CHAPTER 14 The Boy Who Remembered Everything
The screen went black.
But Daniel's voice remained.
"Don't trust Daddy."
Laura stood frozen in the center of the abandoned laboratory.
Her mind refused to process what she had just seen.
Not because Daniel was in danger.
She already knew that.
But because of the way he said it.
There was no fear in his voice.
No confusion.
No childlike panic.
Only certainty.
Like a boy who had been carrying a secret far too heavy for seven years.
"Where is he?"
Laura turned toward Eduardo.
Her voice was no longer shaking.
It was dangerous.
"Where is my son?"
Eduardo looked at the dark screen.
"I don't know."
The answer exploded inside her.
"You don't know?"
"Laura..."
"You knew they were coming."
"You knew they were watching us."
"You knew everything."
She stepped closer.
"And you still let them take him."
Eduardo didn't defend himself.
That hurt more.
Because he knew she was right.
Elena moved toward the computer.
"The feed came from somewhere nearby."
She typed quickly.
"Not a live stream from another country."
"Local."
Laura looked at her.
"Can you find it?"
"I'm trying."
The screens displayed dozens of encrypted signals.
Then one appeared.
A location.
A warehouse district outside Cuernavaca.
Eduardo saw it.
His face changed.
"No."
Laura noticed immediately.
"You know that place."
Silence.
"You know that place."
Eduardo slowly nodded.
"Yes."
"Why?"
He looked away.
"Because that's where Nova Genesis started."
They drove through the night.
No police.
No backup.
Only three people carrying years of secrets.
Laura sat in the passenger seat.
Eduardo drove.
For the first time, neither of them pretended to be a normal couple.
No conversation.
No fake smiles.
Only the weight of everything they had lost.
After thirty minutes, Laura finally spoke.
"Did Daniel know?"
Eduardo kept his eyes on the road.
"Know what?"
"About me."
A pause.
"About who I really am."
Eduardo tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
"Yes."
Laura turned.
"What?"
"He knew before you did."
Her heart sank.
"How?"
"Because children remember more than adults think."
Eduardo continued.
"When Daniel was three years old, he started having nightmares."
"What kind?"
"About the laboratory."
Laura stared.
"He remembered?"
"Pieces."
"Not everything."
"But enough."
"What did he say?"
Eduardo swallowed.
"He said there was a woman who looked like you."
Laura felt cold.
"Me?"
"He said she cried and told him..."
Eduardo stopped.
"What?"
He looked at her.
"She told him never to let them erase her again."
Laura looked out the window.
Rain blurred the city lights.
A memory appeared.
A child's hand.
Her hand.
A small boy crying.
A voice whispering:
"Mommy will come back."
Laura closed her eyes.
Daniel had known.
All this time...
Her son had known something was wrong.
The warehouse appeared ahead.
A massive abandoned building surrounded by rusted fences.
The same symbol from the note was painted on the entrance.
Three lines through a circle.
Eduardo stopped the car.
"We go in quietly."
Laura opened the door.
"No."
He looked at her.
"What?"
"No more hiding."
She looked toward the building.
"They took my son because they think they understand me."
Her eyes hardened.
"They don't."
Inside, the warehouse was nothing like an abandoned building.
Behind the old walls was a modern facility.
White floors.
Glass rooms.
Security cameras.
A hidden world.
Laura walked slowly.
Every step triggered memories.
The smell.
The lights.
The sounds.
Her past was waking up.
"This place..."
She touched the wall.
"I built this."
Eduardo looked at her.
"Yes."
A painful realization crossed her face.
"I helped create the monster."
"No."
Eduardo shook his head.
"You created the thing that could stop it."
They reached a security door.
Locked.
Eduardo entered a code.
Wrong.
Again.
Wrong.
Laura stepped forward.
She placed her hand on the scanner.
The door opened instantly.
Eduardo stared.
"You remembered."
Laura shook her head.
"No."
She looked at her own hand.
"My body remembered."
Beyond the door was a large control room.
Screens covered the walls.
Files.
Videos.
Names.
Thousands of people.
Laura walked toward the central monitor.
A file was open.
PROJECT GUARDIAN
She clicked.
Her own photograph appeared.
PRIMARY SUBJECT: ELENA VARGAS
STATUS: MEMORY RESTORATION SUCCESSFUL
Below it:
SECONDARY SUBJECT: DANIEL
STATUS: ACTIVE
Laura felt sick.
"Secondary subject..."
Eduardo looked over.
"What?"
"They never considered Daniel a child."
She pointed at the screen.
"They considered him a project."
A sound came from the speakers.
A slow clap.
Everyone froze.
A man appeared on the main screen.
Older.
Silver hair.
Calm smile.
Laura immediately recognized him.
Even though she had never seen him before.
Her memories did.
Her father.
"Hello, Elena."
The room became silent.
Laura stared.
"My father."
The man smiled.
"You finally remembered."
Eduardo stepped forward.
"Where is Daniel?"
The man ignored him.
He looked only at Laura.
"You always were stubborn."
Laura's voice trembled.
"Why?"
"Why did you erase me?"
"Why did you take my life?"
Her father smiled sadly.
"Because you asked me to."
Laura froze.
"What?"
"You begged me."
"No."
"You knew what would happen if you remembered."
He leaned closer to the camera.
"You knew you would come after Daniel."
Laura shook her head.
"I would never hurt my son."
"I know."
A pause.
"That's why you were the only person who could protect him."
The screen changed.
A video appeared.
A younger Laura.
Holding baby Daniel.
Crying.
Her father stood beside her.
She spoke:
"If anything happens to me..."
The younger Laura looked directly into the camera.
"Make sure I forget."
Present Laura covered her mouth.
She had chosen this.
She had chosen to lose herself.
To become someone else.
To protect her son.
Her father continued.
"But there was one thing you didn't predict."
"What?"
"Eduardo."
Laura looked at him.
"What about him?"
"He was supposed to watch you."
"Report everything."
"But he changed."
The man's expression darkened.
"He started loving you."
Silence.
"And love makes people weak."
A door behind them suddenly opened.
Everyone turned.
A small figure stood there.
Laura stopped breathing.
"Daniel."
Her son ran toward her.
She dropped to her knees and hugged him.
Tears finally escaped.
"My baby..."
Daniel held her tightly.
"I knew you would remember."
Laura pulled back.
"What?"
Daniel looked at her.
"I've been waiting."
"Waiting for what?"
The boy looked past her.
Toward the screens.
Then whispered:
"For you to finish what you started."
Laura frowned.
"Daniel..."
He reached into his pocket.
And pulled out a small object.
A flash drive.
Not like the others.
Different.
New.
"I kept this from Grandpa."
Laura stared.
"Why?"
Daniel looked at her.
"Because he doesn't know the last part."
"What last part?"
Daniel handed her the drive.
On it was written:
PROJECT ENDING
Laura looked at Eduardo.
Then at her father on the screen.
Both men suddenly looked afraid.
For the first time...
They were afraid of a seven-year-old boy.
Daniel whispered:
"Mom..."
"Open it."
Laura inserted the drive.
A final file appeared.
The title made everyone silent.
THE PERSON WHO BETRAYED YOU FIRST.
The file opened.
And the first image appeared.
A woman.
Standing beside baby Daniel.
Laura recognized her immediately.
Because she had seen her before.
In the photographs.
In the reports.
In the memories.
Silvana.
But the date on the video was impossible.
It was recorded...
one year before Laura ever met Eduardo.
And Silvana was saying:
May you like
"I know exactly how to make Elena disappear."
End of Chapter 14
