Chapter 17 - Level Minus Four
The digital display skipped every known floor.
B1.
B2.
Then the numbers disappeared entirely.
Only a blinking symbol remained.
After nearly a minute, the elevator stopped.
The doors opened onto a corridor unlike anything Emily had expected.
The walls were spotless.
Bright white lights reflected from polished floors.
No dust.
No abandoned equipment.
Someone maintained this place daily.
A sign on the wall read:
LEVEL -4
No hospital blueprint had ever mentioned such a level.
Emily picked up the envelope left inside the elevator.
Inside she found an identification badge bearing her photograph.
But the name beneath it was unfamiliar.
Dr. Eleanor Hayes
Department: Cognitive Reconstruction.
Issue Date: Nine Years Earlier.
Emily stared at it in disbelief.
She had never used that name.
At least...
She didn't remember using it.
A nearby door slid open automatically.
Inside was a modern laboratory.
Rows of computer terminals filled the room.
Every monitor displayed brain scans.
Memory maps.
Neurological pathways.
One screen suddenly activated as Emily entered.
A prerecorded video began playing.
A younger version of herself appeared on the monitor.
Her hair was shorter.
She wore a white laboratory coat.
She looked directly into the camera.
"If you're seeing this," the woman said calmly, "our containment plan has failed."
Emily felt the room spin.
The woman on the screen smiled sadly.
"I know you're wondering whether I'm really you."
She paused.
"The answer depends on which memories survived."
Emily reached toward the monitor.
"No..."
The recording continued.
"You volunteered for the first trial."
Emily whispered, "That's impossible."
"You insisted memory could be repaired after trauma."
The woman looked exhausted.
"We were wrong."
Static briefly crossed the screen.
Then another person stepped into view beside her.
Daniel.
Younger.
Without a wedding ring.
Without hesitation, he placed a hand on her shoulder.
Not as her husband.
May you like
As her colleague.
---
