Chapter 8: The Girl Who Came Before Me
The voice below me was mine.
Not similar.
Not familiar.
Mine.
I stood at the edge of the elevator shaft, staring into the darkness beneath the Resolute.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The ocean pressed against the walls of the hidden chamber, and somewhere far below us, something waited.
Something that knew my name.
Voss was the first to speak.
“That’s impossible.””
I looked at her.
“You said that a lot today.””
Her eyes stayed fixed on the elevator.
“Because it keeps being true.””
Ward stepped forward.
For the first time since he entered the chamber, he looked uncertain.
Not afraid.
Not yet.
But uncertain.
That mattered.
“You knew about this,” I said.
Ward looked at me.
“I knew the Meridian Device would activate.””
“That’s not what I asked.””
A pause.
“I knew there was a possibility.””
“Of what?””
He did not answer.
The elevator doors remained open.
Waiting.
The voice came again.
Fainter.
More desperate.
“Please…”
A chill moved through me.
Because the voice did not sound like a recording.
It sounded alive.
Kane’s voice came through the speaker.
“Hannah, step away from the elevator.””
I looked upward.
“You knew about this too?””
“Yes.””
“Of course you did.””
The bitterness in my voice surprised even me.
Every person around me had pieces of my life.
Pieces I never had.
Kane continued.
“There is something you need to understand.””
I laughed quietly.
“Another thing?””
Silence.
Then:
“Yes.””
I looked into the darkness below.
“Fine.””
My hand tightened around my weapon.
“Tell me.””
Kane hesitated.
“The Meridian project was never about creating a weapon.””
Ward’s expression changed.
“Kane.””
But Kane continued.
“It was about creating a bridge.””
A bridge.
The word felt wrong.
“What does that mean?””
Vale answered.
“It means the project was designed to connect human consciousness with something beyond normal human capability.””
I stared at him.
“You’re saying someone built me to communicate with something?””
“No.””
Vale shook his head.
“They built you because they believed you could survive contact with it.””
The elevator suddenly activated.
The platform began descending.
Nobody touched it.
It was responding to me.
The realization made my skin crawl.
Ward looked at the moving platform.
“The origin chamber.””
Voss turned toward him.
“You never reached it.””
“No.””
Ward’s voice became quiet.
“But she can.””
That sentence bothered me.
Not because of what he said.
Because of how he said it.
Like this was the moment he had been waiting for.
I stepped onto the elevator.
Voss immediately followed.
“Hannah.””
I looked at her.
“If you go down there alone, you may not come back.””
I nodded.
“I know.””
That surprised her.
“You know?””
I looked at the darkness below.
“No.””
I corrected myself.
“I know everyone has been deciding my future for me.””
I looked at Kane’s speaker.
“My father.””
Then Ward.
“Ward.””
Then Voss.
“All of you.””
The elevator descended.
“I’m done letting other people decide what I am.””
Voss stepped onto the platform beside me.
“I’m coming.””
I looked at her.
“Why?””
She looked almost offended.
“Because someone needs to make sure you don’t get yourself killed.””
For the first time that day, I almost smiled.
Almost.
Vale joined us.
Ward remained above.
I looked at him.
“You’re not coming?””
He smiled.
“No.””
“Why?””
“Because the Meridian Device does not open for me.””
The elevator doors began closing.
Ward’s final words followed us downward.
“But it was never supposed to.””
The doors sealed.
Darkness surrounded us.
The descent was silent.
Too silent.
The deeper we went, the stranger the ship became.
The walls changed.
Steel disappeared.
Replaced by smooth black material that did not look manufactured.
It looked grown.
Like the ship had been built around something already existing.
Voss touched the wall.
“Is this even part of the Resolute?””
“No,” Vale said.
His voice was quiet.
“It’s older.””
I looked at him.
“How much older?””
He stared at the surface.
“We don’t know.””
The elevator continued.
Then the lights turned on.
One by one.
Revealing a corridor.
At the end was a door.
No keypad.
No lock.
Only a handprint scanner.
My hand.
I stopped.
Nobody spoke.
Because everyone understood.
I placed my palm against it.
The door opened.
Inside was a room.
A simple room.
Not a laboratory.
Not a command center.
A bedroom.
My breath caught.
There was a small bed.
A wooden desk.
Books.
Drawings.
Photographs.
A child’s room.
Voss whispered:
“Oh my God.””
I walked inside.
Every step felt heavier.
Because this room was not built for an experiment.
It was built for a child.
On the desk was a picture.
A little girl.
Maybe five years old.
Standing beside Thomas Mercer.
My father.
But the girl wasn’t me.
I picked up the photograph.
My hands trembled.
“Who is she?””
Nobody answered.
Then a voice came from the corner.
“Me.””
I turned.
A woman stood behind a glass wall.
I froze.
She looked exactly like me.
Not similar.
Exactly.
Same eyes.
Same face.
Same expression.
Older.
Much older.
Maybe twenty years older.
The woman looked exhausted.
Like she had spent her entire life waiting for this moment.
“Hannah.””
Hearing my name from her mouth felt wrong.
“How do you know me?””
She smiled sadly.
“Because I was you.””
The room went silent.
Voss raised her weapon.
The woman didn’t react.
Vale stepped forward slowly.
“No…”
He looked at the woman.
“No, that’s impossible.””
She looked at him.
“Hello, Adrian.””
Vale’s face changed.
Like he had just seen a ghost.
“You…”
“I survived.””
I looked between them.
“Someone explain.””
The woman pressed her hand against the glass.
“My name was Hannah Mercer Cole.””
I stared.
“No.””
“Yes.””
She looked at me.
“The first one.””
My heart started racing.
“The first what?””
She looked toward the room around us.
“The first attempt.””
The words were barely audible.
I stepped backward.
“No.””
She shook her head.
“My father created me because he believed he could save humanity.””
She looked at the photograph on the desk.
“Then he realized he had created something he couldn’t control.””
I looked at the older version of myself.
“You’re saying I’m a copy?””
The woman’s expression softened.
“No.””
She shook her head.
“You’re not a copy.””
A pause.
“You’re the replacement.””
The word hurt.
More than I expected.
“Replacement for what?””
She looked at me.
“For me.””
The room became colder.
Voss stepped closer.
“What happened to the original?””
The woman laughed quietly.
“I died.””
Nobody spoke.
“Or at least that’s what they told everyone.””
She looked at Ward’s symbol on the wall.
“They erased me because I refused to become what they wanted.””
I stared.
“What did they want?””
Her eyes met mine.
“To activate the Meridian Device completely.””
The lights flickered.
The woman looked toward the ceiling.
“They know I’m awake.””
“Who?””
She didn’t answer.
She looked terrified.
Then the room speakers activated.
A voice came through.
Ward.
“Thank you, Hannah.””
I turned.
“You followed us.””
His voice was calm.
“Not me.””
The woman’s face changed.
A terrible realization.
Then the walls around us began closing.
The room was transforming.
Not a bedroom.
A containment chamber.
The older Hannah grabbed the glass.
“Run!””
I looked at her.
“Who are you?””
Her eyes filled with something between sadness and regret.
“The person you become if you trust them.””
The chamber locked.
And before the glass completely closed, she whispered:
“Your father didn’t create you to save the world.””
The lights went dark.
May you like
Her final words echoed.
“He created you because he was trying to undo me.””
