Chapter 10 - Chloe stared at me with tears in her eyes."I didn't know Leo would be there."

I could barely breathe.

"You did this?"

She shook her head.

"I was told to drop the tray."

Hale smiled.

"It was a simple instruction."

Adrian stepped forward.

"Move away from him."

Chloe didn't.

"Why?" she whispered. "So you can kill me?"

Adrian's face was cold.

"I don't kill people who surrender."

Chloe laughed bitterly.

"You killed my brother."

The room went silent.

Adrian looked at her.

"Who was your brother?"

"Daniel."

Adrian's expression changed.

"I remember him."

"Of course you do."

Hale lifted a hand.

"Enough."

He looked at me.

"Open the system."

"No."

"Then I'll open it for you."

He nodded toward Chloe.

She raised a gun.

At Leo.

Adrian moved instantly.

Hale stopped him.

"One step and the boy dies."

Adrian froze.

I stepped forward.

"Don't."

Hale smiled.

"There she is."

The terminal waited.

AUTHENTICATION REQUIRED.

"What do I do?"

"Touch the screen."

I did.

Nothing happened.

Hale frowned.

"Think of your mother."

I closed my eyes.

At once, a memory surfaced.

My mother's hands.

A hospital corridor.

A clock.

A red door.

A sentence.

When the bell rings three times, remember the name.

My eyes opened.

I touched the terminal again.

The screen changed.

MEMORY KEY DETECTED.

Hale smiled.

"Good."

Adrian looked at me.

"Don't."

I ignored him.

The screen displayed a sequence of words.

Hospital.

Harbor.

Maya.

Leo.

Adrian.

Then one final word.

ALEX.

I stared.

Hale's smile disappeared.

Adrian looked confused.

"Alex?"

I turned.

"You said your brother died."

"He did."

"No."

My hands shook.

"The system recognizes him."

Maya stepped closer.

"Elena believed Alex was the original founder of Echo."

Adrian stared at her.

"That was impossible."

"Not impossible."

"What are you saying?"

Maya looked at Leo.

"I'm saying Alex was never your brother's name."

Adrian's expression went blank.

Hale suddenly shouted,

"Kill the system!"

Chloe hesitated.

Hale shot her.

She dropped.

Chaos erupted.

Adrian fired back.

Maya grabbed Leo.

I pulled the terminal cable.

The screen flashed red.

Then a final message appeared.

ECHO TRANSFERRED.

I stared.

"What did I just do?"

Maya looked horrified.

"You didn't shut it down."

"What?"

"You moved it."

"Where?"

She looked at me.

"Into you."

My stomach dropped.

"No."

The room seemed to tilt.

A strange pressure formed behind my eyes.

Memories began flashing.

Not mine.

A warehouse.

A baby crying.

Maya screaming.

Adrian covered in blood.

My mother holding a drive.

A man standing behind her.

And then a face.

A face I had seen before.

A face I knew.

I opened my eyes.

Adrian was staring at me.

"What did you see?"

I couldn't speak.

Because the man in my memory was standing in front of me.

Alive.

Calm.

Smiling.

And he wasn't Gabriel Hale.

He was Alex Voss.

Adrian's supposedly dead brother.

He stepped out of the shadows.

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