I, Cassandra

32 | RYAN MADDOX

Blue blinks. She scoffs. 'You're crazy.'

'Clearly not the entire planet,' de Pommier admits, dry. 'The descent shuttles will be repurposed into habitats. Printers will create the parts needed to construct a dome one kilometre in circumference. Once the dome is erected, molecular scrubbers will work to rebalance the atmospheric gases from carbon dioxide to nitrogen and oxygen, and then you're up. The terraforming will unfold in controlled stages until the dome's ecology becomes self-sustaining. Then we do it all again, piece by piece, dome by dome until—'

'No,' Blue says, flat. 'Not interested.'

'Hm,' de Pommier says. She drums her fingers on the table. 'And if I had the power to return Capitaine Maddox to you?'

I stiffen, defensive. So that's what it was—her look of triumph. I'm her trump card. I shake my head at her, desperate, willing her to stop. She ignores me.

She's got Blue's full attention now. 'I thought he was dead,' Blue whispers. Hope slams through her, awakening her—a flower opening its petals to the light, after a long, dark night.

'He's right behind you,' de Pommier murmurs.

Blue turns, desperation shearing through her. She looks past me, her eyes bright, raking over the empty apartment, searching the kitchen and living room.

Blue looks back, confused. 'I don't—'

de Pommier's avatar nods at me. 'He's looking right at you.'

Blue blinks. She looks up at me, raw, frightened. 'Ryan?' she breathes, her expression screaming denial, willing it not to be so.

I nod, my heart aching. 'What's left of me.'

Her face crumples. The light in her eyes dies. 'What do you mean,' she finally manages, stricken, 'what's left of you?' Her eyes move over my ugly face, searching for me, finding nothing. A tear slides free. I resist the urge to brush it away.

'He's a cybernetic organism,' de Pommier's avatar answers, coming to join us. 'Half-man, half-machine. The first of his kind. His body was too damaged to save, but we were able to transfer his consciousness. We brought him back, at great expense. However, if necessary, we have the power to make him forget you—' she claps her hands together, startling Blue, 'in a heartbeat.'

I shoot the avatar a baleful look, hating de Pommier so much I can taste it. It takes every shred of my will not to lunge at her avatar and tear it apart with my bare hands. She can say what she wants about the Prime Minister but in my eyes, she's just the same. A fucking egomaniacal despot.

Blue nods. 'I see,' she says, quiet, defeated. She leaves us, her steps unsteady. By the mirrored wall, she pauses, her reflection in it bleak, empty. 'When do we leave?'

de Pommier smiles, satisfaction oozing from her. 'Mars nears its minimum in just under twelve months. In the meantime, we need to experiment with your dosages, to see if there is any way we can maximise your abilities.'

Blue doesn't answer. She walks away, the quiet click of her bedroom door coming to, shutting me out, tears me apart.

I turn to confront de Pommier, but the droid's eyes are blank. The general is already gone, though her smile lingers on.