CHAPTER SIXTEEN-THE MEMORY THAT LIED
1561 Words
Samuel hit the floor.
Daniel dropped beside him.
“Samuel!”
Blood spread beneath his body.
Daniel pressed both hands against the wound.
“Stay with me.”
Samuel's eyes fluttered.
“Don't…”
“Don't what?”
“Don't remember.”
Daniel stared at him.
The monitors around them flickered.
Every screen displayed the same words:
BEGIN FINAL PHASE.
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot echoed somewhere in the darkness.
Daniel pulled his weapon.
“Who’s there?”
Nothing.
Then a child's voice answered.
“You already know.”
Zero.
Daniel's heart pounded.
“Show yourself.”
A small laugh came from the corridor.
“Why?”
Footsteps approached.
Slowly.
One.
Two.
Three.
A figure appeared.
White mask.
Long coat.
Daniel raised his weapon.
“The Architect.”
The figure stopped.
Daniel stepped forward.
“Take off the mask.”
The figure didn't move.
“Who are you?”
A distorted voice answered.
“You've asked that question before.”
Daniel's finger tightened around the trigger.
“Take it off.”
The figure slowly raised both hands.
Then removed the mask.
Daniel froze.
It was Dr. Elias Kane.
Again.
Daniel stared at him.
“You.”
Kane looked exhausted.
“I told you.”
“You were the Architect.”
“I wore the mask.”
“Why?”
“To keep them from recognizing me.”
“Who?”
Kane looked toward Samuel.
“The people who built this place.”
Daniel glanced at Samuel.
“You shot him.”
Kane shook his head.
“No.”
Daniel looked at the blood.
“Then who did?”
Kane stepped closer.
“The same person who shot me.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“What?”
Kane pulled open his shirt.
A small device was embedded beneath his skin.
“The bullet wasn't meant to kill us.”
Daniel stared.
“It was a tracker.”
Kane nodded.
“They wanted me here.”
“Who?”
Kane looked at the monitors.
“Shaw.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“Where is she?”
“She went after your mother.”
Daniel stood.
“Take me to them.”
Kane grabbed his arm.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
Kane looked directly into Daniel's eyes.
“Your mother isn't being held captive.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
“She came back willingly.”
“Why?”
“Because she knows what you did.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“I didn't do anything.”
Kane stared at him.
“You really don't remember.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Remember what?”
Kane whispered:
“You asked her to erase you.”
---
The words seemed to stop time.
Daniel's mind flashed.
A room.
A hospital.
His mother crying.
Young Daniel sitting on the floor.
Samuel beside him.
Amara standing behind them.
And someone else.
A fourth child.
Daniel couldn't see the face.
Young Daniel was screaming.
“Make me forget!”
His mother held his face.
“I can't.”
“Please!”
“You won't know who you are.”
“I don't care!”
The memory disappeared.
Daniel staggered.
Kane caught him.
“What did you see?”
Daniel breathed heavily.
“My mother.”
“What did she say?”
“She said… I asked her to erase me.”
Kane nodded.
“Now you remember.”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“That's not enough.”
Kane pointed toward the main monitor.
“Then watch.”
The screen came alive.
---
PROJECT TWELVE — FINAL SESSION
June 14, 2004.
A younger Dr. Shaw stood inside the control room.
Twelve children were visible through the glass.
Their mother stood beside her.
“You can't do this,” she said.
Shaw ignored her.
“Subject Twelve has reached the final stage.”
“He's eight years old.”
“He's stronger than the others.”
“He's terrified.”
“That's why it works.”
Their mother looked through the glass.
Young Daniel was sitting alone.
Shaw continued.
“Subject Twelve can absorb memories.”
Their mother whispered:
“And what happens to the memories he absorbs?”
Shaw smiled.
“They become his.”
Their mother looked horrified.
Shaw pressed a button.
The room changed.
A second child entered.
Samuel.
Then Amara.
Then another boy.
David.
But the screen labelled the final boy:
SUBJECT ZERO.
Daniel leaned toward the monitor.
“That's David.”
Kane shook his head.
“No.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Then who is he?”
Kane pointed at the screen.
“Look closely.”
The child turned.
His face was Daniel's.
Exactly.
Daniel stepped backward.
“That’s me.”
Kane nodded.
“That's what they wanted you to believe.”
The recording continued.
Shaw spoke.
“Subject Twelve, tell us your name.”
The child answered:
“Daniel.”
“Again.”
“Daniel.”
“Who is your brother?”
“Samuel.”
“Who is Zero?”
The child stared at the camera.
Then smiled.
“Me.”
Daniel's breathing stopped.
The recording froze.
Kane whispered:
“That was the first time Zero appeared.”
Daniel looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
“Zero wasn't another child.”
“Then what was he?”
“A memory.”
Daniel stared at the screen.
Kane continued.
“Your memory.”
---
Daniel's mind exploded with images.
Zero running through St. Martha's.
Zero standing beside Samuel.
Zero speaking to their mother.
Zero killing their father.
Zero starting the fire.
Zero standing behind Daniel.
Every memory.
Every photograph.
Every nightmare.
Daniel suddenly understood.
“They implanted him in me.”
Kane shook his head.
“Not exactly.”
“Then what?”
“They split you.”
Daniel's eyes widened.
“Split me?”
“Your memories were divided into identities.”
Kane pointed to the monitor.
“Daniel was the part that remembered the pain.”
Another screen appeared.
SAMUEL — MEMORY STORAGE
Another.
ZERO — MEMORY SUPPRESSION
Daniel stared.
“And me?”
Kane looked at him.
“You were the original.”
Silence.
Daniel's voice became barely audible.
“Original what?”
Kane answered:
“Subject Twelve.”
---
A door opened behind them.
Amara walked inside.
Daniel turned.
“You.”
She stopped.
Her eyes were red.
“I didn't shoot Samuel.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Then who did?”
“Shaw.”
“Where is she?”
“She has your mother.”
Daniel stepped toward her.
“You knew about Zero.”
Amara nodded.
“You knew he wasn't real.”
“Yes.”
“You knew he was inside my memories.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Amara's eyes filled with tears.
“Because you weren't ready.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
He pointed at the screens.
“You all knew.”
Amara shook her head.
“Not everything.”
“What do you know?”
She hesitated.
Then whispered:
“I know why you asked your mother to erase you.”
Daniel stared.
“Why?”
Amara looked toward Kane.
Kane closed his eyes.
Amara said:
“Because you remembered the murders.”
Daniel went silent.
“What murders?”
“The first eleven.”
Daniel felt cold.
“I wasn't a killer.”
“No.”
Amara shook her head.
“You were trying to stop them.”
She stepped closer.
“The children weren't the victims.”
Daniel stared.
“Then who was?”
Amara's voice trembled.
“The adults.”
Kane looked at her sharply.
“Amara.”
She ignored him.
“Project Twelve wasn't created to experiment on twelve children.”
Daniel frowned.
“Then why?”
“To experiment on the people around them.”
She pointed at the screen.
“The children were the variables.”
Daniel slowly understood.
“The adults were the subjects.”
Amara nodded.
“Your father. Shaw. Kane. The others.”
Daniel's heart raced.
“The eleven people who died…”
“Were part of the experiment.”
Daniel looked at the list of victims.
“They weren't children.”
“No.”
“Then why did I remember them as children?”
Amara whispered:
“Because someone made you.”
A sudden scream came through the speakers.
Their mother's voice.
“Daniel!”
He turned toward the monitor.
His mother appeared.
She was tied to a chair.
Shaw stood behind her.
But Shaw wasn't alone.
Someone stood beside her.
A man.
His face was hidden.
Daniel stared.
The man stepped forward.
Slowly.
He removed his mask.
Daniel's blood ran cold.
It was his father.
Impossible.
His father had been dead for twenty-two years.
Kane whispered:
“No…”
Daniel couldn't breathe.
His father looked directly into the camera.
Then smiled.
“Hello, son.”
The screen went black.
A final message appeared:
THE FIRST EXPERIMENT NEVER ENDED.
Then another:
YOUR FATHER IS SUBJECT ZERO.
Daniel stared at the screen.
Kane stepped backward.
Amara covered her mouth.
Samuel, still bleeding on the floor, suddenly opened his eyes.
And whispered:
“He's not our father.”
Daniel looked at him.
Samuel's face was filled with terror.
“He's the man who became him.”
Then somewhere beneath the facility, a child's laughter echoed.
3:17 a.m.
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