Chapter 10 - LUCAS GRANT'S NOTEBOOK
Harris had lied about Lucas Grant.
Not completely.
Enough.
Lucas did disappear.
But he left a notebook.
Harris kept it locked in the basement.
Ethan forced him to bring it upstairs.
The pages were obsessive.
Times.
Rules.
Drawings.
Memory tests.
Then one sentence repeated across four pages:
THE BUILDING DOES NOT COPY PEOPLE. IT COPIES CLAIMS OF SELF.
Ethan frowned.
Lucas believed the black glass responded to recognition.
A reflection says:
that is me.
The phenomenon takes that claim literally.
It creates another body around part of the recognized identity.
Memory.
Voice.
Habit.
Fear.
Not a perfect duplicate.
A division.
That explained why copies deteriorated.
Each carried only part of the original pattern.
Then Lucas wrote:
THE MORE WE TEST WHICH ONE IS REAL, THE MORE WE FEED IT.
Harris whispered:
“I never understood that.”
Ethan did.
Every resident had tried to prove originality by answering personal questions.
Mother’s maiden name.
Childhood dog.
First kiss.
Private grief.
Each test supplied more identity information.
The building learned.
The rules slowed exposure.
But Rule Nine was Lucas’s final warning:
NEVER TRUST THE MAN INSIDE TO BE COMPLETE.
Ethan looked up.
“So neither of us is fake.”
Harris shook his head.
“That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because one has to be original.”
“Why?”
Harris had no answer.
Then Ethan turned another page.
A name.
MARGARET HARRIS.
Under it:
ROBERT CHOSE WRONG.
Harris went completely still.
Ethan stared.
“Lucas met your wife.”
“No.”
“It’s written here.”
“No.”
“Where was she?”
Harris grabbed the notebook.
Ethan held on.
The page tore.
May you like
On the lower half, one line remained:
MARGARET IS STILL INSIDE 9B.
