Chapter 126
The Names They Kept
The patients gave their names one at a time.
Some were ordinary. Some belonged to books, songs, and dead relatives. One man chose a name he had invented before the clinic took his voice.
“Does it have to be legal?” Daniel asked.
“It has to be true to the person saying it,” Aster answered.
The hospital system protested.
IDENTITY NOT VERIFIED.
Elise's voice came through the speakers.
“Verification is not the same as truth.”
The patients stood.
Their charts fell from the beds and turned blank.
Everett Bell appeared on the roof opposite them.
“You are releasing unstable identities into the public.”
Claire faced him. “You mean people.”
“People require records.”
“Records require people.”
The patient who had chosen the invented name stepped forward. “My name is June.”
Everett looked at her. “That name is already taken.”
June answered, “Then stop taking names.”
The roof doors opened.
The wind carried every blank chart into the city.
Below, hospital patients looked up as the pages fell around them.