“This is worse than Kess and Anson,” I say, referring to the Silver Block recruits who got off on bullying everyone around them.
“Trust me, it’s not worse. Those two were stone-cold psychopaths.”
I notice another telepathic conversation happening at the far end of our table and clench my teeth. “Maybe they’re not psychopaths, but they’re fucking rude. They’re talking about me behind my back in front of my face.”
“Or…” He pauses enticingly. “…they’re talking about something totally unrelated to you.”
“Why don’t you read their minds and tell me?” I challenge. He still hasn’t revealed his abilities, and there’s nothing more unbearable to me than unsated curiosity.
“Not a mind reader,” he answers with a wink.
“Then what can you do?” I whine when he doesn’t elaborate.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“Yes! I would!”
“Pity.”
“What happened to fostering trust?”
“I already have your trust.”
“If I guess correctly, will you tell me?”
“Sure. But you haven’t guessed correctly.”
“I hate you.”
Unfazed by my tantrum, Gray pops the last piece of bacon into his mouth, then pushes his chair back. “I’m getting another coffee. Finish up and then let’s take that tour.”
We start at the top of the Dagger and work our way down. I’m already familiar with most of the third floor, but he gives me a quick tour of the food production facilities, which I haven’t seen yet. The kitchen is enormous, though I suppose it must be to feed everyone on this base. Gray reveals there are nearly a thousand people currently living at the Dagger.
As we’re passing the common rooms, he points out another corridor. “If you follow this hallway all the way to the end, you’ll find the exit to the Ledge. People go out there to smoke or relax or whatever. Great view of the mountain. I’d take you there now, but it’s raining out.”
“Can’t get your beautiful hair wet?” I mock.
“Of course not,” he says solemnly. “It takes a lot of work to look this perfect.”
“Uh-huh. I’m sure.”
Next up is the second floor. Research and Intelligence. We peek into the medical bay but don’t go inside, which is fine by me because I’m told this is where Fiona spends most of her time. Turns out that along with being a snitch, she’s also the Dagger’s resident healer.
Gray shows me the digital library, which requires a thumbprint to enter. He explains there are different levels of clearance depending on the text or document you’re trying to access, and not every workstation is accessible to everyone.
“The laboratories are in this wing,” he says as we enter yet another endless corridor. “But we also have an off-site testing lab on the north side of the mountain.”
“What are you testing? More of your sugar bombs?” I tease.
When we were in Silver Elite, Cross gave an entire briefing about an incendiary device that the Uprising was using. The Command called it a sugar bomb because the Company scientists who developed it had figured out a way to extract and refine natural sugars into a compound creating an explosion comparable to the atomic bombs of yore.
“Among other things,” Gray says.
“You know, my good friend Kaine Sutler died in a sugar bomb attack.”
“Damn. You must have been devastated.”
“Heartbroken,” I confirm gravely. “I cried myself to sleep for months.”
