CHAPTER 10 — THE FACE BEHIND MY FATHER'S FACE
The man behind Beatriz smiled.
I stared at him.
He had my father's face.
But those eyes weren't my father's anymore.
They were mine.
Exactly mine.
For a second, I couldn't move.
Then Beatriz screamed.
“Don't let him touch you!”
The gun pressed against her temple.
I raised my hands.
“Let her go.”
The man laughed.
“You still think this is about Beatriz.”
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“Why?”
“Because you're the only version that survived without losing himself.”
I looked at the file in my hand.
“I'm Subject 001?”
He nodded.
“The original.”
“Then who is he?”
He pointed toward the man with my father's face.
“Your father.”
I stared.
“You said he was dead.”
“He is.”
“Then who is standing there?”
The man smiled.
“A copy.”
My stomach tightened.
“A copy of my father?”
“Not exactly.”
He touched his face.
“This body belongs to him.”
“But the consciousness…”
“Is someone else.”
“Who?”
He looked at me.
“Me.”
I felt cold.
“You?”
He nodded.
“I am the consciousness your father created before he died.”
I looked at Elena.
She was crying.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Everyone knew except me.”
Nobody answered.
I turned toward Beatriz.
“What about her?”
The man laughed.
“She was never your enemy.”
I stared at Beatriz.
She looked exhausted.
“I tried to protect you.”
“By hurting Isabella?”
Her face crumbled.
“I had to make them believe I was obeying.”
“You tortured my daughter.”
“I made it look worse than it was.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“The garbage. The chores. The basement.”
She shook her head.
“I never wanted her hurt.”
I looked at Isabella.
She was standing beside Sofia.
I knelt.
“Sweetheart, did Beatriz hurt you?”
Isabella hesitated.
Then shook her head.
“No.”
I froze.
“But your hands…”
“She put medicine on them.”
I stared at Beatriz.
“She treated your injuries?”
Isabella nodded.
“When she knew nobody was watching.”
I looked at Beatriz.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because they were watching you too.”
She pointed toward the cameras.
“Every room.”
“Every conversation.”
“Every phone call.”
I looked around.
“How long?”
“Six years.”
My chest tightened.
“Since Elena disappeared?”
Beatriz nodded.
“I was told that if I warned you, they would take Isabella.”
“And you agreed to work for them.”
“I agreed to keep her alive.”
Silence.
Then I looked at Sofia.
“What about her?”
Beatriz's expression changed.
“She was the reason I stayed.”
Sofia stared at her.
“You saved me.”
Beatriz nodded.
“Your mother asked me to.”
Elena looked at her.
“I never thought you would actually do it.”
Beatriz smiled sadly.
“I owed you.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
Beatriz looked at Elena.
Then at me.
“Because your father killed my brother.”
The room went silent.
I stared.
“What?”
“He discovered the program.”
Beatriz's voice shook.
“He tried to expose it.”
“Your father had him killed.”
“And then he came after me.”
She looked toward Isabella.
“I knew I couldn't fight him.”
“So you pretended to join him.”
“Yes.”
I finally understood.
The woman I had believed was cruel had been playing a much deeper game.
But one question remained.
“If you were protecting Isabella, why make her work?”
Beatriz looked down.
“Because they were testing whether she would obey.”
“And?”
“She didn't.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Beatriz looked at Isabella.
“She pretended to obey.”
I stared at my daughter.
“You knew?”
Isabella nodded.
“I knew Beatriz was trying to help me.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“She told me not to.”
“Because they were listening.”
I looked at the cameras.
The man behind Beatriz laughed.
“Very touching.”
I turned.
“Enough.”
He raised his weapon.
“You've learned too much.”
“What happens now?”
He smiled.
“Now you choose.”
“Choose what?”
“Your daughter.”
I looked at Isabella.
“You said she wasn't the target.”
“She isn't.”
“Then why?”
“Because she carries something you don't.”
“What?”
“An untouched memory.”
I frowned.
“What memory?”
“The memory of your mother's final experiment.”
I felt my pulse increase.
“What experiment?”
The man smiled.
“She created a failsafe.”
“For what?”
“For me.”
I looked at Beatriz.
She nodded.
“Your mother knew your father would eventually try to control you.”
“So she created Isabella.”
“No.”
Beatriz shook her head.
“She created the possibility of Isabella.”
I didn't understand.
“The program was never supposed to produce one child.”
She pointed toward Sofia.
“It was supposed to produce two.”
I looked at the girls.
“Isabella and Sofia.”
“Yes.”
“They were designed together.”
“For what?”
Beatriz whispered:
“To destroy the consciousness transfer system.”
I stared.
“So Isabella isn't a weapon.”
“No.”
“She is a key.”
“Yes.”
“And Sofia?”
“She's the lock.”
The man suddenly fired.
The bullet struck the wall beside my head.
Everyone screamed.
“Enough!”
He grabbed Beatriz and pulled her backward.
“Give me Isabella.”
“No.”
“Then Beatriz dies.”
I stepped forward.
“Take me instead.”
He laughed.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because that's what you want.”
He stared at me.
Then smiled.
“You're finally thinking like the original.”
He released Beatriz.
She collapsed.
I walked forward.
Lucas grabbed my arm.
“Don't.”
I looked at him.
“If I don't go, he'll kill her.”
Lucas shook his head.
“He wants you exactly where you're going.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because I need to know what happens.”
The man lowered the weapon.
“Smart.”
I took another step.
Then another.
When I was close enough, he reached out.
His fingers touched my forehead.
Instantly, memories exploded inside my mind.
My mother.
The laboratory.
Three babies.
My father.
Elena.
Beatriz.
Lucas.
And Isabella.
But one memory was different.
I saw myself as a child.
Standing in the garden.
Beside a woman.
My mother.
She was crying.
She held my face in her hands.
“David, listen to me.”
I was crying.
“I don't want to forget.”
“You won't.”
“How?”
She pointed toward the house.
“Your daughter will remember for you.”
I froze.
“My daughter?”
“Yes.”
“But I don't have a daughter.”
My mother smiled through tears.
“Not yet.”
The memory changed.
A newborn baby.
Isabella.
My mother whispered:
“When the time comes, she will wake you.”
Then everything went black.
I opened my eyes.
I was on the floor.
Everyone was staring at me.
Beatriz was crying.
Elena looked terrified.
Lucas was frozen.
And the man who had touched me was unconscious.
I slowly stood.
“What happened?”
Lucas looked at the man.
“He tried to transfer.”
“Into me?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Lucas pointed at the man's face.
The skin was changing.
The man's features were shifting rapidly.
Old.
Young.
Old.
Young.
Then finally...
My father's face disappeared.
A different face appeared.
A face I had never seen.
Except I had.
It was the face from the hospital video.
The original Subject 001.
I stared.
“That's not me.”
Lucas shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed toward the man.
“That's the real original.”
I felt confused.
“Then who am I?”
Elena walked toward me.
“You are the final version.”
“What does that mean?”
She looked at Isabella.
“It means your mother succeeded.”
“Succeded at what?”
Elena whispered:
“She created someone the system couldn't control.”
I looked at Isabella.
She stepped toward me.
Then touched my hand.
The moment her fingers touched mine, every screen in the archive turned on.
One message appeared.
FAILSAFE ACTIVATED.
Then another.
SUBJECT 002 AWAKENED.
And finally:
PROJECT ECHO TERMINATED.
The building began shaking.
Lucas shouted:
“Everybody move!”
“What is happening?”
“The system is destroying itself.”
We ran.
But before we reached the door, one final screen appeared.
A live camera feed.
It showed a hospital room.
A woman was lying on a bed.
She was old.
Weak.
Connected to machines.
I stared.
It was my mother.
Still alive.
She slowly opened her eyes.
Looked directly into the camera.
And whispered:
“David…”
Then she smiled.
“Come find me.”
The screen went black.
Behind us, the laboratory exploded.
And somewhere beneath the collapsing building, a phone began ringing.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Beatriz looked at me.
“Don't answer it.”
The phone kept ringing.
I picked it up.
A woman's voice whispered:
“Your mother lied.”
I froze.
“Who is this?”
The woman replied:
May you like
“The woman you thought was dead.”
Then the call ended.
