Chapter Two: An Unpaid Debt
The abandoned subway tunnels under Prague resembled the large intestines of a dead giant; Damp, dark, and reeking of static electricity. Here, out of sight of the Cognitive Crimes Unit, lies the "Cathedral of Memories." It is not a church of prayer, but a black exchange where souls are sold in digital bottles. Lucien walked blankly with steady steps, his copper glove groaning under his sleeve as if he were a living being sensing danger. He passed by the "wiped" homeless people; Those who lost their identities due to cognitive debts they could not repay, selling their childhood memories for a warm night or a dose of "liquid endorphins." Lucien stopped in front of a rusty iron gate. Behind her, an old man sat, his eyes covered by a strip of black leather, but he could 'see' more than anyone in Europe. "Lucien... the smell of fear is ten meters ahead of you. It tastes bitter, like rotten almonds," the old man said with a malicious smile. This is Jonas Varga. The mentor who taught Lucien how to knead memory like clay, and the man who once claimed to be his father's friend before memory became just a commodity. "Jonas, no time for metaphors," Lucien rushed forward, slamming his hand on the wooden table. "Elara is dead. And six others before her. All of them drowned in dry chambers. What did you do with those memories you sold me last month?" Jonas laughed softly, touching his old nervous system. "I only sell raw materials, my son. You are the goldsmith, you are the one who shapes them. If their lungs are filled with Danube water, perhaps you should ask the hand that fashioned them, not the hand that gave you the material." Lucien felt a coldness sweep through his veins. He approached the old man's face and whispered: "Someone called me. Threatened me. As if they knew I was looking into Adrian's file. Jonas... Tell me the truth for once in your life. Was Adrian collecting anything before he died? Was his death a mistake in the system or a settling of scores?" Jonas's features changed. The smile disappeared and was replaced by a mask of caution. "Adrian was an idealist to the point of stupidity. He believed that memory was public property, not belonging to 'Odyssia' or anyone else. He was planning to open the 'Archive of Pain'... the original copy of our history before governments decided on it." Suddenly, the walls of the tunnel shook. The sound of distant sirens began to approach. Cognitive Crimes Unit (ECU). "You have to go," Jonas said, pushing a small hard drive under the table toward Lucien. "This file is the 'residual echo' of Adrian's last memory. Jonas Varga doesn't betray his students for free, but he also doesn't die with them. Run away, Lucien... before you become just a erased memory." Psychological Confrontation: Adrien's Echo As Lucian runs through the side tunnels, the artificial intelligence "Nerv" implanted in his optic nerve activates. [Lucien, your pulse is over 140. Cognitive stress in your frontal lobe is rising. Do you want me to darken the emotions?] Nerv's voice was not an ordinary robot; It was an exact copy of the dead Adrien's voice. Lucien was the one who programmed this voice, as a form of self-torture so that he would not forget his brother's tone. "Shut up, Nerv. Don't touch my chemist now," Lucian replied, panting. [But brother, if you don't calm down, you will do the 'emergency protocol'. You know that the astronomical clock in your mind is approaching midnight.] Lucien suddenly stopped in a dark corner. He took out the hard drive and plugged it in with his glove. He knew this was crazy. Unprocessed consumption of the "echo" of the memory of a dead person can lead to instant insanity. But the hunger for truth was stronger than the fear of death. Lucien closed his eyes. Flashback: Flood 2039 (Raw Flashback) Lucian didn't see the images, he felt them. The taste of the water...it was salty this time, mixed with the taste of blood. Standing above the Epps Dam, Adrian saw (from a third-person perspective in memory), the winds uprooting trees, and the waters raging like a mythical monster. Adrian was not alone. There was a woman. Her hair is blowing in the storm. "Don't, Adrian! 'Odyssia' will erase you from existence if you spread the code!" The woman screamed. It was Líal nights. She was young, full of fear, not the iron woman shown on the news today. Adrien replied, holding a transmitter: "Night, people should remember that this flood is not a natural disaster. They set it off to take the lives of opponents! If we forget today, tomorrow we will forget how to die!" At that moment, Lucien saw something that was not in the official reports. The bullet did not come out of a gun, but was a "perceptual bullet"; An intense flash of light hit Adrien's forehead. Adrian fell into the water. He did not commit suicide. His consciousness was "disabled" to cause him to fall. Returning to bitter reality Lucian snatched the glove with a muffled scream. He fell to his knees, vomit almost coming out of his stomach. The astronomical clock in his mind stopped completely. The hands are no longer moving. Absolute silence settled in his soul. He saw the truth, and the truth has a price; "Cognitive debt" has jumped to red levels. Lucian began to feel something strange. Coldness in his fingertips. He looked at his hands, there was no water, but he could feel the coolness of the Danube creeping into his skin. "Nerv..are my lungs okay?" Lucian asked in horror. [Biologically, yes. Cognitively... you're starting to sink in, Lucian. Your mind began to mimic the memory of Adrien that you had just witnessed.] At that moment, a powerful spotlight appeared at the end of the tunnel. "Lucien Varga! Stand still! Cognitive Crimes Unit. Hand behind your head!" This was the voice of Detective Rasmus Kohler. The man who has been following Lucien for years. But Lucien did not see the detective; He could see Adrien's face sinking, and hear Layal's voice screaming. "Detective Kohler," Lucien said in a calm, menacing voice, rising slowly, his eyes shining with an unnatural blue glow. "You don't want to arrest me. You want to know why all the witnesses in the Switzerland case died, right?" Coller stopped, his weapon pointed at Lucian's chest. "How did you know about Switzerland?" Lucien smiled, and a drop of water (completely imaginary) fell from his nose. "Because I'm starting to remember things that never happened to me...things that concern the future of all of Europe. If L. catches me...