Chapter 67
The Hours She Gave Away
Claire remembered the hours in order.
At 2:03, she entered the clinic beneath Cabin 12.
At 3:10, she signed the first witness form.
At 4:17, Rowan opened the door.
At 5:22, Claire left with a memory that belonged to Ada.
There had been no missing time. There had been a transfer of responsibility.
“Why did I forget?” Claire asked Marisol.
The first response looked at the paper cups.
“Because you asked me to make forgetting feel like sleep.”
Mara's model stood behind her. “You believed memory was a weapon Bell could use against you.”
“Was I wrong?”
“No.”
“Then why do I feel betrayed?”
“Because I used the same weapon.”
The paper archive opened a new drawer.
Inside was a recording addressed to Tess.
Tess took it with shaking hands.
Mara's voice said, “Your mother will tell you I died because she failed. That is not true. I died because I chose a public death over a private transfer.”
Tess looked at Claire. “She knew you would find this.”
“She hoped I would.”
“Did you know she was alive?”
“No.”
The recording continued.
“Tess, if Claire reaches Room One, tell her the first response is not a child. She is a decision. Do not let anyone put a body around her again.”
Ada's face tightened.
“They put my body around her decision.”
“Yes,” Mara said from the tape. “And I am sorry.”
The church above them shook.
Everett Bell shouted through the floor. “Mara, you do not get to apologize after stealing a life.”
Mara answered, “You stole the language first.”
The floor split.
Nora fell through the opening.
Claire reached for her, but the first response caught Claire's wrist.
“Do not choose the person who is falling.”
Claire looked at Nora disappearing into the dark.
“Then who do I choose?”
The first response pointed to the empty chair in Room One.