PART 10
The man standing inside the machine room looked exactly like Daniel.
Same eyes.
Same jaw.
Same scar above the eyebrow.
Even the small white mark on his left hand was there.
Daniel stared at him.
The man smiled.
“You finally remembered me.”
Daniel couldn’t move.
Claire stood behind him.
Leah whispered,
“Daniel…”
He didn’t answer.
The man took one step forward.
“It’s been a long time.”
Daniel’s voice finally came out.
“Who are you?”
The man’s smile disappeared.
“You really don’t remember?”
“No.”
“You will.”
He looked toward the machine.
“You always do.”
Daniel glanced at Silas’s empty chair.
“Where is my son?”
The man looked at him.
“Which one?”
Daniel’s blood ran cold.
“What did you say?”
“Your son.”
He pointed toward the darkness.
“Which one are you looking for?”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Silas.”
The man nodded.
“Good.”
“Where is he?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
The man didn’t answer.
Daniel grabbed him by the collar.
“Tell me.”
The man didn’t resist.
Instead, he whispered,
“You shouldn’t have come here.”
Daniel tightened his grip.
“You brought me here.”
“No.”
The man’s eyes shifted toward Claire.
“She did.”
Daniel turned.
Claire’s face went pale.
“Daniel…”
“You knew?”
“I knew where this would lead.”
“You brought me here?”
“I brought you to the truth.”
Daniel released the man.
“You’re lying.”
Claire shook her head.
“I wish I were.”
The man stepped toward the machine.
“Your problem has always been the same.”
Daniel watched him.
“What problem?”
“You believe everything has a beginning.”
The man touched the side of the machine.
“It doesn’t.”
He looked at Daniel.
“Some things repeat.”
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
“What repeats?”
The man smiled.
“You.”
Suddenly—
The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then every monitor in the room turned on.
Hundreds of screens.
Hundreds of photographs.
Hundreds of children.
Daniel stared.
There were children everywhere.
Different ages.
Different years.
Different faces.
But one thing was identical.
Every child had the same small black mark behind the left ear.
Daniel touched his own neck.
He had one too.
He had always assumed it was a birthmark.
Claire saw him touch it.
Her eyes widened.
“You remember that?”
Daniel nodded.
“I’ve had it since I was born.”
The older Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Daniel looked at him.
“What?”
“You didn’t have it when you were born.”
He pointed toward the screens.
“It was added.”
Daniel’s fingers froze.
“Why?”
The older man answered quietly.
“To identify you.”
“As what?”
The screens suddenly changed.
Every photograph disappeared.
One photograph remained.
A newborn baby.
A woman was holding it.
Daniel recognized the woman.
His mother.
But she looked terrified.
Underneath the photograph were four words.
SUBJECT 000 — ORIGINAL HOST.
Daniel stared.
“That isn’t me.”
“No.”
The older man shook his head.
“It was Silas.”
Daniel’s heart stopped.
“Silas was Subject 000?”
“No.”
The man smiled.
“He was the first host.”
Daniel looked toward the empty chair.
“Host for what?”
The older Daniel didn’t answer.
Instead, he walked to a control panel.
He pressed a button.
A hidden door opened in the wall.
Beyond it was another corridor.
Daniel looked inside.
There were dozens of doors.
Each one had a name.
Not numbers.
Names.
WALTER.
CLAIRE.
MARGARET.
ELIAS.
Daniel stopped.
Then he saw another.
DANIEL.
He walked toward it.
The older man said,
“Don’t.”
Daniel ignored him.
He opened the door.
Inside was a room almost identical to the one from his childhood.
A small table.
A chair.
A camera.
And a single red button.
Daniel stepped inside.
The door closed behind him.
He heard Claire shouting outside.
“Daniel!”
He turned.
The glass wall darkened.
He was alone.
Then the camera turned on.
A young version of himself appeared on the screen.
Ten years old.
His face was covered in tears.
Someone was questioning him.
“What did you see?”
Young Daniel shook his head.
“Nothing.”
“What did you see?”
“Nothing.”
“Where is the baby?”
Young Daniel said nothing.
The voice became harsher.
“Where is the baby?”
Young Daniel looked toward the camera.
Then whispered:
“I gave him to my father.”
Daniel stared.
The recording changed.
A different room.
Walter stood beside the young Daniel.
A newborn baby was in Walter’s arms.
Walter looked at Daniel.
“You cannot tell anyone.”
Young Daniel nodded.
“What happens if I do?”
Walter answered,
“They will take him back.”
“Who?”
“The House.”
Young Daniel looked at the baby.
“Why do they want him?”
Walter’s face became pale.
“Because he remembers.”
Daniel stepped closer to the screen.
“What does he remember?”
The recording stopped.
The red button on the table began blinking.
Daniel stared at it.
A voice came from the speaker.
“Press it.”
Daniel didn’t move.
“Press it, Daniel.”
He recognized the voice.
His own.
The older Daniel.
“Why?”
“Because you need to see what happened next.”
Daniel pressed the button.
The room went dark.
Then—
A woman’s scream.
A gunshot.
Glass breaking.
Walter running.
Young Daniel carrying the baby.
And behind them—
A fire.
Daniel watched himself running through a burning hallway.
He was only ten years old.
But he wasn’t crying.
He was determined.
He was carrying Silas.
Daniel whispered,
“I saved him.”
The older man’s voice came through the speaker.
“No.”
Daniel looked around.
“You didn’t save him.”
The screen showed young Daniel handing the baby to someone.
A woman.
The woman turned.
Daniel’s breath stopped.
It was Claire.
But Claire was younger.
Much younger.
She took the baby.
Young Daniel said,
“Promise me you’ll protect him.”
Young Claire nodded.
“I promise.”
The screen went black.
Daniel stood frozen.
Then the door opened.
Claire entered.
Daniel stared at her.
“You took him.”
Claire looked at the floor.
“Yes.”
“You knew him before I did.”
“Yes.”
“You raised him.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you asked me not to.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I don’t remember asking you.”
Claire looked up.
“You were ten.”
“I couldn’t have made that decision.”
“You did.”
“Why?”
Claire’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because you knew what they would do if they found him.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“What would they do?”
Claire whispered,
“They would wake him.”
Daniel frowned.
“Wake him from what?”
Claire didn’t answer.
Daniel’s voice became louder.
“Wake him from what?”
Claire looked toward the machine.
“From being a child.”
Silence.
Daniel stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
Claire took a breath.
“Silas was never meant to grow up.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“Why?”
“Because his memories were unstable.”
“What memories?”
Claire looked at him.
“Yours.”
Daniel felt cold.
“My memories?”
“All of them.”
“But how?”
Claire pointed toward the machine.
“That machine doesn’t transfer memories.”
Daniel looked at it.
“Then what does it do?”
“It copies identity.”
Daniel shook his head.
“That’s impossible.”
“That’s what everyone thought.”
“Everyone?”
“Your father.”
“Walter?”
“Yes.”
“He built this?”
“No.”
Claire looked toward the older Daniel.
“He did.”
Daniel turned.
The older man was standing silently beside the machine.
“You built it?”
The man nodded.
Daniel stared at him.
“When?”
“After you died.”
Daniel froze.
“I never died.”
The man looked at him.
“You did.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
The man pointed toward Silas’s empty chair.
“The night he was born.”
Daniel’s mind went blank.
“What are you talking about?”
“You died that night.”
Claire whispered,
“Daniel…”
He turned toward her.
“What happened?”
She couldn’t answer.
The older Daniel did.
“You gave your life to create him.”
Daniel stared.
“I don’t understand.”
“You weren’t supposed to survive.”
“But I did.”
“No.”
The older man shook his head.
“You are what survived.”
Daniel’s breathing stopped.
“You’re saying I’m…”
“A copy.”
The word echoed through the room.
Daniel stepped backward.
“No.”
“You were reconstructed from memory.”
“No.”
“Your original body died.”
“No.”
“Your consciousness was transferred.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“The man standing here isn’t the original Daniel.”
Daniel stared at him.
“Then who am I?”
The older man answered:
“You are the version that remembered.”
Daniel looked at Claire.
She was crying.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You knew all this time.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you stay?”
Claire wiped her tears.
“Because I promised a ten-year-old boy I’d protect his son.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Silas.”
She nodded.
“And I failed.”
A loud alarm suddenly sounded.
The monitors turned red.
WARNING.
MEMORY BREACH.
HOST 000 AWAKENING.
Claire looked terrified.
“It’s happening.”
Daniel turned.
“What?”
She pointed toward the machine.
The chair was empty.
But the machine was still running.
The older Daniel rushed toward the controls.
“No.”
“What?”
“He’s awake.”
“Who?”
The older Daniel looked at Daniel.
“The original.”
Daniel’s heart pounded.
“Original what?”
The older man whispered:
“Original Silas.”
The lights went out.
A sound came from the corridor.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Approaching.
Claire grabbed Daniel’s hand.
“Don’t let him see you.”
Daniel frowned.
“Why?”
“Because if he recognizes you…”
She stopped.
“What?”
Claire looked at the darkness.
“He’ll remember what you did.”
Daniel stared into the corridor.
A figure appeared.
A boy.
Silas.
But not the Silas Daniel knew.
This Silas looked older.
Maybe seventeen.
Maybe twenty.
His eyes were completely black.
He stopped beneath the red light.
Then he looked directly at Daniel.
“Dad.”
Daniel couldn’t move.
The boy smiled.
“You came back.”
Daniel whispered,
“Silas?”
The boy shook his head.
“That’s not my name.”
Daniel felt his blood turn cold.
“Then what is your name?”
The boy looked toward Claire.
She immediately backed away.
The boy smiled.
“Ask her.”
Daniel turned.
“Claire?”
She was shaking.
The boy spoke again.
“She knows.”
Daniel stepped toward Claire.
“Knows what?”
Claire whispered,
“His real name.”
Daniel waited.
Claire closed her eyes.
Then she said it.
“Samuel.”
Daniel froze.
The same name from the old photograph.
Samuel.
The boy smiled.
“Yes.”
Daniel stared at him.
“But Silas…”
“Silas is the name you gave me.”
“Why?”
“Because you wanted me to forget.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“Forget what?”
Samuel walked closer.
“The House.”
“What is the House?”
Samuel stopped directly in front of him.
Then he whispered:
“It isn’t an organization.”
Daniel stared.
“Then what is it?”
Samuel smiled.
“It is a place.”
“Where?”
Samuel pointed downward.
Daniel looked at the floor.
“Under us?”
Samuel nodded.
“Much deeper.”
“How deep?”
Samuel’s smile disappeared.
“Deep enough that nobody has ever reached the bottom.”
Daniel looked at Claire.
She was crying again.
Samuel continued.
“And that’s where your real father is.”
Daniel’s heart stopped.
“My father?”
Samuel nodded.
“The man who created the first memory.”
Daniel stared.
“Who?”
Samuel leaned closer.
Then whispered a name Daniel had never heard before.
The entire building shook.
Concrete cracked above them.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
The older Daniel shouted,
“We have to go!”
Daniel didn’t move.
“Who is my father?”
Samuel looked at him.
“You’ll meet him.”
“When?”
Samuel smiled.
“Tonight.”
Daniel’s phone suddenly turned on.
One message appeared.
12:00 A.M.
Then another.
WELCOME TO THE HOUSE.
And beneath it—
A photograph.
Daniel opened it.
His hands began to shake.
The photograph showed a room deep underground.
A man was sitting in a chair.
His face was hidden.
But on the wall behind him was a single photograph.
Daniel zoomed in.
It was a photograph of Daniel.
As a newborn.
Beside him stood his mother.
And beside his mother—
Was the same man from the chair.
Daniel stared.
He recognized the man’s hand.
The ring.
The scar.
The watch.
He had seen them before.
In every photograph.
Every memory.
Every nightmare.
Daniel whispered:
“No…”
Claire looked at him.
“What?”
Daniel turned the phone toward her.
Claire’s face went white.
Because she recognized the man too.
Daniel’s father.
The man everyone believed had died before Daniel was born.
The man who had supposedly never met his son.
The man whose name had been erased from every record.
Daniel looked at Claire.
“Who is he?”
Claire’s lips trembled.
Then she answered:
“Arthur.”
Daniel stared.
“Arthur?”
Claire nodded.
“The Arthur you know isn’t the one who started this.”
Daniel’s blood ran cold.
“Then who is the Arthur we’ve been following?”
Claire looked toward Samuel.
Samuel smiled.
“A copy.”
The lights came back on.
But Samuel was gone.
The older Daniel was gone.
Claire was gone.
Daniel stood alone in the chamber.
Then the machine activated one final time.
A screen appeared.
A live video feed.
Arthur was sitting in a chair.
Alive.
Older.
Different.
And standing behind him was another Daniel.
Another Claire.
Another Silas.
And another Arthur.
Four people.
Four copies.
Four versions of the same story.
Arthur looked directly into the camera.
“Daniel.”
Daniel stepped closer.
Arthur smiled.
“Now you understand why we couldn’t let you remember.”
Daniel stared at him.
Arthur leaned forward.
“Because if you remember everything…”
The screen flickered.
“…you’ll remember how to create us.”
The video ended.
Daniel stood in silence.
Then he heard a child’s voice behind him.
“Dad?”
He turned.
Silas was standing in the doorway.
The little boy he knew.
The seven-year-old Silas.
Alive.
Crying.
Daniel ran toward him.
Silas wrapped his arms around Daniel.
“Dad, please take me home.”
Daniel held him tightly.
“I will.”
Silas whispered into his ear:
“Don’t trust Claire.”
Daniel froze.
“Why?”
Silas pulled away.
His eyes were filled with fear.
“She isn’t Claire anymore.”
Daniel stared at him.
“What do you mean?”
Silas looked toward the darkness.
Then whispered:
“She was replaced years ago.”
Daniel’s heart stopped.
Behind them, the door slowly closed.
And from the other side came Claire’s voice.
Calm.
Cold.
Completely different.
“Daniel…”
A pause.
“You shouldn’t have brought him back.”
The door locked.
Silas began screaming.
Daniel turned toward the darkness.
And somewhere deep beneath the laboratory—
Something enormous woke up.
TO BE CONTINUED…
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