Chapter Eight: The Core Revealed

Chapter Eight: The Core Revealed

The door opened slowly with a harsh, screeching sound, as if it were a warning of some impending doom. Elizabeth wasted no time. She slipped inside, slamming the door shut just as a few heavy thuds echoed from the other side. The footsteps of the Cleanup Division were getting closer—each moment, more crucial than the last.

Inside, the control room was sleek, modern, and yet cold. Surrounding her were a myriad of screens flickering with streams of data. A massive central monitor illuminated the room, displaying complex charts and files. The atmosphere was clinical, efficient, and utterly devoid of warmth. Everything here, from the equipment to the programs, seemed intricately linked to life and death. Her gaze swept across the room, her heartbeat accelerating.

"Victoria, I'm in," Elizabeth's voice was steady but tinged with urgency. "The central control point is right here. What now?"

"Good. Now, you need to break into the central system's mainframe," Victoria's voice came through, calm and direct. "The central system holds all the core data of the Memento Project. It contains the identity of the client, the truth about your father's disappearance, and detailed information on the human memory transplant program. Only once you retrieve this data will you have a full understanding of the situation and all the answers you've been searching for."

Elizabeth nodded, feeling an overwhelming pressure settle over her. Each piece of data, each fragment of truth, held the key to whether she could navigate this labyrinth and emerge unscathed.

She sprinted to the central console, hands flying over the terminal as she initiated the decryption program Victoria had sent her. As the program started, a series of encryption warnings popped up on the screen. Each layer of encryption took time and resources to bypass.

"You know, the Memento Project was never just about memory transplantation," Victoria's voice echoed through the comm. Her tone was unnervingly calm. "Its true purpose was to control and manipulate human memory, to even alter the very flow of memories themselves. The client—and even your father—may have been nothing more than test subjects."

Elizabeth froze for a moment, her fingers halting on the keyboard. A surge of emotion flooded her chest. She had never considered that her father's disappearance might be tied to this grand, twisted experiment. All the clues, the watch, the fragments of memories—all of it pointed toward something far bigger than she had ever imagined.

"You mean... my father's disappearance could be part of this massive experiment?" she whispered, eyes still glued to the screen. Her mind raced, but she didn't dare slow her pace.

"Yes," Victoria responded, her voice soft but laden with gravity. "Your father's disappearance is part of the Memento Project, and you—perhaps you've never truly been who you thought you were. The memories you've held onto may have just been dreams, carefully constructed by the system."

Elizabeth's heart skipped a beat. Gripping the edge of the console, she struggled to maintain her composure. She had always believed in the truth of her own memories—had trusted in the reality they formed. But now, everything was in question. Was she the same person she thought she was? Or was everything she knew simply an illusion?

"Keep going, break through the encryption," Victoria urged, her voice taking on an edge of urgency. "If you slow down, the Cleanup Division will be on you in seconds."

Elizabeth took a deep breath, forcing her thoughts into order. She pushed the doubts aside. The truth was within reach, and she had no time to hesitate. Her fingers flew across the keyboard, her mind syncing with the data flow. With each decryption, she felt herself drawn deeper into the virtual abyss, closer to a truth she wasn't sure she was ready to face.

Suddenly, the last encryption layer fell away, revealing a string of red warning codes. Elizabeth's pulse quickened. She knew, at that moment, she had crossed into dangerous territory.

"Victoria, the system's locked me out! I can't keep going!" she said, panic creeping into her voice. Her fingers hammered against the keys, trying desperately to regain access.

"Stay calm!" Victoria's voice was sharp, urgent. "You're close, but if you continue, the system will trigger a self-destruct mechanism. You need to find a way to safely exit."

Her time was running out. The footsteps of the Cleanup Division grew louder, the sound of their approach like the ticking of a clock counting down to her end. Elizabeth scanned the screen one last time, eyes catching on a hidden command buried deep within the data. It seemed to offer a bypass to the self-destruct mechanism.

"Got it!" she muttered under her breath. With a soft click, the main console's screen cleared, and the data she had been searching for materialized before her eyes.

The files listed the participants of the Memento Project in meticulous detail, from the experimental steps to the specific goals for each phase. And there, amidst the names, was her father's. It wasn't just a participant number—it was marked with a special code, one that signified "experimental sample."

But the most shocking revelation was her own name, also listed among a series of high-level experiments. She wasn't just a bystander in this twisted project—she was part of it. Her memories, her life, her very existence—everything she knew had been manipulated, twisted into the plan's machinations.

"This... this is the truth about my father's disappearance?" Elizabeth whispered in disbelief. "What have they implanted in me? How much of my memory is real?"

The flashing lights on the screen seemed to blink in time with her heartbeat, as if mocking her, offering her the uncomfortable truth that her entire life might have been an illusion.

Before she could process more, a loud pounding at the door cut through her thoughts. The Cleanup Division had found her.

"Victoria, hurry! I need an exit!" Her voice was sharp, almost desperate.

"Go!" Victoria's voice came through urgently. "There's an emergency tunnel at the far end of the control room. It leads directly to the surface. If you can get out, you'll keep the core data safe—for now."

Elizabeth didn't waste another second. She turned, racing toward a hidden door beside the console. Her fingers trembled as she activated the emergency exit. The door creaked open.

As she stepped into the dark, narrow tunnel, her heart pounded in her chest. The truth was before her—but now, survival was the only thing that mattered.