Chapter Four: Beyond the Template

Emma did not laugh when Lin said the word duplicate. She closed the dressing-room curtain, disconnected her laptop, and made him begin with the drop of blood. He told her about the missing scar, the abandoned terminal, the ninety-second template, and the list of eleven. When he reached the freight-yard chase, he pulled up his trouser leg. The skin around his right knee had turned black-purple. “Borrow that acceleration again,” Emma said, “and your leg will expose you before Noah does.” “You believe me?” “I believe data.” She placed footage of Reyer five years ago beside Lin's final ninety seconds. “Even the order of your head turns is identical. Coincidence cannot do that. Besides, I've seen TAC-11 before.”