Chapter 8: The Extraction
The announcement repeated.
Over and over.
Like the hospital itself was speaking.
“Subject One has been located.”
“Begin extraction.”
I stood frozen in the middle of Room 214.
The red emergency lights painted everything in a dark glow.
The walls.
The machines.
The faces of the people around me.
But the thing I couldn’t stop looking at was Daniel Carter.
Because he was the one who signed my termination order.
The man who had spent the entire night pretending to help me.
The man who knew everything.
And now he had been exposed.
“You were going to kill me.”
My voice sounded different.
Calmer.
More dangerous.
Daniel looked down.
“I was trying to stop something worse.”
I laughed.
A short, bitter laugh.
“Everyone says that.”
Thomas Reed stepped closer.
“Daniel.”
The administrator didn’t look at him.
“You don’t understand.”
Thomas’s expression hardened.
“No.”
His voice was quiet.
“You are still making the same mistake.”
Daniel finally looked up.
“What mistake?”
Thomas looked at me.
“Choosing the experiment over the person.”
The words hit harder than I expected.
Because that was what this entire place was.
A hospital that had forgotten people.
A laboratory wearing a doctor’s coat.
A place where human lives became numbers.
Subjects.
Results.
Failures.
Successes.
I looked at Daniel.
“Who activated the extraction?”
He didn’t answer.
The alarm continued.
BEGIN EXTRACTION.
The room shook.
The monitors turned on.
Every screen displayed the same message.
SUBJECT 001: READY
Then:
MEMORY SEPARATION: 60 SECONDS
My heart stopped.
“Separation?”
Thomas looked at the countdown.
His face changed.
“No.”
Daniel stepped toward the computer.
“They started it already.”
Mark grabbed his shoulder.
“Started what?”
Daniel looked at him.
“The process that removes Elizabeth.”
Nobody spoke.
I felt cold.
“What happens to me?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
I already knew.
Thomas did.
“You die.”
The words landed like a punch.
I stared at him.
“Why?”
Thomas looked at the countdown.
“Because your body is the container.”
A timer appeared.
45 SECONDS
Elizabeth.
She was inside me.
Not a metaphor.
Not a memory.
Something real.
Something alive.
Something that had been hidden inside my mind for years.
And now they were going to remove her.
Even if it destroyed me.
I looked at Daniel.
“You knew this would happen.”
He looked away.
“Yes.”
My anger exploded.
“Then why did you bring me here?”
Daniel’s face broke.
“Because Elizabeth asked me to.”
The room became silent.
“What?”
Daniel took a shaky breath.
“Before she disappeared, she left instructions.”
He looked at the old photograph.
“She knew the experiment would restart.”
Thomas frowned.
“Where is the message?”
Daniel reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a small recorder.
An old voice recorder.
He pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then a young girl’s voice.
Elizabeth.
My entire body froze.
“Dad…”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“If you are hearing this, it means I failed.”
A child’s voice.
But the sadness sounded much older.
“Do not let them separate us.”
I looked at Daniel.
The recording continued.
“They will tell you I am dangerous.”
“They will tell you I am a disease.”
“They will tell you the boy is only a container.”
A pause.
Then Elizabeth whispered:
“But he is not.”
My eyes burned.
“He is my brother.”
Nobody moved.
The timer continued.
30 SECONDS
I stared.
“Brother?”
Daniel nodded slowly.
The truth hit me before he said it.
“We never told you.”
I whispered:
“Because?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Because the experiment did not create two subjects.”
A pause.
“It created twins.”
The room spun.
“No.”
Thomas looked away.
“It was the final discovery.”
Daniel continued.
“You and Elizabeth were born from the same genetic material.”
My breathing became uneven.
“You’re saying…”
“You were created together.”
The countdown continued.
20 SECONDS
The machines beside the bed activated.
Metal arms unfolded from the ceiling.
I stepped backward.
“No.”
Mark immediately moved in front of me.
Nobody touched him.
“Nobody is taking him.”
A voice suddenly came from the hospital speakers.
Not the automated announcement.
A real person.
A woman.
“Security officer Mark Evans.”
Everyone froze.
The voice continued.
“You are interfering with hospital operations.”
Mark looked around.
“Who is that?”
Daniel whispered:
“The board.”
The voice continued.
“Step away from Subject One.”
Mark laughed.
“You have no idea who you’re talking to.”
A pause.
Then the woman answered:
“We know exactly who you are.”
The screen changed.
A file appeared.
Mark’s personal information.
His medical records.
His history.
Everyone went silent.
The woman spoke:
“You also participated in Project 214.”
Mark froze.
“What?”
Thomas looked at him.
“No…”
Daniel stared.
“You were one of the patients.”
Mark stepped back.
“That’s impossible.”
The woman continued.
“Memory suppression successful.”
“Identity replacement successful.”
“Subject Three has remained stable.”
I looked at Mark.
The man who had been helping me all night.
The man who seemed normal.
Was also part of this.
Mark touched his head.
Suddenly, he stumbled.
“No…”
Images flashed across his face.
Pain.
Confusion.
Fear.
“I remember…”
He grabbed the wall.
“I remember the room.”
Daniel whispered:
“There were more than two.”
The timer reached:
10 SECONDS
The machine moved closer.
Thomas shouted:
“Destroy the system!”
Mark looked toward the control panel.
But he couldn’t move.
He was fighting his own memories.
I looked at Daniel.
“Stop it.”
He shook his head.
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked at the machine.
“Because I didn’t start it.”
The room became silent.
“What?”
Daniel pointed at the screen.
“The system was activated from inside.”
Nobody understood.
Then the monitor displayed the command source.
AUTHORIZED USER: SUBJECT 001
My blood froze.
The command had been started by me.
Not the real me.
The other one.
The version from the future.
The voice in my head.
The thing I had been carrying.
A final message appeared.
YOU CANNOT STOP WHAT I ALREADY FINISHED.
The timer reached:
3 SECONDS
The machine lowered.
2 SECONDS
The lights went out.
1 SECOND
A scream filled the room.
But it wasn’t mine.
It came from the hallway.
Everyone turned.
The door opened.
Standing outside was the older version of me from the CCTV.
The one covered in blood.
The one from tomorrow.
He looked at me.
And smiled.
Then he said:
“Finally.”
A pause.
May you like
“You found out which one of us is the real monster.”
End of Chapter 8
