Because all I can hear is the doctor’s voice.
Prepared.
Not rescued.
Not surviving.
Prepared.
Director Wu didn’t keep me alive because I escaped the program.
He kept me alive because he planned for me to inherit it someday.
My stomach twists violently.
“No,” I whisper again.
“You’re lying.”
The doctor studies me with terrifying calm.
“You demonstrated exceptional neurological adaptation from childhood onward.”
She tilts her head slightly.
“You were never meant for disposal.”
Clay moves instantly between us again like he can physically shield me from the words themselves.
Good luck with that.
Because they’re already inside my head now.
Gabriel’s face looks murderous.
“What did Wu do to her?”
The doctor smiles faintly despite the blood running down her chin.
“He shaped her.”
Wrong answer.
Very wrong answer.
Gabriel pushes her hard against the wall.
The crack echoes through the nursery.
“You don’t get to talk about her like that.”
Russ suddenly shouts from the corridor:
“WE’RE OUT OF TIME!”
The heavy blast door somewhere deeper in the tunnels keeps grinding shut.
Slow.
