Read Online Undiscovered: An Unremembered Novella (The Unremembered Trilogy) by Jessica Brody - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jessica Brody
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those things. But she’s also vulnerable and naïve and tragically flawed. She’s the ultimate contradiction. You think you made someone perfect, but in doing that, you made someone so, so imperfect.”
The smirk instantly vanished from Dr. Rio’s face. I’d insulted him. His creation. His life’s work.
I felt a small surge of victory in my chest.
He stood up, clearly irritated. “Look, Lyzender. One transmission and I can get the Memory Coder back in here. Is that what you want?”
I glared up at him, my eyes challenging his. “What does it matter what I want? You’re just going to do what you want anyway.”
“I want you to stop.” Rio’s voice was back to its stern, even tone. “Stop seeing her. Stop filling her mind with thoughts and ideas. You’d be better off forgetting about her.”
“Not gonna happen,” I vowed. “Unless you or Dr. Alixter get in there and scrape the memories out of my mind, I won’t be able to forget her. And even then, I’m not sure it would work.”
Suddenly the chair Rio was sitting in went flying across the room, startling me. I hadn’t even realized he’d kicked it until it was smashing against the wall screen. “Don’t you get it?” he bellowed. “This goes beyond me! Beyond Alixter! You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into, Lyzender. She’s not one of your little freedom missions! She’s a trillion-dollar investment. I should erase your memories just to protect you from the consequences of getting in the way.”
“Then do it!” I yelled back at him, my eyes and throat and chest on fire. “Do it already. Take everything! Stop threatening me and just glitching take it all.”
Rio lowered his head, defeated. “I can’t.”
“You can’t?” I repeated in disbelief. I’d never heard a Diotech scientist ever use those words before. That was not the mantra of this compound.
He struggled for words, looking distraught. “Your mother. She asked me to look out for you before she left. She would be livid.” He took a deep breath, seemingly lost in thought. “After the last time…” His voice trailed off and I could tell he’d spoken more than he’d intended.
My eyes narrowed. “The last time?”
He offered me a smile that was faker than the scenery these walls projected. “I need you to forget Seraphina. I may not be able to erase her from your mind, but I can beseech you to trust me.”
I snorted at this. “You’ve got a lot of nerve asking for trust.”
I studied Rio’s reaction carefully. A flash of something that could almost be described as pain flickered on his face, disappearing a nanosecond later. “If you can’t trust me, then I can’t protect you.”
“Maybe I don’t need your protection.”
Rio moved toward the exit, slowly shaking his head. “You have no idea what you need, Lyzender.”
As soon as the door sealed shut behind him, the screens flickered back to life, filling the room once again with a warm sunset.
I didn’t know what was going to happen next. He said he wouldn’t—or, rather couldn’t —recode my memories, but he also hadn’t bothered to release me.
So what was I still doing here?
A moment later, I felt the sharp prick of a needle stab into the back of my neck. As my eyelids started to droop and I slipped into the looming darkness, I focused on the sunset that surrounded me. A picturesque view of somewhere far, far away. Somewhere without Diotech. Without Memory Coders. Without compound walls. I tried to imagine a life inside that illusion. A peaceful, serene world where a sunset like this was the only miracle to be found.
14: Cut
I woke up in my bed feeling groggy. My vision was shrouded in an unsettling white mist. I sat up and took inventory of my memories. I fought to remember how I’d gotten there, what had happened the night before. And slowly, reassuringly, everything came back to me.
The failed escape plan. Seraphina’s face as they took her. My conversation with Rio. Even the
The smirk instantly vanished from Dr. Rio’s face. I’d insulted him. His creation. His life’s work.
I felt a small surge of victory in my chest.
He stood up, clearly irritated. “Look, Lyzender. One transmission and I can get the Memory Coder back in here. Is that what you want?”
I glared up at him, my eyes challenging his. “What does it matter what I want? You’re just going to do what you want anyway.”
“I want you to stop.” Rio’s voice was back to its stern, even tone. “Stop seeing her. Stop filling her mind with thoughts and ideas. You’d be better off forgetting about her.”
“Not gonna happen,” I vowed. “Unless you or Dr. Alixter get in there and scrape the memories out of my mind, I won’t be able to forget her. And even then, I’m not sure it would work.”
Suddenly the chair Rio was sitting in went flying across the room, startling me. I hadn’t even realized he’d kicked it until it was smashing against the wall screen. “Don’t you get it?” he bellowed. “This goes beyond me! Beyond Alixter! You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into, Lyzender. She’s not one of your little freedom missions! She’s a trillion-dollar investment. I should erase your memories just to protect you from the consequences of getting in the way.”
“Then do it!” I yelled back at him, my eyes and throat and chest on fire. “Do it already. Take everything! Stop threatening me and just glitching take it all.”
Rio lowered his head, defeated. “I can’t.”
“You can’t?” I repeated in disbelief. I’d never heard a Diotech scientist ever use those words before. That was not the mantra of this compound.
He struggled for words, looking distraught. “Your mother. She asked me to look out for you before she left. She would be livid.” He took a deep breath, seemingly lost in thought. “After the last time…” His voice trailed off and I could tell he’d spoken more than he’d intended.
My eyes narrowed. “The last time?”
He offered me a smile that was faker than the scenery these walls projected. “I need you to forget Seraphina. I may not be able to erase her from your mind, but I can beseech you to trust me.”
I snorted at this. “You’ve got a lot of nerve asking for trust.”
I studied Rio’s reaction carefully. A flash of something that could almost be described as pain flickered on his face, disappearing a nanosecond later. “If you can’t trust me, then I can’t protect you.”
“Maybe I don’t need your protection.”
Rio moved toward the exit, slowly shaking his head. “You have no idea what you need, Lyzender.”
As soon as the door sealed shut behind him, the screens flickered back to life, filling the room once again with a warm sunset.
I didn’t know what was going to happen next. He said he wouldn’t—or, rather couldn’t —recode my memories, but he also hadn’t bothered to release me.
So what was I still doing here?
A moment later, I felt the sharp prick of a needle stab into the back of my neck. As my eyelids started to droop and I slipped into the looming darkness, I focused on the sunset that surrounded me. A picturesque view of somewhere far, far away. Somewhere without Diotech. Without Memory Coders. Without compound walls. I tried to imagine a life inside that illusion. A peaceful, serene world where a sunset like this was the only miracle to be found.
14: Cut
I woke up in my bed feeling groggy. My vision was shrouded in an unsettling white mist. I sat up and took inventory of my memories. I fought to remember how I’d gotten there, what had happened the night before. And slowly, reassuringly, everything came back to me.
The failed escape plan. Seraphina’s face as they took her. My conversation with Rio. Even the
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