STOLEN MEMORIES

Selene stood in the doorway of Darius Vane's office, the morning sun slicing through the floor-to-ceiling windows like a spotlight on a stage. She didn't knock. She didn't need to. She dropped the flash drive on his desk. "Tell me about Project Ember." Darius looked up from his laptop slowly, his expression unreadable. But something flickered in his eyes - not surprise. Not anger. Fear. He closed the laptop with a soft click. "Where did you hear that name?" "You tell me." He leaned back in his chair, his fingers pressed together in thought.That's not something you just stumble across." "I didn't stumble. Someone sent me a message." "Who?" "I don't know." He studied her. "And you believed them?" "I believe what I just saw in your eyes." He stood, walked to the window, and stared out at the skyline. "Project Ember was never supposed to exist. It was a contingency. A firewall." "For what?" "For people like your mother." Selene's breath caught. "What does that mean?" He turned. "It means she wasn't the only one who tried to take me down. Ember was designed to protect the company - and me - from internal threats." "By doing what?" "By exposing them. Quietly. Legally. Strategically." "You mean destroying them." He didn't deny it. "She was your friend," Selene said. "I saw the photo. She trusted you." "She did. Until she didn't." Selene crossed her arms. "So you used Ember to ruin her." "I gave her a choice. She made hers." "You keep saying that like it absolves you." "It doesn't. But it explains me." She shook her head. "You're not a man. You're a machine." He stepped closer. "And yet you're still here." "I'm here for the truth." "Then you'd better be ready for it." He walked to a cabinet and pulled out another file. This one was thicker, older. He handed it to her. "Read it. Then decide if I'm the villain." She opened it. The first page was a contract. Her mother's signature. Dated six months before the collapse. The second page was a memo - from her mother to a board member. It outlined a plan to sell proprietary tech to a foreign investor. Off the books. Illegal. Selene's stomach turned. "No," she whispered. "She wouldn't-" "She did," Darius said. "She was desperate. She thought she could fix everything before anyone noticed." Selene flipped through the pages. Emails. Bank transfers. Meeting notes. All pointing to the same thing. Her mother had betrayed the company. And Darius had found out. "She came to me," he said. "Begged me to keep it quiet. Said she'd walk away if I didn't press charges." "And you agreed?" "I agreed to bury it. In exchange for her silence." Selene's hands trembled. "Why are you showing me this?" "Because I need you to stop seeing me as your enemy." She looked up. "You think this makes you a hero?" "No. But maybe it makes me human." She closed the file. "You still destroyed her." "She destroyed herself. I just didn't save her." Silence fell between them. Then he said, "You remind me of her." Selene flinched. "Don't." "She was brilliant. Stubborn. Brave." "She was my mother." "I know." He sat down again. "You're not here to intern. You're here to finish what she started." Selene didn't answer. "I don't blame you," he said. "But you should know - you're not the only one with secrets." She narrowed her eyes. "What does that mean?" He opened a drawer and pulled out a photo. It was grainy, black and white. A woman - younger, sharper - standing beside a man in a lab coat. "That's your mother," he said. "And that's my father." Selene stared at the image. "What is this?" "They worked together. Before any of this. Before the companies. Before the war." "What war?" "The one that never made the news." He stood, walked to the window again. "They were part of a government project. Something big. Something dangerous. Ember wasn't just a company protocol. It was a continuation." Selene's mind reeled. "You're saying my mother was part of this?" "She helped build it." "Why would she-" "Because she believed in control. In order. In protecting what mattered." Selene stepped back. "No. She was kind. She believed in people." "She believed in power," Darius said. "Just like you." She turned to leave. "Selene," he said. She paused. "If you really want the truth, you'll have to dig deeper." And it won't be clean." She didn't look back. Outside, the city felt colder. The sky had darkened, clouds rolling in like a warning. Her phone buzzed. Another message. "He's lying. Meet me. Midnight. Pier 19. Come alone." She stared at the screen. The sender was anonymous. But the timing was perfect. Too perfect. She looked back at the building. Then at the message. Two men. Two stories. And a truth buried somewhere between them.