Chapter 12 - THE LAST MEMORYThe bullet struck the wall.
Luca pulled Mara down.
Damian fired back.
Anthony disappeared into the shaft.
They ran.
“Where's the exit?” Mara shouted.
Damian pointed ahead.
“North corridor.”
They reached a locked door.
No keypad.
No handle.
Only a fingerprint scanner.
Mara stared.
“Try mine.”
She pressed her palm.
The door unlocked.
Damian looked at her.
“You've been here before.”
Mara shook her head.
“I don't remember.”
“Your body does.”
Inside was a room filled with mirrors.
Hundreds.
Each reflecting a different version of Mara.
Child.
Teenager.
Adult.
Some crying.
Some smiling.
One stood alone.
At the center was a chair.
Mara approached it.
A monitor activated.
FINAL MEMORY AVAILABLE.
She sat.
Luca grabbed her shoulder.
“Don't.”
“I have to.”
The machine began.
A light flashed.
Mara remembered.
She was four.
Rose was screaming.
Gabriel was bleeding.
Anthony stood behind him.
Helen held the gun.
And young Luca stood in the corner.
Gabriel handed the little Mara a red toy car.
Inside the car was a tiny metal key.
He whispered:
“When you grow up, give this to nobody.”
The memory shifted.
Another man entered.
Anthony's twin.
Mara recognized him.
Not Damian.
The original Anthony.
He was holding a baby.
Luca.
Then another baby.
Mara.
Gabriel looked at both children.
“These are the future.”
The memory changed again.
Gabriel spoke to Rose.
“We can't destroy the project.”
“Why?”
“Because it's already inside them.”
Rose cried.
“What do you mean?”
“Luca carries the memory architecture.”
“And Mara?”
“She's the key.”
Mara gasped.
The memory ended.
She woke screaming.
Luca held her.
“What did you see?”
“Me.”
“What?”
“I am the key.”
“To what?”
“The archive.”
Mara stood.
“The hard drive is useless without me.”
Damian looked at the mirrors.
“Then Anthony needs you alive.”
Mara nodded.
“That's why nobody killed me.”
A slow clap sounded behind them.
Anthony stepped from the shadows.
“Very good.”
He held Rose at gunpoint.
Mara froze.
“Mom.”
Anthony smiled.
“Come here.”
“No.”
“Then she dies.”
Rose shook her head.
“Don't!”
Anthony pressed the gun against her temple.
Mara stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
“You know what you are now.”
“A key.”
“More than that.”
“What?”
Anthony smiled.
“You are the original.”
Mara frowned.
“What original?”
“The first successful memory carrier.”
He looked at Luca.
“You are a copy.”
Luca stiffened.
Anthony continued.
“You were made from Gabriel's genome.”
“But Mara…”
“Was made from his memory.”
Mara stared.
“I don't understand.”
Anthony smiled.
“You were designed to remember what the world forgets.”
Rose suddenly screamed.
“Mara, don't listen to him!”
Anthony shot her.
Mara screamed.
“Mom!”
Rose collapsed.
Mara ran toward her.
Anthony caught her by the wrist.
“Now.”
A machine descended from the ceiling.
“Let's open your mind.”
Mara struggled.
Luca attacked.
Damian fired.
The room exploded into chaos.
Anthony disappeared behind the mirrors.
Mara reached Rose.
Her mother was still breathing.
Barely.
Rose gripped Mara's hand.
“I lied about one thing.”
Mara cried.
“What?”
Rose looked toward Luca.
“He's not your father.”
Mara froze.
“Then who is?”
Rose's eyes filled with tears.
“The man you called Uncle Helen's husband.”
Mara blinked.
“What?”
Rose whispered:
May you like
“Your real father is still alive.”
Then she died.
