Chapter 31
The Mara Problem
Owen sent Claire, Tess, Daniel, Lucy, Noah, Eli, and the copy down the stairwell.
He stayed above.
“You are not coming?” Claire asked.
“I built the court. I do not need to sit in it.”
The stairs ended at a circular room lined with glass cabinets. Each cabinet held a notebook, a photograph, and a small audio device. A name was printed on every door.
MARA ROWAN occupied the center.
Claire approached it.
The glass unlocked before she touched it.
Inside lay Mara's passport, a blood-stained scarf, and a recording labeled LAST CONSENT.
Tess picked up the passport. “She was not dead when this was issued.”
The expiration date was three years in the future.
Daniel said, “The passport could have been forged.”
“Everything could have been forged,” Claire answered. “That is the point.”
The copy took the audio device.
“Do not play it,” Lucy said.
“Why?” Claire asked.
“Because Mara knew how to make a voice sound like a promise.”
The copy pressed play.
Mara spoke from the speaker.
“I am not asking Claire to save me. I am asking her to survive the version of me I created.”
The recording paused.
“If the transfer succeeds, the model will remember my guilt before it remembers my name. That is the design. Guilt is more obedient than love.”
Claire looked at the copy.
The copy was crying.
Not dramatically. One tear, then another, as if the body had discovered the response before the mind had permission.
“Mara made you feel guilty,” Claire said.
“She made me feel everything.”
“Why?”
“Because she thought emotion would keep me human.”
The audio continued.
“Owen believes the witness can be replaced. He is wrong. A witness is not a person who sees the truth. A witness is the person who remains after the truth has changed them.”
The room's lights turned red.
The cabinets began to open one by one.
From each audio device came a different voice saying Claire's name.
Owen's voice sounded from the ceiling.
“Mara's problem was that she loved the original subject.”
Claire lifted the blood-stained scarf.
The scent of cedar rose from the fabric.
“Then why did she put me in the program?”
The copy answered before Owen could.
“Because she did not know whether she loved you, or the person you became when you stopped remembering her.”
The center cabinet slammed shut.
On its glass, fresh fingerprints appeared from the inside.