CHAPTER 12: THE MAN WHO CHANGED BODIES
Richard stared at Mercer.
“My father died thirty years ago.”
Mercer touched his own face.
“This body was not always mine.”
Claire remembered Anna’s explanation.
Recorded memories.
Conditioned identities.
Bodies prepared to receive another person.
“The Continuance program,” Claire whispered.
Mercer nodded.
“Not immortality. Something better.”
“You’re only a copy of August’s memories,” Anna said.
Mercer turned toward her.
“Every person is a copy of yesterday’s memories.”
The officers surrounded the group.
Claire Vale moved closer to Claire Bennett.
Their shoulders touched.
Neither sister spoke, but both understood.
Mercer needed both of them alive.
That gave them time.
Mercer ordered the officers to restrain everyone.
Adrian resisted.
An officer struck him across the face.
Claire lunged forward.
Mercer caught her.
“Careful. Your emotional responses are valuable.”
She spat in his face.
Mercer wiped his cheek and smiled.
“Clara.”
Claire froze.
“How do you know which one I am?”
“You touch your left wrist when you’re frightened. Claire touches her necklace.”
Both sisters had believed their differences were private.
Mercer had watched them for years.
They were loaded into black vehicles.
During the drive, Claire sat beside Adrian with their wrists bound.
“Lily is at the hospital,” she whispered.
“Then that’s where they’re taking us.”
Claire looked through the window.
They were not driving toward the hospital.
They were heading to the airport.
Mercer’s convoy entered a private hangar.
A jet waited with its engines running.
The words BLACKRIDGE RESEARCH appeared faintly beneath fresh paint.
Adrian went still.
“My mother used to take me to Blackridge Island.”
“What was there?”
“I don’t remember.”
Mercer entered behind them.
“Because Evelyn removed those memories.”
Claire looked at Adrian.
“What did she do to you?”
“Prepared him.”
“For what?”
Mercer rested a hand on Adrian’s shoulder.
“To carry me.”
Adrian struggled, but the guards forced him into a seat.
Mercer explained Adrian had been conditioned since infancy to receive the August memory pattern.
His marriage to Clara was meant to create a powerful emotional structure.
A stable identity required love, loss, fear, and loyalty.
“You used our marriage as training,” Claire said.
“I used everything.”
The jet lifted into the night.
Claire Vale sat across the aisle.
She had managed to hide a thin blade inside her sleeve.
She cut through her restraints slowly.
Then the cabin lights flickered.
Every screen displayed Lily.
The child sat inside a white room.
A countdown appeared above her head.
Six hours.
Mercer looked toward Claire.
“The Second Fire begins at sunrise.”
Claire glanced at her sister.
Claire Vale’s restraints fell open.
She moved before anyone could react.
The blade pressed against Mercer’s throat.
“Turn the plane around.”
Mercer laughed.
Then the pilot’s voice came through the speakers.
“We were never going to Blackridge.”
The plane began descending.
May you like
Below them stood the children’s hospital.
Every window was dark.
