Chapter 11: The Final Transfer
“Begin the final transfer.”
My father's voice came from somewhere in the darkness.
Then the basement erupted.
A deafening alarm screamed through the walls.
Red emergency lights flashed.
Michael grabbed my shoulder.
“Move!”
I pulled Lily toward the stairs while Claire held Emma.
Tommy remained strangely calm.
Too calm.
He was staring into the darkness.
“Tommy!”
He didn't respond.
I grabbed him.
His eyes finally moved toward me.
“Daddy.”
“Come on.”
He smiled.
“They're coming.”
“Who?”
He pointed behind me.
I turned.
Three men in black uniforms were entering the basement.
They weren't carrying ordinary weapons.
Each held a small metal device attached to a cable.
Michael raised his gun.
“Stay back!”
The first man pressed a button.
Michael collapsed.
“Michael!”
I ran toward him.
Claire screamed:
“Daniel, don't touch him!”
Too late.
A shock tore through my body.
I fell to my knees.
The room blurred.
My father's voice echoed.
“Excellent.”
I looked up.
He was standing at the bottom of the stairs.
My mother beside him.
Neither looked afraid.
My father held a strange helmet-like device.
“Bring Daniel.”
The men moved toward me.
I tried to fight.
My arms felt numb.
Claire threw herself between us.
“Don't touch him!”
My father looked at her.
“You should have stayed in the hospital.”
“You killed our daughter.”
“I preserved her.”
“You destroyed her.”
Emma screamed.
“Mommy!”
Claire turned.
Emma was being dragged toward another room.
“No!”
Claire ran after her.
My mother blocked her.
“Claire.”
“Let her go!”
“You know what happens if she remembers everything.”
Claire froze.
My mother whispered:
“She'll remember what you did.”
Claire's face went white.
I looked at her.
“What did you do?”
She wouldn't look at me.
“Claire?”
My father smiled.
“Ask her about the fire.”
I felt the same pressure behind my eyes.
Another memory.
Smoke.
A burning building.
Claire holding a baby.
My mother screaming.
My father standing beside me.
And a little girl.
Emma.
I saw Claire carrying her.
Then Claire placed her inside a car.
She closed the door.
The car drove away.
I gasped.
“No.”
My father crouched beside me.
“You remember now.”
I looked at Claire.
“You abandoned Emma.”
Claire was crying.
“I thought she was dead.”
“You put her in that car.”
“They told me they were taking her to safety.”
“And you believed them?”
“I had no choice!”
“You always had a choice!”
She collapsed.
“I was trying to save you.”
My father's smile widened.
“Exactly.”
I looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
He leaned closer.
“Claire made a deal.”
“What deal?”
“To keep you alive.”
My stomach tightened.
“With whom?”
“My mother.”
I looked at my mother.
She said nothing.
My father continued.
“She agreed to give up one child.”
“Emma.”
“Yes.”
“In exchange for what?”
“To erase your memories.”
I stared at Claire.
“You traded our daughter for me?”
Claire sobbed.
“I didn't know what they would do to her.”
“You agreed.”
“I thought she would be safe!”
My father laughed.
“You thought wrong.”
Emma's voice came from the hallway.
“Mommy…”
Claire turned.
Emma was standing there.
She had escaped.
She looked at Claire.
“I remember everything.”
Claire froze.
Emma walked toward her.
“You gave me to them.”
“I was trying to save Daddy.”
“You chose him.”
Claire cried.
“I loved you.”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at me.
“Daddy chose me.”
I couldn't breathe.
“What?”
“You chose me before you forgot.”
My father's expression changed.
“Stop.”
Emma ignored him.
“You held me.”
I remembered.
A baby.
My baby.
My daughter.
A tiny hand.
My voice.
“Emma.”
She smiled through tears.
“You called me your little star.”
My heart shattered.
I ran to her.
She threw herself into my arms.
For a moment, the entire world disappeared.
She was my daughter.
I knew it.
Not because of memories.
Not because of documents.
Because when I held her, something inside me recognized her.
My father stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Michael suddenly fired from the floor.
The bullet struck my father's shoulder.
He stumbled.
My mother screamed.
“Get him!”
Michael struggled to stand.
“Run!”
We ran.
Claire grabbed Lily.
I carried Tommy.
Emma held my hand.
We reached the hallway.
Behind us, alarms screamed.
Then every door opened at once.
Rows of children stood inside.
Boys.
Girls.
Some toddlers.
Some older.
All staring at us.
My stomach dropped.
Emma whispered:
“The thirty-two.”
I counted.
There were dozens.
All with the same strange expression.
All silent.
All watching me.
One little boy stepped forward.
He looked exactly like I had at seven years old.
“Daddy?”
I stopped.
Emma grabbed my hand.
“Don't answer.”
“Why?”
“He isn't talking to you.”
“Then who?”
She pointed toward the ceiling.
“Grandpa.”
I looked up.
A speaker crackled.
My father's voice filled the hallway.
“Daniel, you can't escape.”
I shouted:
“Why are you doing this?”
His answer came immediately.
“Because death is a disease.”
I stared at the speaker.
“And you think this fixes it?”
“I think memory fixes it.”
“You killed children.”
“No.”
“You experimented on them.”
“I preserved them.”
“You destroyed families.”
“I created them.”
My hands shook.
“You're insane.”
His voice became calm.
“Maybe.”
Then:
“But I'm almost immortal.”
The speakers went silent.
Emma whispered:
“Daddy, we have to find the archive.”
“What archive?”
“The place where they keep the original memories.”
“Where?”
“Under the house.”
I looked at Michael.
He nodded.
“She's right.”
We moved toward the basement stairs.
Suddenly, the floor shook.
A deep mechanical sound came from beneath us.
My father was activating something.
“What is that?”
Michael's face changed.
“The transfer chamber.”
“What happens there?”
He looked at me.
“They'll connect your brain to the archive.”
“Then what?”
“Your father's memories will overwrite yours.”
I looked at Tommy.
“Can they stop it?”
Michael nodded.
“Maybe.”
“How?”
“Destroy the archive.”
I turned toward Emma.
“Can you lead us?”
She nodded.
“I remember.”
We ran.
Down another staircase.
Deeper.
Colder.
Until we reached a massive steel door.
Emma placed her hand against it.
The door unlocked.
Inside was a room unlike anything I'd ever seen.
Hundreds of glass containers lined the walls.
Each contained a small metal drive.
Names were written beneath them.
SUBJECT 01.
SUBJECT 02.
SUBJECT 03.
All the way to:
SUBJECT 32.
I walked toward the center.
One container was different.
It contained a small glass vial.
A label was attached.
DANIEL REED. ORIGINAL MEMORY.
I stared at it.
“What is that?”
Michael whispered:
“Your original memory.”
I stepped closer.
“How do I destroy it?”
“Don't.”
My father appeared on a monitor.
His face was pale from the gunshot.
“If you destroy that…”
He smiled.
“…you destroy yourself.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Your memories aren't stored only in your brain.”
He pointed toward the vial.
“Your original consciousness is there.”
Emma shook her head.
“That's a lie.”
My father laughed.
“You really don't remember?”
Emma's face changed.
He continued.
“You were never born naturally, Daniel.”
I felt the room spin.
“What?”
“You were the first successful transfer.”
My mother appeared beside him.
“You were created from Alex.”
I stared at Tommy.
Then at Emma.
Then at my own hands.
My father smiled.
“Now you understand.”
“No.”
“You aren't the original Daniel.”
My breathing stopped.
“You're a copy.”
The room became silent.
Claire whispered:
“Daniel…”
I turned toward her.
“Is it true?”
She couldn't answer.
“Claire.”
She looked at me.
Tears filled her eyes.
“Yes.”
My heart shattered.
I stared at the vial.
“If I'm a copy…”
My father smiled.
“…then the original is still alive.”
A door behind the archive opened.
A man stepped out.
Same face.
Same height.
Same eyes.
Mine.
He looked at me.
Then at my father.
Then smiled.
“Hello.”
My mother whispered:
“Subject Zero.”
I couldn't move.
The man looked at me.
“You've been living my life.”
I stared at him.
“Who are you?”
He smiled.
“I'm Daniel.”
I felt the room tilt.
He stepped closer.
“The real one.”
Then he looked at Tommy.
And whispered:
“Son.”
Tommy immediately reached toward him.
“Daddy.”
I froze.
Because Tommy had never called anyone else Daddy.
And the real Daniel smiled.
“Come to me.”
I looked at my son.
He reached toward the other man.
May you like
And for the first time in my life…
I wondered whether I was actually his father.
