Broken Dreams (The Chronicles of Mara Lantern, Book 5) Read Online Free PDF Page A

him.
    “Technically a synthetic person could step into a receptacle, and the synaptic interface would be compatible. It should work. The biological support functions would not work, but they wouldn’t be needed for your synthetic body anyway. However, also specifically for your case, the receptacle would have to be isolated from the repository system to prevent a syncing conflict between your biological and synthetic bodies. We wouldn’t be able to do that while the system is so unstable.”
    “I’m not following that last point,” Mara said.
    “Your biological body is already on the repository network. Your synthetic body would generate a redundancy and an error condition if it were connected at the same time,” Perry said.
    Mara’s gaze shifted to the doctor. “But my biological body isn’t in the repository system. Right?”
    The doctor looked confused at that for a moment. “That’s true. Your body is in the morgue, but this synthetic body of yours was synced with its original owner before it was damaged. Hold on. I’m accessing the records.” Her eyes shifted back and forth for a moment as she accessed the Sig-net. Then her gaze settled on Mara. “Ironic.”
    “What?” Mara asked.
    “We disconnected the signal processor on your biological counterpart’s receptacle so you, getting her original synthetic body, would not sync with it. It seems you shouldn’t have a conflict if you connected to the repository system.”
    “Then that’s what I’ll do,” Mara said.
    Dr. Canfield shook her head. “Absolutely not. I cannot allow—”
    Mara disappeared from the hallway in a flash of light.
    When the light receded, she found herself inside the transparent tube next to Abby’s. A wave of claustrophobia washed over her, and she drew in a deep breath to ease her fear. Seconds later, her eyelids fluttered. She felt like she was falling.
     

CHAPTER 5
     
     
    Mara opened her eyes. Not quite balanced on her feet, she swayed for a second and looked down to find better footing. Her right foot perched on the edge of a piece of wood embedded into the ground, leaving her heel unsupported and throwing her off-kilter. She slid her foot forward, placing the sole of her shoe on the plank. That’s when she realized it was a tie—a railroad tie.
    She glanced to the right and then to the left. Metal rails on either side of her were mounted atop the heavy weathered wood, leading her gaze forward to more planks that made up the track on which she stood.
    Vibrations traveled up her legs.
    A black locomotive less than fifty feet away barreled toward her, its cowcatcher—the V-shaped wedge of iron used to knock obstacles from a train’s path—drilling down on her like a giant’s arrow. Before a gasp left her lips, a deafening whistle pierced her ears and stabbed at her brain, sending a jolt of panic down her spine, causing her knees to lock. She shut her eyes and raised her arms.
    No, no, no. Just go away!
    A stiff damp breeze pushed against her body, but she leaned into it, able to remain standing at an angle. She frowned and risked opening one eye. A heavy mist flew past her, thick like clouds, then was sucked into a wind tunnel, shredded into streams that flowed through unseen canyons, on a course to who-knew-where. Somewhere behind Mara, that was for sure.
    Not able to see through the roiling fog, she looked at the ground. She remained standing on railroad tracks. Peering ahead, she felt something wet slide down her cheek. She wiped it away. Water. Condensation. A cloud had whipped past her. Water vapor with a destination. Steam .
    And then it was gone.
    She could see the sky and the horizon now, not that she had had time to notice them before. In the distance, she recognized Mount Hood. However, the city spread out before it was not familiar at all. It certainly didn’t look like Portland, at least not her Portland. The tallest building couldn’t be more than five stories, and all the architecture appeared to be