Chapter 25
The Witness Chair
The chair marked CABIN 12 faced the others.
Claire understood the arrangement at once. The person in that chair would not be treated as a patient. The person would be asked to observe, to remember, to confirm that the others were real. A witness was useful because a witness could be blamed when the story changed.
The copy stood beside the chair with her clipboard.
“Sit down,” she said.
“No.”
“That is your first answer.”
“It is my only one.”
Owen Bell's voice came through the gym speaker. “Claire, this procedure was created to protect you.”
Daniel raised his weapon toward the speaker. “Come out.”
“You have already come out,” Owen replied.
Lucy rose from her chair. “The door will not open until someone agrees to witness.”
“Then nobody agrees,” Tess said.
Eli walked to the wall and placed his palm against a black panel. A light appeared beneath it.
“They do not need agreement,” he said. “They need a refusal they can record.”
The screen displayed a list of names. Beside each name was a status: stable, transferred, discontinued.
Claire saw Mara's name under discontinued.
Beside her own name was the word pending.
The copy tapped the clipboard. “The session begins when the original subject identifies the witness.”
Claire looked at Lucy, Noah, Eli, Daniel, and Tess.
Each had a reason to lie. Each had a reason to want Claire alive.
“I choose myself,” Claire said.
The gym lights flashed.
The copy smiled. “That is not permitted.”
The chair marked CABIN 12 unlocked.