Chapter 15 - Chapter 15: The Final Ripple

Some wars are fought with guns. Some with words. Ours was fought with memories.We thought we had contained the Historians. We thought the battle was stabilizing. But the deeper we dug, the more we realized we had only scratched the surface. Selene burst into our briefing room, her eyes sharp, her voice trembling. "They've created something new. Oblivion wasn't their final weapon. It was a test." "A test for what?" Leonard asked, standing so quickly his chair screeched. "They've perfected a mass pulse. Not targeted. Not selective. This will erase memory on a global scale." My heart seized. "How long do we have?" Hours." We raced to Buenos Aires, where the final node was set to transmit. It wasn't just about the node. It was about the memories stored within us—the only remaining proof of what had happened, the sacrifices made, the lies we had shattered. If this pulse went off, we would all forget. Every choice. Every fight. Every face. "We need to stop it," I said, climbing into the jet. "Even if it costs us everything." Selene hesitated. "There's something else." "What?" "The pulse has a fail-safe. If we disable it, it will trigger a local burst strong enough to wipe the memories of everyone within ten kilometers." Leonard cursed under his breath. "So we either let the world forget, or we forget ourselves." I looked at Selene, then at Leonard. "We know what we have to do." The infiltration was brutal. Guards flooded the perimeter. Alarms blared. The countdown echoed through the halls. Selene guided us through the maze of corridors, disabling doors and rerouting power. When we reached the core, I saw the device—sleek, humming, impossibly complex. Leonard secured the room. "Can you disable it?" "Yes," Selene said, fingers flying across the terminal. "But you both need to go. If you stay—" "We stay," I interrupted. She paused, her throat tightening. "You'll forget everything, Gabriel. Leonard. Everything." "I'd rather lose my memories than lose the world." Leonard grunted. "At least we'll forget our regrets too." We worked quickly, hands shaking as the seconds vanished. Selene activated the failsafe. The pulse charged, a low hum vibrating through the floor. She turned to us. "It's done. But… I'm sorry. There's no way to protect your memories now." I smiled, a strange peace settling over me. "We knew this was how it might end." Leonard clapped me on the shoulder. "See you on the other side, partner." As the pulse detonated, white light consumed the room. When I opened my eyes, I was standing alone on a train platform in Buenos Aires. I had no memory of who I was, where I had been, or what I had lost. A woman passed by, her face familiar but unreachable, as if from a dream. "You okay?" she asked gently. "I think so," I said, unsure. She handed me a small, worn notebook. "You dropped this." I opened it. Inside, pages were filled with writing I couldn't remember creating—names, places, warnings, scribbled maps. At the bottom of the last page was a single line written in shaky handwriting: Remember who you are. The world depends on it. The woman smiled. "Take care, Gabriel." "Wait—how do you know my name?" But she was already gone, disappearing into the crowd. Something stirred in my chest—a weight, a purpose I couldn't explain. I clutched the notebook and stepped forward. Somewhere deep inside, I knew this wasn't the end. Even without memories, the fight would continue. Because the story never truly ends. It only waits for someone to remember it.