Chapter 11 - David stared at the photograph.It showed him at approximately eight years old.
He was standing in the backyard of a house he barely remembered.
Beside him was Tank.
Impossible.
Tank hadn't even been born.
Yet there he was.
Same scar.
Same white patch on the chest.
Same eyes.
David whispered:
“No.”
The detective took the photograph.
“This isn't Tank.”
David shook his head.
“I know my dog.”
The detective turned it over.
A handwritten message covered the back.
MEMORY IS NOT TIME.
David frowned.
Then he understood.
Tank wasn't the same dog.
He was a genetic replica.
The detective looked toward Sarah.
“The original was part of the program.”
David remembered the white room.
The cameras.
His father.
His mother.
Tank's original collar.
Everything came flooding back.
He had been there.
As a child.
He had seen the dogs.
He had seen the babies.
He had forgotten because someone had made him forget.
But why?
The sound of footsteps returned.
David raised his weapon.
His father appeared at the end of the corridor.
Older.
Thin.
Gray hair.
But alive.
David's chest tightened.
“Dad.”
His father smiled.
“You look exactly like I remembered.”
David pointed the gun.
“You've been hiding underneath my house.”
“I built the house.”
“You built the cameras.”
“Yes.”
“You experimented on children.”
“No.”
David's hand tightened.
“Then what did you do?”
His father took another step.
“I tried to stop them.”
David laughed bitterly.
“You're one of them.”
His father's eyes filled with sadness.
“I was.”
The detective stepped forward.
“You created Lantern.”
His father nodded.
“I created the first version.”
“And the children?”
“We were trying to preserve memory.”
“Why?”
“Because memory is not stored only in the brain.”
David stared.
His father continued.
“It's encoded in patterns throughout the body.”
Sarah whispered:
“That's why they can recognize people.”
“Yes.”
“That's why Leo recognized your father.”
“Yes.”
“That's why he recognized Emma.”
“Yes.”
David suddenly understood.
“That's why Tank knew.”
His father looked at the dog.
“Tank was trained to detect memory disruptions.”
David looked at his dog.
The old wounds.
The fear.
The obsession with the crib.
Everything clicked.
Tank hadn't sensed a person inside the crib.
He had sensed something wrong with Leo.
A neurological signal.
A memory trigger.
His father looked at David.
“Your son isn't being hunted because he's special.”
“Then why?”
“Because he remembers the original experiment.”
David's blood turned cold.
“An experiment he never experienced.”
His father nodded.
“Exactly.”
Silence.
Sarah looked at her father-in-law.
“You've been using us.”
“No.”
“You erased my memories.”
“I saved you.”
“From what?”
He looked at her.
“From your sister.”
David froze.
“Emma.”
His father nodded.
“She survived the first experiment.”
“Where is she?”
His father didn't answer.
Tank suddenly growled.
A shadow moved behind David.
He turned.
Nothing.
Then Leo whispered:
“She's here.”
Sarah looked down.
“Who?”
Leo pointed behind her.
“Mommy.”
Sarah turned.
Nobody.
Then Leo said:
“Other Mommy.”
The lights flickered.
A woman's reflection appeared in the glass.
Emma.
Standing directly behind Sarah.
David spun.
Gone.
A cold breath touched Sarah's neck.
She screamed.
The detective fired at the ceiling.
Everyone jumped.
Then David saw it.
A tiny red light.
A camera.
But this time it wasn't watching them.
It was watching behind them.
David slowly turned toward the dark hallway.
A woman's voice whispered:
“You shouldn't trust your father.”
His father's face turned white.
“She's awake.”
David looked at him.
“Who?”
May you like
His father whispered:
“The first mother.”
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