Page 96 of The Restoration Program
Burman pursed his lips. “Holly, a major component of the Program’s purpose is to ensure that you live your life as unrestricted as possible—the way you would have even without the procedure. I can’t promise it’ll all be perfect right away, but rest assured—in the Program’s eyes, you will be an adult.”
Holly breathed a sigh of relief, but her mother sat straight as an arrow. Nicole hadn’t thought it possible for her to look more rigid.
“She will still be in our care, regardless of her age,” her father argued.
“I understand your concerns. We can speak further on the matter after this session.” Burman turned his attention to the rest of the group, giving his back to the family. “I believe we had a few others who wanted to share on—”
“You’re not seriously suggesting that Holly would be living on her own?” Holly’s mother blurted.
Burman took a full thirty seconds before he turned around. “I am not suggesting anything at the moment,” he said, an edge to his voice. “I will be happy to answer any questions you have privately.”
“I’m sorry, what were your qualifications again? Are you actually a doctor with the Program, or one of those community college psychologists? We need to speak to someone who knows what they’re talking about.”
A string of tight gasps and murmuring threaded through the group. Nicole held her breath, trying to figure out how Burman was going tokumbayahis way through this insult. She caught only a glimpse of the fire in his eyes, his mask of composure fissuring.
Each softly-spoken word was coated with bitterness that stung the air. “I’m one of the lead biologists responsible for the miraculous return of your daughter. Is that qualified enough for you?”
Holly’s parents were quiet after that, and Burman eased back into his normal temperament. Still, the way everyone glanced at each other uneasily made the interaction hard to forget. Nicole rested her hand on Ryan’s finger, which had found its way to her lap at some point during the exchange.
She glanced at Carlos, whose eyebrows were still hiked high. When their eyes met, she knew they were both thinking along the same lines—if even a doctor could be questioned in a Facility, what hope do any of us have?
Holly’s parents swept up the moment the meeting was dismissed. While everyone filtered towards the door, the two adults cornered Dr. Burman with a discussion that seemed to make Holly curl further and further into herself.
Ryan was pulled aside by Todd and Ellis, who seemed to be in a competition for who could make him the most uncomfortable with their questions of how he handled intimacy with the Restoration Program. What was he doingright?Nicole chewed on her lip, certain she was about to be roped into the discussion before Carlos sauntered over to her.
“Those two give me a headache,” Carlos muttered, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets as he sneered in Todd and Elli’s direction.
“Careful, they might hear you. You’ll be the next victim,” Nicole said, waggling her eyebrows at him.
“I’m less polite than your boy. They won’t last a second.”
They stood there for a moment before Carlos cleared his throat, like he had something he’d been sitting on for quite some time. “You know… The doc says a lot of good bullshit,” he said. “But I don’t think he’s asked it as simple ashow the hell are you doing?”
Nicole laughed until he raised his eyebrows, kindly awaiting her answer.
She gave a dry laugh. “I have no clue how Ryan and I were pegged as this stellar couple, that’s how the hell I am. If we’re the best, then I don’t even want to think about what the worst is like.”
“Maybe you’re somewhere in between,” Carlos said. “You just happen to be the best at putting on a brave face.”
“Is it possible that you can take that title and give me a break from it? I mean, you and Becca are adorable.”
“I’m adorable with anyone.”
His gaze was pale again. It was like looking in a mirror.
“Are you okay, Carlos? Like,really.”
His broad shoulders pinched in a shrug. “The whole point of all this was to bring us back to life, right? Well, the more I think about it, the more I feel like a ghost. Like there’s something inside me fighting to get back to my life, but it’s pointless. We’d have been better off if they wiped our memories completely.” He frowned at his shoes. “I still remember all those months of chemo. It feels so strange now. Like the movie changed halfway through watching.”
“It’s like a whole different fucking genre,” Nicole said.
“Exactly.”
Nicole pursed her lips and gave the room a cursory glance, noting all the accommodations that were supposed to make NüPrints feel normal. To feel likepeople.
“What if you could come back to life?” he asked, his tone cautiously energized.
“For a third time?”
