CHAPTER 16:SUBJECT E-17
802 Words
The automated voice echoed through the underground facility.
"Unauthorized access detected."
"Welcome back... Subject E-17."
Elena stood frozen.
"What... did it just call me?"
No one answered.
Even Sophia looked horrified.
Adrian stepped in front of Elena, instinctively shielding her.
The sterile white corridor stretched ahead, illuminated by flickering emergency lights. Every few seconds, the lights dimmed before returning, casting unsettling shadows across the walls.
Samuel examined one of the nearby computer terminals.
"They still have power after all these years."
Grace looked around nervously.
"This place wasn't abandoned."
"No," Adrian replied.
"It was hidden."
Sophia struggled to sit up on the stretcher.
"They sealed Sector 7 after the investigation..."
"...or at least they wanted everyone to believe they did."
Elena slowly walked toward a glass wall overlooking a laboratory.
Inside were rows of empty hospital beds.
Medical equipment stood exactly where it had been left.
Some monitors still flashed green lights.
On one wall, dozens of children's heights had been marked in black ink.
She swallowed hard.
"This is where they brought them..."
Sophia lowered her eyes.
"Yes."
---
Samuel managed to power on one of the computers.
The screen flickered before displaying a login page.
ECHO FOUNDATION DATABASE
AUTHORIZED ACCESS ONLY
Below it were two fields.
Employee ID
Password
Samuel sighed.
"We'll never guess this."
Before anyone could respond, the cursor suddenly moved on its own.
Letters appeared across the screen.
E-17
Then another field filled automatically.
ACCESS GRANTED
Everyone stared.
"I didn't touch it," Samuel whispered.
The system accepted the login.
Folders began appearing across the screen.
PROJECT ECHO
SUBJECT FILES
MEMORY MODIFICATION
SURVEILLANCE
STATUS REPORTS
Adrian clicked on Subject Files.
Hundreds of names filled the screen.
Each accompanied by a code.
E-03.
E-11.
E-15.
E-17.
Elena's breathing quickened.
Adrian selected E-17.
The file opened.
A childhood photograph filled the screen.
It was Elena.
Five years old.
Wearing a white hospital gown.
Her file read:
Subject: Elena Grace Carter
Code Name: E-17
Status: Active
Memory Suppression: Partial Success
Observation Required: Lifetime
Elena's knees nearly gave way.
"They've been watching me..."
Samuel continued reading.
"Subject displays unusual resistance to memory suppression."
Grace frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Sophia answered quietly.
"It means they couldn't erase everything."
---
Adrian opened another document.
His expression changed immediately.
"There are surveillance reports."
He scrolled through them.
Each report was dated years apart.
Age 8.
Age 12.
Age 16.
Age 21.
Every important moment of Elena's life had been recorded.
Her first day at school.
Her graduation.
Even photographs of her walking through town.
Elena covered her mouth.
"They've been following me my entire life."
Sophia nodded sadly.
"I tried to stop them."
---
Suddenly, another file appeared automatically.
Its title froze everyone.
SUBJECT E-09
Adrian opened it.
Another childhood photograph appeared.
This time...
It was him.
His report read:
Subject: Adrian James Blackwood
Code Name: E-09
Status: Active
Memory Alteration: Incomplete
Observation Required: Lifetime
Adrian stared silently at the screen.
"I was one of them too."
Samuel slowly sat down.
"So that's why Victor kept you close."
"He wasn't protecting his son..."
"He was monitoring an experiment."
---
A soft beep interrupted the silence.
A new notification flashed across the monitor.
ONE NEW VIDEO RECORDING FOUND
DATE: 18 YEARS AGO
RECORDED BY: DR. EVELYN BLACKWOOD
Adrian's heart skipped.
"My mother..."
With trembling hands, he clicked the file.
The screen faded to black.
Then an image appeared.
A laboratory.
Doctors hurried in every direction.
In the center of the room stood a woman wearing a white lab coat.
She looked directly into the camera.
It was Evelyn Blackwood.
She looked exhausted.
Frightened.
"If you're watching this..."
She took a shaky breath.
"...then Sophia and Thomas failed to destroy Project Echo."
She glanced over her shoulder before continuing.
"There isn't much time."
"They've discovered what I did."
She held up two photographs.
One of Elena.
One of Adrian.
"They're not ordinary test subjects."
"They are the only children who survived the final procedure without losing their identities."
Elena looked at Adrian.
Neither of them understood.
Evelyn continued.
"If Victor ever learns the truth..."
"...he'll never let them live."
Suddenly, the laboratory door burst open.
Several armed guards rushed inside.
Evelyn looked back at the camera one final time.
"If you're seeing this..."
"...find Vault 731."
"It contains the final list."
She reached toward the camera.
The recording ended in static.
The room fell silent.
Then a new sound echoed through the facility.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Steady.
Coming from somewhere deep within Sector 7.
Adrian drew his pistol.
"Someone else is here."
The overhead lights flickered again.
Then the computerized voice calmly announced:
"Security protocol activated."
"Releasing Subject E-01."
A heavy steel door at the end of the corridor unlocked with a loud metallic hiss.
Something moved in the darkness beyond.
Then... a pair of eyes opened.
- Writer
