Chapter 11 - The Version of Me That Never Existed
The voice came through the speakers.
My voice.
Not similar.
Not close.
Mine.
"Daniel."
I couldn't move.
The person sitting beside Lily on the screen smiled.
A smile I knew.
A smile I had seen every morning in the mirror.
Everyone around me went silent.
Claire covered her mouth.
Ethan stepped backward.
Even Victor looked like he had seen a ghost.
Because none of us understood what we were seeing.
A man who looked like me.
A man who sounded like me.
A man sitting beside my daughter.
"Who is that?"
My voice shook.
Nobody answered.
I looked at Alexander.
My brother looked terrified.
"Alex."
He didn't respond.
"Tell me."
His eyes stayed on the screen.
Then he whispered:
"That's what Genesis was trying to create."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
Alexander finally looked at me.
"A perfect prediction."
I stared at him.
"No."
"Daniel—"
"No."
I shook my head.
"Don't tell me there's another version of me."
Alexander looked away.
But that was the answer.
I looked back at the screen.
The man beside Lily leaned closer to the camera.
"You're confused."
I froze.
Because he was talking to me.
"I know you don't understand."
His voice was calm.
Almost comforting.
"But everything you've been told is incomplete."
I stepped closer.
"Where is my daughter?"
The man smiled.
"She's safe."
"Give her back."
A pause.
"You don't even know what you're asking for."
My anger exploded.
"She's my daughter."
The man looked at Lily.
Then back at me.
"Is she?"
The words cut through the cabin.
Claire immediately stepped forward.
"Don't listen to him."
The man on the screen looked at her.
"Claire."
Her face changed.
Because he knew her.
"You always believed you were protecting him."
Claire's voice shook.
"Who are you?"
The man smiled.
"You know who I am."
"No."
"You just don't remember."
The sentence felt familiar.
Everyone kept saying the same thing.
You don't remember.
You forgot.
You chose not to know.
I grabbed the edge of the seat.
"Enough."
My voice echoed.
"I want answers."
The man nodded.
"Good."
The screen changed.
A recording began playing.
A younger version of me appeared.
Standing in my old office.
But I wasn't alone.
Emma was there.
Victor was there.
Alexander was there.
And another person.
Me.
Another Daniel.
The younger me looked exhausted.
"I can't do this anymore."
Emma stood across from me.
"You need to decide."
"What decision?"
The recording continued.
Emma placed a file on the desk.
"Whether you want to save the world you built."
A pause.
"Or destroy it."
My younger self looked at the file.
"What happens if I choose wrong?"
Victor answered.
"You lose everything."
The recording stopped.
I stared.
"That was real?"
Alexander nodded.
"Yes."
"When?"
"Seven years ago."
My breathing slowed.
Seven years ago.
Before Claire.
Before Lily.
Before I thought my life was normal.
I looked at Victor.
"You knew."
He nodded.
"I was there."
"Why don't I remember?"
Nobody spoke.
Then the screen changed again.
The man beside Lily appeared.
"Because you chose me."
The words made my blood run cold.
I looked at him.
"What?"
He looked directly into the camera.
"You created me."
Silence.
"I wasn't created to replace you."
A pause.
"I was created to become the version of you who could finish what you started."
I felt sick.
"What did I start?"
The man looked down at Lily.
"You wanted to build a system that removed human suffering."
I remembered.
Fragments.
Research.
Ideas.
Late nights.
Dreams.
A world where people didn't have to experience the pain I had experienced.
I wanted to predict disasters.
Prevent mistakes.
Save lives.
But somewhere along the way...
something changed.
"You became afraid of your own creation," he continued.
The screen flickered.
"And you erased yourself."
I looked at Claire.
She was crying silently.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?"
Emma's voice came through the speakers.
"Because the truth would have destroyed you."
I turned.
The screen split.
Emma appeared beside the other feed.
Older.
Tired.
But alive.
"I watched you forget me."
Her voice broke.
"I watched you rebuild your life."
She looked at Lily.
"And then I watched you become the father you always wanted to be."
My chest tightened.
"Emma..."
She looked at me.
"I'm sorry."
The apology hurt.
Because it sounded real.
"What happened between us?"
Emma looked away.
"Daniel, before you forgot everything..."
A pause.
"You made a deal."
"With who?"
Her eyes moved toward the man beside Lily.
"With yourself."
I stared.
The other Daniel smiled slightly.
"I promised you that if you couldn't handle the truth..."
My hands tightened.
"I would continue."
"Continue what?"
He looked at Lily.
"The mission."
I stepped closer.
"Give me my daughter."
His expression changed.
For the first time, he looked emotional.
"Daniel, I can't."
"Why?"
"Because she remembers."
The words froze me.
"Remembers what?"
The man looked at Lily.
"Everything."
My heart stopped.
"She's six months old."
"No."
He shook his head.
"She's six months old now."
A pause.
"But her mind was awakened before she was born."
Claire whispered:
"No..."
The man continued.
"Emma discovered the truth."
He looked at the camera.
"Genesis wasn't studying humanity."
My blood ran cold.
"It was studying consciousness."
Nobody spoke.
The airplane shook again.
Harder.
Warning lights flashed.
Adrian shouted from the cockpit:
"We're losing control!"
Everyone moved.
But I stayed focused on the screen.
Because my daughter was there.
With something that looked like me.
Something I created.
Something I didn't understand.
"Daniel."
The other version of me looked serious.
"You need to make a choice."
"What choice?"
He looked directly into my eyes.
"Destroy Genesis."
A pause.
"Or lose Lily forever."
The screen went black.
Everyone froze.
Then my phone vibrated.
One new message.
From my own number.
I opened it.
A video appeared.
A live feed.
From inside the plane.
I watched myself standing in the aisle.
But I wasn't holding Lily.
Someone else was.
The camera moved closer.
And behind me, a second Daniel whispered:
"Don't turn around."
I slowly looked toward the reflection in the airplane window.
May you like
Because standing behind me...
was the person who had been controlling everything from the beginning.
