They called it replication.
Not cloning.
Not imitation.
Replication.
A private biomedical conglomerate—buried beneath shell companies and government deniability—had reached the same conclusion as the world's powers:
If Elias Murphy could not be controlled…Then he had to be recreated.
The facility didn't exist on any map.
White walls. Black glass. Silence engineered into the air itself.
At the center of the room stood a man.
Six foot seven.
Perfect posture.
Musculature sculpted to biomechanical precision—Baki the Grappler proportions rendered clinically exact.
Golden hair.
Golden eyes.
"Subject M-01," a technician whispered. "Vitals are stable."
The man opened his eyes.
They were gold.
But empty.
At San Jose St. Bonaventure, Elias paused mid-step.
A sensation—not pain, not threat—passed through him.
Recognition.
Shaun noticed immediately.
"Your heart rate changed," Shaun said.
"Yes."
"Cause?"
Elias considered.
"Someone copied the outline," he said. "Not the substance."
The first public appearance came three days later.
A press release.
"INTRODUCING A NEW ERA IN MEDICINE."
Video footage followed.
A man—his mirror—performing surgery in a private clinic. Movements fast. Confident. Precise.
But not gentle.
Not careful.
The patient survived.
Barely.
Celeste watched the footage beside Elias.
"They built a weapon," she said quietly.
"They built a shadow," Elias replied. "Shadows collapse under light."
Project Mirror's subject spoke for the first time during a controlled interview.
"I exist to advance humanity," M-01 said calmly. "Emotion interferes with efficiency."
Elias tilted his head.
"That is incorrect."
The first disaster followed within hours.
A complex multi-organ surgery performed by M-01 failed catastrophically. The patient lived—but permanently damaged.
Project Mirror attempted suppression.
Celeste didn't allow it.
She leaked the unedited footage.
The world reacted instantly.
"Who authorized this?""Is this legal?""Is this man dangerous?"
Elias watched the chaos without satisfaction.
"He doesn't understand the patient," he said.
Shaun frowned. "Define 'understand.'"
"They are not systems," Elias replied. "They are people."
That night, Celeste received a message encrypted beyond standard protocols.
FROM: PROJECT MIRRORSUBJECT: MEETING REQUEST
"They want you," she said.
"Yes."
"They want to study you."
"They will fail."
Celeste met his gaze. "I won't let them put you in a room."
"They won't try."
A second message arrived.
SUBJECT: PEACEFUL EXCHANGE
Elias smiled faintly.
"They want permission."
"And?"
Elias stood.
"They don't need it."
Meanwhile, in the hidden facility, M-01 watched Elias' surgeries on loop.
"Why does he succeed where I do not?" he asked.
A scientist hesitated. "Because he… cares."
M-01 processed this.
Care.
A variable without equation.
Without logic.
Without replication.
Something they hadn't built.
Something they couldn't code.
Back at the hospital, Elias returned to work.
The patient on the table trembled.
Elias placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You're safe," he said.
The monitors stabilized.
Because medicine wasn't about perfection.
It was about presence.
And no mirror could reflect that.
End of Chapter 12