CHAPTER 22: THE CHILD WHO CREATED THE PROGRAM
Claire stared at the screen.
“That isn’t me.”
Helena stood beside her.
“It is your body.”
“I was seven.”
“The recording was made before Miriam took you.”
Claire watched the child version of herself speak.
“Memory does not belong to the body. Identity can be divided, copied, and preserved.”
The words sounded too precise for a child.
Anna approached the screen.
“Those were my words.”
Claire looked at her.
“They put your memories inside me.”
“Part of them.”
The recording continued.
“If I am separated from my sisters, the Continuance network must protect the primary subject.”
Claire shook her head.
“I didn’t create anything.”
Helena answered quietly.
“You completed it.”
The underwater city had been built by researchers who escaped August’s control.
They believed Claire carried the master authorization pattern.
Not in her blood.
In her implanted memories.
The city’s leader approached.
She appeared to be an older version of Claire.
Silver streaked her hair.
“My name is Clara Seven.”
Claire looked around.
Dozens of women with her face stood nearby.
“How many are there?”
“Thirty-two surviving Clara lines.”
Claire Vale stepped forward.
“And Claire lines?”
The older woman looked at her.
“None.”
Claire Vale’s expression hardened.
“You created only copies of her?”
“We created copies of the primary.”
Claire took her sister’s hand.
“She is not less important than me.”
Clara Seven studied them.
“That attachment was not present in earlier models.”
“You mean sisters loving each other ruined your experiment?”
“It changed the result.”
Aiden carried Adrian into the medical wing.
Lily stayed beside Claire.
Clara Seven looked at the child.
“C-4.”
“Her name is Lily.”
“She contains August.”
“She contains herself.”
The older woman smiled faintly.
“You sound like Helena.”
Claire looked toward Helena.
“No. I sound like me.”
An alarm activated.
The city’s outer defense system had detected movement.
Multiple submarines approached the dome.
August’s voice appeared over the speakers.
“Return Clara and the children.”
Clara Seven ordered the city sealed.
Helena moved toward the control tower.
Claire stopped her.
“No more secret plans.”
Helena looked at both daughters.
“Then come with me.”
Inside the tower stood the Continuance master core.
A circular machine filled with millions of recorded memories.
Helena pointed toward Claire.
“You can shut it down.”
“And erase everyone inside?”
“Or free them.”
“How?”
“By opening every memory at once.”
Anna went pale.
“That could flood Clara’s mind.”
Claire Vale stepped beside her sister.
“Then we do it together.”
The machine scanned both women.
ACCESS DENIED.
PRIMARY SUBJECT ONLY.
Claire reached toward the controls.
Lily grabbed her hand.
“The man inside me says there is another primary.”
“Who?”
May you like
Lily pointed toward the medical wing.
“Aiden.”
