Chapter Eighteen: The Edge of Memory

Chapter Eighteen: The Edge of Memory



The cold metal cuffs around my wrists were the first thing I noticed. My hands were tied up, hanging just high enough to make my shoulders ache badly. The room was dim, with flickering lights and long shadows that made everything feel sharp and eerie.

I couldn’t remember how they caught me. My last memory was walking through the tunnel, feeling the heavy emptiness left by Lena not being there. After that… nothing. My mind was blank, and even the comforting hum of the network was gone.

A hissing noise snapped me out of my thoughts. Across the room, a man in a clean white lab coat stepped forward. He was under a bright, harsh light, so I couldn’t see his face right away. He moved carefully, like he knew exactly what he was doing. His hands, covered in gloves, picked up a shiny syringe from a metal tray.

“Prototype 13,” he said. His voice was smooth, almost calm. “You’ve been hard to catch.”

I stayed quiet. My throat felt dry and scratchy. The air smelled sharp and clean, with a strange metallic tang.

“I bet you have a lot of questions,” he went on, fitting the syringe into a strange device. It looked like a mix between a gun and a medical tool. “But so do we. And you’re going to give us some answers.”

He came closer, and I could finally see his face. He had sharp features and cold, calculating eyes. He stared at me like I was some kind of puzzle he couldn’t wait to solve.

“Your connection to the network is unlike anything we’ve ever seen,” he said, sounding almost impressed. “The trails you leave behind, the systems you touch—even our best tech can’t do what you do. It’s fascinating.”

“Let me go,” I managed to whisper, my voice barely there.

He ignored me and pressed the device against my arm. I felt a sharp prick, and then a strange warmth spread through my body. At first, it was almost comforting, but then it turned into fire. My veins felt like they were burning, and I couldn’t stop myself from gasping.

“This will wake up your neural pathways,” he said, like he was explaining a science project. “Let’s see how much you can handle before your memories start showing themselves.”

The room started spinning, and the pain wasn’t just in my body. It felt like someone was ripping my mind apart, breaking into places I didn’t even know existed.


Flashes of light. The sound of laughter. A boy’s voice—Zack’s voice—shouting something, but I couldn’t hear the words. Suddenly, I was running, chasing a kite that danced high in the sky. The wind was loud in my ears, and for a moment, I felt free.

But then the sky turned dark. The laughter stopped. The kite twisted in the wind, its tail snapping before it broke apart and fell into pieces. I stopped running, staring up at the empty, dark sky. My chest hurt, like I’d lost something I could never get back.


“Interesting,” the man’s voice pulled me back. I blinked, and the room came into focus again. He was watching a monitor, his face calm but curious. “Your neural activity is off the charts. Whatever’s locked in your mind… it’s big.”

I barely registered his words. More images were flashing through my mind, faster now. A woman’s face, soft and kind. Her lips moved, but I couldn’t hear what she was saying. I felt her hand on my shoulder, warm and reassuring. I smelled something sweet, like freshly baked bread.

Then everything changed. Fire. Screams. The sharp smell of smoke and burning wood. I saw people running, their faces blurry. I heard distant shouting and the terrifying crash of something huge falling.


“What are you hiding?” the man demanded, his voice harder now. “What did Zack know that we don’t?”

Hearing Zack’s name felt like a shock to my system. The faint hum of the network came back, weak but steady, and I grabbed onto it like a lifeline. The pain was still there, but it didn’t feel as crushing. The memories started to sharpen.

I saw Zack again, older this time. He stood by a metal fence, staring at a huge factory in the distance. His hands gripped the bars tightly, his knuckles white. He was arguing with someone, his voice rising. I could see the frustration on his face, but the words didn’t reach me.

“Stop,” I said, my voice raw and shaky. “You don’t get it…”

“Oh, I do,” the man replied with a thin smile. “You’re the key, Prototype 13. And I’m going to unlock everything you’re hiding.”

The device hummed again, and the burning sensation came back, worse than before. My body felt like it was being torn apart, but I focused on the network’s hum. It was faint but steady, like a distant heartbeat.

The memories kept coming. Faces flashed through my mind—some I recognized, others I didn’t. Zack, younger this time, stood in front of a cracked mirror. His reflection looked blurry and broken. I heard his voice, faint but clear: “This isn’t how it was supposed to go.”

I didn’t know how much longer I could hold on. The network’s hum grew louder, pulling me toward it like it wanted me to stay grounded. But it felt like a trap, too. The man in the lab coat watched me closely, his eyes gleaming like he was seeing something he had been chasing for years.

“That’s enough for now,” he said finally. The device powered down, and the burning faded, leaving only a dull ache in its place. My whole body sagged in the restraints, my breathing shallow and uneven.

The memories lingered, like pieces of a puzzle I couldn’t put together yet. They were there, just out of reach, but I knew they meant something important.

The man leaned in close, his voice low and steady. “We’re not done, Prototype. This is only the beginning.”

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