The Man Beyond The Map

CHAPTER 34 — YOU WERE HERE BEFORE

The engine grew louder.

Not fast.

Heavy.

Deliberate.

Something large was moving through the jungle.

Marcus immediately stepped away from the monitors.

“Lights off.”

Kane killed the main switch.

The room disappeared into darkness.

Only the emergency strip along the floor remained.

Red.

Thin.

Barely enough to see.

I looked at Aria.

She was still pointing toward the jungle.

“Under the place where we first met,” I whispered.

She nodded.

“You're sure?”

“No.”

Her voice was barely audible.

“But I remember being there.”

Daniel moved toward the window.

“Then we don't have much time.”

Marcus looked at him.

“Why?”

Daniel pulled back the curtain by an inch.

Outside, between the trees, a light moved.

White.

Then another.

Headlights.

Three vehicles.

“No,” Daniel said.

“Who are they?” I asked.

He released the curtain.

“Meridian.”

Kane shook his head.

“Meridian was dismantled.”

Daniel looked at him.

“Officially.”

Marcus reached for his radio.

Nothing.

He tried again.

Static.

“Jammed.”

Kane checked his own.

“Same.”

I walked toward the door.

Marcus blocked me.

“Where are you going?”

“To the temple.”

“We don't know what's there.”

“We know someone wants us there.”

“That isn't a reason to walk into a trap.”

I looked at him.

“It's the only lead we've got.”

Daniel nodded.

“He's right.”

Marcus glanced at him.

“You're not helping.”

“I rarely do.”

A vehicle passed somewhere beyond the trees.

Branches snapped.

Then silence.

Marcus made his decision.

“Five minutes.”

Kane looked at him.

“Five?”

“We move before they reach the facility.”

He turned toward me.

“You stay between me and Kane.”

“Why?”

“Because I don't trust either of you.”

Kane almost smiled.

“Fair.”

Aria stood.

I reached for her hand.

She hesitated.

Then took it.

Her fingers were cold.

“Ready?”

“No.”

“Good.”

She looked at me.

“Neither am I.”

We left through the rear entrance.

The jungle swallowed us.

Rain had stopped, but water dripped constantly from the leaves.

Every step made noise.

Mud pulled at our boots.

The air smelled of wet soil and vegetation.

Marcus moved first.

Kane followed.

Daniel stayed behind us.

Aria walked beside me.

I kept scanning the trees.

Nothing.

No birds.

No insects.

That bothered me.

A jungle should never be this quiet.

We moved for several minutes.

Then Aria stopped.

“Here.”

Marcus turned.

“Here what?”

She pointed.

There was nothing there.

Just trees.

Vines.

A broken stone formation.

I looked at her.

“You're sure?”

She nodded.

“I remember this place.”

She stepped forward.

I followed.

She brushed aside a curtain of vines.

Behind it was a concrete wall.

Old.

Cracked.

Almost completely buried beneath vegetation.

Marcus crouched.

He wiped mud away from the surface.

A symbol appeared.

Seven circles.

The same symbol we had seen throughout the facility.

Kane stared at it.

“That's not a Meridian logo.”

“No,” Daniel said.

Marcus looked at him.

“Then what is it?”

“An internal designation.”

“For what?”

Daniel didn't answer.

I touched the wall.

Nothing happened.

No vision.

No voice.

Just cold concrete.

I almost felt relieved.

Maybe this was finally something I could understand.

Marcus found a narrow seam.

He pressed against it.

Nothing.

Kane searched the ground.

“There.”

A metal plate was partially buried under the mud.

He cleared it.

A keypad.

Marcus looked at me.

“Try your code.”

I shook my head.

“I don't know the code.”

“You opened the other door.”

“I guessed.”

“You didn't guess.”

He stepped aside.

I crouched.

The keypad had six numbers.

My mind went blank.

Then something surfaced.

Not a memory.

A pattern.

I entered:

1-7-0-4-2-9.

The light turned green.

The wall clicked.

A section of concrete shifted inward.

Aria stepped back.

“What is that?”

“A door,” I said.

Daniel looked at me.

“You've been here before.”

I stared at him.

“How do you know?”

“Because you opened it without thinking.”

Marcus entered first.

His flashlight swept across the darkness.

A staircase descended beneath the jungle.

Concrete.

Metal handrails.

Modern construction.

We went down.

Ten steps.

Twenty.

Thirty.

The temperature dropped.

The smell changed.

Damp earth disappeared.

Now there was oil.

Metal.

Old electrical equipment.

At the bottom was another corridor.

Unlike the facility above, this one had no dust.

Someone had been here recently.

Marcus held up a fist.

We stopped.

He pointed toward the floor.

Fresh boot prints.

Multiple people.

Kane crouched.

“Less than an hour old.”

Daniel looked at me.

“They knew we'd come.”

I said nothing.

We continued.

The corridor ended at a large steel door.

Unlike the others, this one had no keypad.

Just a small rectangular window.

Marcus looked through it.

His face changed.

“What?”

He didn't answer.

I stepped beside him.

Inside was a room.

A chair.

Straps.

Medical equipment.

Cameras.

And a wall covered in photographs.

Hundreds of them.

I recognized several faces.

Soldiers.

Scientists.

Missing personnel.

People from the old files.

Then I saw myself.

Not once.

Dozens of times.

Different years.

Different uniforms.

Different haircuts.

Different scars.

Some photographs were dated before I had even joined the military.

I stepped away.

“That isn't possible.”

Daniel spoke quietly.

“It is.”

“How?”

“Some are you.”

I looked at him.

“Some?”

He pointed.

“Some are copies.”

My eyes moved across the photographs.

Same face.

Different names.

SUBJECT E.C.

SUBJECT R-17.

DANIEL REED.

ADAM CROSS.

MICHAEL VOSS.

The names kept going.

But the face remained mine.

My stomach turned.

“They weren't creating identities.”

Daniel shook his head.

“No.”

“They were creating replacements.”

“Yes.”

Marcus looked at him.

“For what?”

Daniel didn't answer.

Kane did.

“For people who couldn't be controlled.”

Silence.

I looked at Kane.

“What does that mean?”

He stared through the glass.

“It means Meridian wasn't just studying memory.”

He pointed toward the room.

“They were studying what happened when you replaced a person's memories with someone else's.”

Aria's face tightened.

“So people could be replaced.”

“Not physically,” Kane said.

“Psychologically.”

I looked at the photographs again.

My face.

Different names.

Different lives.

Different histories.

A horrible possibility formed in my mind.

“What happened to the originals?”

Daniel answered.

“Some were discharged.”

“And the rest?”

He looked at the floor.

“Some disappeared.”

Aria whispered:

“Like Daniel.”

He nodded.

“Like me.”

A sound came from behind the steel door.

Everyone froze.

Three knocks.

Slow.

Deliberate.

Marcus raised his weapon.

“Who's there?”

Nothing.

Another three knocks.

I moved closer.

Daniel grabbed my shoulder.

“Don't.”

I looked at him.

“Why?”

“Because I know what's behind that door.”

“What?”

His eyes were fixed on the window.

“Me.”

The door unlocked.

Nobody touched it.

The handle slowly turned.

Marcus raised his weapon.

The door opened.

A man stood on the other side.

He wore a dark military uniform.

His face was covered by a surgical mask.

His hands were cuffed in front of him.

He looked at us.

Then at me.

He froze.

I froze.

Because I knew his face.

I had seen it in the photographs.

It was mine.

He slowly removed the mask.

He was older.

Maybe forty.

A scar ran from his temple to his jaw.

He stared at me.

Then he laughed.

Not because he was happy.

Because he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

“They brought you back.”

My throat tightened.

“Who are you?”

He looked at Daniel.

Then Marcus.

Then Kane.

Finally, back to me.

“You don't remember.”

“No.”

He smiled sadly.

“They really did it.”

“What?”

“They erased you.”

I stepped closer.

“Who are you?”

He swallowed.

“My name is Ethan Cross.”

The room went silent.

My own voice came out before I could stop it.

“No.”

He nodded.

“Yes.”

“I am Ethan Cross.”

“So was I.”

Marcus lowered his weapon slightly.

The older man continued.

“There were three of us.”

“Three?”

“Three versions of the same psychological profile.”

He pointed at me.

“You.”

Then Daniel.

“Him.”

Then himself.

“Me.”

I looked at Daniel.

“You said Daniel was a replacement.”

“He was.”

The older man shook his head.

“No.”

Daniel looked at him.

“Don't.”

“You're still lying to him.”

Daniel's jaw tightened.

The older man turned back toward me.

“You weren't the first, Ethan.”

I couldn't speak.

“You were the third.”

Aria stepped forward.

“Then who was the first?”

The older Ethan looked at her.

His expression changed.

Recognition.

Fear.

“You.”

Aria froze.

“What about me?”

He stared at her for several seconds.

Then whispered:

“You were here before any of us.”

Her face drained of color.

I looked at Daniel.

He wouldn't meet my eyes.

Marcus closed the door.

“Enough.”

“No,” I said.

He looked at me.

“I want answers.”

“You're not ready.”

“I've heard that enough.”

I stepped closer.

“I'm done being protected from the truth.”

Marcus stared at me.

Then finally said:

“You were brought here in 2009.”

I felt my heart pound.

“You were twenty-five.”

He continued.

“You volunteered.”

“For what?”

“Meridian.”

“Why?”

“Because your unit had suffered catastrophic losses.”

He paused.

“You wanted to understand why soldiers broke under pressure.”

I looked at the older Ethan.

“And him?”

“He came before you.”

Daniel spoke.

“And I came after.”

I frowned.

“Then why does Daniel look like me?”

Marcus answered.

“Because Meridian used your psychological profile to construct his identity.”

I felt sick.

“So Daniel Reed wasn't a coincidence.”

“No.”

“The pilot license?”

“Part of the cover.”

“The flight.”

Marcus looked at me.

“That was not a random escape.”

My blood ran cold.

“You knew I was coming here.”

“Yes.”

“Who sent me?”

Marcus hesitated.

“The program.”

“Which program?”

He looked toward the older Ethan.

“The final phase.”

A low mechanical hum began beneath our feet.

The lights flickered.

Aria grabbed my arm.

“What is that?”

Kane looked toward the ceiling.

“Power system.”

The older Ethan backed away.

“No.”

“What?”

His face had lost all color.

“It's starting.”

“What is starting?”

He looked directly at me.

“The part you were never supposed to remember.”

A monitor on the wall suddenly activated.

A countdown appeared.

PHASE TWO

SUBJECTS: E.C. / A.V.

MEMORY RECOVERY SEQUENCE

00:59

Marcus swore.

“Get out.”

The timer began counting down.

00:58

00:57

Aria stared at the screen.

“What happens at zero?”

The older Ethan answered.

“You remember.”

00:56

He looked at me.

“And when you remember everything…”

His eyes moved to Aria.

“…you'll finally understand why she was the first person they were afraid of.”

00:55

The door behind us slammed shut.

Locks engaged.

The lights turned white.

A projector descended from the ceiling.

The room filled with static.

Then a woman's voice came through the speakers.

Calm.

Familiar.

The silver-haired woman.

“Good evening, Ethan.”

Aria's grip tightened around my hand.

The voice continued.

“It's time to finish the experiment.”

The countdown continued.

00:49

And for the first time since arriving on the island

I wasn't afraid of what I might remember.

I was afraid of what Aria might remember about me.