PART 14 — THE MAN WHO CALLED HIMSELF THE ORIGINAL

The stranger smiled.
“You’ve been looking for the wrong family, Elias.”
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The underground chamber was filled with smoke.
Soldiers stood behind the stranger.
Michael’s gun remained raised.
Sarah was frozen beside the wall.
Noah held Lily tightly.
Mara stared at the man’s face as if she were looking at a ghost.
And Elias—
Elias could only stare.
Because the man standing in front of him had his face.
The same eyes.
The same jaw.
The same scar near his left eyebrow.
Even his voice was identical.
Lily slowly looked up at Elias.
Then at the stranger.
Then back at Elias.
“Daddy…”
Elias didn’t answer.
The stranger smiled.
“That’s right.”
Lily grabbed Elias’s hand.
“Which one?”

Elias finally spoke.

“I don’t know.”

The stranger’s smile disappeared.

“You know.”

Elias raised his gun.

“I don’t.”

“You’ve always known.”

“No.”

The stranger took one step forward.

Michael immediately aimed at his head.

“Another step and I shoot.”

The stranger turned toward Michael.

“You won’t.”

Michael’s finger tightened.

“Try me.”

The stranger looked directly into Michael’s eyes.

Then said:

“Room Seventeen.”

Michael froze.

The stranger continued.

“October 14th.”

Michael’s face changed.

Sarah noticed.

“What is he talking about?”

Michael didn’t answer.

The stranger smiled.

“You remember now, don’t you?”

Michael slowly lowered his weapon.

Elias turned toward him.

“Michael?”

Michael looked terrified.

“I…”

The stranger continued.

“You were there when they made him.”

Silence.

Elias stared at Michael.

“What did he say?”

Michael shook his head.

“I don’t remember.”

The stranger laughed softly.

“That’s the problem with stolen memories.”

He pointed at Elias.

“Eventually they return.”

Elias stepped forward.

“What do you mean, made me?”

The stranger looked at him.

“I mean exactly what I said.”

He placed one hand against his own chest.

“I was born.”

Then he pointed at Elias.

“You were built.”

---

THE FIRST IMPOSSIBLE TRUTH

Elias shook his head.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“I am not a machine.”

“I never said you were.”

“Then what am I?”

The stranger’s eyes became cold.

“A replacement.”

Lily stepped in front of Elias.

“Don’t talk about my daddy!”

The stranger looked down at her.

For the first time, his expression softened.

“Hello, Lily.”

She stepped backward.

“I don’t know you.”

“You do.”

“No.”

“You remembered me once.”

Lily looked at Mara.

Mara’s face was pale.

“Mara?”

Elias demanded.

“Tell me what he means.”

Mara didn’t answer.

“MARA!”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“I can’t.”

The stranger smiled.

“Still protecting him.”

Elias turned toward his father.

“Tell me.”

His father remained silent.

Elias looked at Adrian.

“Grandfather?”

Adrian lowered his head.

Sarah whispered:

“Oh no.”

Elias turned toward her.

“You knew too?”

Sarah backed away.

“I knew there was another Elias.”

Elias froze.

“What?”

“I didn’t know…”

She swallowed.

“I didn’t know which one was real.”

The stranger laughed.

“There it is.”

Elias looked around the room.

One by one, every person he trusted was avoiding his eyes.

Mara.

His father.

Sarah.

Adrian.

Michael.

Even Amelia, standing near the corridor entrance, looked like she wanted to disappear.

Elias felt something break inside him.

“All of you knew.”

“No,” Mara whispered.

“Not everything.”

“But enough.”

Elias’s voice grew louder.

“ENOUGH TO LET ME LIVE A LIE!”

Lily grabbed his arm.

“Daddy.”

Elias immediately stopped.

He looked down at her.

Her eyes were filled with fear.

He lowered his voice.

“I’m sorry.”

The stranger watched them.

Then he said:

“That is why they chose you.”

Elias looked up.

“What?”

“You became attached.”

“To what?”

“To the life they gave you.”

The stranger slowly walked around the room.

“They couldn’t simply replace me.”

Elias followed him with his eyes.

“Why?”

“Because I knew too much.”

“What did you know?”

The stranger stopped.

“The names.”

Noah whispered:

“The Founders.”

The stranger looked at him.

“Yes.”

Then he turned back toward Elias.

“When I was twelve years old, I discovered who the Founders really were.”

Elias frowned.

“You were twelve?”

“I was a child.”

“And you found them?”

“They found me first.”

The stranger’s expression darkened.

“They took me underground.”

He looked around the facility.

“To a place like this.”

Mara whispered:

“Stop.”

The stranger ignored her.

“They asked me questions.”

His hands slowly closed into fists.

“When I refused to answer, they changed the questions.”

Elias stared.

“What did they do?”

The stranger smiled without happiness.

“They learned that pain couldn’t make me forget.”

A long silence.

“So they tried something else.”

Elias already knew.

“Memory transfer.”

The stranger nodded.

“They put memories inside me.”

“Whose?”

“Everyone.”

Noah looked toward Lily.

“Like us.”

The stranger shook his head.

“No.”

His eyes moved toward Lily.

“Worse.”

He looked back at Elias.

“They didn’t give me memories to protect them.”

His voice became quieter.

“They gave me memories to destroy me.”

---

THE BOY WHO KNEW TOO MUCH

The screens around the chamber suddenly activated.

A video appeared.

Old.

Damaged.

Black and white.

A boy was sitting in a chair.

His hands were tied.

His face was bruised.

Elias stared.

The boy looked exactly like him.

But older than Noah.

Younger than Elias remembered himself.

A man stood beside the chair.

His face was hidden.

A voice asked:

“State your name.”

The boy remained silent.

The voice asked again.

“STATE YOUR NAME.”

The boy looked up.

His eyes were full of hatred.

Then he answered:

“My name is Elias.”

The recording froze.

Everyone stared at the screen.

The stranger turned toward Elias.

“That was me.”

Elias’s throat tightened.

The video continued.

A woman walked into the room.

Mara.

Younger.

Terrified.

She placed a hand against the boy’s shoulder.

The boy looked at her.

“Mama.”

Elias looked toward Mara.

She began crying.

The stranger spoke.

“You told me you would get me out.”

Mara whispered:

“I tried.”

The stranger laughed bitterly.

“No.”

“You don’t understand.”

“I understand everything.”

Mara shook her head.

“I went back for you.”

“When?”

“Years later.”

“And what did you find?”

Mara couldn’t answer.

The stranger’s expression hardened.

“Nothing.”

Elias stared at Mara.

The stranger continued.

“You found an empty room.”

Mara nodded slowly.

“I thought you were dead.”

“But I wasn’t.”

“No.”

“And you know why?”

Mara closed her eyes.

Because she knew.

The stranger whispered:

“Because they made another me.”

Elias felt cold.

The stranger pointed directly at him.

“Him.”

---

THE REPLACEMENT

Elias looked at his own hands.

“No.”

His memories suddenly began flashing.

A white room.

Bright lights.

A child crying.

Mara screaming.

Machines.

Glass.

Blood.

Then—

a voice.

“The second body is stable.”

Another voice.

“Does he remember?”

“Not yet.”

Elias grabbed his head.

“No…”

Lily ran toward him.

“Daddy!”

“Stay back!”

She stopped.

Elias looked terrified.

He hadn’t meant to shout.

But something was happening inside his mind.

More memories.

He was lying on a table.

Mara beside him.

His father standing at the door.

Adrian shouting:

“This is wrong!”

Richard replying:

“The original is gone.”

Mara screaming:

“HE IS NOT GONE!”

Then a voice:

“The new Elias has opened his eyes.”

Elias collapsed to his knees.

“No.”

The stranger watched him.

“You remember.”

Elias looked up.

“I was…”

The stranger finished the sentence.

“A copy.”

Lily shook her head violently.

“No!”

Elias stared at her.

“Lily…”

“You’re my daddy!”

The stranger said quietly:

“That doesn’t change what he is.”

Lily turned on him.

“SHUT UP!”

Everyone froze.

The lights flickered.

A powerful wave moved through the underground chamber.

Every screen exploded into static.

The stranger’s soldiers stumbled backward.

Lily’s bracelet began glowing.

Noah looked terrified.

“Lily!”

She didn’t seem to hear him.

Her eyes had changed.

They were glowing faintly.

She stared at the stranger.

“You don’t get to tell me who he is.”

The stranger’s face tightened.

“Lily.”

“You don’t get to take him from me.”

The chamber shook.

BOOM!

A section of the ceiling collapsed.

Soldiers began shouting.

The stranger raised his hand.

“Everyone down!”

Lily whispered:

“Daddy is Daddy.”

Elias looked at her.

The glow in her eyes faded.

She suddenly looked frightened again.

Then she collapsed into his arms.

“Lily!”

Noah rushed forward.

“What happened?”

Mara whispered:

“The archive is responding.”

Elias looked at her.

“To what?”

Mara stared at Lily.

“To her emotions.”

---

THE ARCHIVE HAS A CHOICE

A mechanical voice filled the room.

“PRIMARY HOST ACTIVATED.”

Everyone looked upward.

The screens displayed:

LILY — PRIMARY MEMORY HOST

Then:

NOAH — SECONDARY MEMORY HOST

Then:

EVA — FRAGMENTED MEMORY HOST

Finally:

ELIAS — IDENTITY STATUS: UNRESOLVED

The stranger stared at the last words.

“No.”

Elias looked at him.

“What does that mean?”

The system continued.

BIOLOGICAL STATUS: UNKNOWN

MEMORY STATUS: PARTIALLY AUTHENTIC

CONSCIOUSNESS STATUS: ORIGINAL

Silence.

Michael slowly turned toward the stranger.

The stranger’s face had changed.

For the first time—

he looked uncertain.

Elias read the final line again.

CONSCIOUSNESS STATUS: ORIGINAL.

Mara whispered:

“Oh my God.”

The stranger shook his head.

“No.”

Elias stood.

“What?”

Mara looked at him.

“You weren’t created from his body.”

Elias frowned.

“What?”

“You were created from his memories.”

The stranger’s eyes narrowed.

Elias stared at Mara.

“Explain.”

Mara stepped closer to the glass.

“They couldn’t copy a person.”

She pointed toward the stranger.

“They tried.”

Then toward Elias.

“So they copied what made him who he was.”

His memories.

His consciousness.

His identity.

Elias felt sick.

“So I am him?”

Mara shook her head.

“No.”

The stranger laughed.

“Finally.”

Mara continued:

“You began as him.”

Elias stared.

“But you became someone else.”

The room went silent.

Mara’s voice cracked.

“You were supposed to remember his life.”

She looked at Elias.

“But then you made your own.”

Lily’s small hand found Elias’s.

The stranger stared at them.

Mara continued:

“You became Elias.”

The stranger whispered:

“No.”

Elias looked at him.

The stranger’s face twisted with anger.

“You stole my name.”

Elias answered quietly:

“I didn’t know.”

“You stole my memories.”

“I didn’t know.”

“You stole my mother.”

Elias looked at Mara.

The stranger stepped closer.

“You stole my family.”

Elias’s voice broke.

“I didn’t know!”

The stranger raised his weapon.

“You were the replacement they gave them when they couldn’t save me.”

Lily stepped between them.

“No!”

The stranger aimed around her.

“Move.”

“No.”

“Lily.”

“NO!”

Elias pulled her back.

The stranger stared at them.

Then Mara screamed:

“DON’T!”

Everyone turned.

Richard was standing behind the stranger.

Holding a gun to the back of his head.

Richard smiled.

“You’ve all been talking too much.”

---

RICHARD’S REAL GAME

Elias stared.

“Richard.”

Richard smiled.

“Hello, nephew.”

The stranger didn’t move.

“You won’t shoot.”

Richard pressed the gun harder against his head.

“You still don’t understand me.”

Mara looked horrified.

“Richard, don’t.”

He laughed.

“Why not?”

“Because he’s your nephew.”

“No.”

Richard looked at Elias.

“That’s the problem.”

Then at the stranger.

“He’s my nephew.”

Elias froze.

“What?”

Richard smiled.

“The original.”

The stranger closed his eyes.

Richard continued:

“And this…”

He nodded toward Elias.

“…was my greatest mistake.”

Elias’s anger returned.

“What did you do?”

Richard looked delighted.

“You really don’t remember.”

Mara whispered:

“Don’t tell him.”

Richard laughed.

“Why?”

“Because if he remembers the last night…”

Mara’s voice broke.

“…everything will begin again.”

Richard looked at Elias.

“You want to know why there are two of you?”

Elias raised his weapon.

“Tell me.”

Richard smiled.

“Because I couldn’t save him.”

He pressed the gun against the stranger’s head.

“So I made another.”

Elias’s breathing stopped.

Richard continued.

“I was the one who started the project.”

Mara screamed:

“LIAR!”

Richard smiled.

“I provided the original memories.”

Elias stared at him.

“You?”

“Yes.”

“You created me?”

“I helped create you.”

Elias’s hands shook.

“Why?”

Richard’s smile disappeared.

“Because my brother chose the wrong child.”

Everyone looked toward Elias’s father.

His father closed his eyes.

Richard pointed at the stranger.

“He chose him.”

Then he pointed at Elias.

“I chose you.”

Elias whispered:

“Why?”

Richard looked directly into his eyes.

“Because you were easier to control.”

---

THE MEMORY THAT WASN’T HIS

Elias suddenly saw another memory.

Not a flash.

Not an image.

A complete memory.

He was standing in a room.

Older.

Holding a gun.

The stranger was tied to a chair.

But at that time—

the stranger was a boy.

Elias himself was younger too.

Richard stood beside him.

Richard said:

“Do it.”

Young Elias shook his head.

“I can’t.”

Richard placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You were made for this.”

The boy in the chair looked at Elias.

And whispered:

“Brother.”

Elias dropped the gun.

Richard slapped him.

“HE IS NOT YOUR BROTHER!”

The boy cried.

Elias looked terrified.

Richard picked up the gun.

Then placed it in Elias’s hands again.

“Erase him.”

The memory vanished.

Elias screamed.

“No!”

Lily held him.

“Daddy!”

Elias stared at Richard.

“You made me erase him.”

Richard smiled.

“Almost.”

Elias’s heart pounded.

“What happened?”

The stranger finally spoke.

“He couldn’t do it.”

Everyone turned.

The stranger looked at Elias.

“You saved me.”

Elias froze.

Richard’s smile disappeared.

The stranger continued.

“That night, you refused.”

Elias stared.

The stranger’s eyes filled with tears.

“You unlocked the door.”

Elias whispered:

“I did?”

“You told me to run.”

Another memory came.

Young Elias opening a door.

The boy running into darkness.

Elias shouting:

“GO!”

Richard screaming behind him.

Then—

gunfire.

The stranger said:

“I thought you died.”

Elias could barely speak.

“And I thought you died.”

The stranger nodded.

“And that was when they changed you.”

Mara whispered:

“They erased everything.”

The stranger looked at Elias.

“Your memories.”

Then Mara.

“His memories.”

Then Richard.

“And they made sure we would become enemies.”

Richard shouted:

“That’s enough!”

The stranger turned.

“Is it?”

Richard’s finger tightened around the trigger.

The stranger smiled.

“Go ahead.”

Mara screamed:

“RICHARD, DON’T!”

Richard fired.

BANG!

Lily screamed.

Elias closed his eyes.

For one horrible second—

nobody moved.

Then Elias opened his eyes.

The stranger was still standing.

But blood was spreading across Richard’s chest.

Richard looked down.

Confused.

Behind him—

Michael was holding his gun.

“I told you I’d try.”

Richard stumbled.

He looked at Michael.

“You…”

Michael answered:

“I remembered Room Seventeen.”

Richard fell.

His gun hit the floor.

Michael moved forward.

But Richard began laughing.

Even while bleeding.

Elias frowned.

“What is funny?”

Richard looked at him.

“You think this is over?”

Nobody answered.

Richard smiled.

“You still haven’t asked the right question.”

Elias stepped closer.

“What question?”

Richard looked at both Eliases.

“Which one of you has the real memories?”

Silence.

The stranger’s expression changed.

Elias stared at him.

Richard continued:

“The original Elias was captured.”

He coughed.

Blood touched his lips.

“And the copy was created.”

He smiled.

“But during the transfer…”

Mara whispered:

“No.”

Richard looked at Elias.

“Something went wrong.”

Elias’s heart pounded.

Richard turned toward the stranger.

“The memories split.”

The stranger stared.

“What?”

Richard laughed weakly.

“Neither of you got all of them.”

---

TWO MEN. ONE PAST.

Every screen activated.

The system displayed two names.

ELIAS A

ELIAS B

Then below:

MEMORY DISTRIBUTION: INCOMPLETE

SUBJECT A: 51%

SUBJECT B: 49%

Elias stared.

The stranger stared too.

Richard laughed.

“You’ve been fighting over a life neither of you completely remembers.”

The system continued.

WARNING

MERGING MEMORY STREAMS

10% COMPLETE

The two men suddenly grabbed their heads.

Elias screamed.

The stranger fell to his knees.

Memories flooded them both.

The same childhood.

But from different angles.

Mara singing.

Elias’s father holding a baby.

Richard standing in a doorway.

A fire.

A laboratory.

Noah crying.

Lily sleeping.

Eva behind glass.

Then—

a woman.

The woman from the photograph.

Elena.

She was holding Elias.

But which Elias?

The memory became clearer.

She looked directly into the camera.

Her face was terrified.

A voice asked:

“What is the child’s name?”

Elena answered:

“Elias.”

The memory changed.

The stranger saw himself.

A boy.

Elena kissed his forehead.

“My son.”

Then Elias saw himself.

A child too.

Elena held him.

“My son.”

Both men opened their eyes.

And looked at each other.

The stranger whispered:

“She called both of us son.”

Elias couldn’t answer.

Then the final memory arrived.

The one both had been missing.

Elena standing beside Mara.

Mara was holding a newborn baby.

Not Elias.

Not Lily.

A different child.

Elena whispered:

“There is a third.”

Mara answered:

“Richard cannot know.”

The memory ended.

Everyone stared at Mara.

Elias slowly turned toward her.

“There was another child.”

Mara closed her eyes.

The stranger stood.

His face had gone pale.

“Who?”

Mara said nothing.

Elias stepped closer.

“WHO WAS THE THIRD CHILD?”

Before Mara could answer—

the entire facility began shaking.

A warning appeared.

EXTERNAL BREACH DETECTED

Sarah looked toward the entrance.

“What now?”

Michael ran to a monitor.

Then his face changed.

“Oh no.”

Elias looked at him.

“What?”

Michael turned the screen.

A live camera showed dozens of black helicopters landing above the underground city.

Hundreds of armed soldiers were surrounding the facility.

But their uniforms weren’t from the Founders.

They wore no symbol.

No insignia.

Nothing.

Then a woman stepped from the lead helicopter.

Mara saw her.

And screamed.

“No.”

Elias stared at the monitor.

“Who is she?”

Mara began shaking.

“She can’t be alive.”

The woman removed her sunglasses.

She looked directly into the camera.

Then smiled.

Elias felt his blood turn cold.

It was Elena.

His biological mother.

The woman from the photograph.

Alive.

But she hadn’t come alone.

A young man stepped from the helicopter behind her.

Elias stared at him.

The stranger beside him whispered:

“That’s impossible.”

The young man looked directly at the camera.

He had Elias’s eyes.

The same scar.

The same face.

But younger.

Elena placed her hand on the young man’s shoulder.

Then she spoke into a radio.

Her voice echoed through the entire underground city.

“Listen carefully.”

Everyone fell silent.

Elena looked into the camera.

“I have come for my sons.”

Elias looked at the stranger.

The stranger looked at him.

Then both men turned toward the screen.

Elena smiled.

But there was something terrifying in her expression.

She continued:

“Both of you.”

The young man behind her stepped forward.

Lily whispered:

“There are three.”

Noah slowly shook his head.

“No.”

Elias stared at the screen.

Elena’s smile widened.

“You still don’t understand.”

The underground facility went silent.

Then Elena said the words that changed everything.

“I didn’t give birth to two Elias boys.”

She placed her hand on the shoulder of the third young man.

“I gave birth to four.”

Elias stopped breathing.

The stranger stepped backward.

Mara began crying.

Sarah whispered:

“Oh my God.”

Lily looked at Elias.

“Daddy…”

Elias couldn’t answer.

Elena looked directly into the camera.

Then gave the final order.

“Find the fourth.”

The screens went black.

Somewhere deep inside the underground city—

a locked door slowly opened.

And from behind it came the sound of someone breathing.

Slowly.

Heavily.

Waiting.

Then a man’s voice whispered from the darkness:

“I’ve been waiting for my brothers.”

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 15…

Click Here to continuous Read​​​​ Full Ending StoryPART(15): – I never told my sister that I owned half of the land in this city. When I returned from the army, my daughter was forced to sleep in a pig pen, humiliated, and told, “You are a useless burden.”