whatever the hell we want || j. jordan

~ chapter 3.8 ~

Monty and Octavia burst into the house with the electromagnet.

"Everyone, let's go!" Sinclair took it from Monty. "All we have to do is connect her and activate the electromagnet."

Raven's arm burst free of the bonds. I grabbed it and tried to hold it back.

"Hold her still!" Sinclair was trying to attach the EMP to her, but she was struggling too much.

"Raven, you're bleeding!" I yelled, trying to keep her arm where it wouldn't hurt her too much. But there is no pain in the City of Light, so I guess it didn't matter too much. She started banging her head against the metal headboard.

"She's trying to kill herself." Bellamy said. "Raven, stop!"

"Stop," Clarke held something up. "And I'll give you this." The other chip. Raven stopped. Bellamy and Sinclair started clipping the wristband onto her.

"You lied! You lied! No, please, don't. The EMP will give me brain damage! You know it will. Please, don't do this!" Raven cried out.

"Don't listen to her." I said.

"You know it will! Sinclair, stop! No!" She was struggling against our grip, but Monty, Octavia, and I held fast.

"We've only got one shot at this," Sinclair ignored Raven. "The EMP will fry the wristband, too."

"Do it." Bellamy said. "Go!"

He pressed onto the EMP, but nothing happened. "We need more power."

"The rover." Monty said, and ran out with Bellamy. In a minute, they came back and switched the batteries. They tried again, and she went limp. Silence. Clarke went to check her pulse.

"She's breathing. Raven? Come on. Wake up." Clarke was trying to shake Raven awake. No luck. It took minutes. Too many minutes.

"I've seen an AI removed before," Clarke said slowly. "Help me get her on her side." We did, and Clarke grabbed her med kit. She started cutting into the back of Raven's neck.

"This has to work." A few moments later, a metallic substance flowed from the wound. Raven started coughing.

"Get her up!" We helped Raven sit and cover the cut on her neck.

Monty stepped away. "I could've saved my mom."

Jasper walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Get the hell away from me." Monty tore away from him, then ran out of the room. I didn't know if I should follow or not. Probably not, but I started to anyway.

Bellamy grabbed my shoulder and shook his head. "Alie knows we're here. We gotta move."

I helped Octavia and Sinclair get Raven out of bed and followed them to the rover. Sinclair and I helped Raven get inside the car and sit comfortably, and off we went.

•

Raven was reading from the journal of Becca, the woman who had created Alie in the first place.

"At 26, she found a pathway to access the human mind. That same year she had to lock up Alie because her answer to what was wrong with the world was 'too many people'. She was 27 when it launched the bombs."

"What did she write about the Flame?" Clarke asked from the front seat.

"Alie 2.0. She designed it to not just access a human mind, but to merge with one. It could never wipe us out because it would be one of us. She would put it in herself first. Altered her genes so her body wouldn't reject the implant."

"Bekka Pramheda, the first Commander. The gene therapy made her blood black, didn't it?" Clarke said, making a connection. Raven nodded.

"How did you know that?" I asked.