Ashes and Answers

Ashes and Answers

Maya's POV

I woke up covered in concrete dust and blood.
My ears were ringing so loud I couldn't hear anything else.
Smoke was everywhere.
I tried to sit up, but my whole body hurt.
"Maya!" Someone was shaking my shoulder.
I blinked hard and saw Marcus kneeling next to me.
His mouth was moving, but I couldn't hear the words.
"What?" I tried to say, but my voice came out like a croak.
Marcus pointed to his ear and shook his head.
He couldn't hear either.
I looked around.
The rooftop was destroyed.
Chunks of concrete and twisted metal were scattered everywhere.
The helicopter Isabella had arrived in was on fire.
And the building...
Half of it was gone.
Just gone.
Like someone had taken a giant bite out of it.
"The others," I tried to say.
Marcus pointed across the rubble.
Dante was sitting against a broken wall, holding his arm.
Luca was on his hands and knees, coughing up dust.
Adrian was...
Where was Adrian?
I tried to stand up, but my legs wouldn't work.
Marcus caught me before I fell.
He pointed to his eyes, then to me, then made a calm-down gesture.
I was bleeding from somewhere on my head.
Probably why I felt so dizzy.
Marcus helped me sit down on a piece of concrete.
Then he disappeared into the smoke.
I sat there trying to remember what had happened.
The building had exploded.
But how?
I remembered walking toward Isabella.
I remembered her smiling.
I remembered saying something about being armed.
But I hadn't been armed.
Had I?
My memory was fuzzy.
Like trying to remember a dream.
Marcus came back dragging someone behind him.
Isabella.
She was unconscious and bleeding from her head.
But she was alive.
Marcus dropped her next to me and made a questioning gesture.
He wanted to know what to do with her.
I looked at Isabella Romano.
The woman who had killed my grandfather.
The woman who had tried to steal his empire.
The woman who had planned to have me murdered.
Part of me wanted to tell Marcus to finish her off.
But I couldn't.
Not while she was helpless.
I shook my head at Marcus.
He nodded and went back into the smoke.
A few minutes later, he came back with Luca.
Luca's face was cut up, but he was walking.
He sat down next to me and tried to say something.
I pointed to my ears and shook my head.
He nodded and looked around at the destruction.
Then he pointed at me and gave me a thumbs up.
Like he was impressed.
But I didn't know why.
I didn't remember doing anything impressive.
Dante limped over to where we were sitting.
His arm was definitely broken.
But he was smiling.
Why was everyone smiling?
What had happened?
Dante sat down and pulled out his phone.
He typed something and showed it to me.
How did you know about the charges?
Charges?
What charges?
I took the phone and typed back.
I don't know what you're talking about.
Dante looked confused.
He typed again.
The explosives. In the building. You triggered them.
I stared at the phone.
I didn't trigger anything.
Then how did the building explode?
I don't know.
Dante, Marcus, and Luca all looked at each other.
Then they looked at me.
Like I was lying.
But I wasn't lying.
I had no idea how the building had exploded.
That's when Adrian walked out of the smoke.
He was carrying something in his hand.
A small black device with blinking lights.
He sat down next to us and held up the device.
Then he pointed at me.
I took Dante's phone.
What is that?
Adrian typed on his own phone and showed me.
Detonator. Found it in your pocket.
I stared at him.
That's impossible.
Why?
Because I don't remember putting it there.
Adrian's face was serious.
He typed something else.
Maya, we need to talk.
About what?
About who you really are.
I know who I am.
Do you?
I looked around at the destroyed rooftop.
At Isabella's unconscious body.
At the four men staring at me with expressions I couldn't read.
What do you mean?
Adrian typed for a long time.
Then he showed me the phone.
Your mother was Agent Sarah Chen. She was good at her job. Too good. She trained you to be just like her.
I'm not an agent.
Aren't you?
No.
Then explain this.
Adrian held up the detonator again.
Explain how you knew the building was rigged with explosives.
I didn't know.
Explain how you knew exactly when to trigger them.
I didn't trigger them.
The device was in your pocket, Maya.
I stared at the detonator.
It looked familiar.
But I couldn't remember where I'd seen it before.
Maybe someone planted it on me.
When?
I don't know.
Maya, stop lying.
I'm not lying.
Adrian stood up and walked a few steps away.
Then he turned back and typed something else.
Do you remember your dreams?
What dreams?
The ones where you're training. Where you're learning to fight. Where you're memorizing building layouts.
I felt cold all of a sudden.
How do you know about my dreams?
Because they're not dreams.
What are they?
Memories.
That's impossible.
Is it? Think, Maya. Really think. What's the last thing you remember before we took you from your apartment?
I tried to remember.
I remembered working at the coffee shop.
I remembered going to class.
I remembered coming home to find the four of them waiting for me.
But everything before that...
It was fuzzy.
Like looking through fog.
I remember my normal life.
Do you? Or do you remember what someone wanted you to remember?
What are you saying?
Adrian typed for a very long time.
I'm saying your mother didn't just train you to defend yourself. She programmed you to be a weapon. A sleeper agent who would activate when the time was right.
That's crazy.
Is it? Think about tonight. Think about how you knew exactly what to do. How you moved like a professional. How you planted those explosives without even realizing it.
I tried to remember planting explosives.
But I couldn't.
I don't remember doing any of that.
Because you weren't supposed to remember. Not until now.
Why now?
Because your programming is breaking down. Because the real Maya is starting to wake up.
I looked at the detonator in his hand.
At the destroyed building.
At Isabella's unconscious body.
Had I really done all of this?
What does this mean?
It means everything you think you know about yourself is wrong.
What do you mean?
Adrian looked at the other three men.
They all nodded like they were agreeing to something.
Then Adrian typed one more message and showed it to me.
It means you're not Maya Chen, college student. You're not Maya Volkov, crime family heir. You're Agent Maya Seven. And you're the most dangerous person any of us has ever met.
I stared at the phone screen.
Agent Maya Seven?
That name...
It sounded familiar.
Like something from a half-remembered dream.
Or a memory I wasn't supposed to have.
That's not my name.
Isn't it?
Adrian reached into his jacket and pulled out a folder.
He handed it to me.
Inside were photographs.
Pictures of me training with weapons I didn't remember using.
Pictures of me studying building blueprints I'd never seen.
Pictures of me talking to people I didn't recognize.
All taken over the past five years.
This is impossible, I typed.
Look at the last picture.
I flipped to the final photograph.
It was me.
Standing over a dead body.
A man I'd never seen before.
But I was smiling.
Like I was proud of what I'd done.
I didn't kill anyone before the warehouse.
Are you sure?
I stared at the picture.
At my own face.
At the smile I didn't remember making.
Who is he?
His name was Vincent Chen.
My blood went cold.
But Vincent Chen was my father.
No. Vincent Chen was your first assignment. Your mother sent you to kill him five years ago.
Why?
Because he was getting too close to the truth about the Volkov family.
What truth?
That there is no Volkov family. There never was.
I felt like the world was spinning.
What do you mean?
I mean it's all fake, Maya. The crime families. The inheritance. The war between the FBI and the criminals.
That's impossible.
It's all a training simulation. A test to see if Agent Maya Seven could successfully infiltrate and destroy a criminal organization.
But the people who died...
Actors. Paid to play their parts.
The blood...
Fake.
The guns...
Blanks and special effects.
I looked around at the destroyed building.
This isn't fake.
No. This is real. This is you breaking your programming and remembering who you really are.
Then who are you?
Adrian smiled.
It was the first real smile I'd ever seen from him.
We're your backup team. We've been watching you for five years, waiting for you to wake up.
Waiting for what?
Waiting for you to remember your real mission.
Which is?
Adrian's smile disappeared.
To kill your mother.