The Erasure

Elara dropped the file. The papers scattered on the concrete floor.

"No," she shook her head. "I... I work for you. You take care of me."

"I took care of you because I didn't have a choice," Silas said, walking into the room. He stopped ten feet away. "You breached the perimeter. You killed Sarah."

The name hit Elara like a physical blow. A flash of memory—a blonde woman screaming, the silence of a suppressor.

"She was in the way," Elara whispered. The words weren't hers. They belonged to the Wraith.

"You killed her," Silas continued, his voice devoid of emotion. "Then you came for me. We fought. You were good. Better than my security. But you slipped. You went over the railing of the mezzanine. You hit your head on the stone floor below."

He took a step closer.

"I should have let you bleed out," Silas said. "Or I should have put a bullet in your head while you were unconscious. It would have been cleaner."

"Why didn't you?" Elara asked. Her body was vibrating. Adrenaline was flooding her system, waking up the dormant muscles.

"Because I'm a wanted man too, Elara," Silas said. "If I called the police, they'd find the servers. They'd find the evidence I stole from Helix Corp. I'd go to prison for the rest of my life. And..."

He paused, looking at her.

"And when I looked at you... you were just a broken thing. Like me."

"So you lied," Elara said. "You dressed me up. You made me file papers."

"I was trying to overwrite the file," Silas said, a bitter smile touching his lips. "I thought if I could make you believe you were just a normal person... maybe the killer would stay buried. Maybe I could fix you."

"You can't fix a weapon, Silas," Elara said.

The memory fully engaged. The lock on her mind snapped open.

She remembered the mission. She remembered the client. She remembered exactly how to kill a man with her bare hands.

Her stance shifted. Her feet slid apart. Her shoulders dropped. The confused, amnesiac girl vanished. The Wraith stood in the basement.

"Helix Corp doesn't tolerate loose ends," she said coldly.

Silas saw the change. He stiffened. "Elara, don't."

"My name isn't Elara," she said. "That's just the cover ID."

She lunged.