Soul Mirrors

No one knows how human genetics evolved to create Mirrors. No one knows how the evidence of a criminal's last horrendous act can be confirmed in a single gaze of a child's silvered eyes. But just because science can't explain something doesn't mean it can't be used, and this gift is simply too valuable to ignore. Twins Thomas and Ashley Ross have grown up knowing they would be used as Mirrors for the "good" of humanity. When their powers mature at age twelve, they are taken weekly to fulfill their role. By reliving the most heinous crimes from a perpetrators' perspective, they alone can assure that no innocent people will be executed, and that the worst offenders are not set free due to lack of evidence. Justice is not without cost, however. Taking on the memories of others is a destructive process, one that quickly consumes the children involved until most take their own lives. As despair threatens to drown Thomas and Ashley, a distant hope keeps them from succumbing: If they can make it to their eighteenth birthday, their contract with the government will be fulfilled. Changing views on the morality of their role threatens to tear them apart, but the twins struggle to cling to each other and try to construct a fragile life above the weekly flood of horrors. As their work takes it toll, however, a new question emerges: does survival even matter when you're already broken beyond repair?