Chapter 33: What They Made Me Forget

My mother stood in the doorway.

The gun in her hand was shaking.

"Mum..."

"Don't come any closer."

Her voice was barely a whisper.

Michael stepped in front of me.

"Put the gun down."

"Michael, please."

"You don't want to do this."

She looked at him.

"You have no idea what I've had to do to keep her alive."

I stared at her.

"You made me forget."

Tears filled her eyes.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you saw something you were never supposed to see."

"What?"

She looked at the monitors.

"Your father discovered the people behind Echo had been using children."

My stomach turned.

"Children for what?"

"To test the surveillance system."

Elias stepped forward.

"Your mother stopped them."

She shook her head.

"I tried."

"What happened to the other children?"

She looked away.

"Some disappeared."

The room became silent.

"And me?"

My mother's eyes met mine.

"You were the only one who survived."

I couldn't breathe.

"Survived what?"

She lowered the gun slightly.

"Room Zero wasn't just a laboratory."

"It was where they tested how much a human mind could be manipulated."

Daniel stared at the screens.

"So they erased her memories?"

My mother nodded.

"Your father developed a way to protect Maya."

"Instead of deleting the memories completely, he locked them away."

"That's why she couldn't remember."

I touched my forehead.

The flashes came again.

Bright lights.

A child's scream.

My father's voice.

Don't look at them, Maya.

I stumbled backwards.

"I remember..."

My mother immediately dropped the gun.

"What?"

"I remember Dad."

"What did he say?"

I closed my eyes.

"He told me to hide."

A memory flashed.

I was six years old.

I was underneath a desk.

My father was arguing with someone.

A man stood opposite him.

I couldn't see his face.

But I could see his hand.

A silver ring.

The snake.

I opened my eyes.

"The man who killed Dad..."

Everyone looked at me.

"He was in this room."

Elias went pale.

"Who?"

"I don't know."

I looked towards the old monitors.

"But I remember his voice."

Then one of the screens suddenly switched on.

A live video appeared.

The woman in black was sitting in a dark room.

She smiled.

"Good."

My heart stopped.

"Your memories are returning."

She leaned closer to the camera.

"Now you can finally remember who you really are."

The screen went black.

Then a final message appeared:

PROJECT ECHO — SUBJECT ZERO: MAYA.

Daniel looked at me.

"Maya..."

I stared at the words.

"Subject Zero."

My mother's face crumbled.

She whispered:

"I'm sorry."

I turned towards her.

"What am I?"

She looked at me through her tears.

"You are the reason Project Echo was created."

Before anyone could respond, every monitor in Room Zero switched on at once.

Hundreds of photographs appeared.

All of me.

And beneath them was one final sentence:

THE EXPERIMENT IS READY TO BEGIN AGAIN.