Page 135 of The Restoration Program

“What notice?”

Nicole raked a hand back through her hair, pulling hard at the roots.

“How can you say that? You sent it! You and Dr. Burman!”

“Dr. Burman resigned from his position last week. He had… personal areas to explore.” The words hit Nicole like a blow to the stomach. “I’m not sure where the lines of communication got crossed,” Jenning continued, “but we received a very clear message fromyouinforming us of your withdrawal from Partners with Prints due to an unfortunate scheduling conflict.” Her voice grew taut, though did not lose its thread of concern. “It was his parents, wasn’t it? I understand his father is having heart complications?”

It was Nicole’s turn to deliver shocked silence.

Him. It had beenhim.

“Nicole?” Worry rose in Dr. Jenning’s tone. “Do you need a Facility member to come get you?”

Nicole’s laptop was open in front of her. She stared blankly at the screen before she managed to answer. “I wasn’t able to access my messaging account. I thought I was locked out.”

“Locked out? We would never… Nicole, what happened?” There was a quick tap of computer keys, followed by a beat of silence. “Your login credentials were changed from your end. Around the same window of time you left the group.”

“Can you change it back to the original?”

“Yes. One moment… There. You should have no trouble logging in.” Another pause. “Are you safe?”

“Everything’s alright,” Nicole said, stunned by her own calmness. “I’m safe at Darlene’s apartment. Ryan and I, we’re… going through something, but it’s fine. I’ll—we’llbe in touch with you as soon as we can. Don’t worry.”

Nicole ended the call and waited for half a minute, thinking Dr. Jenning might call back and demand more answers. But she didn’t.

While Darlene continued to shuffle about in the kitchen, Nicole moved in front of her laptop. Although Ryan had tried to convince her to delete the Restoration Program’s dashboard app from her desktop, she had refused. She hadhoped.

And thank Christ I did.

With the reset, her login was effortless. The webpage loaded, revealing a library of unread messages. Many of them were from other NüPrints in the Program, wishing her well after her exit from the support group. There was another new thread of people speculating about Burman’s departure from the Program. Many of them believed he had either killed himself or run off with Carlos.

No one had heard from either of them in weeks. Rebecca said she was exiting the group too—she had to process losing Carlos for a second time.

Among the messages, Nicole paused on her individual thread with Carlos. His name was bold and blue, indicating an unread message.

It was from over two weeks ago: “Don’t let him or anyone steal the best of you. You’ve got a light inside. Hold onto it.”

Breath hitching, she clicked the video call button. An automated message popped up in the thread immediately.

User unavailable.

Nicole squeezed her eyes shut and allowed herself three deep breaths before moving on.

Nestled at the bottom of the well-wishes and conspiracies was a short group thread between herself, Dr. Jenning, and Dr. Burman. The first was sent byNicole, politely opting to resign from counseling due to a health crisis in Ryan’s family. They would be relocating for an indeterminate amount of time. Although Burman never responded, Jenning did.

“You’re welcome to join us remotely. With our growing numbers it will be necessary to schedule new groups online regardless. We’ll send you a calendar.”

Each offer was met with excuses and refusals. The final message fromNicolewas a respectful request to give her and Ryan some space during this fragile time. They’d reach out when they could.

We don’t need to keep lamenting our problems to a rotating cast of strangers.

Ryan’s dodgy answers had held the truth all along when Nicole pleaded that they call the Facility to smooth things over. He turned down the idea again, lying that he had reached out to the Facility himself and was met with cold refusals.

He would have worn her down until she accepted that they would never be welcome at the Facility again. All without batting an eye.

Nicole clasped a hand over her mouth to cover a rattling cry, but there was no keeping it in. She covered her face and wept, sinking to a seat in front of the laptop.

A shadow dropped over her from behind, and a mug clinked down nearby. Nicole flinched and twisted around, giving Darlene a full view of her tearstained face.