THE ORIGINAL
702 Words
Episode 10: The Original
The gunshot echoed through the room.
Elara closed her eyes.
But no bullet came.
She opened them.
Kael was standing in front of her.
His hand was bleeding.
He had caught the bullet with his arm.
“Kael!”
He stumbled backward.
Adrian raised the gun again.
“You should have stayed out of this.”
Kael grabbed Elara's hand.
“Run.”
“No.”
“Elara, run!”
Something inside her suddenly changed.
The memories came rushing back.
Not fragments.
Everything.
The laboratory.
The machines.
The glass chamber.
Her sixteen-year-old body lying beneath white sheets.
Her father standing beside her.
Kael crying.
Maya holding her hand.
And her own voice saying:
“If my body dies, don't let them erase me.”
Elara gasped.
She remembered the truth.
She hadn't asked them to forget.
She had asked them to remember for her.
A memory continued.
Her father had leaned toward her.
“You'll never survive without me.”
And she had whispered:
“You're wrong.”
She had pointed toward a small device on the table.
A memory drive.
“I've already copied everything.”
Adrian's face had changed.
Then the machine exploded.
The original Evelyn died.
But her memories survived.
Elara opened her eyes.
“You killed me.”
Adrian smiled.
“You were dying anyway.”
“You killed me because I discovered what you were doing.”
His smile faded.
“What did you discover?”
Elara stared at him.
“You weren't trying to save me.”
Silence.
“You were testing whether memories could be transferred from one human brain to another.”
Adrian said nothing.
“You killed people.”
Maya whispered,
“Elara…”
Elara turned toward her.
“You knew.”
Maya looked down.
“I was there.”
“How many?”
Maya's eyes filled with tears.
“Six.”
Elara's heart broke.
“Six girls?”
Maya nodded.
“Six girls who looked like me.”
Adrian interrupted.
“They weren't you.”
Elara looked at him.
“They were attempts.”
“Yes.”
“And I was the successful one.”
Adrian smiled.
“Exactly.”
Kael suddenly stepped forward.
“You're wrong.”
Adrian looked at him.
“What?”
“She isn't the seventh attempt.”
Kael looked at Elara.
“She is the original.”
Silence.
Adrian's face changed.
Kael continued.
“The memories weren't transferred into a new person.”
Elara's eyes widened.
“They were restored.”
Kael nodded.
“Your body survived.”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
“You lied to everyone,” Kael said. “You told them Evelyn died because you wanted to control her.”
Elara stared at her father.
“You kept me unconscious for years.”
Adrian's expression became furious.
“You don't understand what you are.”
Elara stepped forward.
“I understand enough.”
She looked at Kael.
“And you?”
Kael lowered his eyes.
“What did you hide from me?”
He didn't answer.
Elara walked closer.
“You knew I was the original.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my father was using me.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew every time I remembered, he would come after me.”
“Yes.”
Her voice broke.
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
Kael looked at her.
“Because the first time I told you…”
He swallowed.
“…you killed yourself.”
Elara froze.
“What?”
Kael's eyes filled with tears.
“You remembered everything.”
He took a shaky breath.
“And you couldn't live with what your father had done.”
Elara stared at him.
“You killed yourself?”
“No.”
Kael shook his head.
“You did.”
The room fell silent.
Then Adrian slowly smiled.
“Now you remember.”
Elara turned toward him.
Adrian raised his gun.
“But you still don't remember the most important thing.”
“What?”
He pointed the gun at Kael.
“Who really killed your mother.”
Kael's face went pale.
Elara looked at him.
And for the first time…
Kael looked genuinely terrified.
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