4. Memory Wipe

[Verse 1] I'm ten years old – it's summer rain – they kick the door in – all their pain Becomes my own in seconds flat – no sister there – I'm just a brat With a bat that's far too small to swing – they take me – I don't do a thing Just scream – but no one hears the sound – I'm lifted off the holy ground They inject the serum – then I go into a white room – cold and low They ask my name – I don't know where – I don't have anything to wear But somewhere else – a girl with hair like embers – she was in the same A prison without any name – a number carved into her frame [Pre-Chorus] The needle burns – the light is blinding – everything I was, unwinding Mother's face begins to fade – I forget the games I played The needle burns – the light is blinding – everything I was, unwinding Mother's face begins to fade – I forget the games I played [Chorus] MEMORY WIPE! SCRAMBLE THE FILE! Make a soldier of a child – erase the laughter, erase the love File him under "glove" – push and shove – ZEROED OUT! BLANK AND PURE! A weapon that will endure – but she escaped – and she came back To pull me from the same old track – to pull me from the same old track [Verse 2] Years of training – years of pain – running missions in the rain Never knowing who I was – just following the orders because That's all I had – a void inside where love and family used to hide But somewhere – in the corner of my eye – I saw a flicker – I didn't cry I didn't know what it could be – a remnant of a memory A girl who passed me in the hall – she didn't speak – she wasn't tall But she had scars that matched my own – she had a silence I had known She was the one who broke the code – she was the one who overrode [Pre-Chorus] The needle burns – the light is blinding – everything I was, unwinding Mother's face begins to fade – I forget the games I played The needle burns – the light is blinding – everything I was, unwinding Mother's face begins to fade – I forget the games I played [Chorus] MEMORY WIPE! SCRAMBLE THE FILE! Make a soldier of a child – erase the laughter, erase the love File him under "glove" – push and shove – ZEROED OUT! BLANK AND PURE! A weapon that will endure – but she escaped – and she came back To pull me from the same old track – to pull me from the same old track [Verse 3] Now I'm back in the safe house – sweating – shaking – screaming out She holds me as the flashback ends – she says "I found you – now make amends To the boy you were – to the man you'll be – I came back for you – you're my decree" I ask her how she recognized me – she says "Your eyes – they never lied Even when they wiped your history – your eyes still burned – they never died" She tells me of her own escape – a fire in the data lake She burned their records – burned her name – she rose from ashes – not from shame She searched for years through every file – she walked a thousand bleeding miles Just to find a boy who didn't cry – who held her hand when they passed by [Bridge] She whispers "I loved you then – I didn't know the word for it – I was just a child But I saw something in your soul that never broke – that never reconciled To their machine – and I knew then that if I ever got out – I'd find you And I did – and here we are – two ghosts who finally broke through" [Outro] Wipe... wipe... try to erase me again... I dare you... I dare you... Because Ember's here – and we're through... Wipe... wipe... You can't erase what she remembers... you can't erase what she renders... I'm hers – she's mine – we're the survivors... we're the survivors...