CHAPTER 13 — THE VOICE INSIDE ME
My hand tightened around the weapon.
I could feel every finger moving.
But none of them belonged to me.
My arm lifted.
The barrel pointed directly at Isabella.
“Dad!”
Her scream tore through me.
I tried to lower the gun.
Nothing happened.
My body refused.
Inside my head, another voice whispered.
Stay still.
I fought back.
No.
The voice laughed.
You still think you control this body.
I looked at Emma.
She was pale.
“It's him.”
Lucas raised his gun.
“Daniel, fight it.”
“I am!”
But when I spoke, my voice came out distorted.
“Lucas…”
He froze.
The voice inside me continued:
“You always were the weakest version.”
Lucas's face hardened.
“Get out of him.”
My father laughed through my mouth.
“You still don't understand.”
He turned my head toward Emma.
“You were never supposed to survive.”
Emma stepped backward.
“You failed to erase me.”
“No.”
The voice inside me smiled.
“I made you stronger.”
Emma stared.
“Why?”
“Because I needed someone to build the final generation.”
Emma's eyes widened.
“You used me.”
“Yes.”
“And Isabella…”
“She is the final key.”
I fought harder.
My muscles trembled.
I forced my arm downward.
For one second, the weapon moved.
Then my father's voice became furious.
STOP.
Pain exploded through my skull.
I collapsed to one knee.
Isabella ran toward me.
“Dad!”
Emma grabbed her.
“No!”
“Let me go!”
“He's not himself.”
I looked up.
“Isabella…”
My own voice returned for a moment.
“Run.”
She froze.
Then the other voice took control again.
“Come here.”
I raised the weapon.
Lucas fired.
The bullet struck my hand.
The gun fell.
I stared at the blood.
I should have felt pain.
Instead, I felt relief.
The connection had been interrupted.
Lucas rushed toward me.
“Daniel!”
He grabbed my shoulders.
“Stay with me.”
I gasped.
“I'm here.”
“Can you hear me?”
“Yes.”
“Fight him.”
“I don't know how.”
Emma ran toward us.
“There is a way.”
“What?”
She held up the black metal disk.
“This can separate the consciousness.”
“Then use it.”
“I need direct access to his memory system.”
“How?”
She looked at me.
“Inside your mind.”
I stared at her.
“That sounds impossible.”
“It isn't.”
“What happens if you fail?”
Emma didn't answer.
“What happens?”
“You could die.”
I looked at Isabella.
Then at Sofia.
“Do it.”
Emma shook her head.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
“If I enter your memory system, I'll see everything.”
“Then see it.”
“You may not survive what you remember.”
I looked at her.
“I've already survived believing my entire life was real.”
I sat down.
“Do it.”
Emma placed the device against my temple.
The moment it touched my skin, everything disappeared.
I was standing in a hospital.
A newborn baby cried.
I recognized the room.
My mother was holding me.
But she wasn't alone.
A younger Emma stood beside her.
And another woman stood near the door.
Beatriz.
Much younger.
My mother whispered:
“Once he learns the truth, he'll come for the child.”
Beatriz nodded.
“What about David?”
“He won't remember.”
“What about the others?”
My mother looked toward the nursery.
“They all have to go.”
Beatriz looked horrified.
“You said you were saving them.”
“I am.”
“How?”
My mother pointed toward me.
“By making him forget.”
The scene changed.
I was six years old.
Standing in the garden.
Emma was beside me.
She was crying.
“David, you have to promise me something.”
“What?”
“If I ever disappear…”
“Where will you go?”
“I don't know.”
“Can I come?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because they will find you.”
She touched my wrist.
“You have to forget me.”
I shook my head.
“I don't want to.”
“You have to.”
She kissed my forehead.
Then whispered:
“Remember the red door.”
The memory shattered.
I was sixteen.
Standing in a laboratory.
My father was arguing with my mother.
“You can't stop me.”
She screamed:
“They're children!”
“They're assets.”
“They're human beings.”
“They're mine.”
My father slapped her.
I ran toward him.
He grabbed me.
Then injected something into my neck.
I collapsed.
Before everything went dark, my mother whispered:
“David, wake up.”
Another memory.
I was twenty.
Meeting Beatriz.
Another.
Marrying her.
Another.
Holding Isabella as a newborn.
Another.
Elena screaming.
Another.
Lucas standing over me.
Another.
The basement.
The locked room.
The garbage bags.
Everything blurred together.
Then I saw something I had never remembered.
Six years earlier.
Beatriz was carrying Isabella through the basement.
She opened a hidden door.
Inside was a frightened little girl.
Sofia.
Beatriz whispered:
“I'll protect both of you.”
Then someone entered.
Lucas.
He wasn't holding a gun.
He was carrying a baby.
A newborn.
He placed the baby beside Sofia.
Then looked at Beatriz.
“Which one?”
Beatriz cried.
“Both.”
“We can only save one.”
“No.”
“We don't have time.”
He pointed toward the baby.
“That's Subject 032.”
Then toward Sofia.
“That's Subject 030.”
Beatriz looked at both children.
Then whispered:
“Then I'll save them both.”
The memory changed.
Beatriz put Sofia inside a hidden compartment.
She carried Isabella upstairs.
But before she left, she turned toward the camera.
“Daniel will come back.”
Lucas nodded.
“And when he does?”
Beatriz smiled sadly.
“He'll protect them.”
The memory shattered.
I was back inside darkness.
Then I heard my father's voice.
“You finally remember.”
I turned.
He stood in front of me.
Not old.
Not young.
Just a shadow.
“You've been inside my mind.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“You've been inside mine.”
I looked around.
“This isn't my memory.”
“No.”
“This is yours.”
“Yes.”
“What do you want?”
“You already know.”
“I won't give you Isabella.”
“I don't need her.”
I froze.
“What?”
He stepped closer.
“I need you to remember who you really are.”
“I'm David.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
“You are the first successful consciousness.”
I frowned.
“That makes no sense.”
“You weren't created.”
“What?”
“You were born naturally.”
I froze.
“My mother…”
“She was your mother.”
“Then why did she hide me?”
“Because she discovered what you could do.”
“What can I do?”
He smiled.
“You can erase consciousness.”
I stepped backward.
“What?”
“You can destroy memories.”
“And you want that.”
“I want your ability.”
“For what?”
“To erase everyone who remembers the truth.”
I stared.
“That's why Isabella matters.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“That's why you matter.”
I felt something touch the back of my head.
A voice whispered:
“Wake up.”
My eyes opened.
I was lying on the floor of the tunnel.
Emma was kneeling beside me.
Blood was running from her nose.
Lucas was holding a gun.
Isabella was crying.
“What happened?”
Emma looked at me.
“You were gone for eleven minutes.”
I sat up.
“What did you see?”
I stared at her.
“My father.”
“Did he speak to you?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
I looked toward Isabella.
“He told me the truth.”
Emma's face tightened.
“What truth?”
I whispered:
“I'm not a copy.”
Everyone froze.
“I was born naturally.”
Lucas stared at me.
“Then what are you?”
I looked at my hands.
“The first subject.”
Emma's eyes widened.
“That means…”
I nodded.
“My father didn't create me.”
“He copied me.”
Silence.
Then Isabella suddenly screamed.
“Dad!”
I turned.
A black line had appeared beneath her skin.
It was moving up her arm.
Emma's face went white.
“No.”
“What?”
“She activated.”
“Who?”
Emma looked at Isabella.
“The failsafe.”
The black line reached Isabella's shoulder.
She looked at me.
“Dad…”
Her voice was trembling.
“I can hear someone.”
“Who?”
She whispered:
“Your father.”
Then every light in the tunnel went out.
May you like
And from somewhere in the darkness, my father's voice said:
“Now that Daniel remembers who he is, we can finally begin the last phase.”
