CHAPTER 11: THE MEMORY OF THE GUN
The gun was in my hand.
I could see it.
Black metal.
Cold grip.
My finger resting against the trigger.
Across from me stood an older man.
Our father.
He wasn't in a wheelchair.
He wasn't weak.
He wasn't old.
He was younger.
Stronger.
Angrier.
And he was pointing a gun directly at Daniel.
I heard my own voice.
“Leave him alone.”
Our father laughed.
“You still think you can protect him?”
Daniel was on the floor.
Blood ran from his forehead.
I stepped forward.
“Get away from him.”
Our father smiled.
“You don't remember what you are.”
Then he looked toward the crib.
Baby Isabella was crying.
My father raised his weapon.
I lifted mine.
“No.”
He stopped.
“Put the gun down.”
“I'm not going to let you touch her.”
“You don't understand what she is.”
“She is a child.”
“She is the future.”
“She is my daughter.”
Our father laughed.
“That's the problem.”
The memory suddenly shattered.
I gasped.
I was back in the underground room.
Everyone was staring at me.
Isabella was holding my hand.
“Dad?”
I looked at my fingers.
They were shaking.
“I remember.”
Daniel stepped toward me.
“What?”
“I remember the gun.”
His expression changed.
“What else?”
“I was here.”
“Yes.”
“I was older.”
“Yes.”
“I was holding Isabella.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked away.
“Because you came back.”
“From where?”
He didn't answer.
I grabbed his shirt.
“WHERE?”
He looked at me.
“From the memory room.”
My blood went cold.
“I was erased.”
“Yes.”
“But before that…”
“You escaped.”
“How?”
Daniel swallowed.
“You killed our father.”
I looked toward the old man.
He was still sitting in the wheelchair.
Smiling.
“You're lying,” I said.
The old man shook his head.
“No.”
“You're alive.”
“Obviously.”
“I shot you.”
“You did.”
“Then how?”
He smiled.
“Because you didn't kill me.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“You thought you did.”
I looked at him.
“Then who did I shoot?”
The old man's smile disappeared.
“You shot the wrong man.”
Silence.
“What does that mean?”
He looked toward the monitor.
A video appeared.
The same room.
The same night.
But this footage showed something different.
I saw myself raising the gun.
I saw the shot.
I saw the man fall.
Then the camera angle changed.
And I saw another man enter.
He looked exactly like our father.
But older.
The old man in the wheelchair.
He walked toward the body.
Then removed a mask.
I froze.
The dead man wasn't our father.
It was a double.
My voice came out as a whisper.
“You used a double.”
The old man smiled.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To make you believe you killed me.”
Daniel shook his head.
“He wanted you to think you were free.”
“But I wasn't.”
“No.”
“You were controlling me.”
“Yes.”
“Through my memories.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Isabella.
“And she was part of it.”
The old man nodded.
“She was the final stage.”
Elena stepped forward.
“You're lying.”
He looked at her.
“You know I'm not.”
Elena's face hardened.
“I saw the experiment.”
“You saw the beginning.”
“What happened afterward?”
He smiled.
“She happened.”
He pointed at Isabella.
“She destroyed the system.”
I stared.
“But you said she hadn't.”
“I said she hadn't finished.”
“What is she doing now?”
“Remembering.”
The countdown continued.
06:21
06:20
06:19
I looked at the screens.
Every second, another file opened.
Another face.
Another name.
Another secret.
Then the system began broadcasting.
Across the world.
Phones.
Televisions.
Computers.
Millions of screens.
Black Meridian's archive was being released.
I stared at the monitor.
“What is happening?”
Daniel looked horrified.
“The system is uploading.”
“To where?”
“Everywhere.”
My father appeared on another screen.
He was standing in the facility above us.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Son.”
I stepped closer.
“Dad?”
His voice was distorted.
“You have to stop Isabella.”
My heart froze.
“Why?”
“Because she's not just accessing the system.”
The screen flickered.
“She is becoming the system.”
I looked at Isabella.
Her eyes had turned strangely distant.
“Isabella?”
She didn't answer.
I crouched.
“Sweetheart?”
She slowly looked at me.
Her expression was blank.
“Dad.”
“What's happening?”
“I can hear them.”
“Who?”
“Everyone.”
I felt a chill.
“What do you hear?”
She looked around.
“Their thoughts.”
I froze.
“What?”
She pointed at the walls.
“The people in the building.”
Then she pointed at the screens.
“The people outside.”
Then she pointed at me.
“And you.”
I swallowed.
“What do you hear from me?”
She stared into my eyes.
“You're scared.”
I smiled weakly.
“Yes.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Not of them.”
She stepped closer.
“You're scared of yourself.”
I couldn't answer.
Because she was right.
The memories were returning.
More and more.
I saw myself in the white room.
I saw Daniel.
I saw my father.
I saw Beatriz.
I saw Elena.
But there was one person I hadn't remembered.
My mother.
She was standing beside the crib.
Crying.
Holding a file.
I watched her hand it to my father.
He opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
A baby.
Not Isabella.
Another child.
A boy.
Daniel.
My mother whispered:
“He's the first.”
My father answered:
“Then the other one will be the correction.”
I stared.
“The other one…”
The memory shifted.
My mother looked at me.
I was a child.
Maybe six years old.
She knelt beside me.
“Listen to me.”
I heard her voice.
“Never trust your father.”
The memory ended.
I opened my eyes.
My father was standing in front of me.
He had somehow entered the underground room.
I stared at him.
“You knew.”
He looked exhausted.
“I knew enough.”
“My mother warned me about you.”
He looked away.
“She was right.”
I felt anger rising.
“Why did you do this?”
“I was trying to stop him.”
“You became him.”
“I know.”
“You erased me.”
“I know.”
“You used Isabella.”
“I know.”
“You lied to me for twenty years.”
“I know.”
I stepped closer.
“Then tell me the truth.”
He looked at Isabella.
Then at Daniel.
Then at Elena.
Finally, at me.
“The truth is…”
He paused.
“I wasn't the one who created Black Meridian.”
I stared.
“Then who?”
He looked toward the old man.
“He did.”
The old man smiled.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
He pointed at me.
“He did.”
My father froze.
I felt my stomach drop.
“What?”
The old man smiled.
“Your memories were erased because you were the architect.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You're lying.”
“Ask your brother.”
I looked at Daniel.
He couldn't meet my eyes.
“Daniel?”
He finally whispered:
“He's telling the truth.”
The room went silent.
“You created Black Meridian?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“You did.”
I couldn't breathe.
“What?”
Daniel stepped closer.
“You built the first version.”
My mind went blank.
“I was twenty-six.”
“Yes.”
“You're saying I built it?”
“You built the system.”
“But why?”
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
“Because you wanted to save Mom.”
I froze.
“What happened to her?”
Daniel looked toward the old man.
“He killed her.”
I stared at our father.
The old man smiled.
And then Isabella screamed.
Everyone turned.
She was staring at one of the screens.
A file had opened automatically.
At the top was a photograph of my mother.
Below it were three words:
SUBJECT ZERO: ALIVE
My heart stopped.
“What?”
Isabella pointed at the screen.
“She isn't dead.”
I stared.
The photograph showed my mother.
Older.
Alive.
Standing inside another facility.
And beneath the photograph was a location.
My father looked at it.
His face went white.
“No.”
I grabbed the screen.
“Where is she?”
He shook his head.
“Don't go there.”
“Where?”
“Because that's where Black Meridian began.”
I stared at the coordinates.
Then at Isabella.
She whispered:
“Dad…”
“What?”
“I know that place.”
“How?”
She pointed at the screen.
“I was there too.”
The old man suddenly laughed.
“Of course she was.”
I turned toward him.
“What does that mean?”
He looked at me.
“She wasn't born in the hospital.”
He smiled.
“She was born there.”
The countdown hit zero.
Every screen went black.
Then one sentence appeared across all of them.
SUBJECT ZERO HAS AWAKENED.
And somewhere far away, a woman's voice whispered through the speakers.
May you like
My mother's voice.
“Come find me, son.”
