Chapter 3: The Girl in the White Room
Chapter 3: The Girl in the White Room
Mia stared at the girl on the screen until the video ended.
"Who is she?" she asked again.
Graves folded his hands. "Her name is Nora."
"Why does she look like me?"
"Because she was created from your biological material."
The cabin seemed to shrink.
Mia stood so fast the glass on the table shook.
"You used me."
"Yes."
The answer was too calm.
Mia crossed the cabin and slapped him.
Graves did not defend himself. Blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"I deserved that," he said.
"You deserve worse."
"Yes."
That stopped her.
Graves leaned back. "After you escaped, the board panicked. Some wanted you eliminated. Others wanted to replicate you. They used stored genetic samples, neurological maps, and behavioral models. Nora was one result."
"One?"
His silence answered.
"How many?" Mia asked.
"Seven viable subjects. Three survived past infancy. Two remain in program custody. Nora is the oldest."
Mia turned away.
She had thought her past was a cage behind her. Now she realized the machine was still running.
"Why bring me back?"
"Nora is destabilizing. She has your resistance pattern. She is rejecting command structures."
"Good."
"She may die if she continues."
Graves opened another file: medical scans, heart irregularities, chemical dependency markers.
"She was designed to respond to a stabilizing imprint. The original model was you."
Mia's voice went cold. "You made her need me."
"They did."
"But you opened the door."
He did not deny it.
The plane landed at Blackridge, a concrete facility above the gray sea.
At the entrance, a woman in a white coat waited.
Dr. Selene March.
The psychologist who once asked Mia what pain felt like.
"Amelia," Selene said. "You came home."
Mia removed her sunglasses.
"No. I came to collect what you stole."
May you like
Selene smiled.
"Then you should know something. Nora isn't the one who asked for you."
