‘You got out from the control room, and…’

Nothing.

‘…Alex?’

‘I… I don’t remember.’

‘Bingo,’ said Mark.

Ewan watched Alex’s expression turn from puzzlement to fear to abject horror. It was a mood he had never seen in the man’s face before.

‘I mean, I literally have no memory,’ Alex continued, his eyes to the floor and his head shaking rapidly in disbelief. ‘I escaped the control room, and reached the bungalow. I don’t remember anything that happened in between. But I… I don’t even remember not remembering, you know? I didn’t even realise there was a gap in my memory until right now… it was like I’ve tried to avoid thinking about it, but not realised…’

More words came out of Alex’s mouth, but none of them helped Ewan understand him any better. All he knew was that there was a blind spot in Alex’s memory, during which Grant and his allies could have effectively done anything with no witnesses.

‘Ewan,’ said Mark, ‘the sooner you take his blood, the sooner we can end the experiment and evacuate. The sooner you can get some sleep too.’

Ewan clawed his fingers into his head, reluctant to admit Mark was right. Drawing a knife over Alex’s skin would have been unpleasant enough at the best of times, but somehow it was worse when the man was tied to a chair, vulnerable to the point of tears, and trying to imagine what the hell Nicholas Grant had done to him without him even remembering.

Nonetheless, Ewan raised his knife.

‘I’m sorry, Alex.’

‘You said you wouldn’t apologise…’

Ewan picked up the plate at the side of the chair, and leaned forward towards Alex’s cheek.

‘Wha-wait… the face? Seriously? You can’t take blood from my arm or somewhere?’

‘You didn’t tell him, Mark?’

‘Your show, not mine.’

Ewan took a deep breath. Less than a foot in front of him, the whole of Alex’s restrained body twitched in fear.

‘There could be thousands of your clones running around. The only way we’ll feel safe is if we make you look different to the rest of them.’

‘You’re scarring my face…’

‘We’re protecting you. From us. Because we’re scared too.’

‘Scared?’ Alex gasped. ‘You have all your memories. No blank spaces where unknown bad stuff might have happened. You don’t even know what scared means…’

Ewan grimaced, and lay the hunting knife against Alex’s right cheek.

Chapter 12

Oliver Roth lumbered down the Floor A corridor, exhausted from his all-night journey back to the Citadel. It was rare that he saw grass or sunlight these days, but he realised how little he had missed them. New London held everything he was truly interested in, and he had no idea how the rebels could live such unluxurious lives in the countryside.