Chapter 41: Partial Release

Mara had fit Sau-lin's burial onto one page, with four checkboxes and a line at the bottom for contingencies. The page lay on the clinic conference table beside the excavation tag and the fragment, still in its clear sleeve, uncovered where Sau-lin had asked for it to lie. Mara had written YIP SAU-LIN across the top in block capitals, pressing hard enough to mark the sheet beneath. Callum read the last line. "Contingency for resistant decedent." "I added that recently." "How many resistant decedents fill out the form?" "None. It's for me." Sau-lin stood across from them with the ache of the fragment fixed under her left foot. It had followed her from Lincoln Park, through the van, up the clinic stairs. Whenever Mara shifted the sleeve, the pain shifted inside Sau-lin's bones. Four boxes. "Identity correction," Mara said, tapping the first. "Jo files the city packet tonight." The second…