Chapter 134: The Houston’s
The white swallowed everything.
David couldn’t see.
Couldn’t hear.
Couldn’t feel the floor beneath his feet.
For a moment, he wondered if he’d died.
Then something touched his shoulder.
He turned.
Nothing.
Another touch.
This time, on the back of his neck.
A memory surfaced.
A hand.
Small fingers.
Someone holding him.
A woman’s voice.
"Don’t be afraid."
David froze.
He knew that voice.
But he couldn’t place it.
Another image appeared.
A hallway.
White walls.
Bright lights.
His younger self walking barefoot beside someone in a white coat.
He looked terrified.
David tried to reach for the memory.
It slipped away.
Then another replaced it.
A room.
Seven circles painted across the floor.
The same seven pillars.
But they were new.
Clean.
Unused.
Seven people stood around them.
Samuel was younger.
Elaine was younger too.
And standing in the center—
David.
Sixteen years old.
His younger self looked at the others.
"Are you sure this will work?"
Samuel answered.
"We don’t have another choice."
David remembered the fear on the boy’s face.
Not fear of the room.
Fear of what was inside him.
The memory shifted.
A machine was connected to his chest.
Energy began flowing through the seven circles.
The lights flickered.
Elaine shouted something.
David couldn’t hear it.
Then the machine exploded.
The memory shattered.
David opened his eyes.
He was back in the chamber.
He dropped to one knee.
His hand pressed against the stone floor.
His breathing was heavy.
Elaine immediately moved toward him.
"David."
He looked up.
She was there.
Samuel was there.
The creatures were still standing between him and the black mass.
And the younger version of himself was gone.
David’s eyes widened.
"Where is he?"
Elaine looked confused.
"Who?"
"The boy."
"What boy?"
David stared at her.
Samuel’s expression was different.
He knew.
David slowly stood.
"You can’t see him?"
Elaine shook her head.
"There is no one there."
David looked toward the seven circles.
Empty.
The younger version of himself had disappeared.
Only the pillars remained.
And the seventh door was still open.
David swallowed.
"Then who was I talking to?"
Nobody answered.
The black creature moved.
Every person in the chamber immediately tensed.
David didn’t.
Something had changed.
The pressure in his chest was gone.
The thing standing beyond the seventh door no longer felt like a threat.
It felt familiar.
Far too familiar.
The creature slowly extended one of its limbs.
David watched it approach.
Elaine raised her weapon.
"Don’t."
David held up his hand.
"Wait."
The limb stopped.
A faint pulse moved through the creature.
David felt the same pulse in his chest.
Once.
Twice.
Then the creature withdrew.
Samuel stared at David.
"You remembered."
"Not everything."
"Enough."
David looked at him.
"You knew."
Samuel didn’t deny it.
"You knew what I was."
"I knew what you could become."
David’s expression hardened.
"That’s not the same answer."
"No."
Samuel glanced at the seventh door.
"It’s the only answer I can give you right now."
David almost laughed.
"Of course."
He stood fully.
"Everyone here seems to know something except me."
Elaine lowered her weapon.
"That’s not entirely true."
David looked at her.
"What do you know?"
She hesitated.
Then she spoke.
"I remember you."
David’s eyes narrowed.
"From when I was sixteen?"
"Yes."
"What happened?"
Elaine looked toward the floor.
"You were brought here after the first incident."
"What incident?"
"The awakening."
David waited.
Elaine continued.
"You were twelve."
David’s expression changed.
"Twelve?"
"You survived something that should have killed you."
Samuel interrupted.
"Elaine."
"No."
She looked at him.
"He deserves to know."
Samuel’s jaw tightened.
Elaine turned back to David.
"You were the only survivor."
David felt something cold settle in his stomach.
"Survivor of what?"
Elaine didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, she looked toward the creatures.
"That."
The creatures had stopped moving.
Every single one was staring at David.
Not the creature behind the seventh door.
Him.
David slowly turned.
Hundreds of eyes remained fixed on him.
One creature stepped forward.
Then dropped to its knees.
Another followed.
Then another.
Within seconds, the entire chamber was kneeling.
David stared.
"Why are they doing that?"
Samuel answered.
"They recognize you."
"As what?"
Samuel looked directly at him.
"Their creator."
David’s face went blank.
"No."
"They were created from your energy."
"That doesn’t make me their creator."
"You were the source."
David looked at the kneeling creatures.
The thought made his stomach turn.
"Then why did they attack me before?"
Samuel’s expression darkened.
"Because they didn’t recognize the version of you that returned."
David frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"You changed."
"When?"
Samuel looked at him.
"After you erased yourself."
David’s gaze shifted toward the seventh door.
"So when I forgot everything..."
"You became human again."
David was silent.
The words sounded wrong.
Too simple.
Too clean.
He didn’t like them.
"Then what was Version Zero?"
Samuel’s face became unreadable.
Elaine answered this time.
"Your discarded consciousness."
David looked at her.
"Meaning?"
"You separated something from yourself."
"Why?"
Elaine glanced at Samuel.
"Because you were losing control."
David remembered the white room.
The seven circles.
The machine.
The fear.
Then another fragment surfaced.
His younger self screaming.
Not in fear.
In anger.
The seven pillars had been glowing.
The creature had been inside him.
And someone had said—
’If you keep resisting it, it’ll consume you.’
David’s hand tightened.
"Version Zero wasn’t trying to kill me."
Elaine shook her head.
"No."
"He was trying to make me remember."
"Probably."
David looked at her.
"You don’t sound very confident."
"I’m a scientist."
Elaine shrugged slightly.
"I prefer evidence."
David almost smiled.
That sounded like her.
Then the chamber shook.
The seventh door began closing.
David turned.
The black creature remained behind it.
For the first time, it looked almost peaceful.
David took a step forward.
"Wait."
The creature stopped.
David didn’t know why he said it.
He simply felt that he needed to.
"What happens if that door closes?"
Samuel answered.
"It separates you again."
David looked at him.
"From what?"
"Everything you just remembered."
David’s eyes narrowed.
"And that’s supposed to be good?"
"No."
Samuel’s voice was quiet.
"But it’s safer."
The door continued closing.
David looked at the creature.
Something inside him pulled.
Not fear.
Recognition.
He stepped toward the door.
Elaine grabbed his arm.
"David."
He stopped.
"Don’t."
"Why?"
"Because we don’t know what will happen."
David looked at her hand around his arm.
Then at her face.
"You’ve been afraid of this moment for a long time."
Elaine didn’t deny it.
"Yes."
"Why?"
She looked at him for several seconds.
"Because the last time you remembered..."
She paused.
"You destroyed this facility."
David stared.
The chamber suddenly felt much colder.
"You destroyed it?"
"No."
Samuel’s voice came from behind them.
"He did."
David turned.
Version Zero stood at the edge of the chamber.
The black in his eyes was gone.
For the first time, he looked almost human.
David stared.
"You’re back."
Version Zero smiled faintly.
"For now."
Elaine immediately raised her weapon.
Version Zero ignored her.
His eyes remained on David.
"You remembered enough."
David looked at him.
"Did I destroy this place?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because they tried to take it from you."
David frowned.
"Take what?"
Version Zero pointed toward his chest.
"That."
The faint warmth returned.
David looked down.
Nothing was visible.
But he could feel it.
Version Zero continued.
"They wanted to separate the energy from you."
"And you stopped them?"
"I tried."
"What happened?"
Version Zero’s expression became bitter.
"I failed."
The answer surprised David.
Version Zero had always seemed certain.
Untouchable.
But now there was something almost human in his expression.
Regret.
"What happened to you?"
"I became what you couldn’t carry."
David stared at him.
"So you were the part of me that stayed."
"Yes."
"And the boy?"
Version Zero looked toward the seventh door.
"That was the part of you that remembered."
David’s eyes narrowed.
"And me?"
Version Zero smiled.
"You’re the part that survived."
The seventh door was almost closed.
David looked toward it.
"Then what happens when all three become one?"
Version Zero’s smile disappeared.
"That’s the question."
The door slammed shut.
The sound echoed through the chamber.
The seven pillars went dark.
Every creature lowered its head.
Then the system appeared.
[Memory Sequence Complete.]
David froze.
Another message appeared.
[Sealed Information Recovered.]
[Fragmented Identity Structure Detected.]
[Three Consciousness Signatures Confirmed.]
David stared at the words.
Three.
He suddenly understood.
The boy.
Version Zero.
Himself.
Three parts.
Three memories.
Three identities.
Then another message appeared.
[Warning.]
[Forced Integration Detected.]
David’s expression changed.
"What?"
Version Zero looked at him.
"That’s not good."
David turned toward him.
"What does that mean?"
Version Zero didn’t answer.
The warmth inside David’s chest suddenly became painful.
His vision blurred.
The seven pillars lit up again.
Not one by one this time.
All at once.
The creatures began screaming.
Elaine stepped backward.
Samuel shouted something.
David couldn’t hear him.
His heart was pounding.
Something was moving inside his mind.
Not a memory.
Not a voice.
Something deeper.
A fourth presence.
David’s body stiffened.
Then a voice whispered inside his head.
’You remember now.’
David’s eyes widened.
The voice wasn’t his.
It wasn’t Version Zero.
It wasn’t the younger him.
And it wasn’t the creature behind the seventh door.
The voice continued.
’So now we can begin.’
David’s blood ran cold.
Version Zero looked at him.
For the first time, genuine fear appeared on his face.
"David."
David barely managed to speak.
"What?"
Version Zero stared at the seven pillars.
"The seventh door wasn’t the prison."
David’s breathing stopped.
Version Zero looked directly at him.
"It was the lock."
The system flashed.
[External Consciousness Detected.]
[Origin: Unknown.]
[Integration Progress: 1%.]
David’s eyes widened.
Then the voice laughed inside his head.
And somewhere beneath the facility—
something began waking up.