CHAPTER 6:Memory Rewrite
231 Words
The *Vega Dawn* floated in the silence of space, scarred from the escape. Inside, Rilo sat across from Cyra, staring at the data core they pulled from Echo Point before it exploded.
“Whatever they did to me,” he said quietly, “it’s all in here.”
Cyra nodded. “We could decrypt it… but it might overwrite what’s left of *you.*”
Rilo hesitated. “If I don’t know who I used to be… do I even know who I am now?”
She looked him dead in the eye. “You’re the version that fought back.”
Silence.
Then he inserted the drive.
Images flooded the screen—him as a child, training simulations, repeated memories with slight variations. Failed versions. Dozens of them. Clones breaking down. Rejected.
Until one file stood out: *“R47. Active. Adaptive. Emotional risk: high.”*
Cyra leaned in. “They kept you because you felt too much. That’s what made you unpredictable.”
He smirked. “They were right.”
Suddenly, a soft voice echoed from the speaker. *His* voice.
A recording.
“If you're hearing this, I made it. Or at least, a version of me did. Don’t let them decide your story. Rewrite it.”
Rilo leaned back, eyes misting.
“I don’t need to be original,” he said.
“I just need to be real”
- Writer
