The doors to the tenement building opened, and a stream of people flowed out. Men, women, even a few children—all with the same gaunt, hungry look Renna remembered from her childhood. Thank the gods she didn’t recognize any of them. There were at least a hundred, walking in single file until they reached the far edge of the park. Then the group broke into columns to stand stiffly, like soldiers.
More hybrids.
Samil had already turned them, probably using Renna’s DNA. She studied the girl closest to her, barely sixteen, with long, dark hair. She wore a mechanic’s coveralls, and her fingers were streaked with grease. A red light flashed deep in her pupils.
A moment later, Samil stepped through the same doors . Her hair was pulled back neatly in a bun, and she wore a tight, white jumpsuit with a white, knee-length coat over it. She practically glowed.
The perfect foil for Renna’s own black clothing. Good vs. evil. Except at this point, with the things Renna had done, it was closer to Evil vs. More Evil.
Samil opened her arms. “Renna. So glad you decided to take me up on my offer.”
“Me, too.” She yanked the pistol from her belt and fired a blast at Samil, aiming for the woman’s heart. If she even had one.
The shot went right through her, shattering the glass window behind her. Samil’s image wavered for a split second.
“Fuck,” Renna spat. Trust the sneaky bitch to be hiding out on her ship. Samil’s chuckle filled the space. That would explain the tinny tone. “You forget, my little dove. I know you well enough to guess your plans. I thought a hologram was a wise choice until we were able to come to an agreement.”
“And what agreement would that be?” Renna tried not to glance behind her at the shuffle of more feet. Another platoon of tenement residents took up their place with the others. “I don’t see that we have much to talk about since you already broke your promise to leave these people alone.”
“You don’t understand, Renna. They wanted this. They were all given a choice, and every single one of them took it. They know what the future will look like. They want to be part of the solution. You should want the same thing.”
“You’ll forgive me if I don’t know what problem you’re trying to solve. Free will? Independent thinking?”
“Pain. Poverty. Despair. What good is free will when you’re starving to death on the street with no hope for your next meal? Or your neighborhood is being taken over by aliens when an organization like MYTH was supposed to protect you?”
Renna shook her head. “I don’t think you give these people enough credit They’d kick any alien’s ass if they tried to move in here. But you have this grudge against MYTH that blinds you to everything.”
“You still don’t get it,” Samil said sadly, the hologram shaking its head. “I’m the solution. My breakthroughs will change everything. No human will need to die senselessly again. You are the last piece of that puzzle. Your unique physiology will make it possible to reach millions of people. To protect them. Don’t you want that, Renna?”
“I want to stop you from hurting anyone else. You’ve killed thousands of innocent people in your misguided vendetta against MYTH. How do you live with yourself?”
“I know it’s for the greater good.”
There was no sign of the woman. Dammit. How could she attack if she didn’t know where Samil was?
Maybe she could use her implant to try to find her… But would that open her up to Samil’s neural network? Would she be strong enough to keep control of her own mind this time?
Dangerous or not, she didn’t have much choice. Renna reached out with her implant. The familiar surge of power shot through her brain, making her shudder as she felt the connections opening.
She pushed deeper, letting the feeling of machine and metal become part of her. She could feel the prickle of the electrons and radiation from the nearby buildings. From speeders. Even from Samil’s ship itself. The connection wasn’t there like it had been with the Athena, but she could feel the ship’s essence flowing through her.
And something else. A strong, underlying command ordering her to obey Samil. It curled like tendrils around her implant, whispering in her ear. It was dark and insidious, and somehow it had affected every electronic device in the area. Anything that came within range would be infected. Samil would be able to control it.
Renna pushed it away. It didn’t matter. She already was infected, and right now she needed to find the doctor.
“I didn’t want to have to do this,” Samil said. Her voice had lost the tinny sound of the holo, and Renna opened her eyes to find the real Samil standing on the steps of the building across from her. A thin, haggard woman stood beside her.
A bottomless pit of guilt, hatred, and fear opened in Renna’s chest.
Samil had her mother.
FORTY
Ryla Carrizal looked exactly the same as Renna remembered—wispy brown hair, sunken blue eyes, hollow cheeks, angry scar stretching from cheek to eyebrow. Renna even thought she recognized her dress. The years hadn’t been kind to her mother, and neither had the drugs. It was shocking she was even still alive.
Samil stepped forward, bringing Ryla with her. “I find it so very interesting my best test subjects come from the slums. Drug addicts, dealers, anyone who’s dabbled in clay. Somehow the drug works brilliantly with my neural implants. Ryla was almost as good a test subject as you.”
Half of Renna’s mother’s head was shaved, replaced with a shiny metal plate. The skin was still red and raw where the two had been fused together.
Acid burned the back of Renna’s throat, but she steadied her voice. “What did you do to her?”
“I wanted to see if it ran in the family. I gave your mother a cranial implant, as well as upgrading some of her nervous system. It’s taken beautifully. Though she doesn’t have your communication abilities, unfortunately.”
“Renna? Is that you, baby?” The woman’s voice was like gravel, wavering weakly as Ryla peered out at her. “I can’t tell if it’s her, Doctor,” Renna’s mother said, looking back at Samil. “She looks so different.”
“It’s her,” Samil said. “Renna, aren’t you going to say hello to you mother?”
Renna blinked at the woman she’d been running from most of her life. The woman she’d never been able to escape. Her whole body twisted with tension, her limbs trembling and weak. She couldn’t do this. Dealing with her mother was not part of the plan.