Female Novel
Chapter 1509
Gunshots and explosions tore through the air, filling the atmosphere with the acrid scent of smoke and
dust. Patrick felt an inexplicable pull towards the chaos, the fires spreading like a rampant beast
through the city.
To him, it seemed as if he might never return.
With Maja safely to the side, Ian strode over with determination and grabbed Patrick by the shoulder.
"I don't care if you throw your life away, but I'll be damned if I let Eric die because of it!"
Patrick shrugged off Ian's grip, aiming a kick at his midsection, but Ian, quick as ever, sidestepped the
attack.
Tremors ran through Patrick's chest, his fingertips quivering.
"Ian, do you have any idea what kind of memories are trapped in here?" Patrick tapped his temple, his
eyes bloodshot with emotion. "Memories of Eric, of you climbing trees at five, enlisting and becoming anovelbin
hero at fifteen, the feuds you had with Eric, the pain he endured. The worst of it's been blocked by my
subconscious. I can only access so much. Eric used to say I was just a personality cooked up in some
lab, but I never believed him. I thought I had a name, I searched and searched. And you know what?
The memories I found were from your perspective!"
"What are you getting at?"
"Isn't it obvious? Someone copied a chunk of your memories and implanted them in Eric's mind. I'm not
Patrick, not Eric, and definitely not you, Ian. So who am I? Can't someone tell me who I really am? I'm
nobody, I don't even know why I exist. As long as you're alive, Ian, I'm just a counterfeit — not even
that. I want to kill you, to kill Maja, but the piece of Eric inside me holds back, cares for you. And the
funniest thing? I can't tell if my feelings for Maja are mine, Eric's, or yours. I'm nobody, so why should I
bear the burden of these complex emotions? You all should just drop dead!"
After his outburst, Patrick's chest heaved, his gaze falling on Maja, who leaned against the car in the
distance.
A pain struck his heart, messy and unbecoming.
He was nobody, not even fit to be a tool.
He didn't even have the right to feel heartache.
Maja's words echoed in his mind, mocking him.
"Do you really think you're Ian?"
That's all he was — a man with someone else's memories.
He was a mess, chasing the truth, and when he finally grasped it, the reality was painfully awkward.
Was anyone more pitiful than him?
What was the point of his existence?
It would be better if Eric came back, but Eric had vanished, absent for a long time now.
Ian stood silent, always believing that Patrick was just an awakened personality, a creation intended to
replace Eric, to be used by those at the research facility.
But the truth was more sinister — a memory copy, an attempt to completely replace a person. That was
terrifying.
Back when Ian had made his mark in the military, he had been ambushed and left unconscious in the
wilderness. The memories Patrick could recall — from age five to fifteen — must have been transferred
during that time.
If it was just about awakening a personality, that was one thing.
But copying memories, completely replacing another person, was a horror of another kind.
Eric had been the only successful experiment back then. Years had passed — had there been any
others?
Nobody knew.
Patrick didn't want to waste any more words. He felt his existence was a blemish, an aberration.
He belonged nowhere.
Rootless and insignificant, he was nothing at all.