"I’ve been thinking about this for months, Eliano!" he snaps. "Do you really think there’s anything I haven’t considered? Every plan has flaws. In one, I kidnap Tanner and torture him until he gives up where Senu’s body is. But think about it. He’ll know that even if he confesses, I’ll kill him anyway, so he won’t say a word. And even if he does, and they somehow find Senu’s body, I still won’t be cleared. Don’t you get it? My fate is already sealed. I killed four alphas. There’s no scenario where I walk free. So breaking rules or gathering evidence doesn’t really change anything."
He exhales sharply and once more turns his head away, pulling his cheek from mine.
"You can't unchain me, Eliano. Nobody can."
"If you'd believe in me, Salt, maybe I could unchain you. All I need is for you to have faith in me—"
Salt seems not to hear me at all.
"What you said is right. If you help me, you’ll get dragged into this. You’d end up in prison, and I don’t want that for you. This was a stupid impulse on my part. I’ll do it alone."
Wow, it hits me all at once. He isn’t abandoning his plan. He’s just removing me from it.
"Salt… please don’t do this. Don’t run. We’ll try to find another way to deal with him. I’ll come up with something, I just need time."
He’s quiet for a moment, then suddenly speaks, his tone stiff, almost formal, like he rehearsed it in his head.
"I won’t run. We’ll see how this whole situation on the island develops. Besides, we’re locked in here anyway."
I hesitate before releasing his wrists and sitting beside him.
Silence settles over the room. Only our breathing fills it. His heart is racing, and I can sense the sweet, candy-like smell of his slick in the air. He’s obviously still in this peculiar beta heat of his, but he’s holding back.
I glance at my phone.
"Oh. The file finished uploading ten minutes ago. They’re probably reviewing it now," I say, but Salt doesn’t answer.
He’s lying there, staring at the ceiling.
Then, with a sudden motion, he sits up and reaches for his stack of tattoo sketches.
"All we can do is wait," he says flatly. "Until they finish watching the video and decide what happens next, and whether they’ll unlock the module."
"Salt…"
"Eliano, please. Let’s not talk about this anymore. My head hurts. One thing at a time. Let the current mess resolve itself first."
I nod. He’s right. Planning anything while we’re locked inside the module makes no sense.
I sit down at my laptop and notice that the island’s internet network is completely offline. It doesn’t affect me since I’m using a hotspot, but it means everyone else on the island is cut off from the internet, or is it? Maybe it's just our unit.
About an hour later, I finally get a call from Storm.
Jordan is on the line too, again on speaker.
Even Salt perks up when he hears their voices and comes closer, setting his sketches aside.
This time, Jordan speaks first.
"The news is that with this video, we can do a lot. It’s even possible to shut down the entire facility, because what we see here seriously incriminates Sidorov and even the program itself, which clearly lacks sufficient oversight of its facilities. Sidorovlet a mutant alpha stimulate betas’ fertility, and this is not a scientific or approved method within the BA program."
Salt and I exchange looks. It looks like the video hit exactly where it needed to.
"We also called Blue Lowen and showed him the footage," Jordan continues. "So he knows what’s happening at one of the facilities of a program that’s basically his creation. You can imagine he wasn’t happy. He said he’s about to start making calls."
"What does that mean for us?" I ask cautiously.
"For now, we’re not taking legal action. We’re waiting for Blue Lowen’s call. We have a business deal with them, after all, so we need to proceed with caution."
