Page 143 of Us Defiant Few

“I don’t think you’d be as fond of my teachings as you are of others.”

The Governor said those words to her at the Genesis Ball.

She thought he’d said it just to scare her.

But what if it was worse? What if he’d seen her training with…

She lifted her shocked gaze, and Alexander smiled, as if he saw the exact moment reality came crashing around her.

Alan had been watching her through Takeshi’s eyes. Since the very beginning.

“Did he know?” Her throat tightened, about to throw up all over the floor. “Did you have him get close to me on purpose? Were you in every conversation? Every moment?”

Every stolen touch?

Her voice grew more panicked, and the Governor rolled his eyes.

“Believe it or not, I had more important things to do than spy on your misguided romance. I spent most of my time managing the crop failure in the underground cities—my backup plan to wipe out the humans. But occasionally, I’d listen in. He had no idea. When I got wind of your foolish escape from Braderhelm, I saw an opportunity to bring you in one last time. And if you finally joined me, my vision for the perfect human would’ve been successful. But you ended up being stubborn, uncontrollable, and destructive, just like the rest of your species.”

The Governor’s gaze sharpened, turning volatile.

“Right there on the surface, I realized you had to be eliminated. I tried to take control of Takeshi to do just that, but something happened that I never accounted for.”

The Governor walked around Takeshi, sizing him up as if he were a disgusting specimen that needed to be dissected.

“His affection for you was much stronger than even I’d anticipated. It was too wild. Too human.” He bit out the word. “When he realized your life was in danger, he overrode the implant and tore off my clone’s head.”

They sat in stunned silence as the Governor revealed what had truly happened that fateful day on the surface. But what Khalani didn’t expect was for her to be the reason Takeshi had killed Alan’s clone.

She stared at him, begging for him to look back, but Takeshi didn’t glance her way. Not once.

“I liked that body a lot,” the Governor muttered bitterly. “But after I made another clone, it taught me a valuable lesson. Memories and feelings interfere with control. That’s when I came up with a new plan. A better one. I devised a chip that overrides all memory. And with the devices all sent out, I have total obedience with no risk of override.” His gaze snapped to Takeshi at the last part.

“What do you mean?” Adan’s eyes widen. “Aren’t the chips here?”

“My clones have already implanted the chips in every underground city. You met one of them.” His gaze swept to Khalani. “Doctor Strauss. Though he always failed to realize his true nature.”

Sweat beaded on her forehead at the mention of the terrifying doctor. She still remembered his knife cutting her open. Slicing her arms off.

Only someone inhuman could torture a person with a smile.

“When Takeshi was shot in Hermes,” the Governor continued, “I wiped his memory of you for good. But I made a miscalculation. I had a much tougher time taking control of him due to how confused his brain was.”

Khalani remembered Takeshi in her bedroom, telling her that he was losing control.

He thought it was his fault.

But he hadn’t been weak. He’d been fighting Alan the entire time.

The Governor gritted his teeth as Takeshi stood utterly silent, the ultimate super-soldier he’d always struggled to conquer.

“For the longest time,” Alan continued, “I couldn’t hear or see anything he did. Only tidbits. But over time, bits of his memory returned, and I was able to listen in. When I learned you were headed to Prometheus, I knew I had to act. I immediately sent vehicles and a strike team in case you were able to access Project Helix remotely.

“But imagine my surprise when you uncovered a secret message from Timothy Talbot, and I discovered that fool created a bypass in my system. If I hadn’t known, I would’ve activated Project Helix, and my entire code would’ve been deleted.”

Winnie’s eyes locked with Khalani’s, horror flashing between them as they realized their biggest mistake.

If they’d never gone to Prometheus, the Governor would’ve destroyed himself.