Chapter 125
Room Twelve
Room Twelve was above the hospital roof.
The elevator rose through empty floors and opened onto a corridor under the sky. There was no ceiling, only dark clouds and the red glow of the hospital sign.
Beds stood beneath the stars.
People lay in them with their faces turned away.
“They are not asleep,” Aster said.
“They are waiting,” Mara answered.
The first bed held a man with no name tag. The second held a woman whose chart listed only a date. The third was occupied by a child holding a blank form.
Claire walked between the beds.
“Why were they failed?”
The unnamed man opened his eyes. “We remembered ourselves.”
“That was the failure?”
“The program could not assign us.”
Aster picked up the child's blank form.
“Then why keep you here?”
“A record without a name cannot leave the room.”
The hospital sign went dark.
The patients began whispering names they had chosen in private.
None of the names appeared on their charts.
Claire took the blue pencil.
“We write them.”
The paper rejected the first name.
“Again,” Aster said.
The second name held.
The patient sat up.
The roof filled with wind.