My phone wakes me the next morning, pinging me with a message from Lexi.
Come to Strand Studios. The time for action has come.
I ease away from Nic's sleeping form and hurry to the bathroom to get ready. It's better for me to risk this meeting alone. Harriet may disagree with me, but I want Strand on our team, at least for a few more weeks.
The main room of the Bunker is quiet. Tupac is monitoring Marie's tablet in case any serious trouble is detected.
"Our buddy Crew hijacked the video feed for the Emerald City News this morning," he says. "He's taking credit for hacking the vice president's pacemaker and stopping his heart. He says it's the first of many assassinations to come until Throwbacks and the Evolved are treated as equals in the eyes of the law."
"It will take decades for that to happen, no matter how much Crew scares the Evolved," I whisper.
Tupac's tone is grim as his eyes return to the screen. "Then a lot more people are going to die."
He doesn't notice when I grab a Taser and a laser pen and slip out the door.
The world above the Lab is eerily quiet for rush hour on a Wednesday morning, either because the governor is taking measures to keep people off the streets for their safety, or because the nation is mourning the death of the vice president.
I take the Evolved public bus to Strand's headquarters after guiltily covering my lavaliere. It's too dangerous to be on the streets as a Throwback right now.
Almost every block has stores with broken windows from the looting that even the National Guard hasn't been able to stomp out. Uniformed officers patrol with assault rifles. The few people who brave the streets hurry, staring at their feet. My city is almost unrecognizable.
Strand's headquarters loom out my window, and I scurry off the bus. No one stops me as I slip in through the Throwback entrance to Strand's studios. For the first time, the lots are empty.
Unease makes the hair on my neck rise. It would be easy for Lexi to have me tortured and killed right here, and no one would know. Maybe sneaking away without telling anyone at the Bunker where I'm going wasn't my wisest move.
The set from my first visit with Lexi is lit up, and she waits in one of the chairs.
I take a seat across from her. "Am I secretly being filmed this time, too?"
"The time for a vid will come soon. But this conversation is private."
As if her word is trustworthy. But, for once, I keep my snarky remark to myself.
Lexi leans closer to me, and her dark eyes meet mine. "The assassination of the vice president and the tumult in Seattle is cutting into Strand's profits."
"And people are dying," I add.
She tilts her head, examining me. "It is time for Strand to show that we have this situation in hand, before the government infringes on our control over the Throwback community. We will take down the Chrysalis in a grand show, and publicly execute the leader, Crew Beaker."
"I'm glad that you're finally ready to help us take down the Chrysalis. I've spoken with the governor, and she is putting the might of the Seattle police force behind us as well."
"That will not get the job done. Nor can your team do this alone," she says. "I will provide fifty men and women to raid the Chrysalis."
Fifty men of Lexi's choosing. Who follow her orders. My resolve to work with her almost wavers, until I remember that there are no other options.
"Your people can work with my team on taking down the security protocols inside the Chrysalis so the Evolved officers can get inside," I offer.
"You will do more than that," Lexi says in a tone that has me clenching my jaw shut so I don't yell at her. "You will personally lead the raid on the Chrysalis. Your people will be on the front lines."
"So we can be killed, and the blood is not on your hands."
"Your short-sightedness surprises me. It is for the optics, Joan. Blake will send cameras in with you to capture the raid. It will make an excellent vid that Strand can use for promotional purposes as we rebuild Throwbacks' reputations in our community. Your team of famous faces will garner more fascination than a dozen forgettable Deans. It is in your best interest and mine to make sure that the Evolved look at the Throwback population with fondness."
Lexi's words make me want to throttle her, but debating with her is a waste. I always knew that my team would be on the front lines of the fight with Crew, and part of me wouldn't have it any other way. Only with people I trust leading the charge can I be sure that Crew's threat will be eliminated for good, and the fewest number of people will be hurt in the process.
Blake walks on the set, followed by three cameras that hover around his head like bees.
"Are you ready for the video shoot, ma'am?" he asks Lexi, without acknowledging my presence.
Lexi nods. "We must present a united front, Joan. So smile for the camera and let me take the lead."
I decide to take some old advice of Addie's and choose my battles. My team, especially Harriet, won't be happy that I'm appearing on camera with Lexi, but it can't be helped.
"America, know that Strand understands your fears for Seattle and our country. We are ready to fight for you," Lexi begins. "While the police force has crumbled and the National Guard has struggled to control terrorism, Strand has united with the Throwback community and found a way to end the threat. Within the month, these terrorists will be brought to justice. I am here with Joan Fasces, who is leading a large team of Throwbacks who believe in maintaining order within our country."
Lexi looks to me, and I take a deep breath and turn to face the camera. "Seattle has known terror in the past six months. Lives have been lost, and Evolved and Throwbacks alike have been drenched in tears and blood. We have also learned that when Evolved and Throwbacks are polarized, the tension and danger between us grows. But when we come together, find new answers, and join forces, we can push back the darkness."
"Which is why Joan and her team are partnering with Strand to end the terrorist threat in Seattle," Lexi cuts in smoothly. "Soon, you will see for yourselves how the proper order of things is restored under Strand's guiding hand."
"I have what I need," Blake says before I can add anything else.
"Edit and release the vid today," Lexi says, and she turns to me. "Send your plans for the raid of the Chrysalis. You can count on my people as long as your plan meets my approval."
Lexi sticks out her hand, and I shake it. Her touch is cold, and I swallow down an ominous feeling that I made a deal with the devil.
~ ~ ~
A small crowd of grim faces waits for me when I return to the Bunker. Elizabeth and Sacajawea are white-knuckled at a table, and Harriet won't meet my eyes from where she sits by the tablets with Justus, Kat, Marie, and Sun. Even Nic watches me with a skeptical tilt of his head.
There's no need to ask what they're upset about, because Blake's vid of my conversation with Lexi is playing on an oversized tablet at the back of the room. How he got it edited and streaming in such a short time astounds me.
"You make decisions for us all, now, like Crew does?" Justus hisses.
"Calm your shit down, Captain America. Give her a chance to explain." Nic says.
Justus tenses. "Now that you're sleeping with her, she can do no wrong, is that it?"
"Justus...no," Kat says.
Nic pushes off the wall and takes a step toward Justus, but before he can reply, the Bunker door swings open and Leo enters. From the intensity in his stare, I know he's seen the vid too. I shove down my shock at Justus's words, and redirect the conversation.
"We have to go into this battle against Crew with every resource we can command. Maybe if we had the full might of an ethical police force behind us, Strand's help wouldn't be needed. But right now, the governor only trusts seventeen officers. Strand is willing to give us another fifty Deans to back us up. And because they're Throwbacks, they can come in on the initial charge inside the building. They won't have to wait until Marie takes down the security settings from inside the Chrysalis."
I've run out of things to say, but the room stays quiet.
"Someone had to make the hard call," I continue, refusing to let my voice betray my unease.
"It's done now," Harriet says, but her words are toneless, cold. "But after we finish taking down the Chrysalis, I'm finished with you, Joan. You seemed to be someone different, special. But you are cut from the cloth of the Evolved, thinking you know better than us."
"This isn't a team any longer. It's a dictatorship," Elizabeth says. "Did you even consider consulting with your eyes and ears inside Crew's rebellion to assess if Strand's help was even needed?"
"Or consider that my dad could give us the numbers we need to attack the Chrysalis in force?" Justus chimes in.
"You have ignored our voices," Sun says.
Guilt rises, acidic, in my throat, but I swallow it down.
"I'm not perfect," I say. "But I wasn't trying to rob anyone of their voice. A decision needed to be made quickly, and sometimes, there isn't time for a lengthy debate and a vote. And if any one of you was killed because we didn't have enough people to fight Crew, I would never forgive myself. I'll take responsibility for your anger at me. But know that I also take responsibility for your lives, and I couldn't risk going into this fight half-cocked."
Leo speaks for the first time. "Putting Joan on trial is a waste of our time. I'm not sure she made the right call, either, but we know she did what she thought was right. We need to get ready."
I've never been more grateful to anyone in my life. At Leo's words, my friends turn their attention from me back to the various tasks at hand.
"Thank you, Leo," I say, quietly enough that my friends won't hear.
"You did the right thing, but you went about it the wrong way. This is a team of strong minds and stronger personalities. If you want this team of yours to succeed, you cannot treat them like mindless drones."
"I didn't— I would never—"
"You did." Leo's tone is firm.
"They'll get over it," Kat says, squeezing my arm.
Before I can thank them, Marie pounds the table next to her. "What the fuck is this?"
I've never heard her curse before.
Kat moves behind her, bending so her head is next to Marie's. "What's happened?"
"The files on my system have been corrupted. Someone go wake up Dennis!"
Sacajawea rushes out and comes back with Dennis moments later.
He takes one look at Marie's screen and scowls. "I've never seen a virus like this."
He seizes Marie's tablet and begins rapidly typing. I can't follow the code that he's entering, but I can tell from the way that Marie's hands are shaking that whatever he's doing isn't working.
"My screen is frozen," Nic calls from across the room. "Can you help?"
Dennis's fingers go still on the keyboard. "There's nothing that can be done. We'll have to wipe the server."
"Someone tell us what is going on," Elizabeth demands.
"It's all gone," Marie says, her voice toneless. "Our entire intranet inside this Bunker has been hacked with a virus that will wipe out all of the data on any device connected to our system. The algorithm tracking Crew's movements in the city, the blueprints of the Chrysalis, all our emails, documents, vid feed links. Everything we've been working on for the past six months is destroyed. Even...our newest project."
Our newest project. Marie's mind-control Manipulator. Our secret weapon. I hadn't even had a chance to tell Marie that it was her invention that gave me the confidence to accept Lexi's help. I felt confident that, with it, I could control Lexi and the people that she's sending to help us take down the Chrysalis if things didn't go as planned.
Justus is the first person to break the thick silence. "We can come back from this."
Harriet releases a long breath and nods. "We know a lot about rebuilding from the ashes. And we will do it again."