The Final Choice

The silence stretched between them like a wire pulled tight. Jessica kept her breath slow and measured, her wrists pressing lightly against the restraints as if testing them.

Mr. Black didn’t move. He sat across from her with that same unreadable expression, as if he had all the time in the world. As if he had already won.

Jessica hated that look. Hated the way it reminded her of all the times she had thought she was free, only to realize she was still being played. But not this time.

Jessica exhaled. “So,” she said, her voice even, “you’ve known what I was all along. How long, exactly?”

Mr. Black tilted his head slightly. “Longer than you have.”

Jessica’s jaw tightened. Of course.

She had spent years thinking she had taken herself off the board, burning her past, disappearing into a new identity. But all along, he had been waiting for her to wake up.

Jessica flexed her fingers, ignoring the slow hum of adrenaline in her blood. “Let me guess. I was never supposed to remember.”

Mr. Black let out a soft breath. Not quite a sigh. Not quite amusement.

“No,” he said quietly. “You were always meant to remember.”

Jessica frowned. Something about the way he said it sent a slow, cold ripple through her spine. She squared her shoulders. “Then why stop me before? If you’ve been waiting for this, why warn me away?”

Mr. Black leaned forward slightly, his gaze sharpening. “Because I needed you to be ready.”

Jessica blinked. What? Her thoughts reeled. She had expected him to say something about control, about how she was dangerous, about how she had been created for something bigger than herself. But this?

This wasn’t the language of someone trying to suppress her. This was the language of someone who had been preparing her.

Jessica exhaled slowly. “You’re saying you wanted this?”

Mr. Black’s expression didn’t change. “No.” A pause, “But it was always going to happen.”

Jessica swallowed, her pulse hammering. She had spent years chasing the truth, tearing apart conspiracies, exposing the rot at the core of governments and corporations. But she had never thought of herself as inevitable.

Jessica forced herself to stay calm. “What exactly was always going to happen?”

Mr. Black studied her, and for the first time, she thought she saw something almost human behind his gaze. Not pity. Not condescension, but regret.

“You were going to have to make a choice,” he said.

Jessica swallowed, “Between what?”

Mr. Black exhaled slowly. “Between keeping the secret… and destroying it forever.”

Jessica’s breath stilled. Mr. Black leaned back slightly, his hands folding neatly in front of him. “You’ve carried something inside you that wasn’t meant to survive this long. It was locked away for a reason. Not just for you. But for the world.”

Jessica felt something cold settle in her chest. “And now?”

Mr. Black’s eyes darkened. “Now it’s awake.”

She clenched her fists. She had suspected it. She had felt it. This wasn’t just about history. This was about now. She had been protected for centuries, reborn again and again, erasing herself every time the knowledge inside her became too dangerous. And now, the cycle was broken. She was the last.

Jessica exhaled. “So what happens if I destroy it?”

Mr. Black didn’t answer immediately. Then softly, “Then you die with it.”

Jessica’s heart slammed once against her ribs. She forced herself not to react. Not to show how much that answer shook her. Not because she feared death, she had already faced it too many times to be afraid of it. But because it meant something else. Something worse. She had been the one erasing herself. Every time.

Jessica licked her lips. “And if I keep it?”

Mr. Black’s gaze sharpened. “Then you have to decide what to do with it.”

Jessica inhaled slowly. “And what do you want me to do with it?”

For the first time, Mr. Black hesitated. And that, more than anything, terrified her. Mr. Black never hesitated.

Mr. Black looked down for the first time. His hands, once so still, clasped together too tightly. “I don’t think that choice is mine to make anymore.”

Jessica felt something in her tighten. That meant the final memory was hers. The final choice. Jessica sat back, her fingers curling into fists. She had spent years chasing the truth. And now, the truth was waiting for her.

The only question left was could she live with it?