Brooke's eyes were silent, direct, piercing. Not a flicker of fear. Not even surprise. It was like the laser gun in my hands meant nothing to her, like I wasn't a threat at all. What the hell was wrong with her? Only when Heather appeared behind me did she finally shift her gaze and smile.

"Look who we have here," Brooke said. "Heather Anderson, the missing Narval Officer..."

Heather didn't even flicker, and with a sharp, ice-cold tone, she said, "If you behave, we might let you live."

"So, it was true, then..." Brooke's eyes narrowed. "I thought my outsider moles had lost their minds when they told me Heather Anderson was planning to destroy The Orb."

She looked at Heather as if sizing up a deadly weapon. Then her gaze returned to me, sharp and condescending, like a mother chastising a child. "What kind of lies has she been feeding you?"

"You're the one spreading lies, and you know it." I said, my grip on the gun still firm just a meter away from her.

"If you really believe this nonsense about that super algorithm, you need to know it's just a story," Brooke said. "The rumors have been around for ages. But that's all they are, rumors."

"Let us test it if you're so sure." Heather said.

I knew Brooke had to know something about it. It just didn't make sense that the person closest to The Orb wouldn't have any clue about the algorithm's history, Heather's mother, or how her memories had been erased. What really puzzled me was how she couldn't see the other side of this sad story.

Heather pulled a chair from a corner and dragged it across the floor to where Brook was.

"Move." I ordered.

Brooke raised an eyebrow but obeyed. Our slow, measured steps echoed in the emptiness of the room. The lights, just as I remembered, blended faintly with the glow of the city filtering through the glass that wrapped around the tower. In the center, as I recalled, the large transparent capsule with its signature bluish aura stood tall, like a dragon's egg. It was cold. Almost as if we'd stepped into a freezer.

"Sit here." Heather said pointing at the chair.

Brooke sat down slowly, as if she were in no hurry, treating the situation like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Grace. I really appreciate you." Brooke said.

"Not enough to tell me the truth."

"What truth?"

"Don't pretend you don't know." Heather interjected.

"You're going to erase all human memories." I said.

Brooke sighed and made a dramatic roll of her eyes. "Oh, that."

"Yeah, that tiny little detail." I remarked.

Brooke placed her hand on her forehead as if she were tired. I'm telling you, it was all an act, and then she looked at me sadly.

"You might not get it, but this is the only way to keep people safe. Data doesn't lie. Since the wall went up, we've done everything we can to help humans survive climate disasters. But even with the Reg Bracelet, and all the new technologies we've developed, we still haven't hit the numbers we need for human survival. If we keep going down this path, extinction is inevitable. With the memory reset, we can save humanity and start fresh. It's the only way forward."

"That's just another lie!" Heather yelled.

"It's not." She insisted glaring at her.

It was hard to tell if Brooke was deliberately lying or if her mind was so deeply embedded in the system that she could no longer see beyond it. She grabbed my empty hand and stood up from the chair.

"Grace, she has manipulated you."

Heather rushed toward us as if fired from a cannon.

"Don't touch her!" She said and pushed her to sit on the chair again.

"Don't listen to her" Heather said to me taking my arm and pulling me a step farther from her.

Brooke observed Heather's hand on my arm and let out a long sigh. "I knew from the very first moment I saw you together, there was some shitty relationship going on there."

"Can't you just be quiet for a moment?" Heather said.

Brooke didn't even look at her. "I'm the only one who truly loves you, Grace. I protected you since the day I saw you in the Narval House."

Heather leaned in, grabbing Brooke by her shirt.

"I won't repeat it again. Shut. Up."

"Calm down Heather." I said, placing my hand on her shoulder.

Heather released Brooke, stepping back, visibly shaking. "Let's just do it," she said. "If I get inside The Orb's aura, everything will be over."

"Yes, it will." I said, convinced.

Brooke's ironic laughter cut through my hopes.

"That's true." Brooke said. "EVERYTHING will be over." Her smirk had that knowing look I hated so much.

"What's so funny?" I snapped irritated.

"Oh, you don't know?" She taunted.

I frowned, confused. "What?"

Brooke gazed at Heather with a twisted smile. "She hasn't told you?"

That's when I saw Heather's eyes drop, sad, concerned, and distant. As if avoiding me could shield us from the storm gathering around us. What hadn't she told me?

"See? She can't even look you in the eye and tell you the truth..." Brooke said relishing the moment. I felt my anger threatening to take control but I couldn't move. Those sad eyes of Heather's were way scarier than any orb, any officer, or any weapon in this damn messed-up world. What the hell was going on?

"What I told you... She doesn't love you." Brooke said.

Heather launched herself at Brooke, her eyes like fiery spears, blazing and possessed by rage. She took her by the neck. "I swear to God I'll shoot you if you don't stop right now."

"Hey!" I called out. "Calm down!"

Heather left her with a huff and turned her back to me.

"What haven't you told me?" I asked, feeling my worries invade my stomach like horrible parasites.

Brooke's eyes narrowed, slicing through the tension like a knife. "You don't think The Orb has no protection against external algorithms, do you? If Heather activates her algorithm, she might deactivate the Reg Bracelets and regain her childhood memories, but she'll pay a price for that..." She paused.

"What price?" My heart pounded painfully in my chest.

Brooke smiled. "One slice of her past... for a slice of her present."

Time stopped. A slice of her present?

"It's like a trade. Like a payback. Brooke finished.

My skin prickled, my breath hurt, and the world seemed to spin around me. What the hell did all of this mean?

"I'm sorry, Grace." Heather cut my line of thoughts with her whisper.

"What do you mean, 'I'm sorry'?" I felt alarm bells ringing in my head.

"Michael told me about it, they had discover this side effect... but I didn't want you to suffer and I made him swear he wouldn't tell you." Her voice trembled.

"Side effect?!" My heart raced faster at every second.

Brooke's eyes flicked upward as if searching the sky for patience. "Let me make this clear. She'll forget you, Grace. Forever. Vanished. Gone. All your memories together...Wiped. As if you never existed. That's how much she loves you, she doesn't even want to remember you."

My breath caught in my throat. My gaze flicked between Brooke and Heather, my mind scrambling to make sense of the situation, a situation I didn't want to comprehend. What...? Forget me?

Heather faced me, her eyes like thin glass about to shatter. "Grace, I love you. That's why I'm going to do it." Her voice trembled as my heart.

I took a step back, shaking my head. This couldn't be real. Not after everything we'd been through. How could she be willing to erase it all? How could she even think, for a second, that I could live with that? How could she believe that doing this was love?

"No. You're not doing it," I said. "You can't just erase our memories. That's not fair." My heart pounded so hard it felt like each beat hurt like a wild scratch tearing through my insides.

"I know." Heather's eyes flooded with tears. "But it's the only way. I want you to have a life. I want you to live freely."

"NO!" I shouted. "We'll find another way. You're not doing it!"

My tears betrayed me, spilling down my face in a torrent.

Heather placed a hand on my cheek. "You'll be okay."

"How can you say that?! I won't be okay! You won't be okay either!"

Suddenly, a shot resonated in the air, the sound piercing through the tension. The three of us were startled, turning to see the source of the noise. From the shadows of the entrance, Stella appeared, laser gun in hand.

"Enough of the show!" She said.

Brooke smiled, her lips curling like a snake. "Took you long enough."

"Stella, wait." I said to her as she aimed at Heather.

"Shut up, Grace. I'm sick of you."

"Stella. We can explain." Heather said.

"You two are always messing things up," She growled. "This ends now."

I moved toward Stella, knowing the risk, but not caring anymore. "Stella. Look at me. The system is broken, you know it. They took your daughters, remember what they did to them!"

Stella's face tensed as if I had touched an open wound.

"Stella, shoot her! They've gone mad." Brooke ordered.

"Wait!" I stepped between Stella and Heather. "You know us. We'd never harm you or your daughters. We're trying to fix this so we all have a future."

Stella's hand shook violently, the gun now pointed at me.

"Where's my daughter!?" She yelled.

"She's safe in my room." I rapidly answered.

Stella's eyes filled with tears. "How dare you touch her..."

"She's fine. We're not the ones who put those implants in her head to erase her personality." Heather said.

"Where is your other daughter, Stella?" I asked.

Stella's eyes filled with tears. Her whole body shook. A soft hiccups emerged as if she couldn't bear the answer.

"She's... she..." Stella mumbled.

"She served the system, and we are proud of her." Brooke finished for her.

Stella shot a quick glance at Brooke, bitterness flickering in her eyes. Then that same gaze, now filled with hatred, turned back to us.

"It's not that..." Heather said as if she had come to a terrible conclusion I couldn't even imagine and then she said, "She's dead, isn't she?"

Stella's face crumpled. The words were like a dagger, cutting her open. My heart skipped a beat at the thought of the tragedy, and I remembered Kate mentioning that the veterans' kids were the first ones to go through the new implant procedure.

Heather continued, "She didn't survive the new procedure, did she?"

"She was a privileged kid who just had bad luck." Brooke said.

"Shut up!!" Stella screamed. "They took one of my daughters away forever, and you kidnapped the other! You're all made of the same shit."

Stella was getting too agitated; her hand was shaking every time more violently. We needed her to calm down, or this could escalate in a way none of us wanted.

"Stella." I said trying to sound as calm as possible. I looked for her eyes, trying to sustain her. Trying to make her feel I was really seeing her pain and how unfair the destiny of her daughter had been. Then I realized. Her white and silver uniform was covered in red dots, especially around the chest and arms. Of course. Now I understood. Everything made sense. A deep sadness washed over me like a storm of acid rain. I looked at Heather, and I knew she understood it too.

"You killed Normand and Gabriel, didn't you?" I said.

Stella didn't answer. No matter how much I stared at her, I couldn't see the person I once knew. All I saw was pain and sadness, so much sadness in the eyes and heart of someone who had trusted a system that had failed her, just like it had failed Michael, Erik, Heather...

"We can put an end to this system." I continued. "Maybe you'll be able to remove the implant from your daughter and get her back. But that will only happen if you let us help you." I pleaded with her. "Please, put your gun down."

Stella fell silent, her breath coming in quick, shaky spasms. Her tear-filled eyes reflected in mine and Heather's. Brooke was the only one who watched the scene, detached as if she were stuck in a dull play.

Then, slowly, a miracle happened.

Stella began to lower her trembling hand.

But Brooke was faster.

In a blur of movement, she lunged, grabbing the gun from Stella's hands. Two shots fired in quick succession. I didn't even have time to scream.

Time stood still.

Bodies crashing to the floor. Blood splattered. My skin tightened. My lungs constricted. And then, it was as if my entire body became impossibly heavy, leaving me unable to move, only to watch.

I watched as Stella fell, her black long hair covering her face, the blood from her chest like a dreadful testament. Then on the opposite side, Brooke fell too. Eyes opened body still. A hole in her chest.

I turned to Heather, she was holding her gun, the gun that had been meant to protect Stella from Brooke but arrived late. Her eyes concerned observed the scene as paralyzed as me.

A bomb exploded in the distance, bringing us back to reality. We both gazed at the landscape. Dark smoke came from just God knows where, maybe the border, maybe the city... Maybe Erik or Kate... At that moment, I remembered there was far too much at risk. There was no time, even if everything seemed frozen. Every second was slipping away from us.

Heather undid her frozen state faster than me and hurried to Stella who was coughing on the floor.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Heather repated. "Grace! Give me something to cover the wound."

I looked around. There was nothing there. It was the emptiest room I had ever seen.

I took off my jacket. "Stella, stay with us," I begged as I pressed it against the wound to stop the desperate bleeding that was escaping everywhere.

Stella shook her head weakly. "No... no. You have to go. Security will be here soon."

Heather and I exchanged panicked looks. She was right. We were out of time.

"Take care of my daughter." Stella whispered. Her voice was so faint, I had to lean in to hear her. "Please..."

"You'll take care of her yourself." I choked out. My jacket was soaked, and my hands were stained red, just like Heather's. But I knew. We both knew.

Stella's eyes dimmed.

She was gone.

"No!" I cried, my vision blurring from the tears. Heather gently removed a strand of Stella's hair from her face, tears streaming down her cheeks as well.

The sound of approaching footsteps, guards, reinforcements, grew louder. Shit.

We both stood up, facing each other.

"You're going to do it, aren't you?" I asked, my voice breaking.

Heather nodded, tears streaming down her face.

"If I don't... everything will have been for nothing." She briefly looked at Stella and then, taking my hand, she walked me until we stood just a step away from the entrance to the Orb's capsule.

She was right. If we didn't do it now, all the deaths happening now, far away at the border and in the city would have been for nothing. But even knowing it was selfish of me, all I could think about was the painful fate this would mean for both of us: going back to being strangers, losing part of who she was and part of who I was to her, and losing our future together as well. Everything we were now, the depth of my love for her and her love for me, was the result of all those experiences and memories.

How could I possibly be okay with giving all that up? It felt like dying, a deep, profound death while still alive. A death of our love that could never be the same again.

"I'll never forget you," I whispered. "No matter what. I won't leave you. Ever."

Heather's breath hitched, and instead of speaking, she pulled me into her arms. Her warmth surrounded me, and I held onto her, wishing I could stay in this moment forever, tangled in her, lost in the scent of her skin, in the feel of her heartbeat against mine.

When we separated, she didn't waste a second. She threw her arms around my neck and pressed her lips to mine, delicate and warm, fierce and sincere. It left an impression that would never fade. I wouldn't let it fade.

Then she looked at me one last time, stepping back and releasing my right hand first, then my left.

"I love you," she said. "That's the only thing I want you to remember. I'm so happy you crossed the border that day."

And with that, she turned and dove into the Orb's shimmering aura, her silhouette dissolving into waves of ethereal bluish light. 

Author's Note:

Hey there!😊

How's it going? I just wanted to let you know that writing this chapter was tough... I'm not completely sold on some of the style choices I made. I might tweak it in the future. But I really hope you like it!! 

The content is exactly what I had in mind for the story! What did you think about Heather's decision at the end? 

Let me know! Love you lots. 💖💖💖💖💖💖

Ava💫