Chapter 13 - Ryan stepped backward.The woman standing in front of him was still his wife.
Same face.
Same voice.
But something was wrong.
The way she held herself.
The stillness in her eyes.
The absence of emotion.
“Then who are you?”
She smiled.
“Subject Zero.”
Ryan tightened his grip on the gun.
“What happened to Emily?”
“She is still here.”
“Where?”
“Behind me.”
Ryan felt sick.
“You have another personality?”
She shook her head.
“Not a personality.”
She pointed toward the basement floor.
“A memory.”
Ryan stared.
The woman continued.
“Victor didn't create me.”
“Then who did?”
“My sister.”
Ryan looked at the photograph.
The girl beside young Emily.
“What was her name?”
“Lena.”
Ryan remembered the hidden files.
Subject eight.
The nurse.
Lena.
Could it all connect?
Emily continued.
“Lena was the first child Victor experimented on.”
“Why?”
“She could remember everything.”
Ryan stared.
“She remembered every painful event with perfect detail.”
Emily touched her head.
“She couldn't forget.”
Ryan understood.
Victor wanted to know whether memory could survive inside another person.
Lena became the first successful transfer.
Into Emily.
“When?”
“Twenty years ago.”
“And my mother?”
“She was involved later.”
“How?”
“She discovered the project.”
Ryan felt anger rising.
“She tried to expose Victor.”
“Yes.”
“Daniel betrayed her.”
“Yes.”
Ryan stared.
“Why did Daniel help Victor?”
Subject Zero smiled sadly.
“Because Daniel wanted his mother back.”
Ryan froze.
“What?”
“Victor promised him that memories could restore the dead.”
Ryan remembered the photograph of his mother alive.
Daniel had spent years believing he could bring her back.
“He thought your mother's memories could be transferred into someone else.”
Ryan whispered:
“Into me?”
Subject Zero nodded.
Ryan felt sick.
“Then I was the final test.”
“Yes.”
“And Lily?”
“The next generation.”
Ryan stared at the floor.
The entire nightmare had been built around memory.
People were not simply being experimented on.
They were being copied.
Borrowed.
Rewritten.
Ryan looked at his wife.
“Where are the children?”
She smiled.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“Underneath the old hospital.”
Ryan grabbed his coat.
“Take me there.”
She nodded.
But before they left, Ryan looked at the basement wall.
Something had been scratched into the concrete.
A child's handwriting.
DADDY, DON'T TRUST HER.
Ryan froze.
He turned.
Subject Zero was gone.
Emily stood in the doorway.
Her expression had changed.
She was crying.
“Ryan?”
Ryan stared.
“Emily?”
She nodded.
“I’m here.”
Ryan stepped toward her.
“What just happened?”
She looked confused.
“I don't know.”
Ryan believed her.
For the first time, he believed her.
She gripped his arm.
“We need to leave.”
Ryan nodded.
They drove to the abandoned St. Vincent facility.
The building had been empty for years.
But power still ran through parts of it.
Ryan and Emily entered through the basement.
The corridors were lined with old observation windows.
Behind one was a room filled with children's toys.
Another contained hospital beds.
Another had dozens of monitors.
At the end of the corridor was a steel door.
A keypad required six numbers.
Emily entered them.
The door opened.
Inside were three children.
Noah.
Lily.
And the girl from the hospital.
They were sitting around a table.
Victor stood behind them.
Ryan raised his gun.
Victor smiled.
“You finally understand.”
Ryan aimed.
“Let them go.”
Victor shook his head.
“You still don't see the final problem.”
“What?”
Victor pointed at Lily.
“She is not one person anymore.”
Lily looked at Ryan.
Tears filled her eyes.
“Daddy.”
Then the other girl spoke.
“Daddy.”
Noah looked at him.
“Dad.”
Victor smiled.
“Three children.”
He pointed at each.
“Three bodies.”
Then he tapped his temple.
“One mind.”
Ryan felt the room spin.
Victor continued.
“And only one of them can leave this building.”
Ryan stared.
“What happens to the others?”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“They die.”
Emily stepped forward.
“No.”
Victor looked at her.
“You've always been sentimental.”
Ryan shook his head.
“You're lying.”
Victor laughed.
“Am I?”
He pressed a button.
A screen came alive.
It showed Ryan's mother.
Alive.
Speaking directly to the camera.
“Ryan, if you're watching this, then Victor has already lost control.”
Ryan stopped breathing.
His mother looked older.
Tired.
Terrified.
She continued:
“Your father is not the monster.”
Ryan looked at Victor.
Victor's expression changed.
Ryan's mother whispered:
“The monster is the person who inherited my memories.”
The screen went black.
Ryan slowly turned toward Emily.
She was crying.
May you like
And Victor whispered:
“Now ask your wife who she remembers being.”
