I look at him, mortification radiating a slow heat up my neck. Warner has the supernatural ability to sense people’s emotions. This translates in more powerful ways, too—he can steal other people’s powers—but most of the time his superstrength is just making life really embarrassing for the rest of us.
“I’m good,” I say, forcing a smile.
Warner scans the tablet as he speaks. “As you know, the patient was unconscious upon arrival. She’d sustained a closed head injury resulting in a linear skull fracture and mild orbital swelling, but overall limited damage to the eye itself. She was dehydrated and dangerously malnourished. She had an elevated heart rate despite being unconscious— very unusual—and bruises covering most of her body. The bruises, 247 in total, were the exact same size and shape, leading us to assume they were born simultaneously and caused by the same weapon. No theories yet as to what kind of weapon might’ve caused them, though the consistency of the injuries points to some kind of standardized torture.Otherwise, we’ve done several scans for subtle tech and she’s come up clean.”
He looks at me. I feel him look at me.
But I’m staring at Rosabelle again.Linear skull fracture. Dehydrated and dangerously malnourished. Bruises covering most of her body. Standardized torture.I’m having a really bad reaction to this news.
I can feel it: the spike in my pulse, the anger collecting inside of me. I clench and unclench my fists, trying to shake the feeling loose. I don’t know this girl. I have no reason to feel anything but hatred for this girl. But I keep hearing her broken, desperate voice in my head—
Please
Tell them to be gentle with her
She’s just a child
I know how vicious The Reestablishment can be. I know what they’ll do to people, how they’ll drive them into the ground, out of their minds.
What the hell did they do to her?Why?
With her eyes closed Rosabelle looks unreal, fragile. Her white-blond hair is longer than I expected, released from its practical knot, fanned out beneath her head. Her hands are clasped atop the sheet folded neatly at her waist. Her injuries have been healed, the blood wiped clean from her face. She looks fake, like a porcelain doll. It’s hard to believe this is the same girl who murdered me and countless others.
Warner clears his throat, annoyed.
“Obviously, The Reestablishment would’ve anticipated such scans,” he’s saying. “They wouldn’t have sent her here with evidence of her intentions woven into her DNA. In fact, it’s possible they chose her for this mission precisely because she bears no proof of their tech in her body— which I have cause to believe is highly rare among the Ark population. There is, however, a distinct, poorly healed scar on the inside of her right forearm. Considering the medical advancements pioneered by The Reestablishment, this is highly unusual, and perhaps the most interesting thing about her. Either they can’t remove this scar for some unfathomable reason, or theywanther to bear this scar as punishment. Or a reminder.”
“A reminder of what?” I ask, tearing my eyes away from Rosabelle. “A punishment for what?”
“That remains to be seen.”
My anger only intensifies. “What about the bruises? The malnutrition? You said they were torturing her.”
Warner’s irritation at this is obvious.
“Very well,” he says, slotting the tablet back into its holder. “I suppose we’ll do this now.” He takes a careful breath before meeting my eyes. “Extinguish your hopes and dreams. There exists no scenario in which her intentions are honorable. Don’t be fooled by her appearance. The Reestablishment loves to destroy faces of innocence; they find it perversely satisfying to forge murderers out of the most unassuming figures, especially young women who exhibit both physical and mental promise as children. In fact,it’s to their great advantage that she presents as small and delicate,” he says, meeting my eyes. “They did the same thing with Juliette.”
“But—”
“I’d guess she’s about your age, more or less”—Warner glances at her through the window—“which means her formative years were shaped under the imperial era of The Reestablishment. I’d be shocked if she hadn’t been trained for this from a tender age. So put it out of your head,” he says. “She’s no fragile innocent. Neither does she consider you her hero. You did not save her life. She is not running from her captors, and she didn’t help you escape the island in hopes of finding a better life—”
“Then why were they starving her? Why did they hurt her sister?”
“James. You already know this.”
“Yeah,” I say, crossing my arms. Then, quoting Warner, “‘With few exceptions, The Reestablishment can generally be relied upon to control people through coercion, blackmail, or torture. Sometimes all three.’ But doesn’t that just prove my point? She’s being tortured. Probably blackmailed.”
“Her situation is not uncommon and does nothing to prove she’s sympathetic to you or our cause,” Warner says. “In fact, if the girl loves her sister, as you seem to believe, that only makes the situation worse.”
I raise my eyebrows. “How does that make it worse?”
“She has more to lose,” he says, walking up to the window.“And she’s already proven she’s willing to kill you to achieve her own ends.”
I exhale, surprised by the weight of this blow. I hadn’t even realized how high my hopes were until they came crashing down. It’s honestly a little embarrassing.
“Yeah,” I say quietly. “You’re right. Of course you’re right. I don’t know what I was—”
Something clicks for me then.
