Chapter 14 - THE LAST MEMORYThe facility was buried under the mountain.
Deeper than any building should have been.
As we descended, I realized something.
This was where everything began.
The walls were covered with photographs.
My family.
Generation after generation.
All connected to Lucent.
Victoria walked beside me.
“You were always difficult.”
“I've been called worse.”
She smiled.
“You were the only subject who developed resistance.”
“Resistance to what?”
“To memory correction.”
She touched the wall.
“Everyone else could be rewritten.”
“Except me.”
“Except you.”
I looked at Lily.
“And her?”
“She's the bridge.”
Sarah stood several feet away.
Her wrists were restrained.
I looked at her.
“Are you still on my side?”
She nodded.
“Always.”
“Then prove it.”
Victoria laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
She opened the final door.
Inside was a vast circular chamber.
At the center was a chair.
Above it was a ring of lights.
My father's voice came through the speakers.
“This is where Subject Zero was created.”
David whispered:
“That's not what this room is.”
Victoria turned.
“Say goodbye to your brother.”
Gunfire erupted.
David fell.
I screamed.
Sarah lunged toward him.
Noah tackled one of the guards.
Chaos exploded.
I grabbed Lily and ran toward the central chamber.
Victoria followed.
“Daniel!”
I shut the door.
Lily looked at the machine.
“I remember this.”
“You've been here?”
She nodded.
“In my dreams.”
The machine activated.
A screen appeared.
My own face appeared on it.
Twenty-four years younger.
Then a recording began.
My voice.
“If you're watching this, I've already failed.”
I stared.
The recorded version of me continued.
“They will tell you the machine creates copies.”
Pause.
“It doesn't.”
“They transfer the memory.”
I looked at Lily.
“The person remains the same.”
Another pause.
“The danger is not that they can erase you.”
My younger self looked directly into the camera.
“The danger is that they can make you believe you chose it.”
I felt cold.
The recording continued.
“Daniel, you must remember one thing.”
The screen changed.
Sarah appeared.
Pregnant.
Then Lily as a baby.
Then the fire.
Then my father.
And then Victoria.
But the final image was someone else.
My double.
He wasn't a replacement.
He was a decoy.
The recording continued.
“Your copy will protect the network.”
I stared.
My double had been created to stop me.
The truth hit me.
The man pretending to be me wasn't the enemy.
He had been programmed to believe he was.
Victoria opened the door.
“Time's up.”
I turned.
She raised a gun.
Sarah screamed:
“Daniel, don't!”
Victoria fired.
The bullet struck the machine.
Sparks flew.
Lily grabbed my hand.
Suddenly every light in the chamber turned white.
Her eyes closed.
And I heard voices.
Thousands of voices.
Millions.
People remembering things.
People forgetting.
Wars.
Births.
Deaths.
Lies.
Love.
All of it flooding through me.
Lily whispered:
“Daddy…”
“What?”
“I can give everyone their memories back.”
“Can you stop the network?”
She nodded.
“But someone has to stay connected.”
“Who?”
She looked at me.
I understood.
“No.”
“Daddy…”
“No.”
“If I don't, they'll do it again.”
“I won't let them use you.”
She smiled.
For the first time all day, she looked seven.
“Then don't let them.”
She pressed her palm against the machine.
A shockwave exploded.
The entire facility shook.
Every screen went black.
Victoria screamed.
The network began collapsing.
But in the darkness, I heard another voice.
My father's.
“You're too late.”
Emergency lights came on.
He was standing at the doorway.
Holding Sarah's hand.
And beside him stood a little boy.
The boy looked exactly like Lily.
Anthony smiled.
“You thought she was the key.”
May you like
He looked at the child.
“She was only the lock.”
