The darkness receded. Karn felt a dizzying submersion, then the world snapped into focus. He was seeing through another's eyes, using another's hands, yet the consciousness felt jarringly familiar.
The Black Memory
The first image was a small dorm room. A young woman with long black hair, Rinda, sat on the bed, smiling. She was his girlfriend. The voice in the memory was his younger self, full of lightness: "Rinda, I brought you the Pad Krapow you love."
The scene shifted abruptly.
A knock. Rinda opened the door. Two men in black suits burst in, overpowering the younger Karn, injecting him with a sedative.
Karn awoke chained to a chair in a sterile, brightly lit room. Rinda was strapped to a table, crying.
Then, the door opened.
A man walked in, impeccable in a gray suit, silver hair neatly combed. The face was cold, calculating, and terrifyingly familiar: Dr. Araya Vichyavisit, his father.
"Karn," his father's voice was frigid. "It is time."
"What are you doing! Let Rinda go!" the younger Karn screamed.
"I can't. You must cooperate with the project, or watch her die," Araya stated. "Project Genesis. The creation of perfect humans. You will be the first template, Karn. The ideal successor."
The younger Karn refused. Araya sighed and ordered his assistant to begin the extraction. As the Memory Reader clamped onto his skull, drawing out his past, Rinda screamed from the table.
"Please, Father!" the younger Karn begged.
"The test requires motivation. The maximum pain," Araya replied, devoid of emotion. He ordered an injection of Serum B-17 into Rinda's arm—a slow-acting neurotoxin.
Rinda began to convulse. Araya walked out, leaving his son to watch her agonizing death.
The Ultimate Sacrifice
Three days passed. Karn was forced to watch Rinda suffer and fade. On the third night, Rinda whispered her final plea: "Karn... help me. End it. If you truly love me, let me go."
In a final, twisted act of mercy—perhaps enabled by his father—Karn's restraints were released.
He walked to Rinda, tears streaming down his face. "I love you," he whispered, kissing her forehead.
"I love you too," she replied, closing her eyes.
Karn placed his hands on her neck and gently, but surely, applied pressure. It was an act of heartbreaking compassion. Rinda went limp.
The memory ended with the image of a tear-streaked face in the mirror—his young, broken face.
Confronting the Present
Karn ripped the cap off, collapsing and retching bile onto the cold floor. The memory was agonizingly real. He had killed Rinda. He had choked her, but it was an act of love to end her suffering, orchestrated by his own father.
He stumbled to the mirror. The weary 30-year-old staring back now understood the void in his history. Dr. Araya had used him, forced him into murder, and then wiped the memory clean, fabricating a car accident to explain the resulting trauma.
Ten years lost. Ten years of living a lie.
Karn searched the old records: Rinda Jantharat, 22, vanished on March 15, 2048. The police concluded she "ran away with a lover."
He was furious. His father, the global icon of technological evolution, was a monster who covered his tracks with manufactured lies.
The Warning
Karn picked up a faded photo of Rinda, smiling brightly, and whispered, "I promise I will find justice for you."
His secure phone rang. Unknown Number.
"You saw the truth, Karn," a distorted male voice said.
"Who is this?"
"Someone who knows what your father did. Someone who worked for him. I sent the drive because you deserve the truth, and because you are the only one who can stop him."
"Stop him from what?"
"Dr. Araya didn't stop with you. He has a bigger plan. More victims. Karn, you need to stop your father before it's too late."
"Where are you? How do I find you?"
"I'll contact you again. For now... get out of that room. They're coming for you."
The line went dead.
Karn heard the distinct sound of quick footsteps in the hallway outside. Multiple people.
Then, the lights cut out.