Chapter 34
The Woman with Mara's Face
Claire knew the woman was not Mara.
Knowing did not stop her from moving toward her.
The woman stood ankle-deep in the lake beyond the door, though the chamber beneath the school should have been miles from open water. Her hair was wet. Her face carried Mara's expression from the last year of her life, when every answer seemed to cost her something she could not replace.
“You are not my sister,” Claire said.
“No.”
“You are a model.”
“Yes.”
“Which one?”
The woman smiled. “The one who remembers the original.”
Daniel climbed onto the platform. “Where is Rowan?”
The Mara model looked at him. “You have asked that question in every version.”
“Then answer it.”
“Rowan is the only child who was not transferred.”
Claire felt relief before she could stop it.
The model continued. “She was used as the witness.”
“Where is she now?”
“In the room with no window.”
The copy went still.
“That room is empty,” she said.
“It is empty when you look at it.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means Rowan has learned to leave before the door opens.”
Owen Bell's voice broke through the chamber speakers.
“Mara, you were not authorized to activate.”
The model turned toward the water. “You were not authorized to keep me.”
“You are a derivative.”
“I am the only one who remembers your first name.”
Owen's voice stopped.
The chamber lights went dark.
The Mara model held out the blue pencil to Claire.
“You wrote the first rule,” she said.
“I do not remember.”
“That is why I wrote it again.”
The pencil touched Claire's palm.
The chamber filled with the sound of a child laughing.
On the wall, a message appeared in fresh blue letters.
THE WITNESS IS NOT THE ONE WHO SAW.
The final word had not yet been written.