Chapter 9: The Man From Tomorrow
The hallway went silent.
The kind of silence that doesn’t feel empty.
The kind that feels like the world is holding its breath.
The man standing outside Room 214 was me.
But not the person I was.
Not the person I remembered being.
He was older.
His face carried years of pain I had never lived through.
His clothes were covered in blood.
His eyes…
His eyes were the worst part.
Because when he looked at me, I didn’t see a stranger.
I saw myself.
A version of myself who had already experienced whatever was waiting for me.
The countdown on the monitor disappeared.
The extraction machine stopped.
The room lights returned.
Nobody moved.
Then the older version of me stepped inside.
Slowly.
Calmly.
Like he had done it before.
Like he had walked into this room a hundred times.
Mark stared at him.
“What are you?”
The older me smiled slightly.
“That’s the wrong question.”
He looked at me.
“The right question is…”
A pause.
“Which one of us is asking?”
My stomach tightened.
I stepped back.
“You’re not me.”
He looked almost offended.
“Are you sure?”
I didn’t answer.
Because I wasn’t.
Not anymore.
The past few hours had destroyed every certainty I had about myself.
My job.
My memories.
My childhood.
My identity.
Everything I believed was a carefully built illusion.
The older version walked toward the bed.
He picked up the patient file.
The one with my name.
He looked at it.
Then laughed quietly.
“They still use this old trick.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You.”
The older man turned.
“Hello, Daniel.”
Daniel’s face became pale.
“How?”
“How am I here?”
He looked around the room.
“The same way everyone else came back.”
Thomas stepped forward.
“You’re the failed subject.”
The older version smiled.
“No.”
Thomas shook his head.
“You’re the mistake.”
The smile disappeared.
For the first time, the older version looked angry.
“You still believe that?”
Thomas looked at him.
“Because it’s true.”
The older me walked closer.
“Do you know what the difference is between you and me, Thomas?”
The old doctor said nothing.
“You accepted what happened.”
A pause.
“I survived it.”
The room became colder.
I looked between them.
“Someone explain.”
The older version turned toward me.
“You want the truth?”
I nodded.
“Then stop believing everything they told you.”
He pointed at Daniel.
“Especially him.”
Daniel looked away.
I remembered the note.
Do not trust Daniel Carter.
Maybe this was the truth.
Maybe this was another lie.
I didn’t know anymore.
The older version continued.
“Twenty years ago, you didn’t die.”
I frowned.
“Daniel said I did.”
“He lied.”
Daniel immediately stepped forward.
“I protected you.”
The older me laughed.
“No.”
He looked at Daniel.
“You protected yourself.”
The administrator said nothing.
That silence said enough.
I turned toward Daniel.
“What happened?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“When the procedure began…”
He stopped.
Thomas continued.
“The experiment worked.”
The older version looked at him.
“For the first time.”
Thomas nodded.
“You woke up.”
I looked at my hands.
“And Elizabeth?”
The older me answered.
“She woke up too.”
A strange feeling moved through me.
“Then why don’t I remember?”
The older version looked sad.
“Because they separated us.”
The room became silent.
“They didn’t remove Elizabeth from you.”
He touched his chest.
“They removed you from yourself.”
I didn’t understand.
“What does that mean?”
The older version looked at the machines.
“The procedure created two consciousnesses.”
He pointed at me.
“One was the original child.”
Then himself.
“One was the copy created from the process.”
My heart stopped.
“You’re saying I’m the copy?”
He didn’t answer.
And that was worse.
I looked at Daniel.
“Which one am I?”
Daniel’s eyes filled with guilt.
“I don’t know.”
The answer shocked everyone.
“You don’t know?”
Daniel shook his head.
“The experiment became unstable.”
Thomas spoke quietly.
“Because both versions believed they were the original.”
The older me smiled.
“Exactly.”
He looked at me.
“You and I have the same memories.”
“But only one of us lived the first time.”
I felt sick.
“Who?”
The older version looked toward the hallway.
Then whispered:
“Elizabeth knows.”
Everyone froze.
“Where is she?”
The lights suddenly flickered.
A voice came from the hospital speaker.
Not the woman from the board.
Not the automated system.
A child’s voice.
Elizabeth.
“Stop fighting.”
My body froze.
The older me looked up.
“She’s here.”
The speaker crackled.
“You’re both wrong.”
The older version stepped closer to the speaker.
“Elizabeth.”
Her voice became clearer.
“You were never supposed to wake up.”
The older me’s expression changed.
“Why?”
A pause.
Then Elizabeth answered:
“Because you are not the problem.”
Everyone waited.
The next words changed everything.
“The problem is the third one.”
Daniel’s face turned white.
Thomas whispered:
“No…”
Mark looked confused.
“Third one?”
Elizabeth continued.
“There was never only two consciousnesses.”
The room went silent.
I felt something move inside my mind.
A memory.
Not mine.
Someone else’s.
A hospital room.
A doctor.
A child crying.
A voice saying:
“Subject Three is ready.”
I grabbed my head.
Pain exploded.
The older version looked at me.
His face changed.
Because he felt it too.
“No…”
He stepped backward.
“He’s awake.”
Daniel whispered:
“Impossible.”
Thomas looked terrified.
“Who?”
The older version stared directly at me.
Not angry.
Not afraid.
Terrified.
“Something else.”
My vision blurred.
The room began spinning.
Then I heard a voice inside my head.
A voice that wasn’t mine.
A voice that wasn’t Elizabeth’s.
A voice I had never heard before.
“Finally.”
My body froze.
The voice continued.
“I was tired of pretending to be you.”
I collapsed.
The last thing I saw before darkness took me…
Was the older version of myself standing over me.
Whispering:
“Run.”
Then everything went black.
When I opened my eyes…
I was no longer in Room 214.
I was somewhere underground.
A dark room.
Concrete walls.
No windows.
No doors.
Only one screen.
On the screen was a live camera feed.
Showing Saint Mary’s Hospital.
But the timestamp was different.
Not today.
Not tomorrow.
Thirty years ago.
The camera showed Room 214.
And inside the room…
Were three children.
Elizabeth.
Me.
And another child.
A child nobody had ever mentioned.
The screen zoomed in.
The third child looked directly at the camera.
Then smiled.
Because the child had my face.
And underneath the video was a title:
PROJECT 214: ORIGINAL SUBJECT
May you like
SUBJECT ZERO
End of Chapter 9
