Is That Mom

Part 5 of Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Confronting the Past

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Part 5:

Confronting the Truth

The chamber felt colder now, as though the walls themselves were closing in on Ethan. The air was heavy with the weight of secrets too dark to comprehend, and every step he took felt like a descent into something far more disturbing than he’d prepared for. His mother’s voice still lingered in his mind, her sorrowful admission playing on a loop. But as he combed through the last of the documents scattered across the room, he found something that sent a shiver down his spine.

A small, locked drawer in the desk had gone unnoticed until now. Driven by a grim sense of curiosity and dread, Ethan forced it open. Inside was a single file, different from the rest. It was labeled with a simple but ominous phrase: Phase Four—Personal Trial.

His heart thudded in his chest as he opened the file. Pages of scientific data, charts, and handwritten notes filled the folder. At first, it was just more of the same—details on the genetic manipulation process, how the subjects were altered, how the experiments aimed to push the boundaries of human potential. But as he turned the pages, one word leaped out at him. One word that made his blood run cold.

Self-Application.

Ethan’s fingers trembled as he read the section over and over, trying to make sense of it. His mother had not just been an observer, not just the scientist overseeing the experiments. She had been a participant. She had subjected herself to the very genetic manipulations she had inflicted on others. Her own body had become the canvas for the project’s darkest work.

He stumbled back from the desk, his mind reeling. The room seemed to tilt as the enormity of what he had just discovered sank in. His mother hadn’t just been complicit in the horrors of this place. She had crossed a line he hadn’t even imagined. She had altered herself—made herself a part of the experiment. The realization hit him like a punch to the gut.

"Why?" he whispered into the empty room, though there was no one to answer.

The files were detailed, clinical, but they couldn’t explain the madness of what she had done. According to the notes, she believed that the only way to fully understand the genetic manipulations was to experience them firsthand. She had convinced herself that this was the next logical step in her research—a step that only she could take. But Ethan couldn’t see it that way. To him, it felt like the ultimate betrayal. She hadn’t just sacrificed others; she had sacrificed herself, and by doing so, she had abandoned him in ways he couldn’t fathom.

The shock was so overwhelming that for a moment, he couldn’t breathe. His mother had tampered with her own DNA, twisting it into something beyond human, something monstrous. She had become part of the very thing she had claimed to be studying. And all the while, she had left Ethan in the dark, keeping this grotesque secret hidden from him even as she claimed to love him.

The room spun around him, and he grabbed the edge of the desk for support. He was torn between wanting to understand and being disgusted by the very idea of her actions. How could she have done this? How could she have believed that this was in any way justifiable?

His mother’s voice from the recording echoed in his ears: I wanted to protect you from this... from the darkness that consumed me.

But there was no protection from this. She had dragged him into it, even if unintentionally. By altering herself, she had crossed a line that had forever changed who she was—not just as a scientist, but as a mother, as a human being. She had played god with her own body, and the thought of it was too much for Ethan to bear.

He slammed the file shut, his chest heaving with a mix of rage and sorrow. How was he supposed to reconcile this? The woman who had cared for him, loved him, taught him everything he knew—had she been this person all along? Or had the experiments consumed her in ways she hadn’t realized until it was too late?

The files painted a grim picture. Her genetic modifications had given her abilities beyond what a normal human could possess—enhanced strength, increased cognitive function, faster healing. But the cost? It was clear from the notes that the process had also taken a toll on her mentally and emotionally. She had begun to unravel, the same way many of the other test subjects had.

A fresh wave of nausea hit him as he realized what this meant. The mother he had known, the woman he had adored as a child, hadn’t just disappeared because of her work. She had become something else entirely. The woman who had raised him had been changed—irrevocably—by the very experiments that now haunted him. Had she even been fully human by the time he had last seen her?

The room was suffocating. Ethan’s head was swimming with thoughts he didn’t want to entertain. Was she still out there, somewhere, living with the consequences of her actions? Had the alterations made her into something unrecognizable, both physically and emotionally? And if she was still alive, what did that mean for him?

He couldn’t bear to think about it. But at the same time, he couldn’t stop. His mother had crossed a line that Ethan couldn’t forgive, but he also couldn’t walk away. His anger swelled to the point where he felt like he might explode, but beneath it was something worse—something he couldn’t name. Fear? Despair? Grief?

He didn’t know who his mother was anymore. She wasn’t just the woman who had raised him, nor was she just the scientist who had conducted horrific experiments on others. She was something more twisted, something more complex and terrifying. She had become a part of the very thing she was studying—a living, breathing testament to the dangers of unchecked ambition.

Ethan sank to the floor, his head in his hands. The weight of the discovery was too much to bear. His mother’s face swam before his eyes, and for the first time, he didn’t know what to feel. The love he had held for her all these years now felt tainted by the truth of what she had done. How could he love someone who had turned herself into a monster? How could he forgive her for doing this to herself—and to him?

The emotional conflict inside him reached a boiling point. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to mourn her, rage against her, or simply walk away and never look back. But deep down, he knew he couldn’t leave it like this. He couldn’t turn his back on the truth, no matter how much it hurt.

His hands shook as he looked around the chamber one last time. The machine in the center of the room loomed larger now, a silent reminder of the dark path his mother had walked. And somewhere in the depths of his soul, Ethan knew that he had no choice but to follow in her footsteps—even if it meant confronting the very thing he feared most.

Because no matter how much he wanted to hate her, no matter how much he wanted to run, he was still her son. And the truth, no matter how dark, was something he couldn’t escape.