Chapter 27 · The Backup That Learned to Scream

"Don't touch that screen."

Cyrus's voice came from every speaker in the control room.

Mara pressed one hand to the wound in her side and kept the other locked around Eli's wrist. Silver neural fluid slicked his fingers. Between them, the key swung from its cable, shaking like it wanted to escape.

Every dead monitor snapped on.

Every screen showed Mara.

Not the bleeding woman standing beside Eli. This Mara looked clean. Composed. Her dark hair fell perfectly around the narrow scar above her eyebrow. Her gray eyes held the calm smile Mara had seen in old recordings—the smile that never reached the eyes.

The copy tilted her head.

"You look tired."

Mara tightened her grip on Eli. "You look fake."

"I look stable."

"You look like a picture of me someone edited until all the ugly parts were gone."

Eli stepped in front of her, blocking half the screens. His torn shirt brushed her shoulder. Heat pressed through the fabric, solid and immediate.

"Get behind me."

"No."

"Mara."

"If I hide, she gets to talk for me."

The copy smiled wider. "That's the problem. She keeps mistaking damage for personality.