Capítulo 24: Chapter 24

"Lysandra," her father had said, "Nereus was right. But he left out some key facts. I need you to understand, okay? I did this for your own good. It's much better for you if you don't remember anything else."

"What?" Lysandra had asked him. "What did you do?"

"I found the chasm," Cale said.

"You did?" Lysandra breathed. Her father's words still hung in her head, warning her, reminding her. She tried to keep them close while she listened to Cale. "Where is it?"

"There are actually quite a few," he told her. The overhead lights threw grave shadows on his face as he spoke. "The first one, the most obvious, is the one that spans your first sixteen years. There is another that comes during a conversation you had with another family, and another that comes just after you parted with Zephyr and decided you were going to find another Memory Recoder."

"Are there more?" Lysandra whispered.

"Yes. But they are far more insignificant, and I don't think they were products of Theft. Forgetting is normal, you remember," Cale informed her. "Did you actually go to another Memory Recoder? Because if you did, that's why you don't remember. He or she either stole or legitimately Erased your memories of going there."

Lysandra fought for her memory of leaving Zephyr, of seeking out another Recoder. She remembered that the chain of events had ultimately led her to Cale's studio again.

"No," she said. "I came here."

He raked a hand through his hair. "Then it was Theft. I didn't take those memories."

Lysandra nodded.

"Lysandra," he began. Pain slashed its way through his voice, tearing it to pieces. "I wish I could help you. I - I need to help you."

She looked up at him, confused by his sudden confession. "Because of your sister?" she asked.

He shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Because of you. I've seen all of your memories, Lysandra. I understand how bad it must be to only have a percentage of them - not all, and not none."

"I don't see how having no memories could possibly be any better," Lysandra murmured.

"It means you don't know what you've missed," Cale told her. "You don't remember the pain."

"But you don't remember the good things, either," Lysandra responded. "How can you even know who you are and what you've done?"

Cale backed up and stood against the wall. "I see your point," he said. "It's just..."

"Just what?"

"Easier. Easier for me. It's always been." He closed his eyes again.

The room fell silent for a moment. Lysandra saw the door creak open and Clove's face appear in the crack. "Cale?" she called out. "What're you doing?"

"Working, Clove," he said. "You can come back later."

"Oh. Okay." She closed the door again.

"Cale," Lysandra began. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," he answered. He still hadn't opened his eyes.

"Your parents - how did they die?" she whispered.

Cale took a deep breath. "They were killed by Reinforcers years ago."

"Why?" Lysandra gasped.

"Because," he began, "that was at a time when the Memory Recoders had a war with the government. I was sixteen. My parents weren't Recoders themselves, but they had a friend who was a Recoder in a wrong part of town. They sent supplies and customers to him all the time. Clove and I didn't even know until one day the Reinforcers stormed our house."

He paused. Lysandra could see his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed.

"They dragged this man in, saying that he was looking for a Memory Recoder - I don't remember his name now - and asked whether we knew him. My parents said they didn't know him. The Reinforcers said they disagreed, and one of them pulled out a rifle and pointed it at my father's chest. My mother told us to run and hide. So we did."

Lysandra's eyes flicked to the door, fearing that Clove would enter and hear the story she had apparently since forgotten. But Cale's sister never appeared.

"I pushed Clove behind me, but I could still see what was happening," Cale continued. "One of the Reinforcers shouted something about how my parents had been accomplices to this man for years, when Memory Recoding wasn't authorized in that part of town, and my parents just started denying everything. We heard shots - my father went down. They asked my mother to confess, but she didn't, so they shot her too. They also shot the guy who had come in looking for the Memory Recoder."

He took a deep breath. "They walked out... Neither of us even screamed."

His voice had stayed steady through the entire story, but at his last word, his voice broke.

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