Page 165 - TruthAboutLyingFinal

Nicholas Boothman
Henry looked away, the name Aimee Quinn flashing in his mind like a warning light. He could still see her pale, smiling face in the hospital bed.
“There has to be another way.”
There isn’t. That’s what you’re here to learn. Henry’s phone buzzed. The unknown number:
ASSESSMENT PROTOCOL ACTIVE 24 HOURS REMAINING
EXHAUSTED ADMISSION REQUIRED ACKNOWLEDGE LIMITATIONS
He stared at the message. Then at the child. Then at the man with the chalkboard.
“I can’t justify this,” he said. “It’s necessary and it’s wrong. That’s all I have.”
The man read the message. Then he wrote:
That’s the first honest thing you’ve said since you got here.
Henry left the Quiet Zone at 7:23 AM. He walked back through the industrial district, past the silent people and the signs, past the makeshift community that had formed in the absence of his system.
His phone rang.
Jinji.
He answered.
“Where are you?” she asked. “We’ve been trying to reach you for hours.”
“I was in a Quiet Zone.”
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