Chapter 9 - The Boy Who Wasn't Supposed to RememberDr. Vale didn't shoot again.
That frightened me more than if he had.
He simply stood there.
Calm.
Certain.
Like the ending had already been written.
“Step away from Daniel,” he said.
“No.”
“I don't want to hurt you.”
“You already hurt him.”
“He'll survive.”
I looked down.
Daniel was breathing.
Barely.
Dr. Vale walked closer.
“Oliver.”
My son moved behind me.
“Don't talk to him.”
Dr. Vale smiled.
“You always did protect him.”
I froze.
“What do you mean?”
“I knew your family long before Thomas did.”
“You worked on my son.”
“Not exactly.”
He crouched.
“I observed him.”
“That's worse.”
His expression remained calm.
“Oliver was born with extraordinary neural pattern recognition.”
“He's a child.”
“He's an opportunity.”
I wanted to hit him.
Instead I asked:
“What do you want?”
“You.”
I swallowed.
“Why?”
“The archive cannot be accessed without you.”
“And if I refuse?”
“You won't.”
“Why?”
“Because Thomas left something inside your memory.”
I stared.
“Another message?”
“Not a message.”
He stepped closer.
“A command.”
My stomach twisted.
“What command?”
“You'll know when the time comes.”
Daniel groaned.
“Don't listen to him.”
Dr. Vale glanced down.
“You were always loyal to the wrong man.”
Daniel smiled weakly.
“Better than being loyal to you.”
Vale shot him again.
I screamed.
“Stop!”
Vale lowered the gun.
“Enough.”
Then he looked at Oliver.
“You remember the white room, don't you?”
Oliver nodded reluctantly.
“What happened there?”
Oliver whispered:
“Dad was angry.”
“Why?”
“Because you wanted Mom to forget.”
Vale's expression changed.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
Fear.
Oliver continued.
“He told me to remember.”
Vale stepped back.
“What exactly did Thomas say?”
Oliver looked at me.
“He said…”
My son's face twisted.
“Mom would come back for me.”
Vale stared.
Then he smiled.
“Your father underestimated you.”
He lifted his gun.
“Take the boy.”
Four armed men moved forward.
I grabbed Oliver.
“No!”
Daniel reached for a weapon.
Mara fired first.
Chaos erupted.
I pulled Oliver behind the cabinet.
Bullets tore through the metal walls.
Vale disappeared.
Mara dragged Daniel toward the tunnel.
“Move!”
We ran.
But as we reached the exit, Oliver suddenly stopped.
“Mom.”
“What?”
He pointed at the wall.
There were numbers scratched into the concrete.
Thousands of them.
A pattern.
I recognized it.
It was the same sequence Thomas used to teach Oliver as a child.
“That's the password.”
Mara stared.
“For what?”
“The archive.”
I touched the numbers.
The wall panel clicked.
A hidden screen appeared.
Words formed across it.
PRIMARY MEMORY KEY DETECTED.
Then:
WELCOME, ELENA.
Another line appeared.
INITIATE FINAL MEMORY?
I didn't know what to do.
Oliver whispered:
“Do it.”
“Why?”
“Dad told me you'd know.”
I stared at the screen.
Then pressed YES.
May you like
Everything went black.
And suddenly I remembered my husband's murder.
