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“So she still has a SIN you can call,” continued Dante, “but when you call her, she probably has issues remembering who you are, how old you are, or anything about your past, doesn’t she?”
“I told you they tortured her! My dad was gone before I could even get to meet him or remember him, and she tried for so long to survive on her own, just with me! When they captured her, my mom was tortured, so it just couldn’t be helped that she’d... end up with those issues. That’s why I had her transferred to that establishment, to one she could be kept in and taken care of! A lot of people send their family members there, I had looked it up before Loir and I even tried to hack it!”
“Eden, the Core wouldn’t let go of her so easily. They never release someone once they have captured them.”
“You don’t know that. ...Loir made it, didn’t he?” scoffed Eden.
“With a lot of help from the inside. Hackers, most likely the rest of the Edge, and Tanya, a Zodiac. Maybe even your mentor, Pan. He didn’t come out undamaged either. There are very few ways people can escape one of the Core’s prisons, and the main one is with their feet first. The only way to really escape their watch is to go to the Suburbs and have the resources for that. One of the best hackers in the continent hid in a basement for years, but you think they would miss your mother being moved around under their nose?”
“The hack worked,” retorted Eden, her fingers going numb. “It was–”
“Surprisingly easy, wasn’t it? Don’t you think hacking one of the Core’s prisons would be a bit more complicated than that? I know you’re good, and so is your partner, but this... doesn’t add up.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” insisted Eden, constantly shaking her head. “You have no proof.”
“We both know there are precedents of people escaping the Core,” said Dante. “When the Core lost interest in them, or they had the right resources, or were incredibly skilled at escaping. However, your mother doesn’t fit any of those categories. She was related to at least two of the most researched criminals of Chicago, and she was one of their citizens to begin with, implanted with one of their SINs. You escaped because you’re different, Eden; your father’s skills saved you, but your mother didn’t make it.”
“You’re just speculating, Dante. I know I talked to my mother...”
“Those mental health establishments don’t exist.”
Eden’s jaw dropped. That was the last thing she was expecting.
“...What are you saying?”
“If you ask A., the Zodiac you met earlier, he will tell you. It was exposed a couple of years ago after his hackers tried a raid on the Core. They found a bunch of information, including how they scammed their own citizens.”
“I-I don’t understand.”
“The retirement homes, mental health establishments, they don’t exist, Eden. Those places are just scams the Core put in place to have fewer citizens to take care of while allowing those who place their loved ones there to keep paying for it. I will have A. send you all the data. The Core’s System has evolved to believe that the... non-useful citizens need to be disposed of, so they get rid of the real people while uploading things like their voices or physical appearance into their data centers. This way, if their family calls, they listen to a computer using their voice, using the basic information and patterns of someone with memory issues to maintain the illusion. They actually use it as a way to draw pity from you and make you want to pay more. If they are asked for a video, they can make one with basic augmented reality software. People just keep paying and, if they become doubtful or get close to lacking the money, they learn their loved one just passed.”
“No... No, no, no, you’re lying,” muttered Eden.
“I’m not. When you mentioned your mother, I tried to look it up. We found the same information. Since she was transferred to that establishment, she followed the same path as any of their patients. ...If you ask Loir to hack deeper, he will confirm it for you.”
“No!”
Her scream echoed in the room. Eden didn’t want to believe it. She wished she could rewind the past five minutes and forget about all that nonsense he had just uttered. Her mother couldn’t be dead. She hadn’t suffered through the last ten years of her existence just to pay a machine that had already murdered her mom, the last member of her family.
She felt the tears running down her cheeks, but she was much too furious to care. Instead, she tried to hold it in.
“Loir. Check what he said, now.”
“Sure...”
She could feel herself getting light-headed just from the thought of all of that. In fact, it was much worse than she could have foreseen. That hack was too easy. Her mom was no one but linked to the one person the Core was dying to find. She couldn’t escape prison with just... some changed data.
“Loir!” she shouted, unable to hold it in.
“A minute, Kitty! I’m checking, checking... Oh, wait a sec, crazy, creepy witchy here says she needs a word with you...”
“...Eden, what he said is true,” suddenly said Circé, through the speakers. “I... came to learn the truth while working for them. I even helped operate some… It’s horrible, but it’s the truth. I’m sorry.”
Eden felt her heart sink. She stumbled a couple of steps behind and didn’t even have the strength to push Dante away when he grabbed her to keep her from falling.
“...How... How long have you known?” she muttered.
“...I didn’t want to tell you like this.”
