Chapter 6
461 Words
THE MEMORY
Elara could no longer feel the steering wheel beneath her fingers.
Four years old.
The number repeated inside her mind.
“You're saying I created ORACLE when I was four?”
“No,” Lucian said. “I'm saying you were involved in something that eventually became ORACLE.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It didn't make sense to me either.”
“Then why believe it?”
“Because I saw the original files.”
Elara turned toward him.
“Where?”
“Your father's private facility.”
Her breath caught.
“My father never had a facility.”
“He did.”
“Where?”
“Shanghai.”
The word hung between them.
China.
Her earliest memories were fragmented—bright lights, cold floors, unfamiliar voices.
And a man who always told her never to enter a certain room.
Elara closed her eyes.
A memory surfaced.
A red door.
A child's hand against glass.
Her father's voice.
Don't look at the screen.
She opened her eyes.
“I remember.”
Lucian's gaze sharpened.
“What?”
“A room.”
“What room?”
“I don't know.”
“Try.”
She looked at him.
“You're very demanding.”
“And you're very stubborn.”
“You noticed.”
“I've noticed everything about you.”
The words caught her off guard.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Lucian's eyes dropped briefly to her lips before returning to her eyes.
Elara felt an unfamiliar warmth rise through her chest.
She looked away first.
“This is distracting.”
“What is?”
“You.”
His expression softened.
“Good.”
She frowned.
“Why?”
“Because you're finally thinking about something other than running.”
Before she could answer, the car's navigation system changed.
A red warning appeared.
ROUTE COMPROMISED.
Lucian immediately reached for the wheel.
“Brake.”
Elara didn't ask why.
She slammed the brakes.
A truck burst through the tunnel ahead of them.
The Ferrari stopped inches from the collision.
Silence.
Then Lucian looked at her.
“You trust me.”
Elara swallowed.
“Don't make it sound important.”
“It is.”
She looked into his eyes.
Something had changed between them.
Not trust.
Not yet.
Something more dangerous.
Curiosity.
Outside the tunnel, helicopters appeared above the mountains.
Lucian stepped out of the Ferrari.
Elara followed.
“How many?”
“Too many.”
“Government?”
“No.”
“ORACLE?”
Lucian looked toward the sky.
“No.”
His expression darkened.
“Something worse.”
Elara stared at him.
“What could possibly be worse than a machine that controls governments?”
Lucian reached for his weapon.
“The people who built it.”
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