Chapter 9 - The gunshot echoed forever.At least that's how it felt.
Daniel collapsed.
I caught him.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Rex barked.
I looked at Elena.
The woman I had trusted for eleven years.
The woman I had buried.
The woman who had brought me here.
I raised my weapon.
“Why?”
She was crying.
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
“I tried.”
“You shot my brother.”
“He isn't your brother anymore.”
Daniel coughed.
I looked down.
His eyes were open.
He grabbed my sleeve.
“Don't trust her.”
Elena closed her eyes.
The lights went out.
When they came back on, she was gone.
The central screen displayed:
SUBJECT 04 ACTIVATION COMPLETE.
My blood ran cold.
Rex pressed against my leg.
A voice came from the speakers.
Mine.
Not the recording.
Live.
“Welcome back.”
I looked at Daniel.
He stared at the ceiling.
“Vale.”
The speakers crackled.
“Eleven years ago, you believed you were escaping.”
My younger voice continued.
“You were never escaping.”
“You were being prepared.”
A door opened.
A figure stepped into the room.
Elena.
But she wasn't alone.
Vale stood behind her.
And beside him was a man I had never seen before.
Older.
Gray suit.
Calm face.
No weapons.
Daniel whispered:
“That's him.”
“Who?”
“The founder.”
The stranger smiled.
“My name is Adrian Kane.”
He looked directly at me.
“And you've been looking for me since the day you forgot my face.”
I raised my weapon.
Kane didn't react.
“You can shoot.”
I didn't.
“You know why?”
He shook his head.
“Because your conditioning won't let you.”
My hand tightened.
He was right.
Something inside me was screaming.
Move.
Shoot.
But my body hesitated.
Kane continued.
“You were the only subject capable of resisting Echo.”
“Then why did you erase me?”
“Because you discovered the truth.”
“What truth?”
He smiled.
“That governments are temporary.”
I stared at him.
“That's your excuse?”
“No.”
His expression hardened.
“It's the reason.”
He walked closer.
“Countries collapse. Presidents change. Generals retire. But systems survive.”
Daniel tried to stand.
Kane looked at him.
“Daniel was emotional.”
He looked at me.
“You were loyal.”
I laughed.
“You don't know me.”
“I know everything about you.”
He tapped the screen.
My childhood.
School.
Military records.
Family.
Relationships.
Every failure.
Every success.
Every secret.
The screen changed.
A video appeared.
My mother.
Alive.
Walking through a hospital corridor.
I stopped breathing.
Kane smiled.
“She isn't dead.”
I felt the room disappear.
“You're lying.”
“Am I?”
The video continued.
My mother entered a room.
Someone was waiting.
She turned.
I saw her face.
Older.
But unmistakable.
My mother.
She looked into the camera.
Then spoke.
“Tell my son I'm sorry.”
The screen went black.
Kane leaned closer.
“Now you understand.”
I stared at him.
“Understand what?”
“You were never fighting to survive.”
He smiled.
“You were fighting to come home.”
Then Rex suddenly growled.
Not at Kane.
Not at Elena.
At the floor.
He backed away.
I looked down.
A red light blinked beneath the metal grate.
Daniel's eyes widened.
“That's not a sensor.”
“What is it?”
May you like
He whispered:
“A bomb.”
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