Chapter 13 - THE SYSTEM WAKESA deep vibration rolled through the building.
Not mechanical.
Almost organic.
The walls hummed.
Screens flickered.
Then every monitor displayed the same face.
Ethan's father.
But the eyes were wrong.
Too still.
Too aware.
A voice filled the facility.
“IDENTITY CONFIRMED.”
Ethan stepped back.
The children screamed.
Emmie covered her ears.
Vivian whispered:
“No.”
The system spoke again.
“ETHAN VALE.”
Ethan felt the room tighten around him.
“DNA MATCH.”
Then:
“MEMORY MATCH.”
Then:
“ORIGINAL SUBJECT LOCATED.”
Ethan pointed toward the screen.
“What do you want?”
The voice answered immediately.
“RETURN.”
“Return what?”
“MYSELF.”
The screen changed.
Hundreds of memories flashed.
Daniel.
Vivian.
The children.
His father.
Ethan.
Then Emmie.
Her eyes.
Her childhood.
Her first steps.
Her first birthday.
The day she was brought to the facility.
The system had stored everything.
Ethan understood.
“You don't want my body.”
“CORRECT.”
“You want my memories.”
“CORRECT.”
“Why?”
“COMPLETION.”
Vivian backed away.
“You said it would make Daniel whole.”
The system answered:
“DANIEL WAS A PROTOTYPE.”
She looked horrified.
“What am I looking at?”
“YOU ARE LOOKING AT YOUR REPLACEMENT.”
Ethan stared.
“Replacement for who?”
The system paused.
Then:
“EVERYONE.”
The lights exploded.
Glass shattered.
The children cried out.
Ethan grabbed Emmie.
“Move!”
They ran.
The facility began sealing itself.
Doors slammed.
Ventilation panels closed.
Emergency sprinklers activated.
Vivian followed them.
“You can't destroy it!”
Ethan turned.
“You built it!”
“I built the interface!”
“Then shut it down!”
“I can't!”
The system spoke through every speaker.
“VIVIAN IS NO LONGER AUTHORIZED.”
The doors behind her locked.
Vivian screamed.
The children ran past.
Ethan spotted an electrical room.
He rushed inside.
Inside was an old breaker panel.
One label caught his eye:
CORE MEMORY ARRAY
He pulled the handle.
Nothing.
Emmie pointed toward another control.
“That's not power.”
“What is it?”
“A memory gate.”
“Can you open it?”
She nodded.
“How do you know?”
“Because I've opened it before.”
Ethan stared.
“When?”
“Before I forgot.”
She pressed her hand against the panel.
A scanner activated.
SUBJECT 07 IDENTIFIED.
The door opened.
Inside was a cylindrical chamber.
At its center floated thousands of thin data strips.
Each one held a name.
Ethan saw them.
The children.
His father.
Daniel.
And one name he had never seen before.
ETHAN VALE — ORIGINAL
He stared.
“Why is there another one?”
Emmie looked at him.
“There shouldn't be.”
A voice behind them answered.
“There isn't.”
Ethan spun.
Daniel stood in the doorway.
But his eyes were different now.
Not empty.
Terrified.
He whispered:
“Ethan…”
“What?”
“I finally remembered who I am.”
“Who?”
Daniel looked at Emmie.
Then at Ethan.
“I am not your brother.”
A long pause.
“I am the reason your brother died.”
The building shook again.
May you like
The countdown reached zero.
And every door in the facility opened at once.
