Chapter 8: The Woman Beneath the Hotel
The basement elevator groaned as it descended.
No one spoke.
Not Daniel.
Not Sarah.
Not Claire.
Not even Richard.
The only sound was the mechanical hum beneath our feet and Lucas's quiet breathing beside me.
I held his hand.
He held mine back.
Neither of us mentioned the message.
*SHE IS AWAKE.*
I still couldn't decide what terrified me more.
The woman beneath the hotel.
Or the possibility that she was me.
Daniel stood on my other side.
"You don't have to do this," he said.
I looked at the glowing floor numbers.
"Yes, I do.""
"Emma.""
"If there's another woman who looks like me, I need to see her.""
Sarah stared at the floor.
"Maybe you shouldn't.""
I turned toward her.
"You said she was my father's copy.""
"No.""
"Then what is she?""
Sarah's eyes filled with tears.
"I don't know.""
Richard finally spoke.
"We're almost there.""
The elevator stopped.
The doors opened onto a concrete corridor lit by a row of weak fluorescent lights.
The air was colder down here.
Sterile.
Almost hospital-like.
At the end of the corridor stood a steel door.
A red light blinked above it.
Richard took out a keycard.
I blocked his hand.
"How many people know about this place?""
"Too many.""
"How many are working for my father?""
Richard looked at me.
"That's the wrong question.""
"Then give me the right one.""
"How many people are afraid of him.""
Before I could respond, the steel door unlocked by itself.
A soft beep.
Then another.
And slowly, it opened.
Richard's face went pale.
"I didn't do that.""
Daniel stepped in front of Lucas.
"Stay back.""
We entered.
The room beyond was enormous.
Glass walls divided the space into sections.
Computers.
Medical equipment.
Cold metal tables.
Rows of filing cabinets.
And on the far wall were photographs.
Dozens of them.
All of me.
My childhood.
My graduation.
My first apartment.
My first job.
My first Christmas with Daniel.
Pictures I had never known existed.
I walked toward the wall.
My fingers hovered over one photograph.
It showed me at twenty-one, standing outside a bookstore.
A red circle had been drawn around my left wrist.
I looked at another.
Me at twenty-three.
Another red circle.
This time around my neck.
Daniel stared.
"What are those?""
Richard answered quietly.
"Markers.""
"For what?""
"Monitoring.""
I turned toward him.
"My father watched me my entire life.""
Richard didn't deny it.
Claire whispered, "Not just watched.""
I looked at her.
"What?""
She pointed toward a set of monitors.
"They recorded everything.""
One screen showed a grainy video of my childhood bedroom.
I was eight years old, asleep beneath a pink blanket.
Another showed me at fourteen, laughing with my mother in the kitchen.
Another showed me at sixteen.
The last year my father was supposedly alive.
I stepped backward.
"Turn it off.""
No one moved.
"Turn it off!""
Daniel crossed the room and shut down the monitor.
The room fell silent again.
Then we heard something.
A faint metallic tapping.
From behind the glass.
Three taps.
Pause.
Three taps.
Pause.
Three taps.
I followed the sound.
At the end of the room was another door.
This one had a narrow window.
Someone was standing behind it.
A woman.
She stepped into the light.
My breath stopped.
Same height.
Same dark hair.
Same eyes.
Same shape of face.
Even the small crescent-shaped birthmark was visible on her shoulder beneath a hospital gown.
For one impossible second, I thought I was looking at my reflection.
Then she lifted her hand.
And pressed it against the glass.
I moved closer.
She did too.
We stood on opposite sides of the window.
She looked terrified.
I whispered, "Who are you?""
Her lips moved.
I couldn't hear.
Richard suddenly grabbed my shoulder.
"Don't open that door.""
I pulled away.
"Why?""
"Because you don't know what she is.""
The woman behind the glass began pounding on the window.
"Open it!""
Her voice came through the speaker overhead.
I froze.
She looked directly at me.
"Please.""
Daniel stared.
"Emma...""
She shook her head.
"I'm not her.""
I felt my chest tighten.
"What?""
The woman pressed both hands against the glass.
"I'm not Emma.""
She pointed at herself.
"My name is Eva.""
Richard closed his eyes.
Sarah began crying.
I turned toward her.
"You know her.""
Sarah nodded.
"She was the first.""
"The first what?""
"The first successful transfer.""
I looked back at Eva.
She had tears streaming down her face.
"What was transferred into her?""
Richard said nothing.
Eva answered for him.
"Your father's memories.""
The room went silent.
I stared at her.
"What?""
"He put himself inside me.""
Daniel stepped closer.
"When?""
"Six years ago.""
I felt dizzy.
"Then why do you look like me?""
Eva laughed through her tears.
"Because that was the point.""
She touched her face.
"He needed my body to resemble yours.""
"Why?""
"Because your father wanted to become you.""
My stomach turned.
"I don't understand.""
Eva looked at Richard.
"He does.""
Richard stared at the floor.
I stepped toward him.
"Explain it.""
He took a slow breath.
"Your father discovered that memory wasn't tied entirely to the brain.""
Daniel frowned.
"That's insane.""
"He believed genetic patterns could carry biological responses associated with memory.""
I shook my head.
"This doesn't make sense.""
"It didn't work at first.""
Richard looked at Eva.
"She was the closest.""
Eva's expression hardened.
"I wasn't the first.""
My blood ran cold.
"How many were there?""
She looked directly at me.
"Seven.""
Silence.
Sarah whispered, "Emma...""
I looked around the room.
Seven beds.
Six empty.
One occupied.
Each bed had a nameplate.
I walked toward them.
The names were unfamiliar.
Except one.
*Emma Hart.*
My legs almost gave out.
"No.""
I stepped back.
Eva shook her head.
"That's not you.""
"Then why is my name there?""
"Because he used your identity.""
My hands trembled.
"Whose identity?""
Eva looked at me with unbearable sadness.
"Mine.""
I stared.
"What?""
"I was born under your name.""
My breath caught.
"That's impossible.""
"No.""
She pointed to a file beside the glass.
"Look.""
I picked it up.
Inside was a birth record.
Mother: *Anne Hart.*
Father: *Michael Hart.*
Birth date: *November 12, 1998.*
My birthday.
My parents.
My name.
Except the photograph attached to the record was Eva.
I couldn't breathe.
Daniel took the document from me.
"This says she was born as Emma.""
Eva nodded.
"Yes.""
I stared at her.
"Then who am I?""
Nobody answered.
I looked at Richard.
"Who am I?""
He looked devastated.
"I don't know.""
My voice broke.
"Don't lie.""
"I'm not.""
"Then who does?""
Eva stepped closer to the glass.
"Your mother.""
I froze.
"What?""
Eva pointed toward a monitor.
"Play the file marked 1998.""
Richard moved toward the computer.
I watched his hands.
He typed a code.
The monitor flickered.
A video appeared.
My mother.
Younger.
Pregnant.
Sitting across from my father.
I heard my father's voice.
"You cannot keep both children.""
My mother shook her head.
"I won't give either one away.""
"Then we'll have to choose.""
"Choose what?""
"The viable child.""
My mother began crying.
"That's my daughter.""
"One of them is.""
I covered my mouth.
The video continued.
My father placed two photographs on the table.
Two newborn babies.
One was me.
The other was Eva.
My mother stared at both.
Then she whispered something.
I couldn't hear.
The recording crackled.
My father's voice came through.
"You know which one is yours.""
The video stopped.
I looked at Richard.
"That was edited.""
He shook his head.
"No.""
"Then what did my mother choose?""
"I don't know.""
Eva began crying.
"I do.""
I turned toward her.
"How?""
"Because she told me.""
"What did she say?""
Eva pressed her palm against the glass.
"She said she chose the baby who could survive.""
I felt a terrible pressure in my chest.
"Which baby?""
Eva's face collapsed.
"Me.""
I stared.
"No.""
"Your mother chose me.""
"Then who am I?""
Eva whispered:
"The child your father wanted.""
The room went silent.
I backed away.
Daniel reached for me.
I let him hold my hand.
For the first time, his grip steadied me.
I looked at Eva.
"Why does my father want me?""
"Because you were the failed experiment.""
I stared.
"What?""
"He couldn't transfer his memories into you.""
"Why not?""
"Because your mind rejected them.""
Sarah suddenly covered her mouth.
I looked at her.
"You knew.""
"I suspected.""
"How?""
She shook her head.
"Your father told me.""
My father's obsession was finally becoming clear.
He had created identities.
Moved memories.
Changed records.
Used children.
And somehow, I had survived something he expected me not to.
But one question still bothered me.
"If I'm the failed experiment, why did he arrange the wedding?""
Eva looked at Daniel.
"Because he found another method.""
Daniel went still.
"What method?""
Eva's eyes filled with tears.
"Marriage.""
I frowned.
"Marriage?""
"Emotional imprinting.""
She looked at me.
"He discovered that intense emotional bonds could stabilize transferred memories.""
Daniel stepped back.
"No.""
"He needed someone emotionally connected to Emma.""
Eva looked directly at him.
"And you were the strongest connection.""
I stared at Daniel.
He looked horrified.
"So the wedding...""
"Was the procedure.""
The words echoed through the laboratory.
I thought about the church.
The guests.
The white dress.
The vows.
The moment I was supposed to say two words.
I do.
A final piece clicked into place.
My father hadn't wanted Daniel to marry me because of love.
He wanted the ceremony because the vows would create the emotional bond he needed.
I looked at the door.
"We're not going back upstairs.""
Daniel nodded.
"No.""
Then Eva suddenly screamed.
"Don't!""
We all turned.
She pointed toward the ceiling.
"Someone activated the system.""
Richard looked at the control panel.
Lights began turning red.
One.
Then another.
Then every monitor in the room came alive.
The screen above us displayed a countdown.
*05:00*
Daniel grabbed Lucas.
"What happens at zero?""
Eva pressed both hands against the glass.
"They begin the transfer.""
"Transfer of what?""
Her eyes locked onto mine.
"Your father's consciousness.""
"Into me?""
Eva shook her head.
She looked toward Daniel.
"No.""
Her face filled with terror.
"Into Lucas.""
The countdown changed.
*04:59*
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Then the laboratory doors slammed shut.
And every lock engaged at once.
