LifeNet: The Price of Immortality

Chapter 3: A Haunting Memory

“Elara… you there?”

Nyx’s voice pulled her from her thoughts. She looked up, finding him leaning against her apartment door, arms crossed and looking at her with that familiar mix of curiosity and concern.

“Sorry, I… was just thinking.” She gestured for him to come inside, her voice sounding distant even to her own ears.

He stepped in, glancing around at the dim, cluttered apartment. Elara’s place was modest, filled with little pieces of her life, but there was one spot that always drew her gaze. On the corner of a bookshelf, half-hidden by other books, sat an old, faded notebook. It was one of the few things she had left of her mother.

“Still with me?” Nyx’s voice jolted her out of her thoughts again.

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry.” She took a breath, feeling like she was coming back to the present.

Nyx tilted his head, watching her closely. “You sure? You’ve been a little… distracted lately. What’s going on?”

She hesitated, running her fingers along the edge of the notebook on the shelf. “Do you… do you remember how I told you my mother was against LifeNet?”

He nodded slowly, folding his arms. “I remember. You said she never really trusted it, even when everyone else did.”

“Yeah, she…” Elara’s voice trailed off, a sense of unease creeping into her. “She used to warn me, you know? She’d tell me to stay away, that there were things about LifeNet no one really understood.”

Nyx frowned. “Like what?”

“I don’t know,” Elara admitted. “But she was… she was serious about it. I remember one time I asked her why she was so against it, and she just looked at me, like… like she was scared. She told me to never trust it.”

Nyx’s expression softened, but there was an intensity in his gaze. “Do you think… do you think she knew something?”

Elara looked down, running her fingers over the notebook’s worn cover. “Maybe. She was a researcher before… before she died. And she had access to things. Things about LifeNet.”

Nyx leaned closer, his voice low. “And you think she found something?”

Elara opened the notebook, flipping through the pages. Most of it was filled with notes, but there were little messages scattered between the lines, phrases that hadn’t made sense to her as a child. Warnings, written in her mother’s delicate handwriting.

“I never really understood these,” she whispered, tracing the words on one page. “But it’s like… it’s like she was trying to tell me something. And… I don’t know, Nyx. It’s almost like she left a message here, something she wanted me to find.”

Nyx glanced at the page, frowning. “What does it say?”

Elara read aloud, her voice barely a whisper. “Trust only what you see. LifeNet hides its truth in plain sight.” She swallowed, feeling a shiver run through her. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

Nyx’s expression was grim. “Maybe it does. Think about it—LifeNet is everywhere. It’s in everyone’s lives. But no one questions it. No one sees what’s really happening behind the scenes.”

Elara closed the notebook, her grip tight. “I feel like… like she knew. Like she found out something dangerous.”

Nyx put a hand on her shoulder, his voice gentle. “Elara, maybe there’s a reason she didn’t want you to look into it. If she knew something… maybe that’s what got her killed.”

She bit her lip, the familiar ache of grief and anger rising in her chest. “I can’t just ignore it, Nyx. I have to know. I have to understand what she was trying to warn me about.”

He sighed, glancing at the notebook. “Alright. But we have to be careful. If LifeNet finds out you’re digging…”

“I know,” Elara said, her voice determined. “But I can’t let this go. Not anymore.”

She flipped through the pages again, her heart pounding as she scanned her mother’s notes. Then, at the back of the notebook, something caught her eye—a symbol. A small, intricate mark, drawn in the margins, barely noticeable.

“Look at this,” she whispered, holding the notebook up to Nyx. “Do you recognize this symbol?”

Nyx squinted, shaking his head. “No… but it looks like something official. Maybe a government seal?”

Elara nodded, a chill creeping down her spine. “My mother worked with government contracts, sometimes for LifeNet. But she… she hated that job. I remember her saying it was dangerous, that there were things she saw that kept her up at night.”

Nyx frowned. “What if… what if that symbol is a code? Like, something only she would know.”

Elara’s mind raced as she traced the symbol with her finger. It was simple, but it felt important, as if it held the key to something larger. She could almost imagine her mother, sitting at this very desk, deciding to leave her a message, hidden where only she would look.

“Elara?” Nyx’s voice broke her thoughts again.

“Sorry,” she whispered, shaking her head. “I just… I can’t help but feel like this was her last warning to me.”

Nyx glanced at the notebook, his voice careful. “Elara… do you really think it’s safe to keep going?”

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She could still hear her mother’s voice, the gentle way she’d say, “Don’t trust what you don’t see, Elara. Don’t let anyone control what you believe.”

“I have to, Nyx,” she said softly. “If my mother died because of this… I have to know why.”

He sighed, but there was a look of understanding in his eyes. “Alright. Just promise me you’ll be careful.”

She nodded, feeling a strange sense of calm settle over her. But there was something else too—an instinct, pulling her forward, telling her she was on the edge of something dangerous and dark.

Her eyes fell on the notebook once more, and suddenly, a memory surfaced, a vague recollection of a conversation with her mother.

“Elara,” her mother had said once, her voice trembling slightly. “There are things in this world people would do anything to protect. LifeNet is one of them. Just promise me… promise me you’ll stay away.”

“But why, Mom?” she had asked, feeling confused and hurt.

Her mother had looked at her with such sadness in her eyes, as if she wanted to say more but couldn’t. “Some things are better left alone. If you dig too deep, Elara… you might not like what you find.”

The memory faded, leaving Elara staring at the symbol in the notebook, a chill creeping over her. She glanced at Nyx, her mind racing.

“What if there’s a place she wanted me to look?” she whispered, feeling a strange certainty settle within her. “Something she wanted me to find.”

Nyx raised an eyebrow. “You mean… like a location? Somewhere she hid something?”

“Maybe,” Elara said, her voice growing more confident. “Maybe she left something… something LifeNet didn’t want her to reveal.”

Nyx looked at her, his expression cautious but intrigued. “If you’re right, that means LifeNet might have missed it. Whatever she left… it could be the key to everything.”

Elara felt a surge of determination, her mother’s words echoing in her mind. She knew the risks, but the pull was too strong to ignore.

“We have to find it,” she whispered, clutching the notebook tightly.

Nyx looked at her, a mixture of admiration and worry in his eyes. “Then let’s do it. But remember, if LifeNet catches wind of this…”

Elara nodded, her gaze steely. “I know. But it’s worth it.”

As she looked at the notebook, she felt a strange sense of connection, as if her mother were there beside her, guiding her forward. But beneath the determination, a nagging doubt lingered, a whisper of fear that told her she was standing on the edge of something she couldn’t turn back from.