Chapter 22: The Final Upload
The chamber sealed with a metallic hiss, and Damon's eyes gleamed in the half-light.
"This is where it all began," he said, circling Elara like a serpent. "You were our first success. Perfect recall. Adaptation beyond anything we designed."
"I'm not your experiment," Elara growled.
"No," he agreed. "You're the outlier. The threat."
Screens around them began flashing images—scenes Elara didn't remember... or had buried. Training simulations. Indoctrination tapes. Pain-induced obedience trials.
"You tried to erase me," she whispered, fists clenched. "You broke me and built something you thought you could control."
Damon walked to a console, calm. "You want the rest of the data? Fine. Take it. But it will cost you."
He pressed a sequence. A backup drive slid from a hidden panel.
Elara's comm crackled—Declan's voice. "I'm in the system. That drive has every subject's record—including yours. You pull it, you expose him. But if the room's wired to blow, it's a trap."
"I know," she muttered.
Damon grinned. "So what will you choose, Elara? The truth... or survival?"
She took one breath. Then moved.
In one fluid motion, she ripped the drive free and sprinted for the door.
"Security override triggered," the system blared.
The chamber began to rumble.
Elara reached for her comm. "Declan, get the evac ready. I've got it."
An explosion ripped through the lower level. Dust. Fire. Then—silence.