CHAPTER 9 — MARCUS VALE
CHAPTER 9 — MARCUS VALE
The gunshot echoed through the underground corridor.
Lily felt the impact before she understood what had happened.
Michael grabbed her.
"Lily!"
She stumbled backward.
For one terrible second, she thought she had been shot.
Then she looked down.
No blood.
Michael was standing in front of her.
And Marcus was staring at the weapon in his hand.
A thin trail of smoke rose from the barrel.
But the bullet had not reached them.
A steel panel had dropped from the ceiling at the exact moment Marcus fired.
The bullet had struck metal.
Lily looked up.
Then toward the darkness.
Someone had triggered the emergency shield.
Marcus's expression hardened.
"Elena."
A voice came through the speakers.
"Enough, Marcus."
Marcus slowly lowered his gun.
"You always were sentimental."
Michael stepped in front of Lily.
"You won't touch her."
Marcus smiled.
"Still protecting her."
Michael's jaw tightened.
"I always will."
Marcus looked at him for a long moment.
Then something almost like sadness crossed his face.
"You still don't understand what you are."
Michael stared.
"I know exactly who I am."
"No."
Marcus shook his head.
"You know who you want to be."
He looked at Lily.
"And she is the reason you can still pretend."
Lily stepped forward.
"Stop talking in riddles."
Marcus looked at her.
"You want answers?"
"Yes."
"Then listen."
The emergency lights flickered.
Marcus slowly walked toward them.
"My name is Marcus Vale."
Michael raised his gun.
"I know."
"No."
Marcus smiled.
"You know the name."
He pointed toward himself.
"You don't know the man."
He stopped several feet away.
"I was born in a house where children were taught one thing."
Lily watched him.
"What?"
"Never become weak."
Marcus's expression became distant.
"My father believed fear was the purest form of discipline."
He looked at the walls.
"I learned early that people would do anything to survive."
Michael said nothing.
Marcus continued.
"When I was nine, my father locked me in a cellar."
Lily's expression changed.
"For how long?"
"Six days."
"Why?"
"Because I cried."
Marcus smiled without humor.
"He wanted to see how long it would take before I stopped."
Michael stared.
"What happened?"
"I stopped."
Marcus looked at him.
"That's when my father realized I was useful."
He walked toward the old laboratory.
"He taught me how to read people."
"How to manipulate them."
"How to break them."
Lily whispered:
"And Project Mirror?"
Marcus nodded.
"Project Mirror was my father's dream."
"Not your mother's?"
"No."
"Your father?"
Marcus smiled.
"Victor Blackwood Sr. stole it from my family."
Michael's eyes narrowed.
"So this was revenge."
"Partly."
Marcus looked at Lily.
"But revenge is a childish emotion."
"What do you want?"
Marcus answered immediately.
"Control."
Lily shook her head.
"Of what?"
"Memory."
Silence.
Marcus pointed toward the machines.
"Whoever controls memory controls identity."
"Whoever controls identity controls loyalty."
"And whoever controls loyalty..."
He smiled.
"...controls everything."
Michael stepped forward.
"That's why you experimented on children?"
Marcus looked at him.
"Children were perfect."
Michael's expression hardened.
"They trusted easily."
"They formed attachments."
"They believed what adults told them."
Marcus looked at Lily.
"And some resisted."
Lily stared at him.
"Like me."
"Especially you."
Marcus walked into the old laboratory.
Lily followed cautiously.
Michael stayed beside her.
The room looked abandoned.
Dust covered the equipment.
Old monitors flickered.
On one wall were hundreds of photographs.
Marcus stopped in front of them.
"Do you know why Subject 07 survived?"
Lily shook her head.
"Because she had something I couldn't destroy."
"What?"
"Love."
Lily frowned.
Marcus pointed at Michael.
"You loved him."
Then he pointed toward the corridor.
"And you loved Victor."
Lily's heart stopped.
"Victor..."
Marcus nodded.
"Your attachment to both boys created something extraordinary."
"What?"
"Memory resistance."
Michael looked confused.
Marcus continued.
"Every time they tried to rewrite your memories, you rebuilt them around the people you loved."
Lily stared at the photographs.
"You made me remember them."
"No."
Marcus smiled.
"You made yourself remember."
Michael looked at Marcus.
"Then why did you erase me?"
Marcus's face became cold.
"Because you were the greatest threat."
"To you?"
"To the project."
Michael shook his head.
"Why?"
"Because you were the only subject who could reach her without triggering her conditioning."
Lily looked at Michael.
"What does that mean?"
Marcus answered.
"Your brother was your anchor."
Michael's eyes narrowed.
"Brother."
Marcus smiled.
"You keep using that word."
Michael stepped closer.
"I grew up with her."
"You were placed with her."
"I loved her."
"That wasn't programmed."
Marcus's voice became quieter.
"That's why I failed."
Lily stared at him.
"You didn't fail."
Marcus looked at her.
"No."
He smiled.
"I created something I couldn't control."
A door opened behind them.
Elena entered.
She was holding a gun.
Marcus turned.
"Elena."
She aimed at him.
"Step away from them."
Marcus laughed.
"You always did prefer dramatic entrances."
"Leave my children alone."
Marcus's smile disappeared.
"Your children?"
He pointed toward Michael.
"Which one?"
Elena's face tightened.
Marcus looked at Lily.
"Tell them."
Elena shook her head.
"Marcus."
"Tell them what you did."
Silence.
Michael stared at his mother.
"What is he talking about?"
Elena lowered her gun slightly.
"Michael..."
"Tell me."
Elena looked at Lily.
Then at him.
"I lied."
Michael's face went cold.
"About what?"
"About your identities."
Lily stepped closer.
"Why?"
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
"Because I was trying to keep you alive."
Marcus laughed.
"Always the martyr."
Elena ignored him.
"When Project Mirror began, I was Subject Zero."
Michael stared.
"I know."
"But you don't know what that means."
She looked at Lily.
"The project wasn't designed to erase memories."
"Then what?"
"To transfer them."
Lily's heart stopped.
"Transfer?"
Elena nodded.
"A person's memories could be extracted."
"Stored."
"And eventually implanted into another brain."
Michael stared.
"That's impossible."
"It shouldn't have been."
Elena looked at Marcus.
"But he made it possible."
Marcus smiled.
"I improved the process."
"You destroyed lives."
"I created immortality."
Everyone went silent.
Lily stared.
"Immortality?"
Marcus nodded.
"Memories are identity."
"If you can transfer memory..."
"You can transfer a person."
Michael's face hardened.
"So you were trying to create copies."
"Not copies."
Marcus corrected him.
"Continuations."
He looked at Victor's photograph.
"Imagine never dying."
"Imagine placing your memories into another body."
"Imagine waking up in a younger version of yourself."
Lily whispered:
"That's what Subject 11 was."
Marcus looked at her.
"Exactly."
Michael stepped backward.
"Then Victor..."
Marcus smiled.
"Victor Blackwood died fifteen years ago."
Lily stared.
"No."
"He died in the accident."
Michael looked at Marcus.
"What accident?"
"The one they told you never happened."
Elena closed her eyes.
Marcus continued.
"Victor discovered Project Mirror."
"He found the children."
"He tried to destroy the facility."
"And your father stopped him."
Lily's breathing became shallow.
"What happened?"
Marcus looked at Michael.
"Victor was shot."
Michael froze.
"Then?"
"His body was dying."
Elena stepped forward.
"Marcus wanted to transfer Victor's memories."
"Yes."
"But I stopped him."
Marcus laughed.
"You stopped me?"
"You weren't there."
"I was."
"No."
Elena shook her head.
"I took the boy."
Marcus stared.
"Which boy?"
Elena looked at Michael.
"Michael."
Michael's face went pale.
"I..."
"You were four years old."
"You were the closest biological match."
Lily whispered:
"So Michael became Victor."
Elena nodded.
"To save Victor's identity."
Marcus smiled.
"To preserve the Blackwood bloodline."
Lily stared at Michael.
"Then who is the real Victor?"
Marcus answered:
"Dead."
Silence.
Michael closed his eyes.
His entire life was built around a dead boy's identity.
His memories had been altered.
His name had been changed.
His childhood erased.
He looked at Lily.
"Then I'm not Victor."
Lily shook her head.
"No."
She took his hand.
"You're Michael."
His eyes filled with tears.
"I remember."
She smiled through her tears.
"Then come back to me."
Marcus watched them.
For the first time, anger appeared in his eyes.
"Enough."
He raised his gun.
Elena raised hers.
"Marcus."
"Move."
"No."
Marcus looked at her.
"You always ruin everything."
Elena's voice became cold.
"You killed enough children."
"I gave them purpose."
"You destroyed them."
"I gave them a future."
"You gave them cages."
Marcus's face twisted.
"You don't understand."
Elena stepped closer.
"I understand perfectly."
She pointed her gun directly at him.
"You were Subject Zero's first failure."
Marcus froze.
Lily looked between them.
"What?"
Elena continued.
"Marcus was never the creator of Project Mirror."
Marcus's eyes darkened.
"Stop."
"He was the first person they tried to transfer."
Lily stared.
"Transfer?"
Elena nodded.
"His father wanted to preserve himself."
"So they experimented on Marcus."
"Yes."
Michael stared at Marcus.
"You were a subject too."
Marcus smiled.
"I survived."
"No."
Elena shook her head.
"You didn't survive."
Marcus's smile faded.
"You changed."
Silence.
"You became a collection of memories."
Marcus's expression hardened.
"Enough."
Elena continued.
"The man standing here isn't entirely Marcus Vale."
Lily felt a chill.
"What does that mean?"
Elena looked at her.
"His original memories were transferred into several bodies."
Marcus raised his gun.
"Shut up."
"You've been replacing yourself for decades."
Lily stared at him.
"How old are you?"
Marcus smiled.
"Old enough."
Elena answered:
"Seventy-eight."
Lily's eyes widened.
Marcus looked almost amused.
"Surprised?"
He touched his face.
"This body is thirty-six."
Michael stared.
"Whose body?"
Marcus didn't answer.
Lily felt sick.
"You stole someone's life."
Marcus looked at her.
"I improved it."
Suddenly, the lights went red.
An alarm sounded.
Marcus looked toward the ceiling.
"What now?"
A voice came through the speakers.
Daniel.
"Victor has breached Level Nine."
Marcus's expression changed.
"Impossible."
Elena smiled faintly.
"He isn't Victor."
Marcus looked at her.
"He's Michael."
"And Michael remembers."
Marcus's face hardened.
"Kill him."
Gunfire erupted outside.
Marcus's men rushed into the laboratory.
Elena fired.
Michael pulled Lily behind a steel table.
Bullets shattered glass.
Machines exploded.
Smoke filled the room.
"Stay down!" Michael shouted.
Lily held onto him.
"I don't want to lose you again."
"You won't."
"You promise?"
He looked at her.
"I promised once."
A bullet struck the wall beside them.
Michael smiled.
"I'm keeping it."
They crawled toward the emergency exit.
Marcus saw them.
"Michael!"
Michael turned.
Marcus stood across the room.
"Do you know what happens if you leave?"
Michael raised his gun.
"Tell me."
"You lose everything."
Michael stared.
Marcus continued.
"Your memories will collapse."
"You'll forget Lily."
"You'll forget yourself."
Michael's face tightened.
Marcus smiled.
"That's what the conditioning was designed to do."
Lily looked at Michael.
"Don't listen to him."
Marcus laughed.
"He already knows."
Michael suddenly staggered.
He grabbed his head.
Lily caught him.
"Michael!"
Pain flashed across his face.
Images appeared in his mind.
The white room.
The machine.
His father's face.
Victor's childhood.
Lily crying.
A gunshot.
A coffin.
His own face.
Two names.
Victor.
Michael.
Michael screamed.
Marcus watched.
"That's it."
"Let the memories separate."
"Let the false identity disappear."
Lily held him.
"No!"
Michael fell to his knees.
Lily grabbed his face.
"Look at me."
He opened his eyes.
"Who am I?"
Lily cried.
"You're Michael."
"Who?"
"Michael Harper."
"What else?"
"You're my brother."
He stared at her.
"And?"
She smiled through tears.
"You're the boy who promised he'd find me."
Michael's breathing steadied.
The pain began to fade.
Marcus stared in disbelief.
"No."
Lily looked at him.
"You can't control him anymore."
Marcus raised his gun.
He aimed at Lily.
Michael stepped in front of her.
Marcus's finger tightened.
Then—
a gunshot.
Marcus dropped his weapon.
Blood spread across his shoulder.
Elena stood behind him.
"Enough."
Marcus looked at her.
"You should have killed me when you had the chance."
Elena lowered her gun.
"I made that mistake once."
Marcus smiled.
"And you'll make it again."
He pressed something beneath his sleeve.
The floor beneath Lily opened.
She screamed.
Michael grabbed her hand.
"Hold on!"
The ground shifted.
Marcus disappeared through a hidden passage.
Elena ran toward them.
"Jump!"
Michael grabbed Lily.
They leaped toward the platform.
The floor collapsed beneath them.
A massive explosion shook the facility.
Concrete cracked.
Alarms screamed.
Marcus was gone.
Lily looked at Elena.
"Where did he go?"
Elena shook her head.
"I don't know."
Michael stared into the darkness.
"He'll come back."
Elena looked at him.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because you remember."
Michael frowned.
"Remember what?"
Elena looked at Lily.
Then at Michael.
"The last memory."
Lily's blood ran cold.
"What last memory?"
Elena pointed toward the collapsing laboratory.
"The night Victor died."
Michael froze.
"I wasn't there."
"You were."
Lily stared at him.
"What happened?"
Elena hesitated.
Then whispered:
"You killed him."
Michael's face went pale.
"No."
"You were holding the gun."
"I was four."
"You were conditioned."
Michael shook his head.
"No."
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
"Victor was your brother."
Michael stared.
"And you were the one who pulled the trigger."
Silence.
Lily grabbed his hand.
"Michael..."
He couldn't speak.
His mind filled with a memory.
A gun.
A boy.
Victor.
Blood.
His tiny hands.
A voice saying:
"Do it."
Michael fell to his knees.
"I killed him."
Lily knelt beside him.
"You were a child."
"I killed him."
"You didn't know."
"I killed him."
Elena closed her eyes.
Then a voice echoed from the darkness.
Marcus.
"You finally remember."
Michael looked up.
Marcus's voice continued.
"And now..."
A pause.
"...you'll remember who gave you the order."
The lights went out.
And Lily realized the truth was far worse than any of them had imagined.
Because Marcus hadn't created Subject 11 to replace Victor.
He had created Subject 11 to kill him.
May you like
And the person who had ordered Michael to pull the trigger—
was still alive.
