Portraits revealed through your current reading position.
Cohen's model is mistaken for Julie, making Holden believe a second protomolecule ghost used money and law to force him through the Ring.
Julie Mao's preserved consciousness once guided Eros away from Earth with Miller, and her transformed remains became part of the process that built The Ring. She is dead. Her younger sister Clarissa Mao, however, resembles her even after changing identity and appearance.
When Elio “Cohen” Casti models his unnamed employer, James Holden recognizes the face as Julie rather than Clarissa. The mistake gives the human conspiracy an alien explanation: Holden imagines that while Miller haunted him incoherently, a focused protomolecule version of Julie used money, connections, a lawsuit, documentary access, and sabotage to force him into the Slow Zone. The false conclusion nevertheless drives him toward Ring Station, aligning with Miller's actual investigative purpose by accident.
Julie was a beautiful athletic young woman with short-cut hair and a yacht racer's bearing. Cohen's monochrome model instead reflects her long-haired sister closely enough for Holden to see Julie's face.
Julie is the mistaken identity that lets Holden organize Clarissa's revenge into a coherent alien summons, sending him toward the station.
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