I change into my "uniform" and send my clothes down the laundry chute, taking care to slide the pen I stole from Lexi's office into the sleeve of my jumpsuit. Before I can explore the bathroom further, a strange sensation comes over me, like a spider is crawling around inside my skin. After a moment I recognize it as a vision struggling to press its way into my consciousness.
I lean one hand against the tile and close my eyes. Taking slow, steady breaths, I remind myself of the door inside my mind that I can open if I choose. With that awareness, I'm hit with a bright flood of images.
Lozen paces a barren cell nothing like the pod I'm in. Her hair is wet, as if she's just come out of the shower. Like before, she looks at me as if she can sense my presence. Her eyes are painfully bloodshot.
"You have the pen. Good. Leave it under the lip of your food dispenser. Mikao will make sure it gets where it needs to go."
Something attracts the girl's attention, and her head whips away from me.
My vision collapses, and no amount of concentration can bring it back. Since when have my visions been interactive? And why can't I talk to Lozen, since she can clearly communicate with me?
I'm chilled as I think about the bare cell where she is kept. That must be the "other accommodations" that the Sofia threatened me with. Is Addie going to be held in a similarly dismal room?
My questions and worries threaten to overwhelm me, but I know I can't lose focus now, when so much is depending on my ability to gather data to and chronicle my experience. And as alone as I might feel, back at the Chrysalis my friends are watching this. Every detail I can uncover could help them make a case to get Strand shut down for good.
I leave my bedroom space and follow tiny dots of light embedded in the floor that lead to the "living room". The glass panels would keep me from going anywhere else, but the lights ensure that I don't accidentally run into the clear glass.
When I reach the living area, I realize that what looked like one space is actually five compartments separated by panels. Each one has a worn but comfortable chair that is bolted to the floor, just like everything else. A tablet rests on a table next to each chair, and each one is connected to the ground with a long, thick wire.
I settle into the chair in my space and turn on the tablet. A quick scan of the contents reveals that it's not connected to either the internet or Strand's personal servers. It simply holds books and other documents that I can peruse, including instructions on how to operate the food and drink dispenser, and the details of my schedule while I'm trapped down here.
I'm about to open a document labeled "Rules and Procedures" when movement catches my eye. An Asian man who looks to be in his fifties or sixties sits in a chair across from mine. His dark hair, which is streaked with gray, is wet. He has dark circles under his eyes, and his body slumps when he collapses into his chair.
"Ah, a new recruit," he says, his tone guarded. "Welcome. I'm Mikao."
This is the man Lozen said would get my pen where it needs to go. I have a million questions for him, but I'm absolutely certain that our interactions are being watched.
"I'm Joan."
His eyes spark with something—recognition?
"Cloned from Joan of Arc?" he asks, though I suspect that he already knows the answer. At my nod, his he leans forward and gives me a small smile. "I am cloned from Mikao Usui, a Japanese healer from the 19th century. He founded the practice of Reiko. Perhaps you have heard of it?"
I shake my head, wishing I'd paid more attention in history class. "Is that what they're testing you for, then? Healing abilities?"
Mikao very deliberately looks at me, and then his eyes move pointedly to several spots around us. He's alerting me to the locations of cameras that are recording us.
"Indeed, that is the hope. Though so far I have only succeeded in channeling light through my fingertips."
I bite back my exclamation of surprise and interest, understanding the need to choose my words cautiously. "And was your work today...stressful?"
"Indeed," he says, without elaborating further.
Our conversation stops when I see a woman curl up in one of the beds across the large room. Even from the distance, I recognize her clone type, because it's a common one—she's a Molly, like Addie, though she's far thinner.
"They think Mollies might have abilities too?" I ask Mikao, since the woman isn't joining us in the living area.
Mikao doesn't meet my eyes when he responds. "No. Ciara Ramschild is the control subject. Dr. Rodriguez wishes to test how Throwbacks without genetic variants react to his...treatment."
A sick feeling spreads through my stomach. Ciara Ramschild was our rebellion's first foray into using the justice system to fight discrimination against Throwbacks. After her case was thrown out, she disappeared. Something tells me that her presence here is a punishment for daring to buck the system Strand had put into place.
A low chime sounds, and the panels around us shift smoothly into another configuration.
"Evening meal," Mikao explains. "Blue Zone goes first. You should go to make sure you have enough time."
Mikao raises his eyebrows and gives me a significant look. My mind is still sluggish from the headache that Lexi hit me with earlier, but I remember that I need to do more than get food at that dispenser. Lozen needs me to leave the pen for Mikao.
I nod my understanding and follow the lights in the floor to the food and drink dispenser. There are only a few basic options, so I quickly make my choices. While the food is printed, I rest my hand against the machine and subtly wriggle the pen out of my sleeve and under the lip of the food dispenser. I have to trust that Lozen chose this location because the cameras don't have a good enough angle to be able to see what I'm doing.
After scarfing down my food, I follow the lights back to my bedroom area. It can't be much later than 8 o'clock, but there isn't anything to do other than sleep. Technically I can still access the living room area, but I don't have the stomach for reading boring Strand-approved documents.
The lights dim throughout our pod, and I lay down in the bed. I close my eyes, and the memory of Addie swims to the front of my mind. How badly was she hurt? Where is she being kept? Is there any way to get her out of Strand alive?
Light flashes across my eyes, and two words appear in my vision.
DON'T SCREAM
I press my lips together to keep from making any noise as a scene unfolds before my eyes. It's Harriet, sitting behind her desk at the Chrysalis. She's talking to me, and words appear above her head, narrating what she's saying, like subtitles.
Marie found a way to ping your contact cameras with video. No audio, of course. But the cellular signal in the manipulator is working, which means we're communicating back and forth. We've seen everything, Joan. We'll find a way to help Addie and Ciara.
But for tonight, our priority has to be getting access to Strand's files and finding out what is in that injection you received that made your H2IV dormant. Marie thinks she can get you access to Strand's intranet through that tablet they gave you.
Marie appears on screen and launches into a series of complex instructions that take all my focus to understand. I shuffle back to the living room area and pull up the "Rules and Procedures" document in case any of the cameras have a view of my screen.
In a small window in the corner, Marie shows me how to access the tablet's source code. She has me scroll through line after line of what looks like gibberish to me, but is actually some kind of computer language. After a few minutes she pops back into my vision and starts telling me what to type. For the next hour I painstakingly follow her guidance using our clunky method of communication.
Shifting back and forth between the video of Marie and my own eyes is disorienting in the extreme, but it finally yields results. We access Dr. Rodriguez's personal internet connection, as well as all of the files on his tablet that he's uploaded to the cloud.
Marie breaks into my vision, ecstatic.
With this information, I'll be able to access Dr. Rodriguez's computer from here at the Chrysalis. We're going to get that cure, along with all the evidence we need to take Strand down!
My head throbs, and I can't tell if it's from my vision flipping back and forth or the mental strain of the day. Either way, I turn off my tablet and shuffle back to bed.
When I'm curled up under the covers, my contact cameras activate one last time. Justus sits in my usual spot by the window in Harriet's office. The fact that he's letting me see his face fills me with so much gratitude that I want to cry.
He looks exhausted, but at least he's safe and well. He speaks, and when I read his words, my heart constricts.
I can't function without you. Nothing else matters but seeing you again. Come home.
I keep my eyes squeezed tightly closed long after the image fades. I'll need this memory to carry me through the ordeal to come. Because tomorrow, the torture begins.