Chapter 19 - The Last CarterWe found my mother beneath an abandoned federal research facility.
She looked exactly as I remembered.
Only older.
Much older.
She smiled when she saw me.
“Hello, Colin.”
I couldn't speak.
Logan stood behind me.
He was alive.
Evelyn was beside him.
Marcus locked the door.
My mother looked at each of us.
“You finally remembered.”
“You destroyed our family.”
She shook her head.
“No. Helix did.”
“You created it.”
“Yes.”
“You erased me.”
“Yes.”
“You erased Logan.”
“No.”
She looked at my brother.
“Logan was never erased.”
I turned.
“What?”
“He was the control.”
The tattoo wasn't a memory anchor.
It was a key pair.
I was the vault.
Logan was the override.
Together, we could control Helix.
“You manipulated us.”
“I protected humanity.”
I laughed bitterly.
“That's what everyone says.”
My mother walked toward me.
“Your father wanted to destroy Helix.”
“You stopped him.”
“No.”
She looked at Logan.
“Your brother did.”
Logan's face hardened.
“He wanted to make Helix public.”
My mother nodded.
“And you stopped him.”
“I was trying to protect Colin.”
“She convinced you Colin was dangerous.”
I looked at Logan.
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
My mother pressed a button.
A video began.
Eight years earlier.
Logan was standing over me.
I was unconscious.
He looked at my mother.
“Erase him.”
My blood ran cold.
I turned to Logan.
“You ordered my reset?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you were going to expose Helix.”
“And?”
“They would kill you.”
I stared at him.
“So you erased me to save me.”
He nodded.
My mother interrupted.
“And now you know the truth.”
She opened a steel door.
Behind it was a final server.
The original Helix core.
“Destroy this,” she said.
“Then everything ends.”
“And you?”
She smiled.
“I end too.”
I looked at the machine.
Then at my family.
For the first time, there were no lies left.
I placed my hand on the console.
The system activated.
CONFIRM DELETION OF HELIX?
I pressed YES.
The room shook.
Servers exploded.
Lights died.
My mother closed her eyes.
Then she whispered:
“Remember one thing.”
“What?”
“People always rebuild what they fear.”
The server exploded.
I grabbed Logan.
We ran.
Behind us, the facility collapsed.
For the first time in my life, there was silence.
No voices.
No hidden commands.
No manipulated memories.
Just rain.
Fresh air.
And the certainty that Helix was gone.
At least...
That's what I believed.
Three days later, I returned to my apartment.
Eli was asleep on the couch.
Logan sat by the window.
Marcus was recovering.
I opened my mailbox.
One envelope.
No name.
No address.
Inside was a photograph.
My family.
My mother.
My father.
Logan.
Me.
And a fifth person.
A little girl.
On the back were five words.
SHE IS YOUR DAUGHTER, COLIN.
I stared at the photograph.
May you like
There was one final line.
AND SHE REMEMBERS EVERYTHING.
