Chapter 6
Chapter 6: The Architect's Journal
Because the house was officially designated a secondary crime scene, the police allowed me to return under a strict escort to pack a few essential bags for Sophie and myself. I knew, with absolute certainty, that I could never sleep under that roof again. Every corner of the house felt infected by his shadow.
While packing an extra set of clothes from the closet in Mark's private study, my foot caught on the edge of the heavy rug. I pulled it back, noticing a floorboard that was slightly askew, the varnish scratched. Driven by a sudden, desperate urge for answers, I grabbed a metal ruler from the desk and pried the board up.
Inside a velvet-lined recess lay a thick, black leather-bound journal.
My heart hammered against my ribs as I opened it. The pages were filled with Mark’s precise, impeccably neat handwriting. It looked like a lab report, completely detached from human empathy.
Subject S. Age 5. Weight: 18kg. Dosage increased to 25ml via warm bath solution. Water temperature maintained at 38°C. Timer set for 65 minutes for optimal dermal and respiratory absorption. Results: Post-bath cognitive testing shows a staggering 40% increase in short-term memory retention, alongside a total, successful suppression of fear responses. The severe childhood trauma from the highway car accident last year has been successfully partitioned off into a subconscious vault. She remembers absolutely nothing of the crash or the pain.
My hands shook so violently the thick paper rattled. The car accident. A year ago, Mark and Sophie had been in a minor fender bender—or so he had told me. He had come home saying she was perfectly fine, just a little shaken up. He had lied. It must have been horrific, and he had used it as the perfect baseline for his sick experiment.
I turned the page, my eyes scanning the fresh ink from just a few days ago.
May you like
Clara is beginning to notice the time intervals. She is asking questions. Her maternal suspicion is an active threat to the timeline. I must accelerate Phase 2 before she interferes. If the compound stabilizes over the next three doses, Sophie will be the first human with an entirely editable, permanent memory archive. The private investors are getting impatient. The valuation of this data is priceless.
"Investors," I breathed out, the room spinning around me. He wasn't just experimenting to see what would happen. He was building a product. He was preparing to sell our daughter's brain to the highest bidder.
