Chapter 42
The Body Without a Purpose
Claire caught the copy before her head struck the floor.
Her skin was cold. Her pulse was fast but uneven.
“Call an ambulance,” Tess said.
“No,” Lucy answered. “The ambulance will report the body.”
“She needs a hospital.”
“She needs a name.”
Claire placed the copy's hand against the gym wall. The system did not recognize the fingerprint.
“Give me a name,” Claire said.
The copy opened her eyes.
“I have had six.”
“Give me one you chose.”
She looked frightened.
“No one asked me that.”
“I am asking.”
The crowd outside grew louder. The reporters were shouting questions at Daniel. Owen's guards were pushing them back.
The copy whispered, “Ada.”
Claire wrote it beside the word discontinued.
The system rejected the entry.
“Again,” the copy said.
Claire wrote ADA in capital letters.
The wall accepted it.
The lights stabilized.
Ada breathed.
Lucy stared at the name. “You chose a name from the archive.”
“I chose a name from a book.”
“Which book?”
“A book about a woman who refused to be useful.”
Claire looked at the wall. The system had added a new category beneath Ada's name: SELF-IDENTIFIED.
The copy was no longer marked discontinued.
Outside, Owen Bell ordered the security team to remove Daniel from the steps.
Claire carried Ada toward the back exit.
“Where are we going?” Tess asked.
“Cabin 12.”
“That is where all of this began.”
“That is where the original subject is waiting.”
They crossed the road beneath the reporters' lights. A camera caught Claire carrying the woman with her own face. The image appeared online before they reached the trees.
The caption read:
ARCHITECT LEADS UNKNOWN WOMAN FROM CLOSED SCHOOL.
Claire saw the image and stopped.
Ada lifted her head.
“They will call me dangerous.”
“They already call me unstable.”
“What happens when they call us both?”
Claire looked toward Cabin 12.
“Then they have to explain why we exist together.”
The cabin door opened before they reached it.