Chapter 9 - THE ORIGINAL MEMORY
Nobody moved.
Sam couldn’t take his eyes off Dr. Vale.
“You knew.”
Vale nodded.
“I knew everything.”
“You let Lena die.”
Pain crossed Vale’s face.
“I tried to save her.”
Sam stepped forward.
“You failed.”
“Yes.”
Vale accepted the accusation.
“I failed everyone.”
Maya looked at him.
“Why create Helix?”
Vale looked at the device.
“Because I wanted to understand human choices.”
Rachel laughed bitterly.
“And then Vortex turned it into a weapon.”
Vale looked down.
“They changed my research.”
Sam stared.
“You created the monster.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Then Vale walked toward the chair.
“The truth is, Sam, Lena discovered something even worse.”
“What?”
Vale looked at him.
“Helix was never predicting choices.”
Sam frowned.
“Then what was it doing?”
Vale answered:
“Creating them.”
Maya went pale.
“You mean…”
“People weren’t making decisions.”
Vale looked at Sam.
“They were following patterns implanted into them.”
Sam looked at the files.
“Everyone?”
Vale nodded.
“Almost everyone connected to Vortex.”
Maya whispered.
“Except us.”
Vale looked at them.
“Exactly.”
Sam realized.
“That’s why they wanted us.”
“You were the two people Helix couldn’t control.”
Suddenly, Daniel’s voice came from the speakers.
“Enough.”
The doors opened.
Security teams entered.
Sam prepared himself.
But Daniel stopped them.
“Don’t.”
Everyone looked confused.
Daniel walked inside.
For the first time, he stood face to face with Sam.
“You want revenge.”
Sam stared.
“Yes.”
Daniel nodded.
“You deserve it.”
Maya looked shocked.
“What?”
Daniel looked at Sam.
“Because I didn’t kill Lena.”
Sam hesitated.
“Then who did?”
Daniel looked toward Vale.
The room became silent.
“The man standing beside you.”
Sam slowly turned.
Vale looked terrified.
“Daniel is lying.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at Sam.
“Your memory was erased because you discovered the truth.”
Sam raised his weapon.
“Which is?”
Daniel whispered:
“Lena wasn’t killed by Vortex.”
A pause.
May you like
“She was killed by Adrian Vale.”
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