Chapter 10 - Frank had never been more frightened in his life.Not when Joseph disappeared.
Not when the helicopter attacked.
Not when the giant creature surfaced.
Not even when he remembered the things he had done.
This was different.
Because the voice from below was his.
Exactly his.
Same tone.
Same breath.
Same cadence.
“Frank.”
Emily clung to his arm.
“Dad?”
He couldn't answer.
Joseph stared at the open doors.
“That shouldn't be possible.”
Vale looked terrified.
For the first time, Frank saw fear in his eyes.
“You know what that is.”
Vale shook his head.
“No.”
“Then why are you afraid?”
Vale didn't answer.
The voice returned.
“Frank.”
Mina moved backward.
The giant creature disappeared beneath the water.
Frank stepped toward the opening.
Joseph grabbed him.
“Don't.”
Frank pulled away.
“I need answers.”
“That place doesn't give answers.”
“What does it give?”
Joseph looked into the darkness.
“People back.”
Frank froze.
The doors opened farther.
Inside was an enormous chamber.
At the center stood a tank filled with black liquid.
Something floated inside.
Frank approached.
He saw a silhouette.
A human silhouette.
A man.
His face turned slowly.
Frank's blood froze.
It was him.
A second Frank.
Older.
Paler.
Eyes open.
Alive.
Frank staggered backward.
Emily screamed.
Joseph whispered:
“No.”
The second Frank touched the glass.
His lips moved.
Frank couldn't hear him.
Then the tank began to drain.
Water poured onto the floor.
The second Frank stepped out.
He looked exactly like Frank from twenty-six years ago.
Same face.
Same body.
Same scar over the eyebrow.
Frank stared at him.
“Who are you?”
The duplicate smiled.
“I am what you left behind.”
Vale ran.
Joseph grabbed him.
“Where are you going?”
Vale fought.
“You don't understand!”
Frank stared at the duplicate.
The man walked closer.
“You created me.”
Frank shook his head.
“You're a clone?”
The duplicate laughed.
“No.”
“What then?”
“A memory.”
Frank frowned.
“A memory can't walk.”
The duplicate stepped closer.
“It can here.”
He touched Frank's forehead.
Frank screamed.
A flood of memories entered his mind.
Laboratory rooms.
Experiments.
Joseph.
Emily.
Mina.
A machine.
A neural network.
The black tower.
And something else.
A presence.
An intelligence.
Frank pulled away.
“What is that?”
The duplicate whispered:
“The lake.”
Frank stared.
Joseph looked at him.
“The lake is alive?”
“Not exactly.”
The duplicate pointed down.
“Everything they've ever put into this place remained.”
Memories.
Thoughts.
Fear.
Pain.
Human consciousness.
Animal instincts.
The experiments had created a network.
The water itself had become a giant storage system.
The lake remembered everyone.
Everything.
Frank understood.
“That thing beneath us.”
The duplicate nodded.
“It's the network.”
Frank looked at Vale.
“You created this?”
Vale shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at the tower.
“They did.”
“Who?”
Vale whispered:
“The first scientists.”
Frank stared.
“How long has this been here?”
Vale looked down.
“Longer than us.”
The floor shook.
The black water rose.
The network awakened.
Hundreds of voices filled the chamber.
Some cried.
Some screamed.
Some whispered.
Some laughed.
Frank heard Joseph's voice.
Then his daughter's.
Then his wife's.
Then his own.
Mina screamed.
The giant creature surfaced outside.
The entire tower trembled.
The duplicate looked at Frank.
“You have one choice.”
“What?”
“Destroy the network.”
“How?”
The duplicate pointed at Frank's chest.
“Inside you.”
Frank's hand moved instinctively.
He felt something beneath his skin.
A metal object.
A small implant.
Joseph noticed.
“That device.”
Frank stared.
The memory returned.
He had implanted himself.
He had created the final shutdown key.
Then Vale had erased his memory.
Frank understood.
“I am the key.”
The duplicate nodded.
Vale whispered:
“No.”
Frank looked at him.
“You've been afraid of me this whole time.”
Vale shook his head.
“I've been afraid of what happens if you remember.”
Frank smiled.
“Then let's remember.”
He grabbed the implant.
Pain shot through his body.
The network screamed.
Lights exploded.
The tower shook.
The lake rose.
Mina looked at Frank.
Her eyes glowed bright red.
Frank shouted:
“GET EVERYONE OUT!”
Joseph grabbed Emily.
Vale tried to run.
But the doors slammed shut.
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The black water rose around them.
And beneath the tower, something enormous opened its eyes.
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