"No."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPXEuthkNe2
"Yes."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0Tp4pqxaU
"No."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs24iLisMjU
"Yes."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfDuxIYF1XH
"You're lying!"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡids6XnJelt
"I'm not."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevxgZpZn7w
Yes he is! He must be!
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhIjbpvAlie
"You are!"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1w44BWHtn
"Really, I'm not," he deadpanned, but it was easier said than believed.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcISkTPkDCz
"Gemma?" I gawped.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTKI3VHlzgZ
"I believe I've specified that before."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEeDhgJHlhB
"You better not be lying to me, or I swear to God—"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1GdjlBQiVQ
"202," he stepped towards me, "I'm not lying."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ39FjqaKhA4
I stared into the distance, bewildered. "Gemma?" I repeated. "Gemma Reynolds?"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZynfYxUAa
"Yes."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEtuxLb1gI
"You're not just winding me up, are you?"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDHrQvJTpLT
"Should I even bother answering that?" he replied bluntly.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaaRF1iLeIj
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Of all the people in the world..." I looked at Everest. "Do you know how many people are in the world?!"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF2eBoGkdzX
"As of now, seven billion, increasing at a rate of one-point-zeo-nine percent."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkhwtZGS9J
I smiled, bitterly. "Seven billion people, increasing at a rate of one-point-zero-nine percent?" My smile morphed into a scowl. "Seven billion goddamn people, and it had to be Gemma! Gemma bloody Reynolds!" I spat.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe4n0kiPkmy
"Reasonably speaking, her dad was the only person who knew about what the Front had been up to."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbUHphu5qx2
"That's why he set up a branch in London anyway."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSugJcj1aWY
In actual fact, Robert Reynolds was American, as was Gemma – that was why everyone made a huge deal out of it when she appeared at the launch evening. The base of their company was located in San Francisco, but just after the discovery of the cure, Robert established another commercial building in London, – hmm, I wonder why – making it geographically closer to the Front's Headquarters. The two rivals were practically neighbours.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPo7VX93rPw
Suddenly, I gasped, realising something. "That's why you wanted to go to London!" My stare attempted to penetrate through his rigid exterior. "To find Gemma!"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3FMKQTDdao
"Needed," he corrected.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxkHccZim0p
"Oh, come off it," I grumbled. "What do you even intend on doing there, anyway? Walk in, and demand they give you the drug?"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLf7zQVovud
Silence dominated the forest.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjIHowrlIFO
"Oh for the love of God, just tell me! I think we're past the whole I-ask-you-questions-and-you-don't-answer-them phase."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6MqXWNXMcZ
"Fine. That's exactly what we're going to do."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtoh1XlWUmf
"The, I ask you questions, and you don't answer them phase?" I quizzed.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXFvdqvB9xe
"No."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJfz61Jo8UX
"We're going to demand the drug from Gemma?"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMUlvvewxd
"We will take a more tactful approach, than how you put it."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf0eeWCRiNS
"Define tactful."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGxgl4hS3R
"Smarter," he said, flatly.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRMqD49faS4
"Hey!" I swatted his arm. It was equivalent to hitting steel. "And then, what?"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs776SPXJVg
"We expose Director."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ23r7FRhEHI
Good plan. Except: "How are we going to do that?"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ZA7PgpMQj
"One thing at a time, 202."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYqRRICW71
***
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgOsVJPb4m
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNBxKD0lHTI
"So, you're telling me," I spoke, nibbling on an almond. "That this time next year, I'd be dead?"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoKa2Fn1Ayb
Even with the bizarre ability to maintain hunger for an abnormally long period of time, it didn't take much brainpower to understand that two days without food or water was over-doing it. Hence, the next morning, we busied ourselves with the job of finding edible food; it proved to be a success.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WuOt4RwxI
Everest gave a curt nod.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYBZ8S5WM1Q
Wow.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXRBdAyhxb
"Because the semi-cure only lasts twenty years, or so?"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGKzbFvtGWa
We also agreed on calling 202 the 'semi-cure', since it only half worked.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAX4vSDzpHI
He nodded again.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQqPzKImi9H
Wow.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡut1ekpCTHv
"And they were serious about the termination thing?"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdCh7CNzq7Q
Another nod.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZFe8o15obP
Wow.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyaGTEiZqbg
"So, the real reason for the termination wasn't because you're better than me; it was because they're going to release 202 anyway, but didn't want the world to know that it doesn't do what everyone what everyone actually think it does?"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVdvV1aj6tb
"Not quite. I'm still better. It's how they made me."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0FrTqEuVkf
I scoffed. "And how exactly did they make you? I mean, Director did say that you have something that I don't. What?"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzu8N2UQqZN
This time, I didn't even get a nod – not that it was a question that could be answered with a simple nod, anyway.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLFulWMJ9Ew
"It's getting late, we have to move," he said, a while later, getting up.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3RxAhn3Pfl
"It's midday," I stated, cornering him. Physically.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ehjTY4118
"It doesn't matter—"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRdPZCqw25
"What do you have, that I don't?" I demanded.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5aZQ5Vg5CU
"Brain cells."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHvnJaE1gF2
I gasped. Humour was my thing!
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1aCpxtFdWX
"Dead brain cells!" I couldn't help but shoot back.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtoiQwgTnPX
"We both know that I'm smarter than you," he retaliated.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82aafh3aqo
"Tell me!" I pushed.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpDEopDEn4z
And we're back to square one.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBf0H0sTKZr
"I don't owe you anything, 202," he replied.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcRYrxU6OOW
No! Do something, quick! Make him answer!
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsJAKs71e0w
A sad smile plastered itself across my face. "That's true, you don't. But I'm going to die soon," Ha! Of course I wasn't planning on dying! "So whatever you say, I'll take to my grave." I sighed for effect. "Isn't that enough insurance for you?"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKq6KKuhvbl
His chiseled face remained as still as igneous rock. "You and I both know you are not dying. Now, drop it."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5tLmuF54k6
Unexpectedly, that made me feel a tad – just a tad – better. But the second part of his response initiated frustration.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZytXKtnwj
"Bloody hell, just tell me!" I rid myself of my vulnerable pretense. "You know everything about me! Hell, you know more about me than I do! So, you do, in fact, owe me this!" Plus, the curiosity was eating me inside out.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkBtHZpzJLO
At first, I received no response. Then, just as I was about to cuss him for being his obstinate self, he spoke; his voice low.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3AUjZBtIm7
"It's not what I have. It's what I don't have."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYTPP6RBSC0
Don't have? My mind flickered through the various things which he might've lacked in order to make him stronger. Fatigue? Flesh? Nerve-endings?
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTECPLLk834
"Emotions," he stated.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfjaCcOxSHl
Emotions?
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDJLwQ8wz2G
"Yeah well, I knew that," I replied, uninterested in the obvious.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdT3UMBysgj
"No. Neurologically speaking. I don't have emotions."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2cQZ4HnsSh
I made a face. "What do you mean? You do have emotions." I could name a few: anger, distrust (in me, particularly), pride, annoyance (at me also), narcissism... it went on!
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc7oDzor1NB
He gave me the same cold look that I'd already received a hundred too many times from him. "Of course I have emotions. I said, Director took away emotions, not emotion."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDsSUac2JZ
What the hell?
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ6ZxK7Wgdx
I snatched the almonds from his hands. "They're doing something to you."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKuz7janWNG
"They're not," he said, taking them back. "When I said emotions, I meant they took away specific emotions, not all of my emotion. If that were the case, they would have created a robot."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tWHdsBu6J
"They already have," I muttered, unable to restrain the comment from slipping out.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjy8gvBwMU
He sent me a glare that could have cooled plasma.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Sylok73G3
I shuddered. "Kidding. Continue."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqTgI95DGxf
"They removed emotions that cause weakness."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfBpE1ldXLe
I cocked my head. "Weakness?"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdlNALEr9HF
"Grief, empathy, shame, remorse, fear, love," he recited at meteoric speed.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdXHHwuNtP
I glanced up, repeating them in my mind, at a much slower pace...
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsbA3vWhupx
Oh.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3wHQUD5adN
True, such an act seemed impossible. But for a multibillionaire company that possessed laboratories which stretched as far as football pitches, it would have been as easy as baking a cake. Scratch that; I tried baking a cake once, and that night, I went to bed with a blocked ear, thanks to the relentless screeching of those damned fire alarms.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcfUbmLkqrl
"When?"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR15G2MuJQx
"When they decided they wanted you dead." He clearly didn't understand the concept of sugar coating certain details, I concluded.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57p41T3PNF
Gazing at his handsome yet stony face, I uselessly pondered at the thought of what it must feel like to have your emotions torn out of you – or rather, what it wouldn't feel like. Eventually, I gave up on the thought, realising how it paralleled a paradox: He wouldn't have felt loss, because they seized the very thing that stimulates the feeling of loss. So he wouldn't have actually felt like he lost something, despite simultaneously acknowledging the fact that he had.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTY2TEcdVJ5
I fiddled with the ring in my eyebrow. In a twisted way, Director played us both. But why him?
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCghBa4HJzC
"So when they said you have something I don't have, they meant you haven't got something, I have?"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw00dsGboLT
"Yes. You've got weakness, and I haven't," he stated.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQqPUKiI00a
"I was talking about emotions! And these emotions don't make you weak! They make you... a good person. They make you human!"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0DuG4RW0t9
"And that leads to weakness."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMHmkVoNwDP
"That's a lie. They fed you lies."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfVdkidfl9r
"Is it? If that's the case, am I right in saying that loss wouldn't bring about grief? And, that in turn, wouldn't drag you down?"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIFjlZ8TDCD
He was doing it again! He was turning my views against themselves.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyDUkb2W4NF
"That depends on how you handle it," I said, sternly. "Emotions are a work of nature; you can't control it. It might drag some people into a dark corner, but other people fight it. That's what being strong is."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk3sbeOHsgj
"What if you can't bring yourself out of a dark corner?" For the first time since I met him, the question wasn't asked in rebuttal, but rather as a genuine question. He was actually asking me, to answer something for him.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSHO2luqIiD
Wow, they really did remove those emotions.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNeFpSPPLsZ
But if the question were asked to contradict what I said, then he had a point. "Then... that's it." Suddenly the feeling of defeat spread through me, one which I despised. "But getting these natural emotions removed just so you don't have to experience them isn't strength. It's cowardice."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxSv9Kb06HU
Something flashed in his eyes, in that moment, but was concealed just as fast. A poor acorn stood, frozen under his glare. "I didn't ask for this."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0SR5Lhx4bf
I sighed, guilt flushing through my veins. "Everest, I didn't mean that."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmlo1NIyt9e
"No," he said, emotionless. Right. No sorrow. Got it.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbKXQlIySeX
This discovery made me contemplate one thing, in particular: Was the front constructed of a bunch of Hitlers? Because, damn, was there anything else left on that evil things to do list of theirs?
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ59dhtalEDR
I peered back at everest; his eyes were still fixated on the acorn.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡihuVcQrN5J
"How did they do it?"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡusvxJOxjlA
"You can find out if you take a fourteen year neurology course at university."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnpoQBswQq
Translation: I don't know.
Then he added, "But they also..." he hesitated, "... they used aversion therapy on me." For a moment he looked like he regretted saying it as though he had said too much.
But it didn't really make sense to me. "Aversion therapy?" I inquired. "Like the ones they give to alcoholics to make them quit?"
He nodded.
"So, what? They used aversion therapy to discourage emotions?"
His visage was cold again, as he shortly replied, "That's exactly what they did."
When did they do it?"
When I first asked it, it felt like an ordinary question, prompted by sheer curiosity. It was when his jaw clenched, that I reconsidered its significance.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLGLWco48h
"They started it when you were nine, a few years after they made you, you know, 202," he clarified. "It was after they found out where they went wrong with the cure."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGdnQp8y4uv
I was about to ask why, when it hit me. They noticed that they had messed up. They rid Everest of removed grief, empathy, shame, remorse, fear, love, so that he wouldn't feel the traditional guilt that is usually felt when someone murders another person in cold blood – cold blood indeed, if he had to fuse both of our bloods to finish the job. But the point was, they were preparing him for it! But, that also meant...
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1dE8wb6iBN
"They meant to kill me since I was nine years! Not just recently!"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHxjQhsLP0h
"Yes."
"Using you!"
"Yes."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNjY2AEZGGh
"That's why they took your emotions away."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiJPZpEQIMP
"Yes."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFvyoqy54Ck
"You were supposed to kill me."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlOhgqRa9sJ
"Yes."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7lFNW4y1F
"You were supposed to kill me!"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0QnwWwsuFE
"We've established that already."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNyGxyR3V06
"No. You were supposed to kill me. So why didn't you?"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRVVnO6XB3B
I wasn't really expecting him to declare his undying love for me, or anything, especially regarding the whole removal of emotions thing, but his reply was drier than I had expected.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCzFEAIJK6c
"I didn't want to slave for Director."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFIcTUQw7P
I raised an eyebrow. I knew he wasn't being honest with me as soon as he said it – not that I particularly expected him to be honest either.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHaT3Fx8rB2
"And it took you up till the last minute to decide this, huh?"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7zY6U0mC7j
"If you suppose."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡruglfjuWfn
"Be honest!" I demanded. "You wouldn't have ended up in this position, in the middle of a forest scavenging for food. Why didn't you follow Director's orders?"
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCYyfHtkzgf
His face remained unmoved. "I don't have to explain myself to you, 202."
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQvHBzM7AR
No, he didn't. I could have tortured the answer out of him, but it wasn't important, anyway. He had already told me everything I needed to know, including the whole Gemma Reynolds thing.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz8u2smmIyu
So, London it is.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynGpgUZZFg
____________________________________________________________________________
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXUbg2iOzJz
Author's note: To those bothered to read:
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu9Kp3e2tmz
And there you have it, folks, your (and Emerald's) burning questions have finally been answered. Now, that wasn't so hard was it, Everest?
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC7admuhlsO
What was your reaction when you found out Everest's secret?
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyzb0w6W7SB
Thank you for reading, I really, really appreciate your amazing taste in books. Please, vote comment (no, seriously, go nuts), and share.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNs6BrJ9wN
-Ruth
ns216.73.216.30da2
然後按「加至主畫面」