Chapter 6 - Oliver RememberedWe stayed hidden beneath an old service bridge until sunrise.
Nobody spoke about what Oliver had said.
I was afraid to ask.
Afraid of the answer.
Eventually, Adrian broke the silence.
“Oliver.”
My son looked at him.
“What do you remember?”
Oliver rubbed his eyes.
“A room.”
“What kind of room?”
“A white room.”
Mara and I exchanged looks.
“Was your father there?”
Oliver nodded.
“And the man?”
Another nod.
“What did he say?”
Oliver frowned.
“I don't remember.”
“Try.”
Oliver closed his eyes.
Then whispered:
“He said I was special.”
My skin prickled.
“Why would he say that?”
Oliver looked at me.
“Because I could open something.”
Adrian stood.
“We need to move.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Now.”
“You're hiding something.”
“Yes.”
“What?”
He looked toward Oliver.
“He may have been conditioned.”
“What?”
“Memory manipulation.”
I stared.
“You think my son was experimented on?”
“No.”
“Then explain.”
Adrian crouched beside Oliver.
“Your father was investigating a program called Echo.”
I heard the name and felt a strange chill.
“What is Echo?”
“Not a weapon.”
“Then what?”
“A system designed to store information inside human memory.”
I thought he was joking.
He wasn't.
“That sounds insane.”
“It was.”
“How would that involve Oliver?”
“He was very young.”
“How young?”
“Three.”
My heart stopped.
Oliver was seven now.
Adrian continued.
“Thomas discovered something unusual.”
“What?”
“Oliver remembered things children his age shouldn't have.”
“That isn't possible.”
“He could memorize patterns after seeing them once.”
I remembered.
The puzzles.
The numbers.
The strange games Thomas used to play with him.
I had thought they were father-son activities.
Now they felt sinister.
Adrian opened the flash drive.
A file appeared.
Oliver's name.
His birth date.
And a classification.
ECHO SUBJECT: O-17
I felt sick.
“No.”
Mara whispered, “Thomas tried to erase the records.”
“Then why does this exist?”
“Because he didn't erase them.”
She looked at Adrian.
“He hid them.”
I turned.
“You knew?”
Adrian's silence answered.
“How long?”
“Three years.”
“Three years?”
“I promised Thomas.”
“You watched my son?”
“I protected him.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
I slapped him.
The sound echoed beneath the bridge.
Oliver looked shocked.
Adrian didn't react.
“You don't get to decide what I deserve to know.”
“I know.”
“No. You don't.”
I was shaking.
“You let me believe my husband was crazy.”
“I couldn't tell you.”
“You let me raise my son without knowing someone might be hunting him.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
“Who are you really?”
Adrian looked at me.
“My real name is Daniel Mercer.”
“I know.”
“I was Thomas's handler.”
I froze.
“Handler?”
“I helped him disappear.”
“Then why did he die?”
Daniel's expression went dark.
“Because I betrayed him.”
Before I could ask why, Mara's phone rang.
She answered.
Her face changed immediately.
“What?”
She looked at me.
Then Daniel.
“Evelyn is dead.”
Nobody moved.
“Who killed her?”
Mara swallowed.
“The Architect.”
Daniel stood.
“That isn't possible.”
Mara shook her head.
“There was a message.”
“What message?”
She played it.
Evelyn's voice came through the speaker.
Calm.
Almost peaceful.
“Daniel, if you're hearing this, you're already too late.”
A pause.
Then her voice cracked.
“He isn't hunting Oliver.”
Another pause.
“He's hunting the woman who carries Thomas's final memory.”
Mara looked at me.
Daniel slowly turned toward me.
I stared at both of them.
“What memory?”
May you like
Daniel whispered:
“Yours.”
