Chapter 13 - The police arrived too late.Victor was gone.
Dr. Ward disappeared into the smoke.
Richard had vanished.
Only Daniel, Sophia, Emily, Michael, Noah, and Lily remained.
Six people.
Four identities.
One impossible family.
Daniel took Lily's hand.
“What did I do?”
She looked up at him.
“You opened the door.”
“What door?”
“The room where they kept the children.”
Daniel's face tightened.
“When?”
She hesitated.
“When you were five.”
Noah stepped forward.
“You weren't five.”
Lily shook her head.
“Neither was I.”
She looked at Emily.
“We were all older.”
Daniel's heart raced.
“Then why do I remember being five?”
Lily answered:
“Because that's the age they erased you to.”
She pointed toward the hospital.
“That night, the fire started in the laboratory.”
“What caused it?”
Lily looked at Noah.
“He did.”
Noah stared.
“I didn't.”
“You did.”
“How?”
Lily answered:
“You turned on the machine.”
Noah's face went pale.
“I was a child.”
“You were told it would wake Michael.”
Daniel looked at Noah.
“What happened next?”
Lily whispered:
“The machine overloaded.”
She turned toward Michael.
“He died.”
Michael lowered his head.
Daniel asked:
“And Noah?”
Lily looked at Emily.
“Mom took him.”
Daniel went still.
“You took Noah?”
Emily nodded.
“I couldn't save Michael.”
Her eyes filled.
“So I saved the next child.”
Daniel looked at Noah.
“And me?”
“You were supposed to die too.”
Daniel's blood ran cold.
“But I didn't.”
“No.”
Emily shook her head.
“You survived.”
Richard's voice echoed from the doorway.
“Because I saved you.”
Everyone turned.
Richard stood there.
No gun.
No guards.
Just an exhausted old man.
Daniel raised his weapon.
“Don't move.”
Richard stopped.
“I deserve that.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You stole me.”
“Yes.”
“You erased my memories.”
Richard looked at Emily.
“No.”
Daniel frowned.
“Then who did?”
Richard whispered:
“You.”
Silence.
“You erased them yourself.”
Daniel stared.
“That makes no sense.”
Richard slowly walked forward.
“You saw the machine.”
“You saw what happened to Michael.”
“You saw what your mother did.”
“And you couldn't live with it.”
Daniel shook his head.
“So I erased my own memories?”
“You asked Dr. Ward to help you.”
Dr. Ward stepped from behind Richard.
Daniel spun.
“You.”
She nodded.
“You were ten when you found me again.”
Daniel's heart stopped.
“Ten?”
“You remembered enough to know something was wrong.”
“Why don't I remember you?”
“Because I made sure you wouldn't.”
Daniel's voice cracked.
“How?”
She looked at him.
“Every year, we removed another piece.”
Michael stepped forward.
“Why?”
Dr. Ward looked at him.
“Because if Alexander remembered the entire night, the program would collapse.”
Daniel stared.
“What program?”
Richard answered:
“The program designed to control political dynasties.”
Daniel frowned.
Project Dove.
It wasn't an experiment.
It was infrastructure.
Families.
Governments.
Corporations.
They used memory manipulation to create obedient heirs.
And Daniel had been the first success.
Noah suddenly laughed.
“So all of this was about power.”
Richard shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at Daniel.
“It was about revenge.”
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“Against whom?”
Richard reached into his pocket.
He pulled out an old photograph.
Victor.
Emily.
A third man.
Daniel recognized him.
His grandfather.
Richard turned the photograph over.
A note was written on the back.
THE BOY MUST NEVER LEARN WHO HIS REAL FATHER IS.
Daniel stared.
“Who?”
Richard looked at him.
“You.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
“You weren't Victor's son.”
“You weren't my son.”
“Then who?”
Richard's eyes filled with tears.
“You were the son of the man who created Project Dove.”
Daniel's face went blank.
“Who?”
Richard whispered the name.
“Adrian Cross.”
Daniel looked at him.
Cross.
His surname.
Not Richard's.
His real father's.
Richard stepped closer.
“Your father is the founder.”
Daniel's blood went cold.
Then the doors behind them slammed shut.
Lily screamed.
A recording began playing.
Adrian Cross's voice filled the room.
“If you're hearing this, Alexander...”
May you like
A pause.
“I've finally come for you.”
