CHAPTER 9: THE MAN IN THE RECORDING
Every door in the facility slammed shut.
The sound echoed through the corridors like a series of gunshots.
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
Then silence.
I stood frozen in the memory room.
The recording of my own voice was still playing through the speakers.
“You finally remembered.”
My heart hammered against my ribs.
I looked at Isabella.
She was staring at me.
“Dad…”
“I don't know what this is.”
“But that's your voice.”
“I know.”
“You said my name.”
“I know.”
The woman in the white coat rushed toward the control panel.
She pressed several buttons.
Nothing happened.
“Open the doors.”
The system ignored her.
She tried again.
Nothing.
Then every monitor in the room turned on.
Hundreds of screens.
Thousands of files.
Names.
Dates.
Photographs.
Faces.
People from every part of the world.
I stepped closer.
“What is this?”
The woman whispered:
“The archive.”
“Of what?”
“Everyone.”
I looked at the screens.
Politicians.
Executives.
Scientists.
Military officers.
Journalists.
Celebrities.
Ordinary people.
Some were alive.
Some were dead.
Some had disappeared.
My stomach tightened.
“How many?”
“Twenty-three million profiles.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“Black Meridian has been collecting information for decades.”
I looked at the server racks.
“Then destroy it.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You think it's that simple?”
“Why not?”
“Because this isn't the original system.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“This is only a mirror.”
“A copy?”
“Yes.”
“Where's the original?”
She looked at Isabella.
“Inside her.”
I felt cold.
“What does that mean?”
“The original encryption isn't stored on a server.”
She pointed toward my daughter.
“It's encoded in her biological signature.”
I stepped in front of Isabella.
“You're not touching her.”
The woman shook her head.
“We don't need to.”
“Then what do you need?”
“Her memory.”
I looked at the chair.
The black chair.
The restraints.
“You want to put her in that.”
“We need to access what she remembers.”
“No.”
“Then millions of people will remain trapped under Black Meridian's control.”
I stared at her.
“You expect me to believe you're doing this for them?”
“No.”
She looked exhausted.
“I'm telling you what will happen.”
A loud alarm suddenly sounded.
Red lights began flashing.
Adrian looked toward the ceiling.
“We need to move.”
“Where?”
“Out.”
“Every door is locked.”
“Then we find another way.”
He turned toward the woman.
“Is there a maintenance tunnel?”
She nodded.
“Below the server room.”
“Open it.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“The system is in lockdown.”
I looked at Isabella.
“Can she open it?”
The woman hesitated.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She has to remember the command.”
I stared at my daughter.
“Isabella.”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“Try.”
“I can't.”
“You can.”
She looked toward the wall.
Then closed her eyes.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then she whispered:
“Three.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Three.”
She raised three fingers.
“Seven.”
Then:
“Zero.”
The floor suddenly moved.
A section beneath the server racks slid aside.
A staircase appeared.
Everyone stared.
The woman whispered:
“She remembered.”
We descended.
The staircase led into a narrow concrete tunnel.
The air was cold.
Damp.
And smelled like metal.
Adrian walked first.
I followed with Isabella.
Elena came behind us.
Beatriz was last.
After several minutes, we reached a steel door.
Adrian pushed it open.
We entered a small underground room.
There was a table.
Four chairs.
And a television.
The screen turned on automatically.
My father appeared.
He looked older than when I'd seen him earlier.
Tired.
His face was bruised.
He was sitting in a chair.
“Son.”
I froze.
“This recording was made before you came here.”
I stepped closer.
“If you're watching this, then Isabella has remembered.”
He paused.
“I know you're angry with me.”
My jaw tightened.
“You should be.”
He looked directly into the camera.
“I lied to you about everything.”
I whispered:
“Finally.”
He continued.
“Your mother didn't die naturally.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“She was killed.”
Elena covered her mouth.
My father looked away.
“Black Meridian wanted me to surrender the database.”
“I refused.”
“They took your mother.”
My hands started shaking.
“I tried to save her.”
“I failed.”
His voice cracked.
“Then they came for you.”
I stared at the screen.
“They wanted you to become the next administrator.”
“What?”
“You were the only person they believed could inherit the system.”
I felt sick.
“I was a child.”
“Yes.”
“They trained you.”
I looked at Isabella.
“That's why I don't remember.”
My father nodded.
“Exactly.”
I felt dizzy.
“What happened?”
“You resisted.”
“Then what?”
“They erased parts of your memory.”
Silence.
I looked at my own reflection in the black edge of the screen.
“How?”
“Through the same technology used on Isabella.”
My stomach dropped.
“You put me in that chair.”
My father looked directly at the camera.
“Yes.”
The room became silent.
I turned toward Beatriz.
She was crying.
“You knew.”
She nodded.
“I was there.”
“You helped him.”
“Yes.”
I looked at my father on the screen.
“You erased my memory.”
“I saved your life.”
“You stole my life.”
“I know.”
“You made me believe I was ordinary.”
“You deserved a chance to be ordinary.”
I shook my head.
“And Isabella?”
His face changed.
“I didn't know she would inherit it.”
“What?”
“The system adapted to you.”
I stared.
“It passed into her.”
“Why?”
“Because she was genetically linked to you.”
I looked at Isabella.
“That's why they wanted her.”
My father nodded.
“That's why I hid her.”
“You hid her?”
“Yes.”
“From me?”
“No.”
He looked at the camera.
“From myself.”
The words confused me.
“What does that mean?”
“I was afraid that if I stayed near her, Black Meridian would find her.”
“So you left?”
“Yes.”
“And Beatriz?”
“I recruited her.”
I turned toward Beatriz.
“You recruited her to marry me.”
“Yes.”
“To protect Isabella.”
“Yes.”
I stared at my wife.
“And she agreed.”
Beatriz cried.
“I thought I could protect her.”
“You hurt her.”
“I know.”
“You became the thing she feared.”
“I know.”
My father's recording continued.
“But there is something I never told you.”
The screen flickered.
He leaned closer.
“The system isn't controlled by Black Meridian anymore.”
I frowned.
“Then who controls it?”
My father's face became grim.
“Someone inside your family.”
I froze.
“Who?”
He looked directly at the camera.
“I never found out.”
The screen went black.
Nobody spoke.
Then Isabella whispered:
“Dad.”
I turned.
“What?”
She pointed toward Beatriz.
“It's her.”
Beatriz looked terrified.
“What?”
Isabella stepped backward.
“I remember.”
“What do you remember?”
“You were in the white room.”
Beatriz shook her head.
“No.”
“You were talking to someone.”
“No.”
“You said…”
Isabella closed her eyes.
Then repeated the words exactly.
“‘He doesn't remember anything.’”
Beatriz went completely still.
I stared at her.
“Who were you talking to?”
She couldn't answer.
“Beatriz.”
Nothing.
“WHO?”
She finally whispered:
“My father.”
I froze.
“Your father?”
She nodded.
“He wasn't dead.”
“What did he have to do with Black Meridian?”
Beatriz looked at me.
“Everything.”
Before I could speak, the television turned back on.
But my father's face was gone.
Instead, a live camera feed appeared.
It showed the room above us.
The memory room.
Someone was standing inside.
A man.
I couldn't see his face.
He slowly walked toward the chair.
Then turned toward the camera.
I recognized him.
My father.
But he wasn't alone.
Beside him stood another man.
A younger version of me.
I stared at the screen.
“That isn't possible.”
The younger me was standing beside my father.
He looked about sixteen.
And he was holding a newborn baby.
Isabella.
I couldn't breathe.
The recording date appeared at the bottom.
TWENTY YEARS AGO.
I looked at Isabella.
She was staring at the screen.
Then she whispered:
“That isn't you.”
I frowned.
“What?”
She pointed at the younger version of me.
“That man isn't Dad.”
I stared.
“What do you mean?”
She shook her head.
“He looks like you.”
She paused.
“But he isn't you.”
I looked closer.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same scar.
But then I noticed something.
The young man was wearing a black ring.
My father had one.
I'd never owned one.
The young man looked directly into the camera.
Then spoke.
His voice was mine.
But colder.
“Tell him the truth.”
The screen went black.
A second later, every phone in the room vibrated simultaneously.
Mine.
Adrian's.
Elena's.
Beatriz's.
A message appeared on every screen.
YOU HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THE WRONG SON.
Then another.
YOUR FATHER HAD TWO.
I looked at my father in the recording.
Then at Beatriz.
Then at Isabella.
My voice came out barely above a whisper.
“Who is my brother?”
Beatriz looked at me.
And answered:
“You've already met him.”
I froze.
“Who?”
She pointed toward the door.
A shadow stood behind the glass.
Someone was watching us.
May you like
Then the door slowly opened.
And the man standing outside had my face.
