Chapter 13 - THE NINTH RULE
Lucas’s notebook contained one final page hidden inside the back cover.
Harris had never found it.
The glue had loosened with age.
Ethan read:
RULE NINE IS NOT A WARNING ABOUT THE DOUBLE.
IT IS A WARNING ABOUT CERTAINTY.
NEVER TRUST THE MAN INSIDE YOUR OWN HEAD WHO SAYS HE ALONE IS REAL.
Below:
THE BUILDING CANNOT KEEP WHAT YOU REFUSE TO NAME AS OTHER.
Ethan looked at his double.
“So what? We hug?”
The other Ethan almost laughed.
“Please don’t.”
Then Margaret’s voice came from the mirror.
“Share.”
Harris looked at her.
“How?”
Memory.
The two Ethans sat facing each other.
One told the other their father’s face.
The other told him their mother’s last words.
Then childhood details.
Not tests.
Gifts.
No:
prove it.
Instead:
here is what I have.
The distinction mattered.
Each memory spoken voluntarily appeared in both minds.
Not perfectly.
But enough.
The black mirror cracked further.
Then Harris understood.
For twenty-one years, he had interrogated every Margaret.
Prove who you are.
Answer me.
Tell me what only she knew.
He had turned love into authentication.
And every question fed the thing.
Harris faced the three Margarets.
He whispered:
“I’m sorry.”
Then:
“I don’t know which of you is her.”
All three began crying.
Harris continued:
“And I’m done choosing.”
May you like
The mirror split from top to bottom.
The entire building shook.
