CHAPTER 13
1815 Words
THE FAMILY CODE
The tunnel was darker than Mara expected.
There were no lights along the walls, only thin strips of metal running beneath their feet. Every few metres, a small blue indicator blinked once before disappearing again.
Alan walked ahead.
Chris stayed beside Mara.
Neither spoke.
For almost twenty minutes, the only sound was their footsteps.
Then Mara finally broke the silence.
“What did you mean when you said Delyn was an original subject?”
Alan stopped.
He looked back at her.
“I don't know everything.”
“You know enough.”
“I know what I saw.”
“Then tell me.”
Alan hesitated.
“The Devotion Project didn't begin as a relationship program.”
Chris frowned.
“What was it?”
“A family study.”
Mara's expression tightened.
“Family?”
Alan nodded.
“Researchers discovered that emotional attachment within families was stronger and more difficult to manipulate than romantic attachment.”
“So they studied families first.”
“Yes.”
“And Delyn?”
“He was one of the earliest subjects.”
Mara's stomach turned.
“How old was he?”
“Very young.”
“How young?”
Alan looked away.
“Six.”
Mara stopped walking.
“My brother was six.”
“I know.”
“And nobody told us.”
“They weren't supposed to.”
Chris stepped closer to Alan.
“What did they do to him?”
Alan shook his head.
“Not what you're imagining.”
“Then what?”
“They observed him.”
“That doesn't make it better.”
“They studied how children form emotional bonds. How siblings protect one another. How parents influence decisions. How fear changes attachment.”
Mara whispered, “And my family?”
Alan nodded.
“Your entire family became part of the study.”
She felt suddenly cold.
“My parents.”
“Both of them.”
“Delyn.”
“Yes.”
“And me.”
Alan didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Mara understood.
They reached the end of the tunnel.
A metal staircase led upward.
Alan raised a finger.
“Wait.”
He listened.
Nothing.
He slowly opened the hatch.
A warm breeze entered.
Mara climbed through.
She found herself standing in an abandoned building.
The windows were covered with metal sheets.
Dust covered the floor.
Old government signs hung crookedly on the walls.
Chris looked around.
“Where are we?”
Alan checked his device.
“Three kilometres from the facility.”
Mara looked outside through a gap in the metal.
The landscape was unfamiliar.
“We're outside.”
“Technically.”
Alan pointed toward the horizon.
A mountain range rose in the distance.
“The master facility is beyond those hills.”
Chris stared.
“How far?”
“About thirty kilometres.”
Mara looked at him.
“We walk.”
Alan laughed softly.
“Of course you would say that.”
They began moving.
They had walked for nearly an hour when Mara's phone vibrated.
She stopped.
She hadn't had a signal since entering the facility.
Now one message appeared.
UNKNOWN NUMBER
MARA, DON'T TRUST ALAN.
She stared at it.
Chris noticed.
“What is it?”
She showed him.
Alan looked over.
His face remained unreadable.
“Delete it.”
Mara looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because they want you to doubt me.”
Another message arrived.
HE KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR PARENTS.
Mara looked at Alan.
“Do you?”
He stopped walking.
Chris stepped between them.
“Alan?”
Alan closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Mara's heart dropped.
“You knew?”
“I knew part of it.”
“What happened to them?”
Alan looked toward the road.
“They were given a choice.”
“What choice?”
“To participate.”
“And they refused?”
Alan nodded.
“My mother refused first.”
Mara's eyes narrowed.
“Your mother?”
Alan looked at her.
“My mother worked for the project.”
Silence.
“She was one of the original researchers.”
Mara couldn't speak.
“She discovered what they were doing to children.”
Chris asked, “And?”
“She tried to stop it.”
“What happened?”
“She disappeared.”
Mara's voice trembled.
“Just like my parents?”
Alan looked at her.
“Your parents didn't disappear.”
Mara froze.
“What?”
“They were transferred.”
“To where?”
Alan didn't answer.
Mara grabbed his arm.
“Where?”
He looked directly into her eyes.
“The master facility.”
The building appeared just before sunset.
It was enormous.
Almost invisible against the mountains.
There were no government signs.
No guards.
No visible entrance.
Only a huge concrete structure embedded into the earth.
Mara stared.
“This is it.”
Alan nodded.
Chris looked around.
“How do we get inside?”
Alan pointed toward a narrow path.
“Through the old family entrance.”
Mara frowned.
“Family entrance?”
“That's what they called it.”
“Why?”
“Because it only opens for people with matching genetic records.”
Mara's expression changed.
“Delyn.”
Alan nodded.
“He can open it.”
Mara stared at the facility.
“Then we need to get him.”
Delyn was sitting alone.
The room was dark.
He had stopped trying to escape.
Instead, he had begun studying the walls.
There were no doors.
No windows.
Only a single screen.
It displayed his sister.
Mara.
Walking.
Running.
Searching.
Delyn smiled.
“You're coming.”
The screen changed.
His parents appeared.
His father.
His mother.
Then Mara.
Then Delyn.
The four of them stood together.
A voice spoke.
FAMILY UNIT IDENTIFIED.
Delyn stared at the image.
“What do you want?”
WE WANT TO RESTORE THE FAMILY.
He laughed.
“You destroyed it.”
INCORRECT.
THE FAMILY REMAINS INTACT.
The screen changed.
His mother's face appeared.
YOUR MOTHER IS ALIVE.
Delyn stopped breathing.
“What?”
The image changed again.
His father.
Alive.
Older.
Sitting inside a room.
Delyn stepped toward the screen.
“Dad?”
His father looked directly at the camera.
Then spoke.
“Delyn.”
Delyn's eyes filled with tears.
“Dad?”
The image cut out.
Delyn slammed his fists against the wall.
“Bring them back!”
The system responded:
YOUR SISTER CAN DO THAT.
Delyn froze.
“What does she have to do?”
Three words appeared.
CHOOSE HER FAMILY.
Mara stood outside the master facility.
The sun was almost gone.
Alan placed a small device against the wall.
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
Chris looked at him.
“You said this would work.”
“It should.”
Mara suddenly felt something.
A vibration in her pocket.
Her phone.
She pulled it out.
One message.
COME ALONE.
Another arrived.
YOUR PARENTS ARE ALIVE.
Her hands began shaking.
Chris saw her expression.
“What happened?”
Mara couldn't answer.
The phone displayed another message.
WE KNOW YOU WANT YOUR FAMILY BACK.
Then:
COME TO THE EAST ENTRANCE.
Alan looked at the screen.
“It's a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then don't go.”
Mara looked at the enormous building.
“What if it's true?”
Chris stepped closer.
“Mara.”
She looked at him.
“My parents may be alive.”
“I know.”
“My brother is inside.”
“I know.”
“And they want me to choose.”
Chris took her hand.
“Then don't let them choose for you.”
Mara looked down at their hands.
Then back at him.
“You don't understand.”
“I do.”
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
“If they're alive, I have to find them.”
Chris nodded.
“Then we'll find them.”
Mara stared at him.
“They might hurt you.”
“They might.”
“You could lose everything.”
“So could you.”
She shook her head.
“I don't want you to do this because of me.”
Chris stepped closer.
“I'm not doing it because they told me to.”
He held her gaze.
“I'm doing it because I choose to.”
For a moment, Mara said nothing.
Then the wall behind them opened.
A hidden entrance revealed itself.
Inside was darkness.
Alan looked at the opening.
“It worked.”
Mara looked at him.
“How?”
Alan pointed at her phone.
“Your family's records.”
Mara's stomach dropped.
The entrance wasn't responding to Delyn.
It was responding to her.
A screen appeared beside the doorway.
FAMILY UNIT: TENDO
MEMBERS DETECTED: 4
STATUS: INCOMPLETE
Then:
PRIMARY SUBJECT: MARA TENDO
FAMILY REINTEGRATION REQUIRED.
The screen displayed one final instruction.
ENTER ALONE.
Chris immediately shook his head.
“No.”
Mara looked at the door.
“They're expecting me.”
Alan stepped forward.
“Which means they probably don't know we're here.”
Mara looked between them.
“If I don't go, they might move my family.”
Chris said nothing.
She squeezed his hand.
“Wait for me.”
He tightened his grip.
“Come back.”
“I will.”
Mara released his hand.
She walked through the entrance.
The door began closing.
Chris stepped forward.
“Mara!”
She turned.
For one second, their eyes met.
Then the door slammed shut.
Inside the facility, Mara stood alone.
A corridor stretched before her.
At the end was a single glass room.
Someone was sitting inside.
Mara slowly approached.
Her heart stopped.
It was her father.
Older.
Thinner.
But alive.
He lifted his head.
Their eyes met through the glass.
“Mara.”
She pressed her hand against the glass.
“Dad?”
He stood.
Then another figure appeared behind him.
Her mother.
Mara's knees nearly gave way.
“Mum…”
Sarah smiled through tears.
But before Mara could move, the speakers came alive.
FAMILY REINTEGRATION PROTOCOL INITIATED.
The glass door opened.
Her father stepped toward her.
Then whispered:
“Don't believe everything you see.”
Mara froze.
Her mother grabbed her arm.
And in a trembling voice, she said:
“They're not trying to save our family.”
She looked toward the ceiling.
“They're trying to rebuild it.”
The lights went red.
A countdown appeared.
10
9
8
Mara looked from her mother to her father.
“What does that mean?”
Her father looked at her.
“It means the people standing in this room may not be the people you remember.”
7
6
Sarah began crying.
5
The door behind Mara locked.
4
A voice announced:
FAMILY MEMORY RESTORATION WILL BEGIN IN THREE SECONDS.
3
Mara stepped backward.
2
Her father's eyes widened.
“Run!”
1
The lights went white.
And Mara forgot where she was.
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