Chapter 8 - The Man at the FuneralEvan remembered him.
Richard Kane.
His father's business partner.
The man had stood beside Evan at the funeral.
Held his shoulder.
Told him:
“Your father would have wanted you to be strong.”
Now Richard stood beneath red emergency lights.
Older.
Colder.
Still wearing the same silver ring.
Evan's gun rose.
“You knew.”
Richard smiled.
“I knew everything.”
“You were there.”
“I was everywhere.”
Mara fired.
Richard moved behind a pillar.
“Still impulsive, Mara.”
“You stole twenty years from us.”
“I saved you.”
“You destroyed us.”
Richard laughed.
“You destroyed yourselves.”
The timer continued.
07:42
Voss shouted:
“Enough!”
Richard stepped into view.
“You don't understand what Lucas is.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“No.”
Richard pointed at the boy.
“He isn't a person to you anymore, is he?”
Evan felt rage rising.
“He's my son.”
Richard's expression softened.
“That is precisely the problem.”
He pressed a button.
The walls displayed dozens of images.
Evan as a child.
Lucas as a baby.
Mara pregnant.
Evan's father.
And another person.
A woman.
Lucas's grandmother.
Evan's mother.
Alive.
Evan froze.
“No.”
Richard smiled.
“She never died.”
Evan's knees weakened.
His mother had supposedly died of illness when he was twelve.
Yet the photograph showed her inside a Helix facility.
And she was looking directly at the camera.
Older.
Alive.
Mara whispered:
“She was part of the program.”
Richard nodded.
“She was the architect.”
Evan stared.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
The timer reached six minutes.
Richard continued.
“She created the predictive memory model.”
Evan shook his head.
“My father was the scientist.”
“Your father was the face.”
Richard pointed toward Voss.
“Voss was the engineer.”
Then he pointed at himself.
“I was the financier.”
“And your mother?”
Richard smiled.
“The genius.”
Lucas stepped forward.
“My grandmother.”
Richard looked at him.
“She wants you.”
“Why?”
“Because you are the final proof.”
Evan aimed the gun.
“You're not taking him.”
Richard nodded.
“I expected you to say that.”
He pressed another button.
The doors locked.
Gas began pouring into the corridor.
Voss shouted:
“Run!”
Evan grabbed Lucas.
They raced toward a side door.
Mara followed.
Richard remained behind.
His voice echoed through the gas.
“You can't run from your memories, Evan.”
Evan kicked through a security door.
They escaped into a maintenance tunnel.
Lucas coughed.
Mara collapsed against the wall.
Voss looked at her.
“Move.”
“I can't.”
Evan helped her up.
Then he looked at Lucas.
The boy was staring at his own hands.
“What?”
Lucas whispered:
“I remember my grandmother.”
Everyone froze.
“What did she say?”
Lucas closed his eyes.
“She said…”
His voice trembled.
“She said my father wasn't Evan.”
Evan's face changed.
“What?”
Lucas opened his eyes.
“She said the man I call Dad…”
He swallowed.
“…is already dead.”
Nobody moved.
May you like
Then Lucas pointed at Evan.
“You're not the first Evan.”
