace of warmth, just the unbreakable conviction of a man who’s sacrificed everything. “There’s no other choice. Now, come.”

His hand clamps around my small wrist, firm and unyielding, pulling me forward even as I drag my heels against the floor, resisting him.

I dig in harder, finally yanking back, my heart pounding. “What the fuck, Dad?” I shout, my words sharp with rising panic. “You can’t just… leave everyone else! You’re humanity’s last hope, and you’re running away?” I pull against his grip, desperation giving me strength. “You’re abandoning them all?”

He reaches out, grabbing my shoulders and pulling me close, his expression hardening. “Damn it, Sol,” he snaps, his voice rough, carrying an edge of desperation. “You don’t understand—you can’t understand. But someday, you will.”

Before I can respond, his hand comes down across my face, a harsh slap that knocks me off balance. I stumble, crumpling to the cold metal floor, the sting radiating through my cheek. My hand flies to my mouth, feeling the warm trickle of blood at my lip as I stare up at him, shocked. He’s towering above me, his frame seeming even larger, casting a shadow over me. He’s never hit me before. Never.

For a brief moment, I see him grimace, regret flickering in his eyes. But it vanishes as quickly as it came, his face settling back into that hard, unyielding expression. “This isn’t a choice, Sol,” he says, his voice thick with an emotion I can barely recognize. “This is the only way. You’re the only one who can survive this. I’m doing this for you.”

He glances toward the pod, his gaze briefly distant, his jaw tight. “You know the mission,” he says, his voice low but intense. “Our last hope for humanity is in the colony at Haven. Jericho is carrying the final fusion core Earth will ever produce, the only thing that can keep them alive. Once it’s gone, Earth will die, whether today or tomorrow. Staying here won’t change that.”

The desperation in his voice cuts through my anger, and I hear the faint, relentless sounds of chaos outside—the shouting, the thundering footsteps of soldiers. He grips my shoulders harder, forcing me to meet his gaze. “There’s a mob out there, people trying to storm the docks, desperate for any chance to escape. Troops can barely keep them back. They know, Sol. They know this is the end.” He looks back at me, his eyes blazing. “You’re the only one I can protect. The only one with a chance to carry on my work. This is the only way.”

I stare, mouth open, my voice barely more than a whisper. “Dad… don’t do this. Don’t leave everyone behind. You’re the world’s last hope—you’re supposed to save them.”

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He exhales, a slow, weary sound, as though the weight of everything he’s done has finally settled on him. “It’s too late to save them,” he says, his tone flat, like he’s been telling himself this over and over again. “You don’t understand, Sol. Earth is beyond saving. My research… it was supposed to create a future. It was supposed to protect us. But I miscalculated.” He shakes his head, his eyes clouded. “What I created… it spread. Faster than I ever could have imagined.”

“What did you do?” I whisper, a chill creeping down my spine as I search his face for answers.

He glances at the cryo pod, his expression softening for a fleeting, unguarded moment. “You’ll understand in time. This… this isn’t how I wanted things to be,” he murmurs, almost to himself. There’s a hint of something I can’t quite place—regret, maybe, or hesitation. But then, as quickly as it appeared, it vanishes. His gaze sharpens, hard and unyielding, and his hands reach for me. His fingers grip my shoulders, tightening with a firmness that leaves no room for argument, and he lifts me as if I weigh nothing, pulling me close, my feet leaving the floor.

A stray lock of dark hair falls into my face, and I push it aside, my heart pounding as he holds me there, my feet dangling above the cold metal floor. “But this isn’t about what we want,” he says, his voice low, filled with a fierce urgency. “It’s about what humanity needs. I did everything to prepare for this—to prepare you. Whether this is a curse or a gift… only you can decide. But you’re… the only hope left.”

Without waiting for my response, he turns, still gripping me tightly, and begins to push me toward the open pod, each step bringing me closer to the cold, unfeeling metal that waits to seal me inside.

“Me?” I shake my head, anger flaring, though it feels as if the ground has fallen away beneath me. “I’m not your experiment, Dad. I’m not some… backup plan.”

His expression softens for just a moment, a flicker of regret shadowing his gaze. But then his grip on my shoulders tightens, his face hardening, resolute. “You don’t understand,” he says, his voice steady but weighted with something darker. “You’re the only plan… the only one who can carry on my work when I’m gone. You’re the only one who shares my DNA, the only one who can handle the changes, the only one it won’t destroy. You’re smart enough, strong enough to survive what’s coming. No one else can.”

Before I can react, he turns me forcefully toward the cryo pod, guiding me back with an urgency that borders on desperation. I push against him, twisting my arms, but he’s stronger. His fingers dig into my shoulders, his grip unrelenting, his determination leaving no room for resistance. My back hits the cold interior of the pod, and his hands press down on my shoulders, forcing me into place.

“No! Daddy, please!” I cry, my voice breaking, raw with desperation. I thrash against his hold, but my small, slender frame is no match for his strength. His hands are unyielding, gripping me tightly as he pulls me toward the pod. “You can’t just… leave them all behind. You’re giving up on everyone! You’re running away!”

But he doesn’t answer, his jaw set, his gaze hard and unflinching as he lifts me and maneuvers me into the cryo pod. My heart races, panic flaring as he snaps the restraints shut around my wrists and ankles, locking me down. The cold metal bites into my skin, pinning me in place. I twist, struggling against the straps, but they don’t budge. My bare feet brush against the frigid interior, grounding me in the horrifying reality that I’m trapped.

He steps back, and for a fleeting moment, his gaze softens as he looks at me, a fierce determination in his blue eyes shadowed by something darker—regret, or perhaps guilt. Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulls out a syringe filled with a shimmering, iridescent liquid. The needle catches the light, gleaming like something sharp and merciless. A tightness seizes in my chest as he holds it up, his face unreadable.

“Dad… what is that?” I whisper, the words barely escaping as terror blooms through me, cold and suffocating.

“This is the only way to protect you,” he says, his voice cracking as he steps closer, the syringe steady in his hand. “The tests… they all say this will work. I didn’t want it to come to this, Sol. But there’s no other choice.” He pauses, voice softening. “I have to protect you.”

“No!” I try to pull my arms, my legs, anything to break free from the restraints, but I’m helpless, bound by his unrelenting hold and the cold metal strapped across my limbs. He brings the syringe closer, and I feel the sharp prick of the needle as it pierces my skin, releasing a flood of unbearable heat into my veins.

“Why, Daddy?” I gasp, my voice barely more than a broken whisper as the fire spreads, twisting and burning from the inside out. The pain is excruciating, an intense, searing heat that fills every nerve in my body. My muscles tense, my back arches against the restraints, but there’s no escape. My skin feels like it’s blistering, my blood boiling with the invasive heat of whatever he’s injected into me.

“Because I have to,” he whispers, his voice thick with emotion as he watches me writhe, his gaze filled with regret and something even darker. “Because I love you. You’re the only one who can carry on. You’re humanity’s last hope.”

As my vision blurs from the pain, I feel him reach up, fastening an IV line to my arm. The hiss of the closing cryo pod surrounds me, the last sounds I hear as he leans close, his voice soft, barely audible over the pod’s hum.

“I love you, Sol,” he says, his words distant, hollow as my consciousness slips away. “No matter what, remember that you are my legacy.”

The last thing I see is his face, blurred and fading, as the darkness consumes me.