Chapter 16 - The First SonMariana stared at the man.
She couldn't breathe.
He walked toward her slowly.
No weapon.
No guards.
Just certainty.
“You don't remember me.”
Mariana shook her head.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Tomas.”
Lucía collapsed into a chair.
Rafael watched silently.
“Tomas,” Mariana whispered.
The name struck something buried inside her memory.
A lullaby.
A boy laughing.
A hand holding hers.
Then nothing.
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“In the laboratory.”
Mariana's eyes filled with tears.
“You were my brother.”
Tomas smiled.
“First child.”
She stepped toward him.
“Why didn't I remember?”
“Because they removed the memories.”
“Who?”
He looked toward the woman.
“Everyone.”
The mysterious woman finally spoke.
“Memory is the weakest part of the human brain.”
Mariana stared.
“You did this to children.”
“We refined them.”
Tomas interrupted.
“You experimented on us.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the world will eventually demand what only we can provide.”
Mariana looked at him.
“What can you provide?”
Tomas hesitated.
“Longevity.”
“Immortality?”
“Not exactly.”
“What then?”
“The ability to repair the body faster than it can fail.”
Mariana looked at Mateo.
“And him?”
“He can do more.”
“What?”
Tomas smiled sadly.
“He can communicate with the structure.”
The chamber went silent.
Mateo stepped forward.
“Mommy.”
Mariana crouched.
“What?”
“I can hear him.”
“Hear who?”
Mateo pointed at Tomas.
“He's not the first.”
Everyone stared.
Tomas's smile disappeared.
“What did you say?”
Mateo looked at him.
“You came second.”
Tomas took a step back.
“No.”
Mariana looked at Elena.
“She knows.”
Elena nodded.
“There was another.”
Tomas shook his head.
“They told me I was first.”
Rafael laughed weakly from the floor.
“I told you what you needed to believe.”
Tomas turned.
“You?”
“I created the records.”
“Why?”
“Because the real first child disappeared.”
“Who?”
Rafael looked toward the door.
“The one the structure chose.”
Mariana felt cold.
“Who was it?”
Nobody answered.
Then the chamber speakers turned on.
Static.
A heartbeat.
A woman's voice.
Not the grandmother.
Not Lucía.
A new voice.
Young.
Terrified.
“Mommy?”
Mariana froze.
The voice came from inside the black door.
“Please come back.”
Mariana whispered:
“Who are you?”
The answer came:
“I'm your daughter.”
Mariana stepped backward.
“That can't be.”
Tomas looked at her.
“You have another child.”
“No.”
Lucía covered her face.
Mariana looked at her.
“You knew.”
Lucía couldn't meet her eyes.
“I thought she was dead.”
The woman smiled.
“She is.”
Mariana stared at the door.
“How can she speak?”
The woman answered:
“Because the structure remembers every mind it has ever touched.”
Mariana felt sick.
“This isn't a child.”
“No.”
“It is an echo.”
The woman nodded.
“Yes.”
A voice from inside the door whispered:
“Mommy.”
Mariana began crying.
Then the voice changed.
It became older.
Male.
Cold.
Familiar.
Adrian.
“You're wasting time.”
Mariana turned.
Adrian stood beside the control panel, blood pouring from his shoulder.
He pressed a button.
The chamber doors sealed.
Gas began filling the room.
Gabriel screamed:
“Mask!”
Everyone scrambled.
Mariana grabbed Mateo.
The mysterious woman did nothing.
Adrian smiled through the haze.
“You all made the same mistake.”
“What?”
“You thought Meridian was about immortality.”
He looked at the black door.
“It was never about living forever.”
The gas thickened.
Adrian laughed.
May you like
“It was about replacing humanity.”
The chamber went dark.
