Chapter 19 - The Man Behind EverythingThe world seemed to stop.
Sarah stared at Richard.
“My grandfather?”
Richard nodded.
“Your grandmother created the system.”
“And you controlled it.”
“No.”
He pointed toward the device.
“I inherited it.”
Sarah looked at her father.
Richard continued:
“The man beside you is a reconstruction of your biological father.”
Sarah's father lowered the gun.
Richard stepped closer.
“I am the original architect.”
Sarah's mother shook her head.
“You said you wanted to save people.”
“I did.”
“You turned them into copies.”
“I improved the process.”
Sarah stared at him.
“You destroyed my family.”
Richard smiled.
“Your family destroyed itself.”
Sarah's mother shouted:
“Enough!”
Richard ignored her.
“The world is terrified of death.”
Sarah said nothing.
“People pay fortunes to escape it.”
He pointed toward the device.
“This is not a machine for immortality.”
“Then what is it?”
“A machine for inheritance.”
Sarah frowned.
“Memory inheritance.”
Richard nodded.
“The rich don't want new bodies.”
He smiled.
“They want their old minds.”
Sarah finally understood.
The Foundation wasn't about preserving people.
It was about preserving power.
Old billionaires could live through younger bodies.
Politicians could continue ruling.
Executives could replace themselves.
Generations could inherit not wealth, but identity.
Sarah whispered:
“You've been replacing people.”
“For decades.”
Her mother stepped forward.
“And you used children.”
Richard shrugged.
“They were easier to shape.”
Sarah's hands shook.
“You made me into a test.”
“You were a prototype.”
Evelyn stepped beside Sarah.
“And me?”
“You were the perfect replacement.”
Evelyn smiled.
“Then you made one mistake.”
Richard frowned.
“What?”
Evelyn looked at Sarah.
“You taught us how to become ourselves.”
Richard lifted the gun.
Sarah's father moved.
A shot echoed.
Richard fell.
Everyone screamed.
Sarah looked at her father.
He was bleeding.
But he was still standing.
Richard lay on the floor, motionless.
Sarah's mother rushed forward.
“Is he dead?”
Richard suddenly laughed.
Everyone froze.
He opened his eyes.
“No.”
He reached toward the device.
Sarah understood.
“Stop him!”
Richard pressed the button.
The house lights went out.
Every phone began ringing.
Thousands.
Across the country.
Across the world.
Sarah's phone lit up.
A message appeared.
IDENTITY TRANSFER INITIATED.
Then another appeared.
TARGET: SARAH HARRINGTON.
Sarah looked at Evelyn.
“What did he do?”
Evelyn stared at the screen.
“He didn't target you.”
“Then who?”
Evelyn's expression broke.
“Everyone.”
Sirens began outside.
People started screaming in the streets.
The transfer had begun.
But Sarah noticed something else.
A second message appeared.
SOURCE IDENTITY: SARAH HARRINGTON.
She looked at herself.
“What does that mean?”
Her mother whispered:
“It means the system thinks you're the one doing it.”
Sarah stared at the screen.
May you like
Then the final message appeared.
TRANSFER COMPLETE.
