STEEL (The Aurum Trilogy Book 1)

Epilogue

 EPILOGUE

Lauren

“Simulation successful.”

I was awakened by a soft female robotic voice. I opened my eyes to see another blinding fluorescent light above me.

“And she’s awake!” I heard another unfamiliar voice shout out. I shut my eyes because of too much brightness.

“Operation complete.” Another voice said. I felt wires and chords being yanked from my skin. Two of them were stuck to my temples and the rest covered my whole body which was barely clothed.

“Where am I?” I managed to utter. All I could think about was Jonathan. I had killed him, hadn’t I? I shot him. A bullet went straight for his heart, the same heart which had captured me and betrayed me. I saw him die in front of me using the gun I was holding. Where was it? I wasn’t holding anything. I tried moving my hands but they were strapped on to where I was lying. “Where am I?” I repeated.

“Welcome to Argentum.” A woman appeared in front of me. She was blonde and had thick-framed glasses and wore a perky smile. She was also wearing a white coat. Argentum? But Argentum wasn’t a place. It was a branch of Aurum, one that specialized on science. The one that created ME.

“Am I still in the Main Laboratory?” I questioned, my voice weak and raspy. My tongue was dry and felt like sandpaper.

“No, you’re not.” The blonde haired woman answered, laughing. She worked a needle up my arm and I winced a little bit.

“What happened back there? Where’s Knoxx and where’s The General?”

“Calm down, Lauren.” She said, drawing the needle back.

“How’d you know my name?”

“Everybody knows you here, silly.” She winked at me.

“Where’s Jonathan?” I asked her. “I killed him, didn’t I?”

“Lauren, I’m afraid we’ll have to explain that to you later on…” She answered, walking away.

“I want answers now!” My throat still felt dry as if I hadn’t drank anything for several years.

A man walked up towards me. He had messy light brown hair and the same piercing green eyes that I had. He had an upturned nose and fair skin. His jaw was set and he wore a serious and stern expression.

“Hello, Lauren.” He greeted, bending and meeting me at eye level. He placed a hand on my hair and started stroking it. “Finally, you’re awake.”

“Who are you?” I asked him, flinching from his touch as if it were something hot.

He laughed softly. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that your simulation was successful.”

“Simulation?” I exclaimed in shock.

“Yes, simulation.” He confirmed, smiling.

“What’s a simulation? And Where’s Jonathan?” I interrogated. “I need to find him. Is he on a simulation too?”

“Shhh…” the man said as he continued stroking my hair in a fatherly way. “Lauren, there’s something we have to tell you.”

“Don’t tell me it’s another truth!”

“I’m afraid it is…” His voice trailed off and his emerald eyes looked at another direction.

I shut my eyes and braced myself, knowing that this news wasn’t going to be great. “What?”

“Lauren, the life you’ve lived for the past seventeen years wasn’t real.” He began. “You were on simulation. It’s all in your head. None of it ever happened.”