Constance (Constance #1)(93)

“We agree on something at last,” Cabigail said. “And how much do you think Palingenesis could charge for immortality?”

“Whatever they want.”

“Precisely. Only this time, Palingenesis wouldn’t be selling an insurance policy, it would be rewriting the underlying rules of how our species functions. A techno-evolutionary leap unlike anything that’s preceded it. But one that is evenly distributed. It would create an overclass of unthinkably wealthy and powerful individuals who would never die,” Cabigail said, pausing for dramatic effect. “And we have a name for such beings.”

“They’d be gods,” Con said in awe.

“You understand now why I couldn’t risk Palingenesis ever finding out.”

“But you did risk it,” Con retorted. “You could’ve destroyed your research. What makes you think you deserve immortality any more than Palingenesis?”

“It is my discovery.”

“Exactly. What you did, you did out of selfishness.”

“Given enough time, I will be able to make the processes available to all.”

Con sneered. “Spare me your champion-of-humanity routine. You killed my original so you could live forever.”

Cabigail’s face clouded. “You’re really not going to let that go, are you?”

“It doesn’t seem like it, does it?”

“You truly are your mother’s daughter,” Cabigail said.

At any other moment in her life, Con would have taken that comment badly. But standing there in the violent heat of the incinerator, she wore it as a badge of honor. She was Mary Stickling’s daughter, for better and for worse.

“So convince me,” Con said. “You keep saying I’ll willingly give you what’s in my head once you explain. Well, how about we get on with it, then? ’Cause so far the answer is still absolutely not.”

“This wasn’t how it was supposed to be,” Cabigail said almost apologetically. “You were supposed to have time to rest and acclimate before I showed you, but Vernon’s involvement has rendered all of that unfeasible.”

“Before you show me what?”

“There’s a question I’ve been meaning to ask,” Cabigail said, glossing over Con’s own question. “That first night you left Palingenesis. Where did you get the money to get on the Metro? My team was meant to take you once you found out your LFD wasn’t connected to a bank anymore and returned up the escalator. By the time we realized something had gone wrong, you were halfway home.”

Con thought back. It felt like a lifetime ago now. “A cop took pity on me. He let me through the turnstile.”

“Unbelievable,” Cabigail said with a sardonic laugh. “My entire career is predicated on the belief that I could account for all the variables. That all it took was planning and intellect, and there was nothing that couldn’t be anticipated and controlled. And I failed to account for the possibility that you might charm a police officer into doing you a favor. And because of my well-documented arrogance, Vernon met you. And now his head is filled with all sorts of suspicions and theories. The one thing I most wanted to avoid.”

“And here we are,” Con said.

“Here we are,” Cabigail replied, seeming to make up her mind about something. “Come along. There’s something I want to show you.”





CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO


“Show me what?” Con asked, trailing warily after Cabigail.

They came to a locked door, which accepted Cabigail’s credentials. The locks disengaged audibly, but Cabigail hesitated before opening the door. “A few ground rules before you go inside.”

“Aren’t you coming with me?” Con said.

“Better if he only sees one Con D’Arcy at a time.”

“Who?” Con asked, suddenly very aware of the beating of her heart and the chill running the length of her spine.

“Keep in mind that he is very sensitive to external stimuli, so no loud noises or sudden movements. Do your best to remain calm. He doesn’t do well with emotional peaks. Try to speak slowly and clearly.” Cabigail held the door open, and Con peered into a simple antechamber. At the far end was a plain wooden door that looked conspicuously out of place in her aunt’s hypermodern underground complex. “Also, no mention of the date or how much time has passed. As far as he is concerned, it is still 2037. It will upset him if you challenge that belief.”

“What have you done?” Con said but took a halting step into the antechamber. Once, in high school, a girl had crept up behind her in the hallway and coldcocked her in the ear. Con hadn’t lost consciousness, but for the next day, she’d felt underwater, as if two strong hands were holding her head just below the surface. That was how she felt now. Cabigail was still talking, but it sounded muffled and far away, drowned out by the words that played over and over in a perverse M?bius strip.

Better if he only sees one Con D’Arcy at a time.

Better if he only sees one Con D’Arcy at a time.

Better if he only sees one Con D’Arcy at a time.

Con had been adamant that her original would never agree to any of this. There was nothing that could persuade her. But now, she wondered. Had her aunt offered the one thing that Con would willingly die for? She reached the wooden door and looked back at Cabigail, who smiled reassuringly and waved her on.