CHAPTER 8: THE WOMAN WITH TWO FACES
The screen went black.
But the image remained burned into Daniel's mind.
Two Emilys.
Two identical faces.
Two voices.
One impossible truth.
His entire body went cold.
The woman standing beside him tightened her grip on his arm.
"Daniel."
He didn't answer.
Because he didn't know which one of them to trust.
The little sister he had spent twenty-six years mourning...
Or the woman who had just appeared from the shadows of the Raven Institute.
"Tell me who you are."
Daniel's voice was quiet.
The woman in front of him looked hurt.
Not angry.
Not offended.
Hurt.
"I'm Emily."
"Prove it."
The words came out harder than he intended.
Her eyes dropped.
Then she nodded slowly.
"You used to hide your comic books under the floorboard."
Daniel froze.
Only family knew that.
"You blamed me when Mom found them."
A tiny smile appeared.
"Because I told her."
Daniel stared.
"You hated me for three days."
"I was six."
"You were dramatic even then."
For a moment...
Just for a moment...
Daniel saw his little sister again.
Not a subject.
Not a survivor.
A child.
His sister.
Then the speakers crackled.
Mercer's voice returned.
"Beautiful."
"Family bonds are fascinating."
Daniel looked upward.
"Where are you?"
No response.
Instead, another screen turned on.
This time showing Lily.
She was sitting in a room.
Alive.
Awake.
And beside her...
Was the other Emily.
The one wearing black gloves.
Mercer continued.
"You always believed the world was divided into good people and bad people."
"You were wrong."
Daniel clenched his fists.
"You're using children."
"No."
Mercer's voice remained calm.
"I'm studying humanity."
"You destroyed lives."
"I saved lives."
The screen zoomed closer to Lily.
"Look at her."
"Three years trapped in a false reality."
"And yet she broke through."
"Why?"
"Because something inside her refused to surrender."
Daniel looked at Emily beside him.
"You're insane."
Mercer laughed softly.
"No."
"I'm curious."
The woman beside Daniel stepped forward.
"Enough."
Her voice shook.
"Let them go."
A pause.
Then Mercer answered.
"Still protecting others."
"You haven't changed, Subject One."
Daniel looked at her.
Subject One.
The name clearly hurt her.
"What did he do to you?"
Emily didn't answer.
Mercer did.
"She was my greatest success."
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
"Success?"
"Emily was the first child to survive complete psychological reconstruction."
The words felt poisonous.
"She lost everything."
"Her family."
"Her identity."
"Her memories."
"And still..."
A pause.
"She rebuilt herself."
Emily closed her eyes.
"Stop."
Mercer ignored her.
"She taught herself how to survive."
"How to escape."
"How to protect the others."
Daniel looked at Emily.
"You escaped?"
She nodded slowly.
"But I came back."
"Why?"
Her eyes filled with pain.
"Because there were still children inside."
A loud crash echoed somewhere above them.
The building shook.
Mercer had activated something.
The hallway lights changed from red to white.
A door at the end of the corridor opened.
Inside was a room Daniel had not noticed before.
Emily's face changed instantly.
"No."
Daniel looked at her.
"What?"
"Don't go in there."
"Why?"
She whispered:
"That's where he made us forget."
Daniel entered anyway.
The room was empty except for one chair.
A single chair.
Child-sized.
The same kind from Lily's recording room.
Except this one was older.
Covered with scratches.
Carved into the side were names.
Dozens of names.
Children who had sat there.
Children who had been changed.
Daniel's flashlight moved across the wall.
There were drawings.
Children's drawings.
Most showed houses.
Families.
Trees.
Sunshine.
Normal things.
But one drawing stopped him.
A little boy holding hands with a little girl.
Underneath:
Daniel and Emily.
Daniel stepped closer.
He didn't draw that.
Emily didn't draw that.
It was made by someone else.
Someone who knew them.
Someone who had watched their family.
Emily entered behind him.
"You remember now?"
Daniel turned.
"What?"
She pointed to the drawing.
"You were there."
His face changed.
"No."
"Daniel..."
"No."
The memory came back.
Not completely.
Fragments.
A rainy night.
A strange building.
His parents arguing.
A woman screaming.
A little girl being carried away.
Him hiding under the stairs.
Watching.
But not understanding.
Daniel grabbed his head.
"I was ten."
Emily nodded.
"Yes."
"You weren't killed in the fire."
"No."
"What happened?"
She looked at the chair.
"Your parents found out about the Institute."
Daniel stopped.
"Our parents knew?"
"They tried to expose them."
"And?"
Emily's voice became barely audible.
"They lost."
Suddenly, the speakers activated.
Mercer's voice sounded closer.
Almost inside the room.
"Daniel."
"You wanted answers."
"Now you have them."
A monitor descended from the ceiling.
A video began playing.
Daniel saw his parents.
Twenty-six years younger.
Arguing with someone off-camera.
The voice belonged to Mercer.
"You don't understand what we're creating."
Daniel's father shouted:
"You're experimenting on children."
Mercer replied:
"We're preparing them."
His mother cried:
"She's just a child."
Then...
The camera turned.
A six-year-old Emily appeared.
Standing beside a younger Daniel.
Holding his hand.
Daniel stopped breathing.
Because he remembered.
That day.
The day everyone said he was too young to remember.
Mercer's voice continued.
"You were my first failed experiment."
Daniel looked at the screen.
"What?"
"You weren't supposed to survive either."
Silence.
"You and Emily were the original subjects."
Daniel felt the room spin.
"No."
"You were separated because your reactions were different."
Emily looked away.
Mercer continued.
"Emily adapted."
"You resisted."
Daniel whispered:
"Why?"
"Because you were both interesting."
The screen showed two files.
SUBJECT ONE: EMILY CARTER
SUBJECT ZERO: DANIEL CARTER
Daniel froze.
Subject Zero.
Not One.
Before Lily.
Before all the others.
Him.
Then a new message appeared on the screen.
A countdown.
00:05:00
Emily looked terrified.
"What did you do?"
Mercer answered.
"An experiment."
Daniel looked upward.
"What experiment?"
Mercer spoke softly.
"Twenty-six years ago, I studied whether children could survive trauma."
"Today..."
The countdown continued.
00:04:32
"I want to see if adults can."
The building doors slammed shut.
Locks engaged.
Gas began leaking into the corridor.
Emily grabbed Daniel.
"We need to leave!"
Daniel looked at the screen.
"Where's Lily?"
Mercer answered before disappearing.
"She's waiting."
"For you."
A final image appeared.
Lily sitting in a room.
Next to her...
A second chair.
Empty.
With a label attached.
May you like
SUBJECT ZERO.
END OF CHAPTER 8
