Page 117 of A Stop in Time

As if someone’s sped up the memories, more faces flash before me. Bodies of men and women, some who challenged me while others begged for mercy before I killed them.

“Don’t do this!”

“You don’t have to do this!”

“Please don’t!”

I don’t recognize any of them…until my mind stutters over the face of a woman. She seems familiar for some reason, but I can’t say why.

A sharp lance of pain assaults my head followed by a man’s voice. “Have you ever seen her?” That’s Daniel speaking, a faraway voice says in my mind. But I don’t know anyone named Daniel.

“No. Never.” I hear myself answer confidently.

But that’s not entirely true. I’ve definitely seen that woman before. And I know what happened to her.

I killed her.

The memory fractures, leading to another, and this time, I immediately recognize the woman.

Lara. The nurse at the doctor’s office.

Nausea immediately assails me, bile climbing up the back of my throat as I watch, like an out-of-body experience, while I kill her. She puts up a strong struggle, getting some blows in, but in the end, she’s no match for me.

I pinch my eyes closed, trying to make it all stop, but it’s as if I’ve opened floodgates. A torrent of memories pours in, along with the torture, both physical and mental through drugs and hypnosis they administer multiple times a day.

I float above the scenes to witness myself having a lucid moment.

One of the interns mistakenly leaves out a thick binder documenting everything they’ve done to me. His other mistake, incorrectly dosing me with less LSD than usual, leads me to discover this.

I’m lightheaded but force myself to read the documented notes.

Eleanor Mackenzie

Former US Army Intelligence Analyst

IQ: 130

Project MK-THETA

I skim through the notes frantically, inherently knowing my time is short and I won’t be left unattended for long.

…shows great promise for the long-term goals of the program.

Subject reacts well to doses of LSD combined with hypnosis to create amnesia-like state…

…to create a malleable memory and brain activity.

…using ultrasonic sound waves…

…plant “seeds” of ideas within subject…

…carries out assassinations willingly.

…declared deceased…all military records sealed…

…subject has fully adopted new identity of “Mackenzie Ford.”

Violent tremors overtake me, as though my bones are threatening to shake free of my flesh. Someone strides into the room, and I jump, startling us both.