THE PARTNER
Cassian Hale found them at dawn.
He didn’t break down the door. He didn’t shout. He simply appeared in the doorway, as if he had always been there.
Remy reached for her weapon.
“Don’t,” he said.
His voice was calm. Familiar.
“Cassian.”
“Remy.”
He looked older than she remembered. Thinner. His eyes were hollow.
“You’re working for them,” she said.
“I’m working for myself. Same as always.”
“The hunters. The men in black. You’re one of them.”
“I was. Not anymore.”
“Then why are you here?”
He stepped into the room.
“Because they’re going to kill you. And I’m the only one who can stop them.”
Juno raised her weapon. “Don’t move.”
Cassian ignored her. He walked to Remy. Knelt in front of her.
“I know about the memory. The alien memory. The voice in your head.”
“How?”
“Because I was there when your mother died. I was the one who tried to save her.”
Remy’s world tilted.
“You knew my mother?”
“She was my partner. My friend. The woman I loved.” He paused. “Your father.”
Remy stared at him.
“Bullshit.”
“It’s the truth. I didn’t tell you before because I was protecting you. Because the hunters would have used you to get to me.”
“Used me for what?”
“The memory. The alien consciousness. It’s not just a fragment. It’s a key. A key to something the oligarchs have been searching for since Mars was first colonized.”
“What key?”
“A weapon. A weapon that could destroy the domes. Kill everyone on Mars. Or save them. Depending on who controls it.”
Remy looked at Juno.
Juno looked at Cassian.
“You’re saying my mother died for a weapon?”
“I’m saying your mother died to keep that weapon out of the wrong hands. And now it’s in your head. And the hunters know it.”
Remy closed her eyes.
The voice whispered.
“He’s telling the truth.”
She opened her eyes.
“What do we do?”
Cassian stood.
“We find the weapon before they do.”
THE MEMORY DEN
They returned to the Memory Den at nightfall.
The bar was empty — Juno had closed it, sent the staff home. The extraction booths were dark. Only the neon signs still glowed, casting the room in shades of pink and blue.
Remy sat at the bar, a glass of water in front of her. Cassian stood by the door, watching the street. Juno was behind the bar, cleaning glasses she had already cleaned.
“The weapon,” Remy said. “What is it? A bomb? A virus? A machine?”
Cassian shook his head. “No one knows. The only record of it was destroyed centuries ago. But the oligarchs have been searching for it for generations. They believe it’s hidden somewhere on Mars. In a place only the memory can reveal.”
“The memory in my head.”
“Yes.”
“Then why haven’t they just taken it? Ripped it out of me?”
“Because the memory is protected. It’s encoded in your DNA. If they try to extract it by force, it will self-destruct. And they’ll lose it forever.”
“So I’m safe.”
“For now. But they’ll find another way. They’ll try to convince you to give it to them. Or they’ll try to break you. However long it takes.”
Remy looked at Juno.
“I need to know more. About the memory. About the voice. About my mother.”
Juno set down her glass.
“Then we need to find someone who knew her. Someone who was there at the beginning.”
“Who?”
Juno pulled out her phone. Typed. Scrolled.
“There’s a woman. She lives in the Spire. A retired extraction specialist. She worked with your mother on a project called ‘The Fall.'”
“The Fall?”
“That’s all I have. The rest is redacted.”
Remy looked at Cassian.
“Do you know her?”
He nodded.
“Her name is Dr. Elara Vance. She’s the one who implanted the memory in your mother. She’s the only one who can tell you the truth.”
Remy stood.
“Then let’s go see Dr. Vance.”