“Oh, Jeremiah, everybody dies,” she told him. “If we thought we’d be around forever no one would ever do anything. Life is short. Knowing that is what keeps you going. But I want to make sure you know what to do with me when the time comes. I don’t want to end up somewhere in the middle of nowhere, buried next to people I don’t even know.”

He had told her to write it all down. She very likely had and, hopefully, it was somewhere in her personal belongings. Someone at the home would know.

“I’ll need to speak to the nursing home,” Jeremiah told Scott, “as soon as possible.”

“I am afraid that will not be permissible, Mr. Adams.”

“Excuse me?”

“We cannot allow any contact whatsoever with the outside world,” Scott said. “You know the rules. We’ve been through this.”

“But under the circumstances, you have to allow me to leave.”

“Leave? I’m afraid we simply cannot permit it. No. We are on a very strict timeline here, as you know.”

“A strict timeline? This is my mother, for God’s sake!” He was astonished. Anger rose up in his throat and nearly choked him. “I need to be at the funeral! You can’t keep me from that!”

“I am sorry,” Scott said, rising. “I understand you are upset, Mr. Adams, but the contract clearly states that you are to remain in the lab for the period of one full year. Under no circumstances are you allowed to leave this facility. I’m afraid that includes the death of your mother.”

“Dr. Scott, I am her only family. I’ve got to make the arrangements. I need to be there.”

“The clone will take care of everything as well as you would do yourself. I am certain that the whole affair will be handled precisely to your satisfaction.” Scott got up and walked to the door, opened it and then turned again, as though a thought had just occurred to him. “This might actually be a unique exercise for the project,” he said. “I wonder if you might write down the details of how you would make the arrangements for your mother’s funeral. You know, the readings, the music, that sort of thing. Maybe the photo you’d choose for the obituary. It would make an excellent test, to see the comparison. I think it could be quite fascinating. I’m certain our investors would be interested.”

With a great deal of difficulty, Jeremiah managed to be silent, but wanted nothing so much at that moment as to punch Charles Scott in the teeth. Once Scott was safely out the door, he settled for punching the living room wall instead. He didn’t even make a dent in it, but felt the sting in the knuckles of his hand, which he ignored.

He picked up a lamp and threw it hard against the far wall and watched shards of blue ceramic scatter onto the floor and couch. Seething, he surveyed the room for something else to break, but there was nothing in the immediate vicinity except a computer monitor, which was bolted to the table, so he started on a stack of books, hurling them one by one against the locked door. And then, spent for the moment, he fell back down onto the couch, and put his face in his hands.