CHAPTER 8 THE ORIGINAL
The word hung in the air.
“You.”
My mother's finger remained pointed at me.
I stared at her.
“No.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You are the original host.”
“I don't understand.”
“You weren't created to carry your father's consciousness.”
She looked at Gabriel.
“You were created to replace him.”
My father stepped forward.
“Sarah.”
“Don't.”
My mother turned on him.
“You lied to her for twenty years.”
Gabriel's expression hardened.
“You helped me build it.”
“I helped you destroy it.”
“You had no choice.”
“I always had a choice.”
My mother looked at me.
“And I chose her.”
The countdown continued.
01:43
01:42
I looked at the hundreds of people surrounding us.
“Why are they waking up?”
“Because your consciousness activated the network.”
“Why?”
“Because you're the master host.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
My mother stepped closer.
“Every person in this chamber contains fragments of memories taken from you.”
I stared at her.
“My memories?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To test how much a human mind could hold.”
My stomach turned.
“So those people…”
“Some contain memories from your childhood.”
She pointed toward one of the men.
“That man has your memories from age six.”
I looked at him.
He was crying.
“I remember your mother singing.”
Another woman stepped forward.
“I remember the day you broke your arm.”
A teenage boy whispered,
“I remember your first kiss.”
I backed away.
“Stop.”
A little girl stepped forward.
“I remember your nightmares.”
“Stop!”
The entire chamber became silent.
Luka came toward me.
“Emma.”
I looked at him.
“Did you know?”
He hesitated.
“Yes.”
My heart cracked.
“You knew all along.”
“I knew pieces.”
“You knew they had my memories.”
“I didn't know the extent.”
“You always knew more than you told me.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Everyone has the same excuse.”
Luka looked devastated.
Then he said something I didn't expect.
“I loved you.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“I was supposed to watch you.”
His voice trembled.
“But somewhere along the way, I stopped being your guard.”
He stepped closer.
“I became the man who wanted to save you.”
My mother looked away.
Gabriel scoffed.
“You were always weak.”
Luka turned.
“Maybe.”
He raised his gun.
“But I'm still standing.”
Gabriel suddenly smiled.
“You think that gun matters?”
He pressed something on his wrist.
The doors around the chamber slammed shut.
Then the lights changed.
Red.
A deep mechanical hum began beneath the floor.
My mother looked terrified.
“What did you activate?”
Gabriel didn't answer.
The floor opened.
A circular machine rose from beneath us.
It looked like a massive metallic ring.
Wires hung from the ceiling.
At its center was a glass chamber.
Inside the chamber was a chair.
I knew that chair.
I had seen it in my memories.
My mother grabbed my arm.
“No.”
“What?”
“You can't let him put you in that chair.”
Gabriel smiled.
“She already has.”
I looked down.
The number behind Amelia's ear changed.
17
Then the same number appeared on my wrist.
I screamed.
A black mark had appeared beneath my skin.
17.
My mother stumbled backward.
“Oh God.”
Luka stared at it.
“What happened?”
My mother whispered,
“She activated the original sequence.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means Emma isn't controlling the network anymore.”
I looked at her.
“Then who is?”
She looked at Amelia.
“The baby.”
Amelia suddenly lifted her tiny hand.
Every person in the chamber stopped moving.
Hundreds of eyes turned toward her.
Then they all spoke at once.
“Evelyn.”
The sound was terrifying.
I covered my ears.
“Make them stop!”
My mother shook her head.
“I can't.”
“Then who can?”
“You.”
I looked at Amelia.
“How?”
My mother took my face in her hands.
“You have to remember.”
“Remember what?”
“The first transfer.”
I shook my head.
“I was a child.”
“You were five.”
“What happened?”
My mother closed her eyes.
“I took you into this room.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because your father had discovered something.”
“What?”
“You could reject his consciousness.”
I frowned.
“That sounds good.”
“It wasn't.”
“Why?”
“Because every time he tried to transfer into you, your mind fought back.”
She swallowed.
“You screamed.”
I felt another memory.
A machine.
White lights.
My father screaming.
My mother holding me.
And a little girl behind glass.
I opened my eyes.
“Elena.”
My mother nodded.
“She was there.”
“Why?”
“She was your sister.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“Your father's first child.”
I looked toward Elena.
She stood silently.
“You said she was your mother's sister.”
My mother shook her head.
“I lied.”
I stared at Elena.
“She's my sister?”
“Yes.”
Elena looked at me.
“You were five when they brought me here.”
“Why don't I remember you?”
“Because you asked them to erase me.”
I couldn't breathe.
“I did?”
“You were terrified.”
She stepped closer.
“You told your father you didn't want to remember me.”
I shook my head.
“That doesn't sound like me.”
“You were a child.”
“Then why did they keep you alive?”
Elena looked at Gabriel.
“Because I was the only person your father couldn't erase completely.”
Gabriel suddenly raised his weapon.
He aimed at Elena.
Luka fired first.
The bullet struck Gabriel's shoulder.
He staggered.
My mother screamed.
“Gabriel!”
He dropped his weapon.
Luka approached.
“This ends now.”
Gabriel laughed.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“It ends when she remembers.”
Then he pulled a small device from his pocket.
Luka froze.
“Don't.”
Gabriel pressed the button.
The entire chamber shook.
The machine behind me activated.
My body suddenly lifted from the floor.
I screamed.
“Luka!”
He grabbed my hand.
But something pulled me backward.
My mother tried to hold me.
“Emma!”
The force was too strong.
I was dragged toward the glass chamber.
Amelia began crying.
Then the crying stopped.
Her eyes opened.
And she looked at me.
“Mommy.”
The machine pulled me inside.
The glass door slammed shut.
I hit it with both hands.
“Get me out!”
Luka slammed his shoulder against the glass.
“Emma!”
Nothing happened.
My mother screamed,
“Gabriel, stop this!”
He smiled through the blood running down his shoulder.
“It's already begun.”
Wires descended from the ceiling.
One attached to my temple.
Another to my chest.
Then another to my wrist.
The number 17 began glowing.
The machine came alive.
A voice spoke through the chamber.
“PRIMARY HOST IDENTIFIED.”
My mother's voice came through the speaker.
“Emma, listen to me!”
I looked at her.
“You have to fight.”
“Fight what?”
“Your own memories.”
The lights flashed.
Suddenly I was somewhere else.
A beach.
I was five years old.
My mother was holding my hand.
My father was standing behind us.
Then the scene changed.
I was ten.
Luka was teaching me how to ride a bicycle.
Then sixteen.
Daniel was kissing me.
Then twenty-three.
I was pregnant.
Then the hospital.
Daniel leaving.
Victoria standing beside him.
All my memories flashed by.
But then something strange happened.
The scenes started repeating.
The same moments.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Except each time, one detail changed.
Daniel wasn't leaving alone.
Someone was standing behind him.
Luka wasn't protecting me.
He was holding a syringe.
My father wasn't ordering the transfer.
My mother was.
I screamed.
“These aren't my memories!”
The machine answered.
“CORRECT.”
I froze.
“Then whose are they?”
A voice whispered inside my head.
Mine.
I turned.
Someone was standing behind me.
A woman.
She looked exactly like me.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same scar.
She smiled.
“I've been waiting for you.”
“Who are you?”
She touched my cheek.
“You.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
She leaned closer.
“I am the version of you they erased.”
The world went black.
Then I heard Amelia crying.
I opened my eyes.
I was no longer inside the machine.
I was standing in the hospital room where I had given birth.
Daniel was beside me.
Victoria was at the door.
Luka wasn't there.
My father wasn't there.
My mother wasn't there.
Everything was normal.
Too normal.
Daniel looked at me.
“Emma?”
I stared at him.
“What happened?”
“You just woke up.”
I looked down.
My stomach was flat.
There was no baby in my arms.
I panicked.
“Where's Amelia?”
Daniel looked confused.
“Who?”
“My daughter!”
He stared at me.
“Emma…”
“Where is my baby?”
He stepped backward.
“You don't have a daughter.”
“No.”
“You were never pregnant.”
I looked toward the hospital mirror.
My reflection stared back.
Then I saw the number behind my ear.
17.
A voice whispered from behind me.
“Wake up.”
I turned.
Amelia was standing in the corner.
Not as a newborn.
As a little girl.
Six years old.
She smiled.
“Mommy.”
I couldn't breathe.
Then she said:
“Daddy is coming.”
The hospital door opened.
Luka stepped inside.
But he wasn't alone.
Standing beside him was my father.
And between them was a man I had never seen before.
He looked exactly like me.
He had my eyes.
My scar.
My face.
He looked at me and smiled.
Then Luka whispered:
“Emma, meet your brother.”
The little girl beside me started screaming.
“NO!”
The lights exploded.
And I woke up screaming inside the machine.
The glass chamber was covered in blood.
Luka was pounding against it.
My mother was crying.
And Gabriel was laughing.
The countdown had reached:
00:17.
Then Amelia's voice came through the speakers.
“Mommy…”
I looked at the ceiling.
“I'm awake now.”
The number behind my ear changed.
17
became
1.
Then every machine in the facility stopped.
One second of silence.
Then a final message appeared.
TRANSFER COMPLETE.
Luka looked at me.
His face went white.
“Emma…”
“What?”
He pointed toward the glass.
The chamber was empty.
I was standing outside it.
But I was no longer holding Amelia.
She was gone.
May you like
And written across the glass in fresh blood were three words:
SHE CHOSE HIM.
