Chapter 10 - The Safe HouseAlexander woke to darkness.
His head hurt.
His wrists were tied.
He tried to move.
Someone was breathing nearby.
“Mia?”
No answer.
“Eva?”
A voice came from the darkness.
“I'm here.”
Eva.
Alexander exhaled.
“Where are we?”
“Safe.”
He laughed bitterly.
“I've had a strange definition of safe tonight.”
She moved closer.
A small light clicked on.
They were in an underground bunker.
Concrete walls.
No windows.
Mia slept on a mattress in the corner.
Alexander looked at Eva.
“What happened?”
“You were shot.”
“Where?”
“Your shoulder.”
Alexander touched it.
Bandaged.
“How long?”
“Six hours.”
He stared.
“Who brought us here?”
“My father.”
Alexander frowned.
“Your father is dead.”
“I know.”
She pointed at a monitor.
The screen activated.
Richard Vale appeared.
Alexander almost laughed.
“Another recording?”
“No.”
Eva shook her head.
“Live transmission.”
Richard looked older.
Much older.
But alive.
Alexander froze.
“Dad?”
Richard stared into the camera.
“Alexander.”
Alexander stepped toward the monitor.
“Are you alive?”
Richard closed his eyes.
“For now.”
Alexander’s anger exploded.
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I needed you to.”
“You created me.”
“I saved you.”
“You destroyed me.”
Richard took a breath.
“You were dying.”
“Then you should have let me die.”
“No.”
Richard looked toward Mia.
“You must protect the girl.”
Alexander shook his head.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
“Because everyone wants her.”
“Why?”
Richard hesitated.
“Because she carries the location of the original Echo core.”
Alexander stared.
“What is that?”
“The device capable of rewriting every implanted memory in every subject.”
Eva whispered:
“Thousands of people.”
Richard nodded.
“Politicians. Executives. Scientists. Military personnel.”
Alexander understood.
“Who controls them controls everything.”
“Yes.”
“Who built Echo?”
Richard looked away.
“I did.”
Silence.
Alexander’s face tightened.
“So you're responsible.”
“Yes.”
“Then why destroy it?”
“Because I discovered someone else was controlling it.”
“Who?”
Richard looked directly at the camera.
“Your mother.”
Alexander felt a chill.
“No.”
“Evelyn Vale built a parallel program.”
“What program?”
Richard's expression hardened.
“Replacement.”
Eva whispered:
“People in powerful positions were being replaced.”
Alexander remembered the double.
Richard continued.
“They weren't clones.”
He looked at Alexander.
“They were memories wearing bodies.”
Alexander's mouth went dry.
“How many?”
Richard whispered:
“Forty-seven.”
Mia suddenly woke.
She sat upright.
“That's wrong.”
Everyone turned.
“What?”
Mia looked at the monitor.
“The number is forty-eight.”
Richard went pale.
“How do you know?”
Mia touched her temple.
“I remember.”
Richard stepped toward the camera.
“What do you remember?”
She whispered:
“The last one.”
Alexander stared.
“Who is it?”
Mia looked at Alexander.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You.”
The bunker went silent.
Richard whispered:
“Impossible.”
Mia nodded.
“You were the forty-eighth replacement.”
Alexander looked at Eva.
She shook her head.
“No.”
Mia stood.
“I remember the room.”
“What room?”
“The room where they killed the real Alexander.”
She pointed at the monitor.
“Your father was there.”
Richard stared at her.
Mia continued:
“And so was your mother.”
May you like
Then she said the sentence that made Alexander's blood turn cold.
“And Eva pulled the trigger.”
