Chapter 12
1706 Words
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE PEOPLE WHO REMEMBERED
Every face on the screens opened its eyes at the same time.
I couldn't move.
Thousands of people.
Different ages.
Different countries.
Different lives.
But every single one had the same expression.
Confusion.
Fear.
Recognition.
The countdown continued.
00:59:31
“What did you do?” I whispered.
Daniel smiled.
“What you started.”
“I didn't start this.”
“You did.”
“No.”
I pointed at the screens.
“I would never do this.”
Daniel's expression became almost sympathetic.
“You already did.”
Rowan stepped forward.
“How do we stop it?”
Daniel looked at him.
“You can't.”
“There has to be a way.”
“There is.”
Everyone looked at him.
Daniel pointed at me.
“She has to remember.”
I felt cold.
“Remember what?”
“The first memory.”
I frowned.
“I've remembered everything.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You've remembered what I allowed you to remember.”
My stomach dropped.
“You altered my memories.”
“Of course.”
“When?”
“Every time you got close to the truth.”
I looked at the machine.
“Then how do I know what's real?”
“You don't.”
Daniel smiled.
“That's the beauty of Project Echo.”
I turned toward Elara.
“Can you remember?”
She nodded.
“Some things.”
“Then help me.”
She looked at Daniel.
“He won't let me.”
Daniel laughed.
“You still don't understand what she is.”
“What is she?”
“Your greatest mistake.”
Elara's expression hardened.
“You created me.”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Evelyn created you.”
I looked at her.
“And what did she create?”
“A person who could remember everything.”
I stared at the screens.
“What happens if the countdown reaches zero?”
Elara answered.
“Every suppressed memory will return.”
“To everyone?”
“Yes.”
“What will happen?”
“People will remember who they were before Project Echo changed them.”
I swallowed.
“And that's bad?”
“Some of them won't know which identity is real.”
I looked at the thousands of faces.
“So they could lose themselves.”
“Yes.”
Daniel interrupted.
“Or they could finally become themselves.”
I glared at him.
“You don't care what happens to them.”
“No.”
“Then what do you want?”
He looked at the countdown.
“When everyone remembers, the network becomes permanent.”
“Permanent?”
“Once the memories return, they cannot be erased again.”
I looked at the machine.
“You want everyone connected.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because then nobody can ever hide anything again.”
I shook my head.
“That's not freedom.”
“No.”
His smile disappeared.
“It's control.”
The honesty shocked me.
At least he wasn't pretending anymore.
Rowan moved toward the control panel.
Daniel immediately raised his weapon.
“Don't.”
Rowan stopped.
“You're going to kill millions of people.”
“No.”
Daniel looked at me.
“I'm going to give them their memories.”
“Without their permission.”
“They already belong to them.”
“You're forcing it.”
“Because people don't know what they've forgotten.”
I looked at Elara.
“Can you stop the network?”
She nodded slowly.
“Maybe.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“No.”
Elara stepped toward the machine.
“I know where the emergency shutdown is.”
“Don't.”
She ignored him.
I followed her.
“Where?”
“Inside the main server.”
“Can we destroy it?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“We have to disconnect the primary memory source.”
I frowned.
“Me.”
Elara nodded.
“If we disconnect you, the network stops.”
“Then do it.”
She looked at me.
“You might not survive.”
I didn't hesitate.
“Do it.”
Rowan stepped forward.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“You heard her.”
“You don't know what disconnecting means.”
“I know what happens if we don't.”
Daniel laughed.
“Still willing to sacrifice yourself?”
I looked at him.
“This isn't sacrifice.”
“What is it?”
“Fixing my mistake.”
Daniel's expression darkened.
“You don't even know if it was your mistake.”
“What?”
He stepped closer.
“You're still missing the first memory.”
I froze.
“The first memory.”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
Daniel smiled.
“You're asking the wrong person.”
He looked at Elara.
“She knows.”
I turned toward her.
“Elara?”
She looked frightened.
“What?”
“You know my first memory?”
She nodded.
“Then tell me.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because you made me promise.”
“When?”
“Before you erased yourself.”
I stepped closer.
“What did I make you promise?”
Elara's eyes filled with tears.
“You made me promise never to tell you who your first child was.”
My heart stopped.
“First child?”
She nodded.
“You think I'm your mother.”
“Yes.”
“But you weren't my first child.”
“No.”
I felt the world tilt.
“Who was?”
Elara looked at Daniel.
Then at Rowan.
Then finally at me.
“You had another child before me.”
Silence.
I couldn't speak.
Daniel smiled.
“You finally reached it.”
I whispered,
“Who?”
Elara shook her head.
“I can't.”
“Please.”
“No.”
“Tell me.”
“I promised.”
I grabbed the edge of the machine.
“Then what is my first memory?”
Elara stepped closer.
“You were in a hospital.”
I closed my eyes.
A white corridor.
Bright lights.
A woman crying.
A newborn baby.
I heard a voice.
My own voice.
“Please save her.”
Elara continued.
“You were twenty-five.”
The memory sharpened.
A doctor stood beside me.
He was holding a baby.
The baby's face was covered by a blanket.
The doctor said:
“She's too young for the procedure.”
I remembered my answer.
“She doesn't have to remember.”
My eyes opened.
“What procedure?”
Elara whispered:
“Memory transfer.”
I felt sick.
“Whose memories?”
The answer came from behind me.
Daniel.
“Yours.”
I turned.
“My memories were transferred into my baby?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your body was failing.”
I stared at Elara.
“So she carried my memories.”
“Yes.”
“That's why she remembers everything.”
“Yes.”
I looked at the screens.
Then at the machine.
Then at my hands.
“Then I'm not the original memory source.”
Daniel smiled.
“No.”
My heart pounded.
“Who is?”
He pointed toward the screens.
“The first child.”
I stared.
“Which child?”
He looked at me.
“The one you don't remember.”
The countdown continued.
00:41:18
I looked at Elara.
“You said there were four girls.”
“There were.”
“Amara.”
“Yes.”
“Liana.”
“Yes.”
“Maya.”
“Yes.”
“Me.”
“Yes.”
“That's four.”
Elara shook her head.
“No.”
My stomach dropped.
“There were five.”
The room went silent.
I stared at her.
“Five?”
She nodded.
“The fifth child was never part of Project Echo.”
“Then who was she?”
Elara looked at the screens.
A new file appeared.
SUBJECT ZERO
No photograph.
No name.
Only one line:
ORIGINAL MEMORY SOURCE.
I stared at it.
“Who is Subject Zero?”
Elara whispered:
“You.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“But I'm Subject Seventeen.”
“You were given that identity.”
“Why?”
“Because Subject Zero was erased.”
“By who?”
Elara looked at Daniel.
Daniel's smile disappeared.
“Don't.”
I turned toward him.
“You erased me.”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
He remained silent.
Elara answered.
“You did.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“You erased yourself.”
I remembered the laboratory.
The machine.
My younger self.
The gun.
Elara.
But now another memory appeared.
A woman standing beside me.
She was crying.
She looked exactly like me.
I whispered:
“Who is that?”
Elara answered:
“Your first daughter.”
My blood froze.
“She looks like me.”
“Yes.”
“What's her name?”
Elara looked at the screen.
A name appeared.
EVELYN VALE.
I stared.
“No.”
Daniel stepped backward.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
I understood.
“Evelyn wasn't my name.”
Silence.
“It was hers.”
Elara nodded.
“The woman you thought was your mother…”
I finished the sentence.
“She was my daughter.”
Elara nodded.
“And I stole her identity.”
The machine suddenly screamed.
MEMORY CONFLICT DETECTED.
SUBJECT ZERO IDENTIFIED.
Every screen went black.
Then one final screen turned on.
A live video appeared.
A woman was sitting in a dark room.
She had my face.
She looked directly into the camera.
But unlike the others, she was smiling.
“Hello, Mother.”
I froze.
The woman leaned closer.
“My name is Evelyn.”
Daniel whispered:
“No.”
She smiled.
“And I've been waiting twenty-five years to find you.”
The countdown disappeared.
A new message appeared:
SUBJECT ZERO HAS AWAKENED.
Then the woman on the screen said something that made my blood run cold.
“Daniel isn't your husband.”
She paused.
“He's your son.”
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