Cam scrolls down, searching over every entry. "Some of the pairings are intact. Others are as corrupt as yours, Ki. But look..." He points to another entry further down the list.
Subject 012-B:
Sterling Ryder Wraith
DOB:
09/03/1998
Acquisition:
2007
Paired with:
Pairing terminated.
The silence that follows could crack bones. Lila sets down her coffee mug. The ceramic clinks too loudly against the metal table. "You're both in the program," she says slowly. "But we can't tell if you were paired with each other or with different subjects."
"Not just in the program," Cam says, pulling up medical files. "You were both early acquisitions in 2007. You overlap." He pulls up a facility timeline. "Both of you were at the Nesting House during the same fifteen-month window. May 2007 to August 2008."
My stomach turns violently. Sterling's hand slips from my back. He's staring at the screen as if it might combust any second. "We were there together," I whisper. "At the same time."
"Yes and no," Cam cautions, his voice careful. "I can confirm you were both in the facility. But whether you were paired subjects or just...there simultaneously, I can't tell from these files. The corruption is too extensive."
Sterling moves to the monitor and studies the data. "What are the odds?” he asks, voice low. “Two kids, both in the same program, same facility, same timeline, both with corrupted pairing data?"
"Astronomical," Cam admits. "Which suggests the corruption wasn't accidental."
"Someone deleted it on purpose," I say, the words tasting like metal. "Someone didn't want us to know if we were paired."
"Or who you were paired with," Lila adds quietly, her voice barely over a whisper.
I turn to Sterling, my voice barely holding steady. “The dreams....”
“Could have been you,” he finishes. “Or could have been another one I was paired with.”
The uncertainty sits heavily between us, thick enough to choke on. “The pull we've always felt could be manufactured memory,” I say, my voice barely over a whisper. “It could be genetic compatibility that the program identified long ago.” I pause, finally looking up at Sterling. “It could be nothing more than two traumatized people recognizing their own brokenness in each other…” My throat tightens. “Or it could be real.”
“Does it matter?” Sterling asks, his voice rough, almost raw, as he steps closer.
I look at him—at the electric blue eyes that feel like home, whether I remember them or not. “I don't know.”
“The program wanted to see if genetically compatible children would bond,” he continues, voice low but sturdy. “Whether you were my assigned pair or not, we're here now. We found each other anyway.”
“Without the data, we'll never know if what we feel is genuine…or programmed,” I say, hating how small my voice sounds.
"Fucking bullshit,” Sterling says sharply, slamming his hands down on the table. The sound cracks through the warehouse like a gunshot. "I found you in a coffee shop. No one told me to be obsessed with you. No handler pushed us together. Whatever the program wanted, whatever they did to us as kids…what we chose after they erased our memories? That's real."
"Is it?" I challenge, my voice cracking despite every effort to keep it steady. "Or did they just program us well enough that we'd find each other anyway? Like homing pigeons?"
"You're not a fucking pigeon," Sterling snaps, the words rough and immediate, like he can’t stand the thought of me reducing myself to something programmed or disposable.
"Then what am I?" I demand, voice rising with all the anger that’s been building over the last few days. "What are we? How do we know any of this is choice when our entire childhoods were manipulated?"
Lila steps between us, hands raised. "Hey. Both of you. Breathe."
Cam clears his throat, the sound cutting through the irritated silence. We both turn to him. "There might be a way to find out,” he says. "The Nesting House," he says. "If the facility is still operational, they'll have the original files. The uncorrupted data. Including your pairing assignments."