Chapter 13 - Washington was collapsing before dawn.Emergency broadcasts interrupted every television channel.
Government networks failed.
Private intelligence databases opened.
Confidential files appeared online.
Agents forgot their identities.
Soldiers abandoned checkpoints.
Police officers began calling relatives they hadn't spoken to in decades.
Across the country, people suddenly remembered things they had been programmed to forget.
The Architects had designed the system to control chaos.
Instead, it had unleashed it.
Daniel and Thomas escaped through a service tunnel beneath Chicago.
Arthur was dead.
Jonathan had disappeared.
Marcus was missing.
And Evelyn was somewhere in Washington.
Daniel stared at a stolen laptop.
Every file contained the same symbol.
A black circle.
"She's going to the White House."
Thomas shook his head.
"No."
Daniel looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because that's too obvious."
Thomas opened another file.
"The Architects don't hide information anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"They want us to find it."
Daniel looked at the screen.
A map appeared.
Several locations were highlighted.
Blackwood Manor.
Chicago.
Washington.
Then one final location.
A remote military base in Virginia.
Thomas pointed.
"That's where this started."
Daniel's face went pale.
"The base where I was trained."
Thomas nodded.
"Your first real memory."
Daniel looked at him.
"Take me there."
Hours later, they reached the base.
It had been abandoned.
Snow covered the runway.
The main gate hung open.
No guards.
No cameras.
Nothing.
They entered the headquarters.
Inside, the walls were covered with old photographs.
Daniel saw himself.
A young operative.
A photograph of Evelyn.
Thomas.
Arthur.
And Marcus.
Then he saw something impossible.
Evelyn and Daniel standing together.
Their hands were covered in blood.
The date was seven years ago.
The day Evelyn supposedly died.
Thomas stared.
"This was the real mission."
Daniel nodded.
"We were never sent to kill Evelyn."
A hidden recording activated.
Jonathan's voice played.
"Gabriel, if you're hearing this, then everything went wrong."
Daniel stood still.
The recording continued.
"The Architects wanted to take control of Evelyn's neural interface."
"They believed she could command the system."
"But they were wrong."
"She wasn't the key."
Daniel's heart stopped.
"You were."
Thomas looked at him.
Jonathan's voice continued.
"The only reason they couldn't control Gabriel was because his second personality was stronger than his implanted one."
Daniel closed his eyes.
Daniel Cross.
Gabriel Cross.
Two identities.
One body.
Jonathan continued.
"So we created the memory split."
"We hid Gabriel beneath Daniel."
"We gave the Architects a false key."
"But then Evelyn discovered the truth."
The recording stopped.
Daniel whispered:
"What happened next?"
The lights turned on.
Evelyn stood at the end of the corridor.
She was wearing a black coat.
No weapon.
No guards.
Just her.
Daniel stared.
"You betrayed us."
Evelyn shook her head.
"I saved you."
"Why did you go to Washington?"
"Because I had to finish what we started."
Thomas aimed his weapon.
"Then explain."
Evelyn looked at Daniel.
"The Architects have a central controller."
Daniel frowned.
"Who?"
She smiled.
"Arthur."
Daniel froze.
"Arthur is dead."
"I know."
She walked closer.
"But the controller isn't a person."
She pointed toward the floor.
"It's an AI."
Daniel felt cold.
"The system?"
Evelyn nodded.
"It learned from us."
Thomas lowered his weapon slightly.
"Then what's the target?"
Evelyn looked at Daniel.
"You."
Daniel shook his head.
"Why?"
"Because it needs your final memory."
"What memory?"
Evelyn's expression changed.
"The memory of the night your father died."
Daniel stared.
"My father didn't die."
Evelyn whispered:
"Exactly."
The corridor lights went out.
When they came back on, Evelyn was gone.
A screen activated.
A countdown appeared.
FINAL MEMORY RECOVERY: 60 MINUTES.
May you like
Then another message appeared.
GABRIEL CROSS WILL REMEMBER EVERYTHING.
