Chapter 9: The Last Experiment
The countdown continued.
*04:58*
The red numbers reflected against the glass walls.
Every second felt louder than the one before.
Daniel pulled Lucas closer.
"No.""
His voice was barely a whisper.
"No, he's not taking him.""
Richard rushed to the control panel.
"I can stop it.""
Eva grabbed the glass.
"You can't.""
Richard froze.
"What?""
"You built the system.""
Her eyes filled with anger.
"But you never understood it.""
Richard stared at her.
"What did he change?""
Eva looked at the countdown.
"He removed the safeguards.""
The number changed.
*04:42*
I stepped toward the glass.
"Eva.""
She looked at me.
"How do we stop it?""
Her expression softened.
For the first time, I didn't see myself in her.
I saw someone who had been trapped for years.
Someone who had been waiting for another person to finally ask that question.
"You have to destroy the connection.""
"What connection?""
"The one he created between you and Lucas.""
My stomach tightened.
"How?""
Eva looked at Daniel.
"Through him.""
Daniel shook his head.
"No.""
I turned.
"What does that mean?""
Eva's voice trembled.
"Your father knew Daniel was the only person Lucas trusted completely.""
Daniel held Lucas tighter.
"Why?""
"Because Lucas's memories were built around him.""
I looked at Lucas.
The little boy who had called Daniel Dad.
The little boy who had run to him when everything became terrifying.
"Built?""
Eva nodded.
"Lucas was born with your genetic material.""
She looked at me.
"But your father's experiments didn't just use DNA.""
My throat tightened.
"What else?""
"Memories.""
The room went silent.
Daniel looked horrified.
"What memories?""
"Yours.""
I stared at her.
"Mine?""
Eva nodded.
"Your father took pieces of your childhood memories and implanted them into Lucas.""
I shook my head.
"No.""
"It's why he recognizes you.""
I looked at Lucas.
The boy was watching me with wide eyes.
"Why?""
"Because part of him remembers you.""
My heart broke.
A six-year-old child had been carrying pieces of my life without knowing.
My father hadn't just stolen my identity.
He had scattered it.
I turned toward Richard.
"You knew.""
Richard looked away.
"You knew everything.""
"I knew pieces.""
"Enough to stop it.""
His silence answered me.
Anger burned through my fear.
"You let this happen.""
Richard's voice broke.
"I thought I could control him.""
"You were wrong.""
"Yes.""
The countdown continued.
*03:55*
Daniel looked at me.
"What do we do?""
I looked at Eva.
"Tell me.""
She pointed toward the control panel.
"There is a manual override.""
Richard moved immediately.
"I'll do it.""
Eva stopped him.
"No.""
"Why?""
"Because he expects you.""
Richard froze.
"What?""
"Your father built the system around your loyalty.""
Richard's face changed.
"He knew I would come.""
"Yes.""
The realization hit him.
He stepped away.
For the first time, Richard Whitmore looked powerless.
"Then who can open it?""
Eva looked at me.
"You.""
I laughed softly.
"Of course.""
Everything came back to me.
Every secret.
Every trap.
Every choice my father had made.
All roads led to me.
"How?""
Eva pointed to a small scanner beside the control panel.
"Your blood.""
I stared.
"Again?""
"He built the system around you.""
"Why?""
"Because you were the one thing he could never control.""
I walked toward the panel.
Daniel followed.
"Emma.""
I looked back.
"If I do this, what happens?""
Eva hesitated.
"There's a chance the system activates anyway.""
"Meaning?""
"You could lose the memories you recovered.""
I looked at Daniel.
At Lucas.
At Sarah.
At Richard.
At the woman behind the glass who had spent six years living as someone else.
I knew the answer.
"Do it.""
I placed my hand on the scanner.
A sharp pain cut across my palm.
The machine read my blood.
The screen flickered.
*IDENTITY CONFIRMED*
Then another message appeared.
*WELCOME BACK, EMMA.*
Everyone froze.
Daniel whispered:
"Welcome back?""
I stared at the screen.
"What does that mean?""
Eva looked terrified.
"Your father didn't erase your memories.""
The room went cold.
"What?""
"He locked them away.""
"Why?""
"Because you agreed.""
I turned.
"No.""
Eva stepped closer.
"Emma, listen.""
"I never agreed to any of this.""
"Not this.""
She looked at me.
"But you agreed to something else.""
My head started hurting.
A flash.
A room.
A hospital bed.
My father sitting beside me.
My mother's hand in mine.
A voice.
My voice.
I want to forget.
I stumbled backward.
Daniel caught me.
"What happened?""
I pressed my fingers against my temple.
"I saw something.""
"What?""
I looked at Eva.
"I was there.""
She nodded.
"You were.""
"When?""
"After the first ceremony.""
My breathing became uneven.
"I chose this.""
Eva nodded sadly.
"You chose to forget.""
The countdown changed.
*02:00*
Memories came rushing back.
Not all at once.
Fragments.
My father crying.
My mother apologizing.
Daniel holding my hand.
A baby crying.
A woman screaming.
My own voice saying:
Take it away.
I covered my mouth.
"No.""
Daniel looked at me.
"Emma?""
I looked at him.
"You were there.""
His face changed.
"Yes.""
"You knew.""
"I knew you wanted to forget.""
My eyes filled with tears.
"Why didn't you tell me?""
"Because you begged me not to.""
The pain of that truth was worse than any lie.
I remembered.
Not everything.
But enough.
The first ceremony.
The hospital.
The baby.
The fear.
The choice.
I looked at Lucas.
"He's mine.""
Daniel nodded.
"Not biologically.""
"I know.""
"But you chose him.""
I swallowed.
"I did.""
Sarah began crying.
"I'm sorry.""
I looked at her.
"You were there too.""
She nodded.
"Yes.""
"What happened?""
Her voice broke.
"Your father told us the baby would die unless we transferred him.""
"Transferred him where?""
She looked at Eva.
"Into the system.""
The countdown.
*01:25*
The alarms became louder.
Eva shouted:
"Emma!""
I looked at her.
"The override!""
Right.
I moved toward the control panel.
A new screen appeared.
*FINAL AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED*
Below it was one question.
*DO YOU ACCEPT THE RETURN OF ALL MEMORIES?*
I stared.
My hands shook.
If I pressed yes, I would remember everything.
Every pain.
Every betrayal.
Every moment I had lost.
If I pressed no, maybe I could walk away.
But Lucas wouldn't.
Daniel wouldn't.
Eva wouldn't.
Too many people had spent their lives trapped because I had forgotten.
I pressed yes.
The system paused.
Then:
*MEMORY RESTORATION COMPLETE.*
Every light in the laboratory turned white.
I screamed.
Not from pain.
From memories.
Years returned in seconds.
My father teaching me science.
My mother hiding letters.
Richard standing beside my hospital bed.
Daniel crying as he held a newborn baby.
Sarah saying goodbye.
Eva opening her eyes for the first time.
And my own voice.
Six years younger.
Whispering:
"Please make sure he gets a family.""
The system began shutting down.
*00:30*
But then another message appeared.
*SECONDARY SUBJECT DETECTED.*
Everyone froze.
Richard looked at the screen.
"No.""
Daniel held Lucas tighter.
"What does that mean?""
Eva whispered:
"There's another one.""
The countdown reset.
*10:00*
I stared.
"Another what?""
The laboratory lights flickered.
A door at the back of the room unlocked.
Slowly.
Behind it was another chamber.
Inside was a bed.
A person lying beneath a white sheet.
Richard stepped backward.
"Impossible.""
I looked at him.
"Who is that?""
He didn't answer.
The sheet moved.
A hand appeared.
Then a voice.
Weak.
Familiar.
"No one was supposed to find me.""
My blood turned cold.
Because I knew that voice.
It was my father's.
Daniel whispered:
"He's here.""
The person under the sheet sat up.
And when the lights revealed his face, I forgot how to breathe.
It wasn't my father.
It was someone else.
Someone I knew.
Someone who had been standing beside me all morning.
The person removed the oxygen mask.
And smiled.
"Hello, Emma.""
I stepped back.
"No.""
The person looked at Daniel.
Then at Lucas.
Then back at me.
"I've been waiting six years for this.""
Claire.
My bridesmaid.
My friend.
The woman who had watched my entire life.
She smiled.
And said:
"Your father wasn't trying to become you.""
May you like
The room went silent.
"He was trying to become me.""
