Cridex

Chapter Seven

Imogen knocked on the door and a deep voice answered, "Come in." I glanced warily at Imogen, but she just smiled encouragingly at me, pushing me in before her. She closed the door behind quietly behind her, twisting the knob without craning her neck over her shoulder to look back at the entrance.

I looked up at the man in front of me. Black haired with dark eyes which followed my every movement. "Sir," Imogen spoke with a note of respect edging her voice, and placed her fist over her heart in a bow. I blinked, and when Imogen tugged on my shirt, I did the same.

He said nothing, even when we both rose from our positions. Then a door on the other side opened, revealing Jonas and Camden, who both walked out to join us. The man opened his mouth to speak, "Tell her, Jonas, what is happening."

"We are in dire need of a few answers. We just need your help to answer them." Jonas said. "We went over this yesterday, Ellery. Just please answer a few questions. It is for the greater good for cyborgs."

I shook my head. "I do not know anything!" I exclaimed.

"Oh, dear Ellery, stop lying." The man said sweetly. "We all know you are the adoptive daughter of Elizabeth Kent, one of the top government officials. Surely she has told you quite a bit of the cyborg rebellion."

I stayed quiet, and he raised his brow. "You have not seen the terror happening on the streets? Never realized something was terribly wrong?" He was leering now, I was sure of it. "Well, then. First question."

"Did your mother make a device to detect cyborgs?" He leaned in, grinning.

I knew this was a test, somehow... He should probably already know that my mom made a device, Imogen, Camden, and Jonas must have already told him. Unless... they did not, and this will only power him more.

It was a test to see if I would reveal the information or not. Everything depended on if they told him... or not. Deciding to take my chances, I replied, "Yes, she did." I searched his face for any signs of emotion, but he wore a complete mask of indifference.

But, though I answered this one question, I would not answer another. I did not need to tell him anything, I had no obligations to. For all I know, I could be dooming the whole human population by telling him anything- everything, I knew.

"Good." He smiled. "Then, did you know that there was a rebel war brewing?" I just stubbornly stared into his eyes, refusing to talk. Imogen nervously bumped her hip into mine, silently telling me to answer.

I did not react, I did not talk, and I did not lower my gaze. The man just chuckled and his grin stretched wider as he tsked. "Such a simple question..." He shook his head. "Well, then, Ellery. I must say I am quite disappointed in you."

He abruptly stood up and marched towards the table next to his chair. Grabbing a marker, he pointed at the desk. "This is a map. But not a map of geography, not a map of locations. This is a map of rebels. And wars."

I walked closer and watched as he moved the marker around. "I am marking the places where cyborg and human wars have taken place. Cyborgs are losing-" He circled a place in red. "But, they have won a battle or two." He used a green marker.

Then, staring into my eyes, "Do you want all of us to die? There was many innocents, many young cyborgs dying because of the injustice humans are forcing on us."

"I am not a cyborg, unlike you." I said, chin raised. "I am a human, daughter of the late Elizabeth Kent. I am not a cyborg, and there is nothing you can do to convince me that I am one." I stated.

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow, smirking. "How can you be sure of that? Did your own mother not proclaim you as your own child just yesterday?"

"It- my eye- it was a malfunction." I stuttered. The hurt from yesterday flooded into me, remembering the face on my mom's face as she pushed me backwards. "Surely a trick that you all performed, just to make her turn on me. I am her first born child."

He just continued grinning. "As you wish, as you believe so. But, no matter. We need your help. We need information. Just a few locations, just a few answers will do. We need to win this war. We need to survive. We need to beat the humans."

"What did humans ever do to you?" I cried out. "My mother was a human, and a great one at that. I am a human."

His serene smile snapped towards one, a smile much darker which holds promise of bloodshed. "Because, they have created us, and we have worked for them peacefully. But they did not think it was enough. They downgraded us to slaves.

"And, then, we left. Us, cyborgs, left, to find a better place, to hope for a better world." He sighed. "Humans want to be in power. Humans want to be on top of something on the social hierarchy, they want something to control around, then want something to dictate.

"And the 'something' turned out to be us." He slammed his fist down on the table, startling me. Imogen, Camden, and Jonas all jumped as well, and I just realized their presence. He turned to me again. "Ellery, did you not learn human world history yet?"

"Y-yes, I did." I answered truthfully.

"Then, you must have learned how slaves fought to have freedom. To have equality, to be treated the same, to be in the same class!" He shouted. "How are we any different? How do we differ from what happened years ago?"

I shook my head. "Cyborgs... don't."

"Exactly." He nodded. "We are the exact same. And you realized it, too, Ellery." Beseechingly, he turned his gaze to me. "All we need are a few answers... a few answers, and we could win this war."

But I knew that the answers I gave him would help him to defeat the humans. And, considering that I was a human, he would be using the answers I gave him to plot my downfall.

"You are a cyborg, Ellery!" He exclaimed. "You said those words out loud... but no matter. Do you want proof? Do you need proof?"

"Yes." I said shakily. And, I knew, that whatever he would show me, it would either build my world, or shatter it. "I need every shred of it."