Chapter 15 - The world changed in five minutes.The first screen showed Washington.
The second showed London.
The third showed New York.
Then thousands more.
Every major screen on every major network switched simultaneously.
A message appeared.
PROJECT ORPHEUS WAS REAL.
Names began appearing.
Politicians.
Judges.
Executives.
Police commanders.
People officially declared dead.
People officially alive.
Some had two identities.
Some had three.
Some had vanished entirely.
The entire world watched.
My mother stood beside the control console.
She looked strangely calm.
“You wanted the truth,” she said.
I stared at her.
“This isn't truth.”
“No?”
“This is revenge.”
She looked at Elias.
“It is justice.”
Elias stood silently.
Daniel walked toward him.
“You're my son.”
Elias didn't answer.
“You were never supposed to exist.”
“I know.”
“I didn't know they took you.”
“I know.”
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
“I would have come.”
Elias finally looked at him.
“You came once.”
“When?”
“The night you were born.”
Daniel froze.
“You held me.”
A tear moved down Elias' face.
“You looked at me.”
“What happened?”
“Then Jonathan took me.”
Daniel covered his mouth.
“I searched for you.”
“For six years.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you erase Renee?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Because she asked me to.”
Elias shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“She asked you to erase one memory.”
Daniel froze.
Elias looked at me.
“You erased seven years.”
I turned toward my husband.
He looked destroyed.
“Why?”
Daniel's voice broke.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That you would remember Elias.”
Silence.
I stared.
“You knew he was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe I had one child.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Jonathan threatened Madison.”
My mother lowered her head.
“He threatened all of us.”
I looked at her.
“Then why expose everything now?”
She smiled sadly.
“Because there was nothing left to protect.”
She held up the detonator.
“The compound was going to collapse.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To destroy the archive.”
“But you're inside.”
She looked at Madison.
“I wanted you to get out.”
I froze.
“Mom.”
She stepped closer.
“For years I thought I could control Orpheus.”
“You couldn't.”
“No.”
She looked at Elias.
“Your father couldn't either.”
Then at me.
“And you couldn't.”
She smiled through tears.
“But Madison can.”
My daughter looked confused.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
My mother knelt.
“Because you were born with resistance.”
“Resistance to what?”
“To anyone trying to change who you are.”
The compound shook.
A massive explosion erupted below.
Glass shattered.
Elias grabbed Madison.
Daniel grabbed me.
We ran.
Behind us, my mother stayed.
“Mom!”
She smiled.
“Go!”
The doors slammed.
We escaped into the night.
The building collapsed behind us.
For three days, the world talked about Orpheus.
Thousands of arrests followed.
Government investigations.
International warrants.
Entire companies collapsed.
Politicians resigned.
Daniel survived.
Lucas testified.
Detective Harris disappeared before trial.
Elias refused to leave Madison.
And I began remembering.
Slowly.
Piece by piece.
Not everything came back.
Some memories were gone forever.
But perhaps that was the point.
A person isn't only what they remember.
They're also what they choose.
Three months later, I took Madison to the cemetery.
Daniel came with us.
Elias stood several feet behind.
There was one grave there.
My mother's name was engraved on it.
We never found her body.
But I needed somewhere to put the flowers.
Madison placed hers down first.
“Grandma was scared.”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
“Was she bad?”
I looked at the grave.
“Sometimes.”
“Was Daddy bad?”
I looked toward Daniel.
He didn't speak.
I took his hand.
“He made terrible choices.”
Madison thought about it.
“Can people change?”
I looked at Elias.
Then at Daniel.
“Yes.”
“But do they forget?”
“No.”
“They remember.”
“Yes.”
“Even when it hurts.”
“Yes.”
She nodded.
Then she reached for my hand.
We started walking home.
Halfway down the path, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
Then I answered.
A woman's voice whispered:
“Renee.”
I stopped.
“Who is this?”
Silence.
Then:
“You found Orpheus.”
My blood went cold.
“But you didn't find the architect.”
I looked at Daniel.
He had heard the voice through the speaker.
“Who are you?”
The woman laughed softly.
“You're asking the wrong question.”
“What question should I ask?”
A pause.
Then she whispered:
“Why do you think your father was the one running it?”
The call ended.
A message appeared.
One photograph.
It showed my mother.
Alive.
Standing in front of a private laboratory.
Beside her stood Jonathan.
And between them...
was another version of me.
May you like
The message underneath contained only five words.
ORPHEUS HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN.
