I know my words are lies. Ideal, sure. But how do we fight back against something so powerful without disruption? Wemustdisrupt them.
“I need you to promise me something,” Annalise says.
“Anything.”
“Never let another man control me,” she says. “I’d rather be dead than be a prisoner to their warped sense of my worth. I’d rather be dead.”
“Annalise …”
“Promise me,” she says forcefully, sitting up. “If they take us, if they …” Her voice breaks. “If they take me again … you stop them or you shut me down. Do you understand?”
“I could never hurt you.”
“I’m demanding it,” Annalise says. “I’m demanding it of you, Mena.”
Tears stream down her face, following along the ridges of herscar. I would never kill her. Could never. I’d lie down and die myself before I did that.
“I promise that no man will ever control you again,” I say instead.
She relaxes slightly and leans against the couch again, staring at the television screen. “Will you stay with me awhile?” she asks.
“Of course.” I grab a blanket from the back of the couch and lay it over her. She looks lost, and I wonder about the problems Raven saw in Annalise’s programming. She didn’t think they would affect her immediately, but what if they are? What if they’re causing her mind to play her worst memories on a loop? After all, the doctor gave us the ability to retain memories so we’d learn fear and obedience. I look sideways at Annalise.
Was this his intention? A form of torture for girls who didn’t listen? The men and investors of Innovations Academy designed us for abuse.
And in a way, they’re still accomplishing that.
Disruption
How do you take a man’s crown?
One that wasn’t earned
Wasn’t deserved
Wasn’t his to own.
A self-appointed leader
Is no leader at all.
We must disrupt.
We must engage.
We must destroy.
No man will give up power
Not when he’s been taught it’s his.
But no man will have power over me
Not if he wants to keep his head.
We’ll knock down his castle
And build our own.
