"They're satisfied. I think for good."
Marcus, one of the Charleston Danes, leaned back in his chair. "So, the Eye of Sauron has finally moved on."
No one laughed.
I couldn't contain it anymore.
The question had been burning in my chest since Victoria said the words on that sandbar.
"What is Project Trueborn?" I asked.
The room went silent.
Dad winced. Visibly.
Then he sighed, long and heavy, and sank into the chair he'd been gripping.
"Project Trueborn," he began slowly, "started as a dream. Or maybe as a madman's idea. Either way, it became a reality."
I braced for impact.
"It was developed by Department 77," he continued. "Originally, it was supposed to be a super soldier breeding program."
Several of my brothers shifted uncomfortably.
"They tried labs. Test tubes. Taking poor male children and training them from birth."
His voice went flat.
"It didn't work. The subjects never fully developed into what they were supposed to be. They were ... broken. Damaged."
He looked down at his hands.
"That all changed with a single interview."
I felt my stomach tighten.
"It was me," Dad said quietly. "A decorated soldier. A man of integrity. Raised by loving parents. I mentioned in passing that maybe what super soldiers needed wasn't labs and violence from birth. Maybe they needed loving parents. A tough but fair upbringing. Training that looked like life lessons, not guns in your hands at age two."
Silence.
"Two weeks later, I was called into a small room in the middle of Charleston. Three men. Very pointed questions."
He rubbed his face.
"At first, I didn't understand where the questioning was going. Mostly things about how to raise a boy. How to make a man a man. That sort of thing."
His jaw tightened.
"After an hour, they got to the point. They wanted me to spearhead Project Trueborn. Operationally."
Ethan leaned forward. "What does that mean?"
Dad met his eyes. "It meant I was to be one of its subjects."
My blood ran cold.
"They wanted me to find a suitable wife," Dad continued. "Someone who could help raise boys to be exactly what I'd just described. We would both be genetically predisposed to have male children."
