The Seventh | A Dark Matter Fanfiction | Two (Portia Lin)

Chapter 8

Five frantically followed Six through the corridor, her eyes wide with desperation.

"Don't! Please!" she pleaded, trying to stop Six from storming the bridge and confronting Two, but her efforts proved futile.

Six barreled into the bridge, his face a mask of fury. "She has all our memories in her head?! And you knew it?!" he shouted, glaring at Two.

Two faced him calmly,"I knew that's what she thought," she replied evenly.

"And you told her to keep quiet about it? Why?" Six demanded, his voice rising.

"I wanted to make sure," Two said, unfazed and maintaining her composure.

"Yeah? How'd you plan on doing that?" Six shot back, his anger unabated.

<>

The discussion had been moved to the mess hall, where the entire crew had been called in. Two stood at the head of the table, trying to explain the situation as clearly as possible.

"She's been having dreams. Dreams she thinks might be memories, except they're not just hers," Two began.

"What?" Three interjected, looking bewildered.

"I think all of our memories may have somehow been transferred into her subconscious," Two explained.

"How's that even possible?" One asked, incredulous.

"How's any of this possible?" Six echoed, frustration evident in his tone.

"There's something else," Two continued. "One of the dreams she experienced was of one of us sabotaging the stasis pods."

"Son of a bitch," Three muttered.

"Hang on," One cautioned. "Just because she dreamed it, doesn't make it real."

"I had the Android search through all terminal activity prior to our last deep sleep," Two added.

"And?!" One prompted, his impatience growing.

The Android stepped forward, her voice calm and measured. "I recovered portions of a self-deleted subroutine that was initiated prior to all of you entering stasis. Although its specific intent is unclear, it would appear your memories were targeted."

"Oh, come on guys. How hard can this be?" Three said, exasperated.

"The kid remembers doing it. She did it!" Five exclaimed, her voice trembling.

"If it was her, why would she tell us about it? Think about it," Seven pointed out, his voice calm and logical.

"Alright, alright, come on," Two interjected, trying to maintain order.

"Why didn't you tell us about this sooner?" One demanded, his eyes fixed on Two.

"I wanted to see if her dream about tampering with the ship's systems checked out. It did, which means this goes far beyond that one memory. She could have all of our memories tucked away in her head," Two explained.

One turned to Five, his expression a mix of concern and curiosity. "When you dream, you have no idea whose memories you're experiencing?"

"No. In the dreams, everything is happening to me but, sometimes, I can tell I'm not me. It's really confusing and, a lot of times, kinda hazy. I have trouble remembering it when I wake up," Five said, her voice wavering.

Six looked around the room, his face grim. "So someone in this room wiped our memories and probably killed that kid."

The room fell silent, the weight of Six's words sinking in. Suddenly, the lights around them flickered, turning on and off sporadically. The ship's alarm blared, echoing through the mess hall.