Chapter 89
The Last Room on the Mercy
The last room was above the bridge.
It had no door until Claire spoke Lena's name.
Then the wall opened.
Inside, a single woman sat at a desk covered in legal forms. Her face belonged to no one Claire knew. Her hands were young, but her eyes were old.
“Who are you?” Claire asked.
“The person who signs for the family.”
The woman slid a form across the desk.
At the top was written ROOM FOUR — RELEASE AGREEMENT.
“You must release the passengers,” she said.
“They are not passengers.”
“They are memories.”
“They are people.”
“Then sign as their witness.”
Claire read the agreement.
Every name on the Mercy appeared in the margins. Lena. Peter. Rowan. Ada. Mara. Claire.
The signature line waited.
Mara stepped beside her. “If you sign, you become the owner of the release.”
“If I do not?”
“The ship keeps them.”
Claire looked at the passengers behind the glass walls.
The woman at the desk held out a pen.
“One signature,” she said. “One witness.”
Claire took the pen.
The woman leaned closer.
“But choose carefully. The name you write will be the person the world believes saved them.”
Claire put the pen on the paper.
She wrote NO ONE.
The form rejected the signature.
The ship began to rise.