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“Now you’re catching on.”
I wasn’t a distraction for the citizens of Arras, I was a distraction for the Kairos Agenda. Because of me they walked right into Cormac’s trap in the Eastern Sector. But worst of all, I’d been so caught up in guessing Cormac’s next move in our staged plan, I never saw any of this coming.
“Pryana? Alix? You knew they were Agenda,” I guess.
Cormac’s lips curl as he nods. “I figured it out. They both proved quite useful. They were too busy thinking they were clever—”
“To realize you were feeding them information,” I finish for him. That’s why Pryana hadn’t heard anything about Cormac’s order. He had purposefully slipped the information to Alix, knowing she would pass it on to the rest of us.
“It was simple. Feed one rebel rotten information and she’ll poison the rest of the group. Watch the lie spread and ferret out the traitors. Soon there will be no more Agenda infestation.”
“And now the whole of Arras will believe you’re their hero,” Dante says. “Because there will be no one to tell them any differently.”
“You’ve done a good job cementing yourself in the minds of the people of Arras,” Cormac says to me. “When I share my heartbreak over your rebellion, they will feel the outrage that only betrayal can cultivate.”
“And who will keep your looms running?” I ask. “What will you do when the Earth fails to produce your precious raw materials?”
“Once we remove the threat left below there, I won’t have to worry about the interference of scum like you.”
“And what if there’s a singularity?” I challenge.
“That’s a theory,” Cormac says with a wave of his hand. “My men don’t believe it’s a threat.”
“Albert does,” I say in a low voice. “Keep harvesting and you’ll destroy Earth and Arras.”
“Aren’t we taking our Whorl role a little too seriously?” His lips press into a thin smile. “There’s no Whorl. It’s only a legend passed between desperate men.”
Nothing about Cormac’s dismissal of me or the Agenda stings, because he fails to understand. Even now, I’m only beginning to comprehend it myself. “Those desperate men are your people, and they believe their legend.”
“What good is belief? Perhaps saying that you believe in something helps you sleep at night, but you and I both know there is no power in that.”
“It’s not just the belief,” I say as a sense of purpose plants itself in my brain, growing roots that lodge within my soul. “It’s the possibility, and once people see what is possible, even in one tiny, insignificant moment, they’re capable of imagining more. There is power in imagination. Undeniable, unpredictable, uncontrollable power. You’re right. The Whorl might be nothing more than a dream, but the idea has given people the ability to dream again. You won’t find it easy to control them now.”
Cormac’s jaw tightens, but there’s no trace of anger or annoyance or even amusement. He’s calling my bluff.
“But you already know that,” I continue. “Girls and boys deciding not to marry. Spinsters refusing to stay at their looms. What will you do when all the Spinsters begin to dream?”
But he only smirks. “Every society must evolve.”
He raises his fingers and trails them through an invisible pattern in the air. After a moment, a crack in the fabric of the room appears.
“What did you do?” I ask in a breathless voice.
“There are those who said men shouldn’t have this power, but I disagree,” Cormac says. “Not just any man should have this power. But I am not just any man.”
“You’ve been altering yourself,” I realize aloud. His erratic behavior. The scar I glimpsed. It makes sense.
“Isn’t that why you kicked Kincaid out? For perverting the research behind the Cypress Project?” Dante asks. “Or did you kick him out to steal his idea?”
“Kincaid was a fool. He was always too busy showing off to consider what the people around him needed.”
“Does that sound like anyone we know?” I ask in mock innocence.
“It takes one to know one,” Cormac points out.
He might have a point. Even now I’m too busy showing off and talking back to consider what I need to do in order to ensure that the others survive this.
“So you’re a Spinster—or are you a Tailor?” I ask. I pull against the rope binding my hands. I wasn’t scared to be in the same room with him before. Now I am.
