Chapter Five: The Promotion Line

Emma enlarged the intercepted command. It came from inside Étoile and carried the authorization NOAH-9. An encrypted video arrived. The duplicate sat on his apartment floor, blood under his nose. “I did not send it,” he said. “They used my synchronization key. When you broke the load, I saw your memories—the freight yard, your cleaning cart, the match where you were injured at seventeen.” “Then you know why I won't stop,” Lin said. “I saw him too. The man in the cage. He hates me.” “He hates the people who stole his life.” “But I am living it.” After a long silence, the duplicate said, “Call me Noah. At least that name is something I took from them myself.”