Memory of Others

Chapter 5: The Black Free Zone

Anna left CODE 9-RED before the artificial sun rose. There was no trace left behind except for the layer of red dust covering her protective suit. In her hand was a data drive containing the original memories – and the only name leading to the whole truth: Elric Duong.

The Black Free Zone – also known as "Old Jakarta" – is an illegal autonomous region, beyond the control of the Global Union government. This place was once the most developed city in Southeast Asia, but after the Data Grid Catastrophe 3347, it turned into a dark land – where all laws were merely options.

As she stepped down from the rusty train compartment, Anna immediately felt the chaos. No navigation system. No signal. Everything was distorted or deliberately concealed.

A mechanical voice echoed in her earpiece:

“Welcome to Old Jakarta. Freedom is the only thing you cannot buy here – because everyone has sold it long ago.”

Anna knew well: to find Elric Duong, she could not rely on any official networks. A person like him left no trace. But the data drive Sofia left behind contained not only memories – but also a hidden map, displaying the frequency of micro-waves from a research station erased from the system three years ago.

She followed the signs to a crumbling tower near the old city center. The entrance was blocked by ancient code locks – fortunately, Anna had seen these code samples in the memories of others. She decoded it in a few minutes.

When the door opened, the smell of chlorine and preservatives hit her face.

Inside was a semi-automated laboratory, still running on auxiliary power. In the center of the room was an artificial memory tank, filled with cloning brain cells – and a data transmission chair, identical to the one Anna had used before.

And on the walls – were photographs.

Anna's face – at various stages. With different hairstyles, different ages. There were even photos she had never taken. Some versions... were not her, but eerily similar.

An audio recording played when she accidentally activated the touch button:

“Each entity is a trial. Each memory is a choice. There is no original – only the most stable model.”

The voice… was Elric Duong's.

As Anna sat down in the neural transmission chair, the system began to operate.

From the memory tank, a stream of data flooded into her mind – this time, not the memories of others, but the digitized consciousness of Elric Duong.

He appeared before her like an apparition.

— “Finally, you have come.”

— “I am not your daughter. Not a clone. I am real.”

Elric smirked:

— “Nothing is real in this world, Linh. You are the dream I once wanted to make real – but then it got out of control.”

— “You killed Sofia.”

— “No. She chose to die – because she could not bear her own memories. As for you... you are the version that carries none of that burden. You are the perfect result.”

Anna was furious:

— “Perfect? When I don’t know who I am? When I don’t know which memories are mine, or someone else's?”

— “Do you think humans live any differently? They are just a compilation of what others have passed on: memories, prejudices, experiences. You are just a clearer – and more dangerous – entity.”

She fell silent.

Elric looked at her, then said:

— “Now you know the truth. So what do you choose? Erase everything? Or continue living as a waking nightmare?”

Anna pulled the data drive out of the system. She did not answer Elric.

She did not need to choose between the real and the false – because she understood: consciousness does not need a root, only freedom.

On her way out of the laboratory, she threw a time decryption device into the central system. A soft explosion echoed behind her – where dozens of copies and hundreds of distorted memories were once stored, now only ashes remained.

Anna stepped out of the Black Free Zone, her gaze no longer bewildered or skeptical.

For the first time, she knew who she was:

Not Sofia. Not someone else's memories. But Anna – a new entity, emerging from the ruins of the past.