Chapter 19 · Reset Protocol - Chapter 19: Lucas Remembers the Other Ending

"Don't touch that pod."

Lucas froze, his hand half an inch from the glass. The girl inside looked exactly like Lily. Same freckle under her left eye. Same scar on her chin from the bike crash two summers ago. Same pajamas she'd been wearing the morning the district locked down.

But her chest wasn't moving.

"That's not her," Erin said from behind him. "That's a render. The protocol scanned everyone in the zone the first hour. Made backups."

"Backups." Lucas didn't look away from the pod. His daughter's face was pale, lips slightly parted like she was about to say something. "You mean copies."

"I mean specimens. Archived genetic samples with partial neural imprints. They look right. They don't breathe."

Lucas pressed his palm against the glass. It was cold. Too cold. The girl inside didn't react. Didn't blink. He could see the faint blue glow of stasis gel pooled at the bottom of the pod, thick as syrup.

"How many?" His voice came out flat.

"In this chamber? Forty-three thousand, eight hundred and sixteen."

Mark was somewhere behind them, checking the other rows.