Chapter 14 - Daniel sat alone in the abandoned control room.For the first time in his life, he was afraid of his own mind.
Thomas stood nearby.
"Maybe you shouldn't do this."
Daniel looked at him.
"If I don't remember, people die."
"Maybe remembering is exactly what they want."
Daniel nodded.
"Then I'll remember on my terms."
He connected himself to the old system.
The monitor activated.
A single question appeared.
WHAT HAPPENED THE NIGHT YOUR FATHER DIED?
Daniel closed his eyes.
He was twelve.
Rain.
A dark house.
His mother screaming.
His father carrying a suitcase.
Someone was knocking on the front door.
Daniel remembered hiding beneath the stairs.
His mother kneeling beside him.
"Don't make a sound."
His father opened the door.
Marcus stood outside.
Arthur was behind him.
And another man.
Daniel had never seen him before.
A man with a scar across his throat.
The stranger said:
"The boy is ready."
His father shook his head.
"He's not."
Marcus raised a gun.
The memory jumped.
A gunshot.
His mother fell.
Daniel screamed.
His father grabbed him.
"Run."
Daniel ran upstairs.
Then he heard an explosion.
He turned.
His father was standing in the doorway.
Blood on his shirt.
He looked directly at Daniel.
"Remember one thing."
Daniel stepped closer.
"What?"
His father whispered:
"Arthur is protecting you."
The house exploded.
Daniel woke screaming.
Thomas grabbed him.
"Daniel!"
Daniel looked at him.
"I remember."
"What?"
"My father didn't die."
"What happened?"
"He escaped."
Thomas stared.
Daniel pointed at the screen.
"Marcus wasn't trying to kill my family."
Thomas frowned.
"He was trying to stop my father."
Daniel looked at the files.
"The Architects weren't created by my father."
Thomas's face changed.
"Then who?"
Daniel turned.
"My mother."
Silence.
Thomas stared.
"No."
Daniel nodded.
"My mother created them."
"Why?"
"To stop governments from controlling neural technology."
Thomas shook his head.
"That makes no sense."
"It does now."
Daniel opened another file.
His mother had created the original system.
She had used Daniel and Evelyn as test subjects.
Then she realized what the technology could become.
She tried to shut it down.
The Architects refused.
They took over.
Daniel found one final document.
PROJECT FINAL DAWN: ORIGINAL PURPOSE
He opened it.
It wasn't designed to control people.
It was designed to free them.
The system would erase every artificial memory created by The Architects.
But there was a problem.
It needed a human host.
Daniel was that host.
And Evelyn was the failsafe.
Thomas stared at him.
"So the system isn't trying to destroy the world."
Daniel nodded.
"It is trying to restore it."
A gunshot echoed.
Thomas collapsed.
Daniel spun around.
Marcus stood in the doorway.
He had blood on his face.
"You finally remembered."
Daniel rushed toward Thomas.
Marcus raised his weapon.
"He'll live."
Daniel stared at him.
"Why?"
Marcus lowered the weapon.
"Because I need you alive."
"Where is Evelyn?"
Marcus smiled.
"Waiting for you."
"Where?"
"The same place this began."
Daniel understood.
Blackwood Manor.
Marcus continued:
"But there's something you still don't know."
Daniel looked up.
Marcus pointed to the screen.
"Your mother is alive too."
Daniel froze.
The monitor flickered.
A live image appeared.
An elderly woman sitting in a dark room.
Daniel recognized her immediately.
His mother.
She looked directly into the camera.
Then she smiled.
"Hello, Gabriel."
Daniel's knees nearly gave out.
His mother leaned closer.
"I've been waiting for you."
Behind her stood Evelyn.
And between them was Arthur.
Alive.
Daniel stared in disbelief.
Marcus whispered:
"Now you finally understand."
"The people you thought were dead..."
"They've all been waiting."
Then every screen displayed the same message.
RETURN TO BLACKWOOD MANOR.
May you like
2:13 A.M.
ONE FINAL TIME.
