Chapter 59
The Cameras Turn
The cameras turned toward Claire.
For once, no one told her what face to make.
Mara stood beside the courthouse steps. Ada and Rowan were behind Claire, close enough to be seen but not arranged for a photograph.
Daniel walked to the microphones.
“My name is Daniel Vale,” he said. “The county concealed a living child and called her a model.”
A reporter asked, “Where is the child?”
Daniel turned toward Ada.
Ada stepped forward.
“My name is Ada,” she said. “I remember being Rowan Vale.”
Rowan's child voice came from the courthouse speakers.
“My name is Rowan Vale. I remember being Ada.”
The crowd fell silent.
Claire held up the burning certificate.
“This is the record that says I die tomorrow.”
The paper flared.
“It is not a prophecy. It is a plan.”
Everett Bell emerged from the courthouse entrance.
He looked directly into the cameras.
“These people are victims of an illegal experiment,” he said. “Their testimony is unreliable.”
Claire answered, “Then why did you need their silence?”
The question moved through the crowd.
A woman behind the barricade held up a file. “My son is listed as discontinued.”
Another shouted, “My husband has two death certificates.”
The county attorney tried to leave.
Tess blocked her with a packet of children's records.
“You can explain this on camera.”
The attorney looked at the pages and went pale.
Everett stepped toward Claire.
“You think public exposure will save them?”
“No.”
“Then what will it do?”
Claire looked at Ada and Rowan.
“It will make it impossible to erase them quietly.”
The cameras broadcast the answer.
Behind Everett, the courthouse doors locked.
The archive system announced one final status.
PUBLIC WITNESS ESTABLISHED.
Then every screen went black.