Chapter 16 - HelixI couldn't speak.
Logan stared at me.
“You created the original neural system.”
“I did?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To help trauma victims.”
Evelyn nodded.
“It worked.”
“Then what happened?”
“You discovered it could remove memories.”
“And you used it.”
“To help soldiers.”
“Then criminals.”
“Then governments.”
I looked at my hands.
“How many?”
“Too many.”
I stepped away from everyone.
“I was the monster.”
Logan shook his head.
“No.”
“You lied.”
“Because you were trying to destroy it.”
“After creating it.”
“Yes.”
I laughed bitterly.
“That makes everything better.”
The countdown showed two hours.
Evelyn spoke.
“Reset Eight isn't designed to erase your memory.”
“Then what?”
“To replace your identity permanently.”
“What does that mean?”
“By the end of the countdown, the system will rewrite every database tied to Colin Carter.”
Police records.
Medical records.
Bank accounts.
DNA.
Photographs.
You will legally become someone else.
“And physically?”
“They can make everyone believe you've always been someone else.”
A perfect disappearance.
No death certificate.
No body.
Just a rewritten life.
Marcus looked at me.
“We can shut down the central server.”
“Where?”
“Police headquarters.”
I stared.
The place I'd worked for years.
The place I had trusted.
The place that had been compromised all along.
We headed there.
Halfway through the underground tunnel, the lights went out.
Gunfire.
Marcus fell.
“Marcus!”
He was bleeding badly.
“Go!”
“No.”
He grabbed my arm.
“Go save the boy.”
Eli was gone.
I turned.
The corridor was empty.
A speaker crackled.
“Hello, Colin.”
Evelyn.
“No more games.”
“Come to the command floor.”
“Where is Eli?”
“Waiting.”
I ran.
Police headquarters was in chaos.
Screens flickered.
Employee records changed.
Names disappeared.
People looked at their computers in confusion.
A dispatcher shouted:
“Who is Colin Carter?”
My heart froze.
The system was already rewriting me.
My own colleagues no longer recognized me.
Then the elevator opened.
Eli stood inside.
Alone.
I ran toward him.
He smiled.
“Daddy said you would find me.”
“Where is Logan?”
Eli pointed upward.
“The roof.”
I rushed upstairs.
Logan stood beneath the city lights.
His gun was raised.
Not at me.
At himself.
“Logan!”
He looked back.
“They can't reset me again.”
“Put it down.”
“You don't understand.”
“I remember everything.”
He froze.
“You remember?”
“Yes.”
He lowered the gun.
Then a laser sight appeared on his chest.
A sniper fired.
Logan fell.
I caught him.
Blood soaked my hands.
He whispered:
“Don't save me.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm already gone.”
His eyes closed.
Then he smiled.
“Check the system.”
“What system?”
“The one you built.”
And his last words were:
May you like
“Helix isn't a machine.”
“It’s me.”
