Chapter 130
Room Thirteen
Room Thirteen was a courtroom with no audience.
The patients sat on one side. The families sat on the other. Claire stood at the witness table. Aster sat beside her, but the chair between them remained empty.
The judge's voice asked, “What will you do with the truth now that it can hurt people?”
Claire looked at the files stacked before her.
Some proved crimes. Some contained private memories. Some named people who had never consented to be remembered in public.
“We return each record to the person it describes,” Claire said.
The courtroom rejected the answer.
“The archive requires a public owner.”
“Then the archive is not a court.”
The voice changed to Owen Bell's. “A public record protects the public.”
Maren stood. “A public record can become another room.”
The blank chair filled with a shadow.
It looked like Claire.
“You are the witness,” it said. “You must decide for everyone.”
Claire shook her head. “No.”
The courtroom lights went red.
Every file opened at once.
The patients began shouting names. Families demanded proof. Reporters appeared behind the glass walls.
Aster took Claire's hand.
“The room wants a single answer.”
“Then we give it a process.”
Claire wrote three columns on the table: private, shared, public.
The system accepted the categories.
The shadow disappeared.
On the wall appeared a new line.
CONSENT MUST BE SPECIFIC.
The courtroom doors opened.