Chapter 9 - My Mother Was AliveI couldn't breathe.
The woman standing in the doorway looked like my mother.
Not vaguely.
Exactly.
Same eyes.
Same nose.
Same small scar beneath her chin.
The scar I'd kissed as a child.
“No.”
The woman smiled.
“Hello, sweetheart.”
My knees nearly buckled.
My father whispered her name.
“Evelyn.”
The woman stepped forward.
Clara began crying.
“You're alive.”
My mother looked at her.
“For now.”
I couldn't move.
“You died.”
“I was supposed to.”
“Why didn't you come back?”
“Because Orion was watching you.”
“You let me believe you were dead?”
Her face broke.
“I had no choice.”
I shook my head.
“You always had a choice.”
She looked at Ariel.
“No.”
She stared at my daughter.
“I didn't.”
The mechanical Glen walked beside her.
“He protected the operation.”
I looked at him.
“He?”
My mother nodded.
“He was built from the original Glen's neural map.”
My stomach twisted.
“The real Glen?”
“Dead.”
“Six years ago?”
“Yes.”
I looked toward the man beside me.
He looked shattered.
My mother continued:
“This one was built to replace him.”
Glen shook his head.
“No.”
She walked toward him.
“You were given his memories.”
He stepped backward.
“Then why can I remember loving her?”
My mother looked at me.
“Because some memories weren't fabricated.”
My heart stopped.
“You love me?”
Glen looked at me.
“Yes.”
The mechanical Glen laughed.
“That's the flaw.”
He pointed at me.
“He developed attachment.”
My mother nodded.
“That wasn't part of the design.”
I stared at Glen.
He looked more human than anyone else in that room.
Tears filled his eyes.
“What am I?”
My mother whispered:
“My daughter’s husband.”
“But not human.”
“You are more complicated than that.”
Suddenly the alarms started.
Mara turned toward the monitors.
“They found us.”
My mother grabbed my arm.
“Listen to me.”
I looked at her.
“Orion doesn't want Ariel dead.”
“What do they want?”
“They want what's inside her memory.”
“What memory?”
“The location of the original archive.”
I frowned.
“What archive?”
My mother looked at my father.
“Tell her.”
He shook his head.
“You tell her.”
My mother turned to me.
“The archive contains everything Orion has ever done.”
Murders.
Experiments.
Replacements.
Identities.
Names.
Evidence.
“If they lose the archive, their entire organization collapses.”
I understood.
“Ariel knows where it is.”
My mother nodded.
“How?”
“Because your mother hid the key inside her.”
I looked at Ariel.
My daughter smiled.
Then she said something that shattered me.
“Mommy, I know where you hid it.”
I stared.
“I never hid anything.”
Ariel touched her head.
“You did.”
My mother whispered:
“She has your memories.”
“How?”
“Because the memory transfer began before she was born.”
A loud crash shook the room.
Mara raised her weapon.
The mechanical Glen stepped forward.
“Time to end this.”
My mother grabbed my hand.
“We have one chance.”
“For what?”
“To reach the archive before Orion does.”
“And where is it?”
She looked at Ariel.
“Inside the house.”
I stared.
“Our house?”
“Yes.”
“The archive has been there this whole time?”
My mother nodded.
“Under your daughter's bedroom.”
I remembered the hidden tunnel.
The cameras.
The cavity.
The device.
Everything connected.
Then Ariel began crying.
She pointed at Glen.
“Mommy.”
“What?”
“He's not the one we have to fear.”
“Who?”
She pointed toward the ceiling.
“The man above us.”
We all looked up.
A microphone descended through the ceiling.
And a man's voice echoed through the room.
“Thank you for leading me to the archive.”
May you like
The lights went out.
Then every door locked at once.
