Immediately he responded, “Are you okay?”
Am I?Her hands were bloody. Her leg ached. “No. I mean . . . I don’t know. I can’t remember what happened.”
His voice was tense. “Sit right there.”
Finally her body responded, and she was able to sit up.How did I fall?
The drone hovered closer, so close she could see her entire reflection on its side. Anna narrowed her eyes.It was that, wasn’t it? Why is it moving even closer?Something was wrong. Very wrong.
“Go away!” Anna shouted. But before she could yell any more, the words were robbed from her again. And she could only watch herself in the drone’s reflection as her body shook. The cool water sensation engulfed her, making her lay back down on the path, twitching.
When she came to, Atlas was at her side. “Anna?” His forehead was creased in concern. “Your hands . . . they’re bloody.”
Anna focused on his face.Atlas. What is he doing here?Even her mouth wasn’t working. But her eyes. She looked up at the drone.What? Did that make me fall? It’s so close.And then again she choked on cool water. Her hands clawed behind her head as she jerked, trying to grab at that smooth, silicone piece of technology affixed to her neck.
His voice was hushed. “Can you not move?”
“Ple—“ She pointed to her neck. His eyes and face and the world came in and out of focus. Screaming surrounded her, and Anna vaguely realized it was her own voice. And then suddenly the cold water was gone. In a rush. Instead, she gasped like she’d just come up for air.
In Atlas’s hand was the neurochip, ripped from her neck.
His voice was hushed. “Anna?”
All her muscles quivered as anger rushed in, pure and hot. Her neck buzzed. The dirt path suddenly came into focus, as well as the pain where she’d fallen. She scrambled to her knees.
Anna screamed up at the sky, her face contorted, “You fucking monsters! You made me trip! And then you watched!” She turned to Atlas. “They zoomed in. Like it was . . . like I was a show for them or something!” She glared up at them. “I hatethem, just watching.” Rage flowed through her. Scrambling with her bloody hands in the dirt, she grabbed at a rock.
“I hate you!” Her lips curled as she threw the rock hard, missing the drone by at least six feet.I need another one.
Atlas put his hand on her, pulling her back. “Anna. Stop.”
She shook under his hands. “What am I doing?” The rock dropped to the ground. “I couldn’t move. That chip. That chip. It was hurting me.”
The silicone patch shone in the light in Atlas’s hand. He crumpled and threw it to the ground. “It’s gone, Anna.”
Then Atlas blinked once, his handsome face intense as he stared at the sky. The drone’s battery also blinked once, and then it flew away. He turned over her hands, inspecting the palms. “I rerouted it. Here, we are close. Let me carry you the rest of the way?”
Anna glared at the drone, retreating in the sky. The anger was ebbing, and worry moved in. What just happened? And what did it mean?
Chapter forty-six
Atlas
Atlas moved at a jerky pace, trying to keep his arms still as the rest of his body rejected his signals to calm down. The drone had been sent far away, and his mind was unfocused and coated in rage.They hurt her. And he didn’t know if the drone hovering that close was intentional or not. But either way, it was callous. Watching Anna suffer while she was hurt on the ground.
Anna spoke softly, face pressed into his sweater. “I was so scared.”
Her heartbeat, suppressed by the chip for an entire two weeks, pounded. He felt her heartbeat the further she pressed into his chest.
“Atlas. What about the deal . . . ?”
“Screw the damn deal,” he bit out. “You couldn’t get up, Anna. I had to.”
“I know . . . I know you had to. But what does it mean?”
“I’ll ask. But regardless, anyone could see what was happening. That drone recorded everything.”
While walking, Atlas opened the link to the communal mind.“I take it everyone saw what happened?”It was hard to focus, but he sent an image of Anna from his perspective, sprawled on the ground.
