Chapter 4: Buried Truths

The faint hum of machinery filled the small room, blending with the distant, muffled sounds of The Verge outside. Kael stood behind Niko, his eyes locked on the display screen as the fragmented pieces of Seraphine's memories slowly unraveled. Each image that flickered across the screen felt like a puzzle piece revealing a hidden story—one that Vexis had tried desperately to bury.

Seraphine sat motionless in the chair, her eyes closed, her body tense as the neuro-interface continued probing deeper into her mind. Kael could see the strain on her face, her brows furrowed in concentration. She was reliving the memories as they surfaced—fragments of a life she wasn't sure was her own.

"Something's wrong," Niko muttered, his fingers hovering over the console as the data feed grew erratic. "It's like the deeper I go, the more corrupted it gets."

Kael leaned forward, scanning the screen. The fragmented images had become distorted—faces twisting into grotesque shapes, places shifting into chaotic, formless masses. He had seen this before. It wasn't just memory loss; it was deliberate tampering.

"Voss put in safeguards," Kael said, his voice tight. "He didn't just erase parts of her mind—he booby-trapped them. Every layer we break could trigger a cascade, corrupting everything."

Niko shot Kael a grim look. "If we keep going, we could destroy her real memories along with the fakes. This is delicate work, Kael. One wrong move, and we lose everything."

Kael knew the risks. He had once been on the other side of this, designing memories, constructing worlds inside people's minds. But this… this was something far more dangerous than anything he had ever worked on. Voss wasn't just manipulating memories; he was rewriting reality itself.

"Do it," Seraphine's voice came out, shaky but determined. She opened her eyes and looked straight at Kael. "I need to know the truth. Even if it's dangerous."

Kael hesitated. "Seraphine, if we push too hard, there's no telling what might happen. You could lose more than just the memories Voss took."

"I'm already lost," she said quietly, her voice filled with a quiet desperation. "Every day, I wake up and feel like I'm drowning in someone else's life. I need to know who I am—who I was. If you stop now, I might never get that back."

Kael held her gaze, the weight of her words hanging between them. He understood. He knew what it felt like to be haunted by the past, to be trapped in a prison of your own mind. Seraphine wasn't just searching for lost memories—she was searching for herself.

"Alright," Kael said softly. "We'll keep going. But we do it carefully. If it gets too dangerous, we pull back."

Seraphine nodded, her eyes full of gratitude, though her hands still trembled. Niko glanced between them before returning to his work, his focus intense.

Minutes passed in silence, the tension in the room palpable as the neuro-interface continued its delicate process. The corrupted data slowly gave way to clearer images—a flash of a street, a name, a voice Kael couldn't quite make out. Then a face—one that Kael recognized immediately.

"That's Voss," Kael said, his voice tight with anger. The image on the screen showed Dr. Elias Voss, standing in a sterile, high-tech facility, his cold eyes scanning the room. Seraphine was there, too, her face pale, eyes wide in fear. Voss was speaking to her, but the audio was distorted, his words a garbled mess of sound.

"Looks like we've hit something important," Niko muttered, leaning in closer. "I'll try to clean up the audio."

Kael's stomach churned as he watched the memory unfold. Voss had been working on something—something big. He had always been obsessed with the idea of total control over human consciousness, of bending people's minds to his will. And now Kael could see the culmination of those twisted ambitions in Seraphine's memories.

Suddenly, the screen flashed again, and the image changed. A document appeared—encrypted files scrolling across the display. It was a list. Names. Hundreds of them. Kael's heart skipped a beat as he recognized a few of the names from his days as a memory architect—people who had vanished without a trace, their lives erased by the memory industry.

"What the hell is this?" Kael whispered, leaning closer.

Niko frowned, tapping a few keys. "Looks like Voss wasn't just erasing memories. He was collecting them. Storing them. These people… they aren't just gone. Their minds have been harvested."

Kael felt a wave of nausea wash over him. He had heard rumors—stories of people disappearing, their memories sold off to the highest bidder, their bodies left as empty shells. But this… this was on a scale he had never imagined.

"Is this what he did to me?" Seraphine's voice broke through the silence, her expression filled with horror. "Did he harvest my memories?"

Kael shook his head. "No. You're still here. Your memories are still inside you, buried under the layers he created. But the others…"

He trailed off, unable to finish the thought. The others were lost—stripped of everything that made them who they were.

Niko's hands froze on the console, his expression darkening. "Kael, there's more. This isn't just memory manipulation. Voss was building something. A neural network… a collective consciousness."

Kael's blood ran cold. "A hive mind."

"Exactly," Niko said. "He's been gathering memories, thoughts, experiences from hundreds of people—maybe thousands. He's trying to create a singular mind, one that can control others. A super-consciousness."

Seraphine's voice trembled. "And I was part of it."

Kael nodded slowly, the pieces falling into place. Voss had wiped her mind, but only because she had stumbled onto something—something too important for her to remember. She had been close to the truth, close to uncovering the full extent of Voss's plans. That's why they had erased her.

Suddenly, the monitors flickered violently, and a loud beep echoed through the room. Niko's eyes widened as the screen filled with warning messages.

"Someone's trying to breach the system!" Niko yelled. "We've been traced!"

Kael's heart raced. "Can you stop it?"

"I'm trying!" Niko's fingers flew over the keys, but the data feed was collapsing, the encryption unraveling.

Seraphine's eyes went wide. "They know we're here."

Kael grabbed Seraphine by the arm, pulling her out of the chair. "We need to go. Now."

Niko cursed under his breath, slamming a fist into the console. "Damn it! They've got us locked in. I need a few minutes to break the connection, or they'll have us on every camera in The Verge."

Kael's mind raced. "Do it. But make it fast."

As Niko worked, Kael stood by the door, his revolver drawn, scanning the street outside. The Verge's lights seemed colder now, the hum of the city more ominous. Voss's reach was long, and if they had been traced, it was only a matter of time before his agents came for them.

Kael's pulse quickened. The memories they had uncovered were dangerous, but now they had something more—a weapon. If they could expose Voss's plans, they might have a chance to stop him. But they were running out of time.

"Got it!" Niko yelled, disconnecting the system. "We're clean—for now."

Kael nodded, ushering Seraphine toward the door. "Let's move."

As they stepped out into the darkened streets, Kael couldn't shake the feeling that the walls were closing in around them. Voss had tried to erase Seraphine's mind to protect his secrets, but now those secrets were out.

And Kael knew they were just getting started.