The Girl Who Dared to Think by Bella Forrest (e reader for manga TXT) 📕

“All of this?”

“Yes,” I said, and then faltered. “Not to imply that your home isn’t very lovely, but, I mean... at any moment, things could go wrong for you, and there’d be no one to help you. Doesn’t that scare you?”

“Every night,” she admitted honestly. “I have nightmares about it. About failing to keep my family safe from this world that they, and you, were born into. It’s not your fault that everything is falling apart up there, becoming a screwed-up mess, but, sad to say, you’ll be the ones to fix it... or tear it down.”

I frowned, her words confusing me. I’d thought we were planning to just leave the system, but she was talking about... fixing it or tearing it down? Did Cali want us to fight instead of run?

“Why do you say that?”

“No reason,” she said. There was a pregnant pause, and then she spoke again. “It’s just a feeling. The number of undocs has been growing exponentially for the last twenty years. When I first got out here, you could find but a handful of us. Now? I know of at least seventy people trying to survive outside the shell like this. That’s a sign that something really bad is about to happen inside the Tower—nothing good.”

“Right. Which brings me back to my question. What is the—”

“Shut up,” Cali said abruptly, and turned back to the screen as something began flashing across it. Alarm crawled up my spine, but when she looked back at me, it evaporated under the calm control there. “It’s fine; it’s just him. Just try to be quiet, okay? He doesn’t like surprises.”

I nodded. I’d waited this long. What was a few more minutes? I watched as she hit something on the screen, and then—

“Did you secure the Medic?”

The voice—I didn’t want to say “his,” as it was unclear what gender the person actually was—came out of the terminal, digitally rendered to the point that it didn’t even sound human anymore.

“We did,” she said. “And got two strays with him. His assistant, and a Squire who’s been taking the medication he created.”

“Are they threats?”

Cali didn’t hesitate in her response. “Not that I’ve seen, and my gut tells me they are trustworthy.”

“I trust your assessment, but still want to get some background of my own. The Squire, is this the one Roark mentioned? Liana Castell?”

“Yes. And she needs a little help in regards to a member of her family she wants to bring down here to live with us. Apparently, she knows a bit too much, and her ranking is being adversely affected as a result.”

“I see. And I suppose you want my help to try to make this happen?”

“If you can swing it. I’m not sure how bad things have been in the Tower since Tian wound up interfering.”

“It has not been good,” the voice replied. There was a long pause. “Give me the name of the family member in question.”

“She’s not biological family,” I said, unable to keep quiet anymore, and the look Cali gave me should’ve caused me to die on the spot. “Her name is Zoe Elphesian, and she helped me save Grey Farmless’s life. Her rank was a four the last time I saw her, and if what Cali tells me about Scipio is correct, then she’ll continue to fall. Especially if I’m missing.”

There was a silence, and then the voice returned. “I assume this is Squire Castell.”

“Drop the Squire, and call me Liana. What should I call you?”

“Hey—nice try, Liana. The only name I will give you is ‘Mercury.’ Cali, I would be willing to discuss my assessment and findings later and in private a week from now. I trust that you’ll honor that request.”

“Hey, now, wait a minute,” I started, my face heating as my panic grew. “My friend doesn’t have a week—she might only have days. I need your help to get her out of there, without drawing too much attention to myself.”

“Which is why we have to move slowly with these things,” the voice said through the speakers. “Being fast is the same thing as being sloppy, and we can’t afford to have any mess whatsoever.”

“Please, Mercury. Her life is on the line. She’s one rank short of mandatory treatment at the Medica, where they’ll force who knows what down her throat and turn her into a little automaton who spends her life devoted to a thing that will have her killed for not being happy to devote her life to it!” Mercury had to agree—he just had to. I couldn’t imagine that anyone who was working hard to keep so many people safe would turn his or her back on another human being in need.

“We all know the score, Liana!” Mercury reprimanded me, harsh and angry. “Lives are at stake, yes, and unfortunately, the ones down there outnumber your friend. I have spent years trying to keep them safe, and I won’t jeopardize all of them for one person. So you’ll either be patient while I try to help you, or I will stop helping you, have Roark dope you with as much of his memory-forgetting medication as possible, and get Cali to leave you somewhere, trussed up, for a Knight patrol to find you. Fair warning, though: if you choose the last option, then you don’t get to come back here. Clear?”

I unclenched my jaw enough to say, “Yes,” and then turned away from the pad, anguished that, once again, I was going to have to wait a whole week before we had any semblance of a plan.

No, I didn’t want to put any one of our new acquaintances in danger. They had been nothing but kind and welcoming the last week and a half, and I’d really grown to care about them. Especially Tian and Quess—those two had such a way about them. So happy and carefree. I couldn’t bear the idea of putting anyone in danger in the process of helping Zoe. Zoe