"No," Rissa said again. "It could be quelled, but then the dissent would simply run rampant out of sight until it exploded. The opposition could be removed, but that would only give them a stronger power base. The only possible way to stop the division in the Legion, at this time, is to either terminate anyone who cannot be converted—which violates most rules of ethics—or to accept that humans do not always agree. I would recommend bringing this problem into the open, allowing both sides to voice their views, and hoping enough people can be swayed to the desired side. Then, if the dissenting faction is small enough, conflict would be the least desirable of all other options."
"What kind of conflict are we talking about?" Sin asked just as he turned the car into the OutLink parking lot.
She looked at him with nothing but concern in her eyes. "That truly depends on which faction is the dissenting and which is in control. From what the Praetor included, it seems he is not sure."
"Shit," Sin breathed, finding a spot and parking the car. "Ok, Princess, I have to take you back again. Hopefully, this will be the last time."
Rissa turned in her seat to face him. "I have lived in the Enclave for my entire life. I know I am safe inside there. Bored, but safe. Can your church say the same?"
"Yeah," Zan murmured from the back seat, "But Rissa, hating one wrong doesn't inherently make the other acceptable."
"If the division in the Legion is as serious as Praetor Benedict thinks, then getting me out will only make things worse. Worry about your church first, Sin. Protect those who cannot protect themselves. I will be fine."
"Riss..." he said, catching her hand. "You don't deserve this."
"Neither do you," she agreed, "but you cannot be in two places at once. I no longer want to leave the Enclave, Legate. I am comfortable there."
"And you know I can't force my help on you," he said, nodding his head. "Then we'll do it your way, Ingénue."
Tossing a warning look at Zan, Sin climbed out of the car and headed around to the passenger side. The moment the door was open, Rissa reverted back to her perfectly obedient self. He wanted to tell her she was wrong. His urge was to convince her to change her mind. The problem was that inside the car, Zan was listening, and out here, OutLink could.
That meant she'd gotten the last word once again. For now. He wasn't about to give up on her, but from what she was saying, he had bigger problems to worry about. Big enough and important enough ones that his Ingénue seemed to believe they had to be handled first. That, more than anything else, made his guts clench with worry.
Between the upcoming inquiry about the dead priest, the countless times he'd caught someone either watching or following his Ingénue, and her prediction, it was all adding up to one very big thing. Somehow, the issues with the church were tied to the issues with the Ingénue, but why? More importantly, how?
Using the cure as a miracle couldn't be all there was to this. If Joshua wanted to make himself a miracle, then he already had the formula for this cure. But why was the head of Pharmacon's security force trailing her? Why had an organized group—which included a priest—attacked her?
None of this was adding up.
All of the pieces were so close, but they didn't quite fit. That meant he was missing something, but what? And how devastating would it be when he found out?
Sin took Rissa back to the receiving room where a new technician was waiting for them. This time, a woman. She grabbed Rissa's arm a little too forcefully and all but dragged her through the doors to the back. Naturally, Rissa didn't complain, but Sin wanted to. If there was anything to convince him his angel's safety was just as important as the mess building in his church, well, that was it.
Storming back to the car, he decided that somehow, he would manage to fix both things. By the grace of God, he'd find a way. The only real question was what he was willing to risk to do it, because turning his back on God was out of the question.
As he threw himself into the driver's seat of the car, Zan said, "I reviewed those security tapes." The kid sounded rattled.
"Bad?" he asked.
Zan climbed through the gap to slide into the passenger seat. "Yeah. One of the girls wiped her mind and just dropped. Throughout the entire scene, she's lying there like a corpse—eyes open and everything."
"Because she was," Sin said, refusing to soften this for him. "OutLink has a flaw in their coding, and the girls are dying instead of simply erasing their minds."
"Not like that would be any better," Zan grumbled. "Sin, they took her body. In the other one, the girl moved off screen and never returned. And yet in both of these videos, the attackers are different."
"So multiple groups," Sin realized.
"And styles," Zan clarified. "The first group hit them hard, triggering the girl to wipe. The second group snuck up on them and grabbed the girl. Maybe they learned? Hired different thugs?"
"Maybe."
Sin started the car and aimed for the road that would take him back to his apartment complex. "But why take the girl?" heasked. "The head of Pharmacon's security forces was following Rissa. We know that for sure. Was it merely a coincidence or is he a part of this? If so, then why would Pharmacon be attacking brains for a molecule they already own?"
"Because they can't prove they own it?" Zan guessed.
Sin nodded and kept going. "Ok, so who has it? The Ingénue are inadvertently smuggling it to Dhatri Pharmaceuticals for someone. Who? Joshua? Rissa says he wants to make a miracle cure, so that would make sense. The rest of this? Not at all."
"But if Joshua is fanatical about his interpretation of the first precept, then why would he want to make a cure?" Zan asked. "No, you're right, this doesn't make sense. If Pharmacon owns it, why wouldtheyattack the people they hired to carry it? Unless there's some plan to use that as a reason why they can't make it? I mean, that's possible…"
