Chapter 9:
"Where do you need me, Sir?" Olivia asked watching as the procedure began. It was in the early stages and though Bell had assured it wasn't a long process, she couldn't believe it would happen overnight either.
"Come with me," he gestured leading her from one door through another. "Sit down," he led her to a sterile room. The walls were bright white, rather boring. In it was a white desk and a rather large computer monitor. She didn't see a computer but she sat down all the same.
"What's my assignment?" She knew they were preparing the clone.
"You know starting Peter as a blank slate would only rouse suspicions." Bell reminded her. "Especially since we're bringing him home, to Walter." He watched her curious expression but she didn't ask why, just went along with it. "I need you to sort through his memories and erase the ones that tie him to the other world. The ones that make him want to go home."
"Erase Olivia completely?"
"No," Bell shook his head. "Just the intimate ones. The memories that would make him miss her, make him long to go home."
She nodded, "and how do I do that, Sir?"
"With this," he gestured to the monitor in front of her. "Memories are but files in our mind. We have too much information to remember what we had to eat six years ago on the 3rd day of October. If that however was your birthday, you may very well remember that dinner and who was there. You might even remember the ridiculous outfit you wore on Thanksgiving that was given to you on the 3rd day of October. Each memory links to other memories. Your job is to go through Peter's memories and filter the ones he doesn't need to help him function in this world."
Olivia nodded weakly. She remembered a class in Quantico explaining how the human brain categorized everything. It wasn't a huge shock to her. It was the easiest way to recall an event. A trigger. Whether it a taste, touch, sound, smell. Memories were related to the five senses as easily as they were to events.
"Any questions, Olivia?" He asked putting his hand on the door.
"How'd you get his memories?" She didn't understand.
"I promise, there were no ill intended side-effects. No harm was done to Peter. He's home and he's fine."
She wasn't sure she believed him. She didn't object though. She constantly felt as though she had more questions than answers when it came to William Bell.
"So I rewrite his memories," she guessed eyeing the monitor.
"Just erase the ones that don't belong. It'll be better for him and for you, Olivia." Bell turned the knob on the door opening it. "I'll be back in a few hours. He'll be ready for the transfer then."
She nodded slowly having no choice but to accept her job. She'd come this far and gotten too involved already to back down. She heard the door shut and touched the monitor, her finger as the keyboard as she clicked each file, a video played and the ones she no longer needed she sent to the delete folder.
One by one she deleted the memories Peter had of Olivia. The ones where they were in bed together, his hands roaming her body, his lips ravishing her skin. She felt a blush creep on her cheeks as she viewed the files. Somehow this felt wrong, invasive and personal yet she was compelled and instructed to watch.
At least Cloned Peter would never have to know. She watched the most recent memories and deleted his most recent travel here, when they took samples of his DNA. Going back further she kept the memories he had of her. She'd felt something for him and didn't want to erase that. Besides he knew where he was from, where he'd been and that he was coming home. If she wasn't part of his memories he'd only be further confused. She needed Cloned Peter to trust her.
Watching the videos, it was difficult to delete every one of her. Though she wanted to, she knew there had been a connection and maybe, if he believed it hadn't been acted on, he would this time, in this world. Maybe it was selfish but she had her own agenda. With all she'd come to see and learn, she felt compelled to write history on her own.
The memories were long, tedious to sort. What she saw, shocked and surprised her. It was only Peter's memories and it seemed the side she saw of him, at times dark was also brilliant. He was something—special, it was no wonder. What boggled her was the fact he hadn't been lying, believed William Bell to be the bad guy in all this. It was from his perspective though, things were different. It was hard to understand everything. There were events that seemed impossible, incomprehensible and it all led back to something called Z.F.T. or William Bell or his company Massive Dynamic. There was so much to take in and so much she realized was necessary to delete. Though he could know about both worlds, learning secrets of this one, knowing the specifics about William Bell, seemed a bad idea. As she memorized his experiences, she was forced to delete the files. There was no hard-drive to save the information to, no USB stick to download it on. Even if she could, she knew it'd be corporate espionage. Bell had the capability of sending her straight to her death, sending her to another world.
She spent hours sorting through the most recent memories back over a year. She left in his past before he'd met Olivia. There was a darker side to him. She didn't consider him entirely a criminal, though he'd conned men out of money, they were usually men worse than him, slugs really. It's why no one but criminals ever really went after him. How many criminals would go to the cops to say they'd be conned? He'd also forged a degree from MIT though she couldn't fathom why. It seemed as though he'd been trying to find himself and in that pursuit he'd tested the limits of what he was capable of, what he could make people believe.
She knew she'd have her hands full but she hoped with the memories that were left, his ties to the other world would feel broken enough to let him stay here. He couldn't leave, this was his home. He was after all a clone. Not that he'd ever know. He couldn't travel between worlds, he wasn't the same Peter. Though he was close, he wasn't exactly the same. She was beginning to understand Bell and the balance of perfect harmony. It couldn't ever be restored fully. Peter from the other world was in fact dead. She didn't understand why they didn't just kidnap him back but it wasn't her choice to make. Bell was in charge and she had to accept his rules, for now at least.
A knock on the door startled her and she glanced over watching it open. "We're ready to begin the transfer. Are you done?" A young woman asked, staring at her intently.
"I hope so," Olivia breathed with a faint nod hoping she hadn't forgotten anything. It was too late if she had, her work for today was done.
