Chapter 12 - The children came out of the rooms silently.Some walked.
Some crawled.
Some could barely stand.
Ryan felt horror rise in his chest.
Twenty-three children.
Twenty-three lives hidden under his home.
Mason called for backup.
No signal.
Daniel stood completely still.
“You're releasing them.”
“Yes.”
“You'll kill them.”
Ryan looked at him.
“They're already dying.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“You don't understand.”
“No.”
Ryan pointed at the children.
“You made sure nobody understood.”
One little girl approached Ryan.
She looked about nine.
“What is your name?”
“Anna.”
“Who kept you here?”
“Grandpa.”
“Why?”
She pointed at Lily.
“She remembers.”
“Remembers what?”
“The first experiment.”
Lily closed her eyes.
Ryan turned.
“What was the first experiment?”
Lily looked at Daniel.
“He erased a memory from one person and put it in another.”
Ryan whispered:
“Whose memory?”
“Mara's.”
“Then what happened?”
“She remembered the future.”
Ryan stared.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“She remembered things before they happened.”
Mason shook his head.
“That's impossible.”
Lily nodded.
“That's why Grandpa was afraid.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Lily looked directly at him.
“You were never studying memory.”
Ryan noticed something change in Daniel's face.
Lily continued.
“You were trying to predict people.”
Daniel didn't deny it.
“You wanted to know who would become dangerous.”
“And?”
“You failed.”
Lily smiled.
“No.”
Daniel went silent.
“You succeeded.”
Ryan looked between them.
Lily said:
“You predicted Ryan would discover everything.”
Daniel whispered:
“Stop.”
“And you predicted he'd choose his family.”
Daniel's expression cracked.
Ryan suddenly understood.
“This whole thing was a test.”
Daniel said nothing.
“You wanted to see if I would remember.”
Daniel finally looked at him.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I needed proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That memory creates loyalty.”
Ryan stared.
Daniel continued.
“The original Ryan died.”
“Yes.”
“I recreated his memory.”
“Yes.”
“Then I created a second version.”
Ryan's throat tightened.
“And now?”
Daniel looked at Lily.
“Now I know memory can survive death.”
Ryan understood.
Daniel hadn't built the machine to save people.
He wanted immortality.
Mason whispered:
“You're trying to transfer a person's entire identity.”
Daniel smiled.
“Finally.”
Ryan's blood ran cold.
“Whose identity?”
Daniel looked at himself.
The answer was obvious.
“Mine.”
Emily stepped forward.
“No.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You helped me build it.”
“I helped you because I thought I could stop you.”
“You couldn't.”
“I can now.”
She pulled a small metal key from her pocket.
Daniel's expression changed.
“What did you do?”
Emily looked at Ryan.
“I told you there were twenty-three children.”
Ryan nodded.
“There are twenty-four.”
Daniel's face went pale.
The final chamber opened.
Inside was a glass tank.
A man sat suspended in fluid.
Ryan stared.
The face looked exactly like Daniel.
But younger.
Much younger.
Mason whispered:
“What the hell?”
Emily said:
“His original body.”
Daniel slowly backed away.
Ryan looked at him.
“You're not even the real Daniel.”
Daniel smiled.
“No.”
“Then who are you?”
Daniel answered:
“The first reconstruction.”
Ryan felt sick.
“You've been rebuilding yourself.”
“Yes.”
“How many times?”
Daniel's smile disappeared.
“Twenty-three.”
Then the man in the tank opened his eyes.
He looked directly at Ryan.
And said:
“Don't trust the man wearing my face.”
Daniel turned.
May you like
For the first time...
he looked afraid.
