Page 52 of Fractured Devotion
I don’t want to go to the clinic.
But I will.
Because the only thing worse than being watched… is wondering if you’re not.
I rise from the couch, stiff. The cold air licks at my legs beneath the thin fabric of my shorts as I gather myself in practiced silence. I drink some water, take a shower, and put on my clothes. The rhythm of pretending to be human.
By 6:30 a.m., I’m outside. The air cuts. The sun hasn’t risen, and I don’t wait for it.
The clinic is mostly dark when I arrive. The scent of antiseptic and artificial lemon hits like a drug I never agreed to take. I badge in through the east wing, the way I always do when I want to avoid conversation.
But this time, I’m not alone.
Light spills from Diagnostics.
And I know who it is before I see her.
Mara.
She’s hunched over the sequencing console, her brows tight, a steaming thermos perched precariously beside her elbow. Her hair is twisted back, loose strands curling against her cheek. She looks up when I enter.
“Morning, Dr. Varon,” she greets.
Her voice is softer than usual.
“Mara,” I reply with a nod, crossing to my desk. “Did you sleep here again?”
A faint flush fills her cheeks. “No. I just couldn’t.”
Neither of us can.
She hesitates, then clears her throat. “I pulled the logs you asked for. From the backup drive. There were anomalies, timestamp mismatches, and something weird in the retinal queue.”
I pause.
“Show me,” I say.
She spins the monitor and points.
I lean in as she scrolls the list of flagged entries with a hiss.
“These three were access attempts that didn’t pass through the usual nodes. There were no alerts triggered, but the path mirrors yours.”
“A clone.”
Mara nods. “I thought maybe Alec or Reyes, but the login metadata is masked.”
I step back, and my hand twitches toward the tablet in my coat pocket, the flash drive Alec gave me, and the logs inside it.
It was supposed to be sealed. Forgotten. Why is it syncing with live systems?
“Good work,” I murmur.
She gives a brittle smile. “Thank you. I, um, also ran checks on the lab cams like you asked. There’s something you should see. But not now. Only when you’re ready.”
Her gaze flicks toward the door.
I nod once and say, “Later.”
