Manipulator (48 page)

“That was me,” Owen said. “The real me that was inside PRoGRaM. Marcus was there to pull the trigger once the false memory was in place, just so that it would stick.”

“All of this? Everything that happened? Was a test? To see if the memories would hold?” Victoria asked, confused as to why someone would go to such lengths to trial something like that.

“
Almost
everything that happened.” Owen spoke slowly in response, trying to emphasis the point.
 

“What do you mean by that?”

“Ethan wasn’t lying about Annie,” he answered. “They didn’t do anything to her. As far as Ethan was concerned, the test was only to see if the memories would stay in place in my head.”

“Then what happened to her?” Victoria asked. It was the
only
question left that needed an answer.
 

“Now that,” Owen said, slapping his hand on the table to hammer home his point before then going on to point at Victoria. “That is the million dollar question.”

Silence reigned in the air. Owen stopped pointing and put his hand back down into his lap, resting it on top of his other hand. Everything that Victoria had asked all along had led up to this point. Everything led up to this one question.

Where is Annie Archer?

“You didn’t make it to Redford Avenue, did you?” Victoria asked, already knowing the answer to the question. Owen didn’t answer. Instead, he shook his head slowly.
No.

“You know,” Owen said, suddenly changing his tone. “You've done well.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, surprised at the sudden change in subject.

“Disguising this,” he answered pointing a finger at the ceiling without breaking eye contact as if the answer was obvious. Victoria said nothing in return. She hadn’t expected this. She hadn’t thought of how she should respond in this situation. “I know what’s happening here you know,” Owen stated. “This isn’t an interrogation, is it?”

The tables were turning. Owen was in control now. Victoria said nothing as she stared back at him. Eventually, she started to shake her head from side to side with a wide smile on her face. It was the first crack in her tough persona that she had displayed throughout the entire interrogation. “I know where I am Victoria,” Owen said, finally figuring it out. “I’m inside PRoGRaM.”

PART SEVEN: VICTORIA

“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

Winston Churchill

Chapter Ninety Seven

Date: December 13th 2035

Location: Staten Island, New York

She’s not dead.

The room fell silent.

Everyone tried to process the words that they were hearing.
She's not dead.

“I sent her away," Owen said to himself, speaking at just the right volume for everybody else in the room to hear him. "I called her and I told her to hide. I told her to get out. I told her that something was going wrong.”

This is that time. Get out now.

“Oh my God,” Owen continued to say as he quickly stood up and began pacing around the room. “It’s all coming back to me. I understand it all now…"

He began stroking his chin and the rough stubble around his neck as he concluded his thoughts. "The fake memory which those bastards implanted of the car crash. The fact that Annie’s not here. My vivid and disturbing dreams." Owen walked over to where Nick was sitting and spoke excitedly. "It all makes sense!" he said enthusiastically. "We were just looking at
everything
from the wrong perspective!”

Nick stood up and stepped tentatively away from the desk. Owen dropped himself into Nick's seat as Eli walked over, eager to see what the man was up to.

“Here I was, thinking that this video message was regarding someone
murdering
my wife. Telling me that her crash
wasn't
an accident. But we were looking at it all
wrong
," Owen said as he eagerly opened up the refurbished video file on the computer. The one that started this entire mess.

"Watch it now," Owen said, "but bare in mind that when I recorded this, I knew that Annie was fine. I’d just phoned her and told her to go into hiding. I'd told her to get out and get down to our secondary apartment at Redford Avenue.”

Owen pressed play.

“Your name is Owen Archer. You were born on February 27th, in the year 2000. By the time you are watching this, you will be 35 years old. Don’t be surprised, I can guarantee you that this is real. Today, is your wedding anniversary, and Annie is not with you. But she should be, and there are people to blame for that. First of all, a very important address that you need to know. 45 Redford Avenue. That address will mean everything to you, and only you know why. I will keep this short, because I don’t have much time. There are three people responsible for Annie not being there. Their names are Marcus Ortega, Alex Morgan and Ethan Darkes. You must find these three. They, and only they, can tell you the truth about everything. They can tell you the truth about Annie. That’s because they had everything to do with it. Fight for the truth.”

*END OF TRANSMISSION*

“Now, when you look at it knowing
all
the facts, its message is clear. I was
never
telling myself to get revenge. I was simply telling my future self
where
Annie is. We’ve known all along. It’s right there in the video!” Owen shouted out as he pointed at the screen. “45 Redford Avenue!”

“But that’s where she died in the implanted memory,” Nick interjected quickly, confused by what he was hearing.

“Yes, but she didn’t die did she?” Owen shouted back. “It was all fake! Fake memories put into my head. They must have somehow combined with the real memories of where she was!”

“I never did iron out the problems I talked about that night at the meeting,” Ethan said quietly in the background. “You were the first real test, Owen. Anything could have happened in that head of yours. It stands a chance that your real memories combined with the fake memories we put in your head.”

“I was never trying to tell myself where she died,” Owen said, completely ignoring Ethan’s comments. “I was trying to tell myself where she is.”

She's not dead.

I was trying to tell myself where she is.
 

His words and thoughts sank in. “That’s where she is.”

Without even thinking about it, Owen knew his next move. “45 Redford Avenue," he mumbled to himself as he grabbed his winter coat from nearby. "She has to be there. She
has
to be…”

“Let me come with you!” Nick called out as Owen moved towards the front door.

“No, I need you here," he shouted back as he headed out. "I need to do this by myself. I’ll call when I have the answers.”

And on that note, Owen left.

This is the end.

Chapter Ninety Eight

Date: December 13th 2035

Location: Staten Island, New York

"I've been waiting for this moment Ethan," Eli said seriously and with obviously malicious intent. He pulled up a chair next to Ethan and turned it around. Slowly he began manoeuvring himself down onto it whilst continuing to talk. "I've been waiting for us to be alone. You have something that I need."

"Oh, is that so? And what exactly could that be?" Ethan answered back with a smile on his face, speaking sarcastically as he and Eli locked eyes with each other.

"Answers," Eli replied simply. "I want to know who you work for."

Ethan laughed to himself for a little while before settling down. "Don't you listen Eli? I don't know who I work for!"

"Veridian," Eli stated calmly, trying to get the conversational ball rolling.

"Yes," Ethan answered slowly, mocking his captor. "But do you know how many people that company employs? Thousands and thousands! Do you know how many divisions that Veridian has? Hundreds. Now, do you know how many secret Veridian research and development divisions there are?"

Eli tried to respond, but Ethan was speaking so fast that he couldn't get a word in edgeways. "No!" he spat out, continuing his rant. "Because neither do I. Finding one person in amongst all those people and divisions at Veridian is impossible, and you know it."

"Then you're going to get me in there," Eli said, refusing to take no for an answer. "Someone ordered a hit on me. Someone made all of this
personal
. As long as I'm breathing, I'll hunt them down."

"You know that I'll never do that," Ethan said menacingly without breaking eye contact. There was a silent stare-down as both Eli and his captive held each other's gaze, causing the tension to spike up massively in just a matter of seconds.

Quickly and unexpectedly, Ethan's arms somehow slipped out of the restraints that were supposed to be keeping him tied down. He quickly jumped up to his feet and landed a solid punch right into the base of Eli's chin with his right hand.

It was more the shock of the attack than the force of the punch that caused Eli to fall backwards out of his chair and onto the wooden flooring behind him.
That serves you right for sitting the wrong way around on that chair you arrogant prick.
Ethan thought.

He may have been caught off-guard, but Eli didn't hang around. With a small distance between himself and Ethan, he instinctively reached for the weapon that he hand tucked into the back of his waistband.

But unfortunately, he wasn't quite quick enough.

Just as soon as he pulled the gun out, Ethan was right on top of him. In a show of hidden strength, Ethan kicked Eli directly and powerfully in the stomach. It winded and paralysed him just long enough for Ethan to take advantage of the situation. He lurched forwards and reached down, snapping the gun out of Eli's hand.

He was down but not out, and Eli sure as hell wasn't going to give up without a fight. Springing up from the floor, he pounded at Ethan, uppercutting the man's jaw with a forceful blow, throwing the two men into a collision course of punches left, right and centre.

But Ethan had the upper hand, and had done from the start. Getting that first, dangerous punch in had given him a huge advantage. Ethan grabbed Eli by the hair with his free hand and spun him around, turning him into a human shield. Quickly, Ethan pressed the gun to the side of Eli's head, instantly bringing his struggle to a halt. Eli felt the cold metal of the barrel resting against his temple. A stark contrast to the warm, yet heavy breath of Ethan down his neck.

“Did you really think that you could hold me captive for this long?” Ethan whispered into his ear. Eli heard quick footsteps coming his way.
Nick.
There was no doubt that Ethan heard it too. Someone was running towards the room that the two of them occupied.

"Eli?!" Nick shouted urgently as he ran into the room, holding a gun firmly with both of his hands. He had heard the commotion and come running, but was a few seconds too late to do anything.

Without warning, Ethan quickly moved the gun away from Eli's temple and fired two shots straight into Nick’s chest. He had spotted the weapon in the man's hand, causing him to react quickly and efficiently, without second thought for the consequences.

Nick staggered backwards in shock and fell to the ground, a huge crashing noise ringing out as he landed awkwardly on the wooden floor below.

"NICK!"

"Do you see what you made me do?" Ethan said quietly into Eli's ear. The two of them watched as Nick squirmed in silent agony on the floor. Eli struggled hard against Ethan's arm, attempting to break free of his chokehold grasp, but the man was just too strong for him to fight.

Tighter and tighter. Ethan's chokehold became more and more restrictive, causing Eli to gasp out desperately for breath. Seconds passed and his vision began to cloud over. Unconsciousness was imminent. This was the end.

But uncharacteristically, Ethan released Eli from his grasp, pushing him roughly forwards towards where Nick slowly lay dying. "Kick me his weapon and his phone," Ethan ordered.

Eli stumbled forwards, disorientated and barely cognitive. Still, he followed his captor's commands to the word. This man was the border between life and death, a line which he dared not to cross.

Carefully, he kicked Nick's gun across the laminate flooring towards Ethan. Eli then quickly reached inside the dying man's jacket pocket, finding his phone and sliding it too across the floor. Ethan reached down and picked both items up, whilst keeping his own weapon trained in Eli's direction the entire time.

“It’s time for me to leave,” Ethan Darkes said.

But Eli wasn't listening. He was too busy trying to stop the blood from seeping out of Nick's chest. Too weak in himself to offer any form of help, Nick just lay there silently and purely focused on staying conscious.

Ethan began to dial a well memorised number sequence into the keypad of Nick's phone with one hand, whilst fingering the trigger of the weapon with his other. He hit the dial key and raised the phone up to his ear as he slowly began walking backwards towards the nearest exit.

“It’s Ethan,” he said professionally. “You can stop trying to kill me now, because I'm free. I think it’s time we met. I know that you've been tracking me. But I have news for you. I don't have that tracking device on me anymore, I placed it… elsewhere."