Chapter 7 - I forgot how to breathe.My brother had died when I was nineteen.
A car accident.
That's what I had been told.
That's what the medical records said.
That's what my mother believed until the day she died.
But there he was.
On a military recording.
Alive.
In Afghanistan.
Eleven years ago.
I looked at Vale.
“Why?”
He said nothing.
“Why was he there?”
“He wasn't supposed to be.”
Elena stepped forward.
“His name was Daniel Cross.”
I turned.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“You knew my brother was alive.”
“Yes.”
I pointed my weapon at her.
“You let me bury an empty coffin.”
“I was ordered to.”
“By him?”
She nodded.
Vale walked toward Rex.
The dog growled.
Vale stopped.
“You see?”
He smiled.
“Even now, he remembers me.”
I moved between them.
“Where is Daniel?”
Vale's expression didn't change.
“Dead.”
I fired.
The bullet struck the wall beside his head.
Everyone froze.
Vale smiled.
“You still haven't learned.”
“Learned what?”
“You always react emotionally when the truth is personal.”
He pressed another button.
A door opened.
A man walked in.
My age.
Same eyes.
Same jaw.
Same scar above the eyebrow.
I stared.
He stared back.
My knees nearly failed.
“Elena.”
She whispered:
“Daniel.”
My brother looked at me.
“Hello, little brother.”
Everything inside me broke.
I couldn't move.
Couldn't speak.
Eleven years disappeared.
I remembered him teaching me to ride a bike.
Him stealing my food.
Him punching the first man who made fun of me.
Him standing outside my bedroom after our father died.
Then the memories twisted.
The coffin.
The funeral.
The letters.
The grief.
All manufactured.
Daniel walked closer.
“I tried to contact you.”
I shook my head.
“Why didn't you?”
“They wouldn't let me.”
“Who?”
He looked at Vale.
“Everyone.”
Vale stepped forward.
“Daniel was the original Echo subject.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“Before you.”
Vale continued.
“He survived the conditioning.”
“He was seventeen.”
“He was useful.”
My brother laughed bitterly.
“I wasn't useful.”
He looked at me.
“I was obedient.”
Elena lowered her weapon.
“Daniel discovered what Echo really was.”
“And?”
“He refused.”
Vale's voice was calm.
“So they replaced him.”
“With me.”
Vale nodded.
“The better candidate.”
I looked at Rex.
“And him?”
Daniel answered.
“Rex was the only creature trained to identify Echo subjects after memory suppression.”
I stared.
“Identify us?”
“He can detect conditioned behavior.”
I looked at Rex.
The scars.
The titanium tooth.
The nightmares.
The way he watched doors.
The way he reacted to certain words.
None of it was random.
Daniel continued.
“Rex has been protecting you since the beginning.”
I swallowed hard.
“But why?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Because you weren't the mission.”
I waited.
“You were the fail-safe.”
Vale suddenly reached into his coat.
Elena raised her weapon.
Too late.
He wasn't reaching for a gun.
He pulled out a phone.
The screen lit.
A countdown appeared.
10:00.
9:59.
I looked at him.
“What did you do?”
Vale smiled.
“The Echo facility isn't underground.”
I frowned.
“Then what is it?”
“The facility is the town.”
The countdown hit 9:42.
Vale stepped backward.
“Everyone who lives here is part of the experiment.”
I looked at Elena.
Her face turned white.
May you like
Daniel whispered:
“We have nine minutes to stop it.”
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