Here's the thing.
On an ordinary night, Lucille kicked open the door of the medical cabin and yelled at the entire Rhode Island——
"Kelsey!!! There's someone here who looks exactly like you!!!!"
Then the whole ship exploded.
Fourteen years old. Gray hair. As thin as a piece of paper. There was a curve at the corner of her mouth - a smile that Kelsey didn't have.
Three men in rags knelt beside the bed and guarded her for two years and three months. He said she was the "Pope" and that she built five mobile cities on the Sami Icefield. Said she would sleep for a few years, wake up for a few days, and sleep again for a few years. Every time I wake up, I forget everything, and every time I take everyone forward again.
Then she collapsed. Startled by the sound of a gunshot.
Her palms were flat—no calluses. No injuries. A hand that has never been used.
Kelsey turned over the hand and looked at it for a long time. Then when he put that hand back, his movements were as light as touching something breakable.
"When she wakes up, let Amiya be the first to see her."
"Why Amiya???" Warfarin asked, holding up the lancet.
"Because Amiya won't prick her with a needle. Amiya won't want to take her apart and study her."
Warfarin: "..."
Lucille: "... Who are you talking about?"
The whole Rhode Island is guessing - sister? Clones? Spare parts of pre-civilization? Or is it a "past" that Kelsey has hidden for ten thousand years that even she doesn't dare to admit?
