Chapter 11 - The Basement Had Another DoorI searched the basement for twenty minutes.

Victor had vanished.

Linda had vanished.

But Emily and Ethan were still with me.

We found a hidden passage behind one of the server racks.

It led to a staircase.

At the bottom was a room filled with old recordings.

Most had dates from twenty-five years earlier.

Then I found a tape labeled:

SUBJECT 001. MATERNAL CONSENT.

I played it.

My mother appeared on screen.

She looked younger.

Terrified.

Across from her sat Victor Hale.

“You understand the terms?”

Linda nodded.

“If I cooperate, Daniel survives?”

Victor smiled.

“He will be protected.”

“What does that mean?”

“He will never know.”

“Until when?”

“Until activation.”

“What happens then?”

Victor leaned back.

“He will become the key.”

I stopped the video.

Emily stared at me.

“What key?”

“I don't know.”

We searched the room.

Behind a cabinet was another document.

A medical file.

My blood type.

DNA sequences.

Brain activity.

Then I saw a word highlighted in red.

TRANSFERABLE MEMORY.

“What is this?”

Emily read over my shoulder.

“It says your memories can be mapped.”

“Mapped?”

“Like copying information.”

I shook my head.

“That isn't possible.”

“Maybe not twenty-five years ago.”

I looked at the date.

Then I saw another document.

It was dated three months ago.

SUBJECT 001 ACTIVE.

“Me.”

Emily nodded.

“And SUBJECT 002.”

Ethan.

A sound came from the speakers.

A recorded heartbeat.

Slow.

Then another.

Faster.

I looked at Emily.

The second heartbeat matched our son's.

The first matched mine.

Then a voice played.

Nathan.

“My son, if this is playing, they succeeded in linking you to your child.”

I froze.

Nathan continued.

“That's the real purpose of Lullaby.”

A diagram appeared.

Two brains.

Connected.

Then one sentence.

MEMORY CAN BE INHERITED THROUGH CONDITIONING.

Emily whispered:

“They want Ethan to remember what you remember.”

I shook my head.

“No.”

Nathan's recorded voice became urgent.

“Do not let them activate the final stage.”

Then the tape ended.

The lights flickered.

Footsteps approached.

Not from the hallway.

From beneath the floor.

Something metal moved.

A hidden panel opened in front of us.

Inside was a small elevator.

And standing inside it was Linda.

She was holding a gun.

“Daniel,” she said.

I stepped back.

“Mom?”

Her hand shook.

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“I need you to trust me.”

Then she pointed the gun at Emily.