The Memoriam Files: Hearts ✔

| Chapter 19, History revealed

| How long will you play this game. Will you fight or will you walk away?

|Song: Let it burn, Red

|||

Lisa's P.O.V.

I sat facing Hans, who seemed very relaxed like we were going to have a nice chat about the weather. I took a shaky breath. 'Okay, spit it out.'
Hans nodded. 'Well, it's very simple really. I can't get your device out because, as no doubt you've noticed, it works different on you than by the others.'
I nodded, the glowing eyes,the killing instinct, yeah it worked different. A shiver crawled down my spine by the mere thought of what Wicked had done through me.

'The device placed in your head has another purpose than the devices from the other Subjects. Yes, Wicked can control them if they want to but what makes yours different is that when they activate it they can see what you see, your eyes turn into a camera. Which is why they turn red, so the vision you see can be shared with Wicked.'
I raised my eyebrows.
'Meaning that everytime you let them take control, you risk exposing your friends.'
Nodded slowly, my started beating faster. 'But that still doesn't explain why you can't get it out,' I said, my voice surprisingly steady.
'I can't because it is linked to your eyes, I could blind you if I tried to take it out,' Hans calmly said.

I bit my lip and nodded then, turning my gaze to the ground. So this was it, I had to walk around the rest of life afraid of risking the safety of my friends. If I even could stay with them at all. The thought of leaving cut like a flaming sword through my heart but I didn't really see another option.

Minho took my hands, I hadn't even noticed they were trembling but as soon as he took them they stopped. He gave me sad smile and I was glad his normal remarks stayed out.

'There is however a way for you to disable the device, it won't go out of head but Wicked shouldn't be able to activate it anymore,' Hans whispered.

I looked up at him, narrowing. Was he playing with me? Trying to make me feel better? 'What do I have to do?' I slowly asked.
Hans shook his head. 'You're not gonna like it.'
'Just tell me,' I groaned.
He sighed and rubbed his eyes. 'Fine, you need to remember.'
My eyes widened, my breath becoming uneven. 'How do you even know that? How do you know it will work?'

'I know it will because you told me so,' Hans said, speaking slowly and clearly.
There was no way I could have misunderstood him and yet my brain seemed to think that I had.
'We knew each other?' I whispered, my voice finally shaking.
Hans nodded. 'You created the device in your head on Wicked's orders. They never told you what they were going to use it for. You just thought you were helping them find a cure.'

I frowned as he looked at me, almost as if he was asking me permission to continue. 'Go on,' I whispered. My body seemed to be shaking with nerves but I had to hear this to get away from Wicked. And so I forced myself to listen.

'When Wicked took you and your sister the plan was simple, your sister would be sent up in Maze B with the other girls. You would stay behind and help Wicked with building the devices to remove everyone's memories, to control and analyse them. I was assigned to the same job and helped you with your task.'
A slight smile appeared on his face, as if it was a pleasent memory.
'I have never met a smarter ten year old. As the years went on you started to realise there was something going on that wasn't right. People disappeared, more and more Immunes were brought in. It was then you realised that going into the Maze, participating in the Trials, wasn't as safe as Wicked had always said it would be. And so you made a deal with Ava Paige that your sister would not be send into the Maze.'

He fell silent and confusion waved through me. If I made that deal, how came Dawn ended up in the Maze anyway?
'What did I do to keep Dawn out of there?' I whispered.
Hans sighed. 'You had to put the most dangerous device you had created into your own head.'
I nodded, not even surprised.
'After you did that it was harder for you to sneak around the building, always afraid they were going to turn it on.'
I frowned. 'Why would I sneak around?'
Hans held up his hand. 'I'm getting there. You created a test for you sister, you told her everyone had to take a test before entering the Maze. That way it would seem she had some choice in the matter.'

'That's just cruel,' Minho said from beside me. 'Why would you do that?'

But I understood. 'Because Dawn would never agree to stand by and watch her friends die,' I whispered.

Hans nodded. 'That's what you said back then and you were right. She was,' he fell silent, searching for the right words, 'upset, when she discovered about your deal. Though she never found out about the price you had to pay.'

I took a deep breath, trying to give all the information a place in my head. But it felt like I was swimming in an ocean with no land in sight.

'Once you discovered what Wicked was really doing, you told me you were going to do something.'

I shared a quick glare with Thomas, remembering his words on the Berg. He had worked for Wicked but turned his back on them once he discovered what they really did. Turned out we weren't that different.
'And what did I do?' I whispered, not taking my eyes off Thomas.

'You asked for my help, knowing how I felt about Wicked. Then with help of some colleagues, information from Thomas and some outside friends of mine you created an organisation with only one purpose. To take Wicked down.'

Finally I turned my gaze back to Hans. My heart beating like a war drum in my chest. 'I did that?'

Hans nodded, and to my surprise there was a hint of pride in his eyes. 'It was you who created the Right Arm. It was you who made people stand up to Wicked in the first place.'

My breath was caught in my throat and suddenly the room began to spin before it disappeared entirely.
Voices, faces, rooms fading in and out. I squinted trying to grasp something, anything and then, as if someone had put on a light in my head, I remembered.
I could see every detail, hear every word, feel everything.
Then I blinked and it was gone. I was back in Hans his living room and everyone stared at me.

'I remember,' I whispered. 'I remember everything.'