Chapter 6 - SUBJECT ZEROThe hidden laboratory was beneath the mansion.
Gabriel had walked above it every day for eight years without ever knowing it existed.
Steel doors.
Medical equipment.
Old monitors.
Children's files.
Dozens.
Some were marked dead.
Some disappeared.
Others had no names.
Eli stared at the photographs.
“Were they like me?”
Hannah didn't answer.
Gabriel did.
“I don't know.”
Eli looked at him.
“For once, don't lie.”
Gabriel flinched.
They entered the central room.
A circular chamber stood in the center.
Inside was a medical chair.
Straps.
Sensors.
A neural scanning device.
Gabriel recognized the design.
It was identical to the machine one of the hospital specialists had recommended after Eli's accident.
He had paid millions for it.
He suddenly understood.
It had not been new.
It had been brought back to life.
The wall monitor activated.
Claire appeared.
This time, she was crying.
“Gabriel, if you're seeing this, they've already taken Eli.”
Gabriel moved closer.
Claire continued.
“I know what you're going to say. You're going to blame yourself.”
She shook her head.
“Don't.”
“I need you to remember one thing.”
She held up a folder.
“Eli was never supposed to survive the explosion.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
Claire looked directly into the camera.
“They wanted Subject Zero.”
Behind her, a laboratory door opened.
Someone walked in.
Gabriel leaned closer.
The video blurred.
But he recognized the voice.
His father.
Dead six years.
Gabriel's knees weakened.
His father's voice said:
“Bring me the boy.”
Claire turned.
“You promised me.”
“I promised you nothing.”
The video ended.
Gabriel stood in silence.
Hannah looked at him.
“Your father organized the bombing.”
Gabriel whispered:
“No.”
“He needed Eli injured, not dead.”
“No.”
“He wanted to test the treatment.”
Gabriel's face twisted.
“No!”
His shout echoed through the laboratory.
Eli covered his ears.
Gabriel immediately knelt beside him.
“I'm sorry.”
Eli stared at him.
“You knew.”
“I swear I didn't.”
“You knew enough to make Mom afraid.”
Gabriel had no answer.
Then they discovered another file.
Claire's name.
Diagnosis:
NONDISCLOSURE RISK.
Status:
ELIMINATION AUTHORIZED.
Gabriel stared.
“Elimination.”
Hannah nodded.
“Your wife was marked for death.”
“When?”
“Three weeks before the explosion.”
Gabriel looked at the date.
Then he noticed something strange.
Claire's file had been edited the morning before her death.
By whom?
His own digital signature.
Gabriel froze.
“No.”
Hannah looked at the screen.
“Gabriel…”
He shook his head.
“I didn't authorize this.”
But the system showed:
GABRIEL MARLOWE.
Password authenticated.
Authorization confirmed.
The truth seemed impossible.
Unless someone had been using him for years.
Then a hidden drawer opened.
Inside was a small black device.
Hannah's expression changed.
“Don't touch it.”
Gabriel stopped.
“What is it?”
“A memory suppressor.”
Gabriel stared.
“What?”
“They used it after the explosion.”
“On whom?”
Hannah looked toward Eli.
Eli went pale.
“On me?”
Hannah nodded.
“But it was damaged.”
“What happens if it activates?”
Before she could answer, the machine suddenly powered on.
A light flashed.
Eli screamed.
Gabriel rushed toward him.
The device emitted a pulse.
The room filled with a high-pitched sound.
Eli collapsed.
Gabriel caught him.
Then Eli opened his eyes.
And whispered:
“I remember the night of the explosion.”
Gabriel stared.
“What do you remember?”
Eli started shaking.
“Mom wasn't alone.”
“Who was with her?”
Eli looked at Hannah.
“No…”
Hannah froze.
Eli pointed toward the door.
“He was there.”
“Who?”
Eli whispered the name.
“Dad.”
Gabriel's heart stopped.
Because according to every record, Gabriel had been in another city that night.
But his son remembered him standing beside Claire moments before the explosion.
And suddenly Gabriel feared the worst.
May you like
Maybe he had not forgotten what happened that night.
Maybe someone had made him forget.
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