[There's another pause. There's the long story, which covers too much of her life but also shows how everything winds together, and there's the short, brief version. For brevity, and because there's still too much Ginia's not ready to dive into, she opts for the short version.

Her writing still comes in slow, measured, words carefully chosen and memories placed on paper.]

There was a medical program created to treat patients of trauma. The original intent was to find a way to suppress or block memories. It took several years but they finally found a way. From there, their research changed; if they could remove and block memories, couldn't they add in fake memories too?

A soldier who could go in for a mission and have their memories removed after. A spy who didn't even realize they were a spy. The possibilities were endless.

As it turned out, the treatment worked best on kids and teens. Brains still developing, malleable. Who would suspect a kid too?

I met one such subject. Her and her handler. Her handler had found out too much and was trying to help her escape, get her away from the program, find a place she could have a regular life in. He was an old friend of mine and came to me for help.

I accepted. Sheltered them for a few months until the government tracked us down, then went on the run with them. Always a step ahead, but never enough.

Finally I put my resources into getting them out of the country. Fake IDs, booked passage with people who wouldn't ask questions or share answers, got them in the hands of friends.

As their plane was leaving I stayed behind to buy them time.

[Stayed behind, planned to stay behind. Buy time and maybe end things for herself. The government wanted Natalie as much as they wanted her. Natalie was a subject, but Ginia was a loose end, one that needed to be tied up or severed.

Got that wish, didn't they.]

And here I am now.