Unforgotten(100)

I shake my head. “Why doesn’t he just create another synthetic being? He did it with Kaelen. If it’s that easy, then I should be replaceable.”

“My theory is that Kaelen was actually part of the original plan. They always intended to create him. A male counterpart. It makes sense. It was called the Genesis Project, referring to the first chapter of the Bible, which tells the story of the creation of Eve and Adam. Alixter always loved mocking anything to do with religion. It’s the reason he pushed to name the company Diotech, meaning God’s science.

“But making you was expensive,” Maxxer continues. “And I’m sure Kaelen was as well. If Alixter hasn’t told the Providence that you went missing—which, if he values his life and his kneecaps, I can’t imagine he would—then he’d have to pull another trillion dollars out of the budget to replace you. That kind of money doesn’t disappear without being noticed. He’d never be able to cover it up. No, he needs you back.”

“But he sent me here,” I argue. “Kaelen could have taken me back to Diotech at any time.”

“That’s where the little hiccup in his plan happened. He got sick. He needed the repressor. He knew you were the only one I would let near me. Then I’m sure he intended on having Kaelen deliver you back to the compound. Preferably before the Providence notices that you’re gone.”

“Okay,” I allow, trying to steady my thoughts in this spinning room. “But that doesn’t answer my original question. About Trestin appearing in 2013.”

Maxxer stands and walks to the bar. This time, she doesn’t reach for the strange green beverage. Instead she pours from a flask full of a light brown liquid. It looks like the same thing Cody was drinking at his lab.

“You realize how awful they are, don’t you?” Maxxer prods. “You see how they have to be stopped? How this plan can’t be allowed to continue?”

“Answer my question.”

“I just need to know that you understand what I’m fighting against.”

“Fine,” I say, losing my patience. If I even had any to start with. “I understand.”

“The truth is, it wasn’t an accident that you landed in 2013.” Maxxer takes a gulp and exhales loudly. “I sent you there.”

Whether my legs are working now or not is irrelevant. I launch to my feet, wobbling slightly on the way up. “Y-y-you did WHAT?”

“After I fled the compound, I used to return from time to time to”—she hesitates, looking anxious—“visit. In secret, obviously.”

“Visit?” I repeat. “Who?”

Her hands get fidgety. “Mostly Dr. Rio. He and I were … close. He was the only person on the compound who I shared my research with.”

Close?

“Anyway, during one of my … visits,” Maxxer says, “Rio told me about your request for the transession gene so that you could run away with Zen. He also told me that you’d asked him to wipe your memories before you left. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. But then later, as I started to gather information about the Providence and their developments, I transessed back to the compound the night before you left. I implanted a trigger in your mind. A trigger that would send you to 2013 instead of 1609.”

“You let go.”

Zen was right. I did let go. I was programmed to let go. That’s what went wrong. That’s how we got separated. And all this time Maxxer knew.

“I’m sorry,” she offers, and somehow her apology feels genuine. Heartfelt. But it doesn’t matter. Everything is beyond apologies now.

“Why?” I ask, my voice breaking. My body dissolving. I sink back into the couch. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I needed you,” Maxxer says, her voice dripping with desperation. “I needed you to join the alliance. To fight the fight.”

“I didn’t ask to fight your fight!” I scream. “I didn’t ask for any of this!”

“I know,” Maxxer admits, looking distraught. “I just … someone had to get to Cody Carlson.”

“Cody?” I repeat. “What does he have to do with it?”

“More than you know,” she responds. “We have reason to believe that the Providence is funding his research. That the breakthrough he is about to make will pave the way to everything that’s coming. The problem is, we still can’t identify even one member of the organization. They are that secret. Cody was our only lead. But adults are hard to crack. They’re not very trusting. We couldn’t just show up today and demand he provide us with information. But if there was someone he trusted. Someone he’d known for a while…”