Chapter 6 - The Truth Inside My Memory
The voice behind me whispered my name.
"Alyssa."
I turned around.
Nobody was there.
The command center lights slowly returned, one by one.
The officers immediately moved into defensive positions.
Ethan grabbed my arm.
"Don't move."
I looked at him.
"You heard that too?"
His expression told me everything.
He had.
The room was silent.
Too silent.
The security monitors flickered.
Every screen showed the same message.
PROJECT DAWSON.
Then the words changed.
MEMORY RESTORATION INITIATED.
My stomach tightened.
"What is happening?"
Ethan looked at the screen.
And for the first time since he walked back into my life...
He looked scared.
"No."
"What?"
He stepped closer to the computer.
"This wasn't supposed to happen yet."
I stared at him.
"What wasn't supposed to happen?"
He didn't answer.
That was becoming a pattern.
Everyone had secrets.
Everyone had explanations.
And somehow, I was always the last person to know.
I pulled my arm away.
"I'm done waiting."
Ethan looked at me.
"Alyssa."
"No."
I pointed at the screen.
"My name is on everything."
I looked around the room.
"My memories were erased."
I looked at him.
"My brother was declared dead."
Then I looked at the officers.
"And everyone here knew."
My voice became louder.
"So someone is going to tell me the truth now."
Nobody spoke.
Then Ethan slowly nodded.
"You deserve that."
He walked toward the main screen.
"There are things about that night you don't remember."
"I know."
"No."
He looked at me.
"You don't understand."
He pressed a button.
The screen changed.
A security recording appeared.
Date.
Twelve years earlier.
The same night of my first mission.
The same night my life changed.
The video showed a military facility.
I recognized the building.
I had been there before.
But not in my memories.
In my instincts.
My body remembered.
The way the hallway looked.
The way the doors opened.
The sound of alarms.
The video continued.
A younger version of me walked through the hallway.
She looked different.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
She carried herself like someone who knew exactly who she was.
Like someone who wasn't afraid of anything.
Ethan stood beside her.
Alive.
They entered a room.
A man was waiting inside.
I couldn't see his face.
But I knew his voice.
My father.
The younger version of me looked angry.
"You knew."
My father's voice answered.
"I knew enough."
"You sent us there anyway."
"I sent you because you were the only people I trusted."
The video paused.
I looked at Ethan.
"What was that?"
He didn't answer.
I already knew.
It was a conversation I had never remembered.
A conversation that had been stolen from me.
The video continued.
My younger self placed a file on the table.
"The people involved aren't just outside the military."
My father's voice became quieter.
"I know."
"They are inside."
A pause.
"Even here."
The screen showed the file.
PROJECT DAWSON.
My breathing became heavier.
Ethan looked at me.
"The project wasn't about creating a weapon."
"Then what was it?"
He hesitated.
"It was about creating a witness who couldn't be controlled."
I frowned.
"What does that mean?"
He looked at me.
"It means they couldn't erase the truth if the truth was inside someone."
I felt cold.
"Inside someone?"
Ethan nodded.
"You."
The room disappeared for a second.
I stared at him.
"No."
"Yes."
"I was a witness?"
"You were the only person who saw everything."
My mind started fighting against itself.
Images appeared.
A room.
A file.
A gunshot.
Someone screaming.
My father's voice.
Ethan's voice.
Then nothing.
A blank space.
A wall inside my own head.
I held my forehead.
"Why can't I remember?"
Ethan looked at me.
"Because you asked us to remove it."
I froze.
"What?"
The words didn't make sense.
"You asked us?"
He nodded.
"You knew they would come after you."
I shook my head.
"No."
"You did."
He opened another file.
A recording.
Not from the mission.
A personal message.
The title appeared.
ALYSSA DAWSON - FINAL REQUEST.
My hands went cold.
"Play it."
Ethan looked at me.
"Are you sure?"
I looked directly at him.
"Play it."
The screen turned on.
My younger self appeared again.
But this time, she wasn't in uniform.
She was sitting in a small room.
Her face looked exhausted.
Her eyes looked like someone who had been fighting for too long.
She looked into the camera.
"If you're watching this..."
She paused.
"Then I forgot."
I couldn't breathe.
Her voice continued.
"I'm sorry."
She looked down.
"But this was the only way."
A tear appeared in her eyes.
Not fear.
Pain.
"If I remember everything, they will find me."
The video shook slightly.
Someone outside the room was moving.
My younger self looked toward the door.
Then back at the camera.
"Do not trust anyone who tells you they protected you."
The words hit me.
Because I immediately thought of my father.
"And do not hate your father."
I froze.
My younger self continued.
"He did what I asked."
The room became silent.
My entire belief about my father started breaking apart.
"He will let you hate him."
A pause.
"He will let you believe he failed you."
My younger self looked directly into the camera.
"Because your anger is safer than your memory."
I felt tears forming.
Not because I was sad.
Because I was confused.
My entire life was built on a lie.
But the lie wasn't what I thought.
The video continued.
"There is one person who knows the entire truth."
The screen glitched.
My younger self whispered:
"Find the person who started Project Dawson."
Then the video stopped.
I looked at Ethan.
"Who started it?"
He didn't answer.
That scared me.
Because Ethan had answered everything else.
Slowly.
Carefully.
But now?
Now he was afraid.
"Ethan."
He looked at me.
"The person who started Project Dawson..."
He paused.
"Was someone you trusted."
I waited.
"Who?"
Before he could answer, every screen in the command center turned black.
A new message appeared.
Not from the system.
Not from an unknown sender.
From my father's private account.
The message opened.
I expected an explanation.
A warning.
Anything.
Instead, there was a video.
A live video.
My father appeared on the screen.
He was sitting alone in a dark room.
His face looked older than it had hours ago.
"Alyssa."
He looked directly at the camera.
"If you're seeing this, then I failed."
I stepped closer.
My father continued.
"I tried to keep you away from the truth."
A pause.
"But I never expected you to find the one person who could destroy everything."
I looked at Ethan.
His face changed.
"What?"
My father continued.
"Your brother will tell you he saved you."
The screen flickered.
"He will tell you he died protecting you."
Another pause.
"But he never told you what happened before the mission."
Ethan stepped back.
I looked between them.
My father looked terrified.
Not angry.
Not controlling.
Terrified.
Then he said the words that changed everything.
"Ask Ethan why he was the one who erased your memory."
The screen went black.
Nobody moved.
I looked at Ethan.
He didn't deny it.
He didn't explain.
He just stared at the floor.
And then the secure door behind him unlocked.
A voice came through the speaker.
"Ethan Dawson."
The officers raised their weapons.
The voice continued.
"Step away from Alyssa."
May you like
The door slowly opened.
And the person standing outside was the last person I expected to see.
