Chapter 9 - The ChoiceNoah stared at the screens.
Left.
Evan.
Right.
His mother.
Thirty seconds.
Mara grabbed him.
“Don’t listen.”
Hale spoke again.
“You’ve always been curious, Noah.”
A timer appeared.
00:29
“You want to save everyone.”
Noah looked at his mother.
Then Evan.
“Mom?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Save Evan.”
“What?”
“He’s trapped there.”
“No.”
“Listen to me.”
She touched Noah’s face.
“You are my son.”
She smiled.
“That means you survive.”
The timer reached fifteen seconds.
Noah suddenly looked at the floor.
A reflection.
Two doors.
But one had no shadow beneath it.
He remembered something.
His father’s voice.
When they give you two choices, look for the third door.
Noah ran toward the wall.
“There!”
Daniel followed.
“What?”
Noah pointed.
A maintenance panel.
He kicked it.
Nothing.
Again.
A crack appeared.
Elias stared.
“How did you know?”
“My dad told me.”
He kicked again.
The panel fell.
Behind it was a manual release.
Daniel pulled it.
The corridor doors unlocked.
The timer froze.
Hale’s voice went silent.
Evan ran toward them.
His mother did too.
They collided.
Noah hugged both.
For the first time, the family stood together.
Then Elias whispered:
“We need to run.”
They moved.
But the entire facility began to shake.
Sprinklers activated.
Red liquid poured across the floor.
Mara smelled it.
“That isn’t water.”
Daniel touched it.
“Sedative.”
A voice echoed through the speakers.
Victor Hale.
“You think you escaped.”
His tone was almost amused.
“You entered deeper.”
The floor opened.
A section dropped away.
Daniel grabbed Noah.
They watched as machinery descended into darkness.
Evan stared.
“What is that?”
Elias looked terrified.
“The lower chamber.”
“What’s down there?”
“The beginning.”
They descended through a service tunnel.
At the bottom stood a massive circular room.
In the center was a chair.
Straps.
Sensors.
A metal helmet.
Noah stopped.
His mother whispered:
“No.”
Elias looked at the chair.
“They used that on you.”
“When?”
“When you were six.”
Noah approached.
A screen activated.
PRIMARY SUBJECT MEMORY RESTORATION AVAILABLE.
He looked at Elias.
“You knew.”
“I knew.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because some memories are weapons.”
Noah stepped into the chair.
His mother grabbed him.
“Noah.”
He looked at her.
“I need to know.”
The machine activated.
His vision blurred.
Then came the memories.
The basement.
The beds.
His father.
Evan.
Victor Hale.
His mother.
And Elias.
Standing beside the chair.
Holding a needle.
Noah screamed.
“You did this!”
Elias closed his eyes.
“I had no choice.”
The memory continued.
Young Noah looked up at Elias.
“Grandpa, please.”
Elias injected him.
Then said something Noah had forgotten.
“Forget me.”
The machine stopped.
Noah opened his eyes.
Tears ran down his face.
“You erased yourself from my memory.”
Elias whispered:
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Elias looked at him.
“Because I was the one who betrayed them.”
A gunshot echoed.
Elias fell.
May you like
Blood spread across his shirt.
And from the upper balcony, Victor Hale applauded.
