From the shadows at the entrance stood a person, her arms folded.
A silent smile rested on her face.
Her presence didn't go unnoticed.
Zubair caught sight of her first.
"The snake is lurking for prey, huh."he thought.
A smile tugged at his lips.
"Assalamu alaikum, Zara."
Though his thoughts said otherwise, he knew the power balance was shifting in her favor.
But—
It wasn't over yet.
He had once known her weakness.
She had kept it close—hidden carefully.
Her weakness.
Amran.
She had explained his presence as that of a guard.
However, Zubair knew better.
"Wa alaikum assalam," Zara replied. Her smile widened as her eyelids narrowed.
"Now then… I require the guard and the girl. So if you would excuse us, Zubair."
His name left a bitter taste in her mouth.
Zubair gave a slight nod.
"Sure."
And then—
he started following them.
It irritated Zara.
On the surface, they were prodigy siblings.
But beneath that—
they were rivals, each at the other's throat.
Always searching for weakness.
They walked in silence.
Amran and Hayaat stayed close, their steps cautious.
They were afraid of Zara.
Enraging her meant there was no way for Hayaat—or her cousins—to ever leave.
By now, Hayaat was torn between wanting to stay…
or to leave .
The white corridors stretched endlessly around them, sterile and cold.
"Why… why are you following us, brother?
Is there something I can help you with?"
Zara wanted him off her trail.
"No."
A simple answer.
Yet it was enough to make her want to kill him.
The low, constant buzzing of large machines echoed from beyond the walls—
even before they reached the door.Even before entering—
they stopped outside the door.
"Wait here."
She gestured to Amran, signaling him to keep an eye on Hayaat.
Little did she know—
if it were up to him, Amran would have kept Zara by his side forever.
"And since you're already here… why not follow me?"
She turned her gaze toward Zubair.
"Alright. I accept your invitation, sister."
He smiled faintly.
"Where are we going, though?"
"To meet your favorite."
Zara smirked.
The words lingered.
They reminded him of her earlier warning.
A shiver ran down his spine.
She was unpredictable—
and he knew it.
Better to stay silent.They entered the designated drone area.
The faint hum of machines filled the air—steady, mechanical, almost suffocating.
And then—
they saw it.
Noor and Fasil.
Reunited.
For a brief moment, something shifted.
A quiet, unfamiliar ache settled in both Zara and Zubair.
Jealousy.
Not of power.
Not of control.
But of something far simpler—
something they had never truly known.
A bond like that.
Unspoken. Unbreakable.
The kind that didn't require fear to exist.
The thought lingered…
only for a few seconds.
Then it vanished.
Buried.
Forgotten.
Or rather—
ignored.
"If you're done… we should move."
Zara's voice cut through the moment.
Cold. Authoritative.
No one dared question her.
Not even them.
She turned and began walking ahead, leaving the space behind without another glance.
But Zubair didn't follow immediately.
His gaze remained fixed.
On 1011206.
Zara noticed.
Of course she did.
She always noticed.
She stopped.
Turned.
Walked back toward him slowly.
Each step deliberate.
Then she leaned closer—
her voice barely a whisper against his ear.
"Your favorite one… right?"
A pause.
A cruel smile.
"She'll be counting her last days."
Zubair stiffened.
For once—
he had no response.
He didn't want her to die.
Not her.
The others… he didn't care about.
But her—
something was different.
Zara pulled back, studying his face.
Satisfied.
She had found it.
His weakness.
Once, she had warned him never to have one.
Now—
it belonged to her.
Control became easier when fear had a name.
And now, it did.
Across the room, Noor clung to Fasil.
Relief washed over her.
He was alive.
He was here.
But her mind—
it refused to forget.
What she had seen.
Him—
lying on a surgical table.
Helpless.
Still.
Being dissected.
And the one holding the scalpel—
was Zara.
Cutting.
Observing.
Searching for changes.
Not just out of curiosity—
but to understand the clones better.
To perfect them.
To control them.
Noor's grip tightened.
As if letting go would make it real again.
For Fazil, the damage ran deeper.
He was an intern.
One year away from becoming a doctor.
A future built around precision, knowledge, and steady hands.
And yet—
now—
he flinched.
At injections.
At surgical tools.
At the mere sight of a scalpel.
The very instrument that once defined his purpose…
now filled him with fear.
Life had shifted.
Violently.
Irreversibly.
A single moment—
and everything changed.
Two scars remained etched into him.
One across his abdomen.
The other—
dangerously close to his heart.
Marks of something he didn't fully understand.
Marks of something Zara wanted.
Something she was still searching for.
And no one—
knew why.
The clones flinched at the sight of them.
At the guards.
At the drones.
But most of all—
at the sight of Zara.
Why?
Because they had been planning an escape.
And they hadn't known where Zara was.
But as always—
Zara knew.
She always knew what happened inside the facility… every movement, every whisper, every attempt within the restricted areas.
It was part of her exchange with her father.
The only time their conversations held any meaning.
When Zara had first learned the truth—
about the clones,
about the research,
about how her own somatic cells had been used to create them—
it shattered something inside her.
It made her question everything.
Her father.
Her mother.
Their Love.
Was her mother ever truly loved?
Did she love them back?
Or had she always been part of an experiment?
And what about herself?
If she had been born differently—
not a girl, but a boy—
would any of this still exist?
Or would someone else have taken her place?
The questions consumed her.
Relentless.
Unforgiving.
They crowded her mind until she couldn't breathe.
And sometimes—
without even realizing it—
she would hurt herself.
Not intentionally.
Never intentionally.
But it became a pattern.
A small cut.
Then another.
Each one an attempt to silence the noise.
To make the chaos inside her visible.
To show that she was breaking.
To show her father—
that she wasn't what he thought she was.
That she was hurting.
Am I enough?
Or was her only purpose—
to exist for them?
For the clones?
He could look at them.
Study them.
Perfect them.
But not her—
even when they all looked the same.
And then—
she tried to run.
Not alone.
With someone else.
Before she was known as Experiment 7280206—
before she was reduced to a number—
she had a name.
Fawdaa
A name given by their father.
It meant chaos.
And it intrigued Zara.
Why was she different?
Why was she given a name—
when the others were not?
Why did she receive attention the rest never did?
Zara watched her.
Studied her.
And eventually—
grew close.
Too close.
Because Fawdaa wasn't like the others.
Now—
Zara knew things.
Things she wasn't supposed to know.
Things that changed everything.
It planted something dangerous in Zara's mind.
A thought she couldn't ignore.
A possibility.
What if—
she could leave?
Not just escape.
But disappear.
What if she could take someone else's place?
And give them freedom instead?
Not all of them.
That was impossible.
But one—
just one—
could be enough.
The one who hadn't yet been reduced to a number.
Experiment 7280206
Fawdaa.
Zara stepped closer to her.
And for the first time—
the lines between creator and creation…
began to blur.