Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 127712 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127712 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
“Unless I want to?”
He shrugs one shoulder. “You might want to.”
“Why would I want to erase my life over and over again?”
He actually laughs. “That’s not how it works. I mean, it can work that way. But it doesn’t have to. If there is no new programmed input, you simply continue with the fantasy you’re on. So if you like who you are right now, and you would like to keep her, by all means, I can make that happen.”
I’m disoriented now. Crushed. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to think.
“Of course, you can think about this for several more weeks, if you need time to decide. Maybe even months. You’ve been on the drug for years, Nova. Your final crash—which would signal the true ending of this trial—could take days. Maybe even a couple of weeks. Sometimes you’re such an overachiever.” He chuckles at this idea. Like… maybe I’m truly an underachiever. “At any rate.” He sighs. Like he’s had a long night. “You have time. That’s all I’m saying.” He nods his head to another part of the room. “I have packed you a bag and there are pills in there. You’ll feel the crash coming. It starts as a disorientation, then memories. It takes about a day to complete. And as long as you take a pill before that happens, you’re fine. You will stay this version of yourself.”
“And then what?” These words come out automatically. Like, I didn’t even think about them first.
“If you want to stay Nova Ryan, this Nova Ryan, then you take a pill once a month. There are sixty pills in the bottle I gave you. They do not expire. It’s enough for five years. I could even send you a text message reminder, if that would make things easier.
“Five years?” I look up at him. “Then what? Who will I be in five years?”
“Who knows. But if you need more pills, just ask, Nova. I’ll send more.” His smile is wide and, dare I say, genuine.
I am lost.
I have no idea what’s happening.
I have no idea what’s true.
Mercer stands up and stares down at me. “You don’t have to watch the films, if you don’t want to. It might make you more confused, instead of less. You can just… gather up the bag I packed for you and leave. After we go over your compensation package, that is. I have a few things to explain.”
My eyes involuntarily sweep over to the table where the glossy folder is. I was right. It is a compensation package. I knew this. Like… maybe it was a memory.
“Shall we?” Mercer extends his hand.
This time, I take it. Just like I have dozens of times before. Hell, maybe hundreds. Because I don’t know what else to do. If I don’t trust him, then who?
“Do you want to see the videos?”
“No. Just… let me see what’s in that folder.”
“OK.” He leads me over there, his pace slow, his grip on my hand gentle. He even looks over his shoulder at me. To check on me. Or… what is that look? Pride?
He points to a chair in front of the folder. “Have a seat. It won’t take long.”
I sit and he takes the chair next to me. Then he reaches for the folder and opens it up.
Right there, in full color, is my mug shot. Actually, a whole page of them. So many crimes for such a young version of my face that blankly stares back at me. In most of them, I’m sneering at the camera.
No. Wrong word. I’m snarling.
Like an animal. Like that woman I saw on the vids in New York. I flip the page, trying to get past this part, but there is another page of mug shots. I sigh, giving up.
“You don’t have to look at this, either,” Mercer says. “Let’s get to the good stuff.” He flips a few pages forward—no more mug shots, thank God—and ends up on a bank statement.
I lean in, trying to focus my eyes on the numbers. I squint, point at it, then look up at Mercer. “What is this?”
“That’s your paycheck, Nova. Seven years, plus a bonus for being such a good sport.”
I look down at the page again. “But…” I look back up at Mercer. “It says… ten million dollars.”
“One million a year. Plus the bonus.”
I let out a long breath. “And this is mine? For real?”
“Absolutely for real. What will you do with it?”
“I don’t know.” I shake my head a little. “I can’t even think straight right now.”
“Do you want me to tell you what you told me you’d do with it? Or show you the video?”
“I told you?” I blink up at him.
He smiles. “We’re good friends, Nova. You, me, Locke, Olsen, Stalls—”
He keeps going, name after name, but I lose track after Stalls. And then I have a question. “Wait. I don’t understand.”