“But this is not Operation Synthesis,” he says. “Operation Synthesis is literally about synthesizing Ella’s and Emmaline’s powers, and right now, there’s no—”
“Synthesis,” I say. “I get it.”
“This doesn’t feel right. They did things out of order.”
“Maybe they freaked out after Evie’s attempt to wipe J’s mind didn’t work. Maybe they needed to find a way to fix that fail, and quick. I mean, it’s much easier to keep her around if she’s docile, right? Loyal to their interests. It’s much easier than keeping her in a holding cell, anyway. Babysitting her constantly. Monitoring her every movement. Always worried she’s going to magic the toilet paper into a shiv and break out.
“Honestly”—I shrug—“it feels to me like they’re just getting lazy. I think they’re sick and tired of J always breaking out and fighting back. This is literally the path of least resistance.”
“Yes,” Warner says slowly. “Exactly.”
“Wait— Exactly what?”
“Whatever they did to her—prematurely initiating this phase—was done hastily. It was a patch job.”
A lightbulb flickers to life in my head. “Which means their work was sloppy.”
“And if their work was sloppy—”
“—there are definitely holes in it.”
“Stop finishing my sentences,” he says, irritated.
“Stop being so predictable.”
“Stop acting like a child.”
“Youstop acting like a child.”
“You are being ridicu—”
Warner goes suddenly silent as Ibrahim’s shaking, angry voice booms across the laboratory.
“I said,get out of the way.”
“I can’t let you do this,” Anderson says, his voice growing louder. “Did you not just hear that alarm? Santiago is out. They took out yet another supreme commander. How much longer are we going to let this go on?”
“Juliette,” Ibrahim says sharply. “You’re coming with me.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Juliette, stop,” Anderson demands.
“Yes, sir.”
What the hell is happening?
Warner and I dart forward to get a better look, but it doesn’t matter how close we get; I still can’t believe my eyes.
The scene is surreal.
Anderson is guarding Juliette. The same Anderson who’s spent so much of his energy trying to murder her—is now standing in front of her with his arms out, guarding her with his life.
What the hell happened while she was here? Did Anderson get a new brain? A new heart? A parasite?
And I know I’m not alone in my confusion when I hear Warner mutter, “What on earth?” under his breath.
“Stop being foolish,” Anderson says. “You’re taking advantage of a tragedy to make an unauthorized decision, when you know as well as I do that we all need to agree on something this important before moving forward. I’m just asking you to wait, Ibrahim. Wait for the others to return, and we’ll put it to a vote. Let the council decide.”
