Of Gears and Humanity

| 22.1

[ELENA]

The Gate was just beyond the forests outside my bedroom window. Though I couldn't see it, I knew it was there. The metal and stone separating us from the truth. Were we the lies?

My father made it clear. Humans were the real monsters; he didn't have to say it outright for me to understand. Yes, there had been a war. And yes, the Attributions were going to kill us all. Were the machines wrong for that? Possibly, but how could I be sure of every story I'd been told? I wasn't sure. And the facts presented to me depicted us as the complete opposite of what I'd grown up to believe.

Humans, my people, my ancestors, may have been wise in their own ways, but the cruelty ran deeper than the surface. To sacrifice our own, to willingly give up children for moments of peace... was it worth the price? Taking a woman's child, giving it away to the machines across the border of our world, was it worth it? And what of the child's mother, would she had agreed to it so easily?

Damien grew up believing he was alone. His parents were the Attributions I'd been raised to fear. But if they raised him without issue, sculpting him into a respectable young man, then those on the opposite side of the Gate weren't evil.

We were.

And if the Attributions were truly the monsters we feared, they could only be a reflection of their creator.

"Elena?" Marleth's voice hunt in the air behind me, but I wouldn't look. With my chin pressed upon my hands, I leaned against my open window. I watched the birds flutter over the trees. Night would fall over Homestead in just an hour's time, and I worried.

Was Damien all right? Did that machine hurt him? Kill him?

The thought made tears burn in my eyes. I wiped them before they could fall.

The door to my room closed. The sound of the lock followed. Still, I didn't turn to look back.

"Elena, talk to me." Marleth came to my side and pulled the empty chair from beside my bed. She sat down, shifting her dress to cover her legs. With the window open, my room was cold. But I didn't care.

Her hand reached out to touch my shoulder. "Elena, look at me at least."

I couldn't. When the wind blew over the trees and the leaves rustled with movement, I wondered if the motions belonged to the beasts who lived out there. Hiding and sneaking around in the guise of animals. Sweet, innocent animals... with machinery under their fur.

"Please." Marleth's fingers pressed down against my skin. "I'm your friend."

She was, wasn't she? I had no reason to ignore her. She hadn't been the one to keep secrets from me.

My father did.

"So is Damien," I whispered, pulling my hands out from the window's ledge and onto my lap. My nails dug into my knees as I sat. "And yet, I can't look at him."

Marleth's hand slid down my arm. "I know..."

"And if he came back, how could I even try to look at him?" Biting my lip, I finally gave Marleth my full attention. She looked as I felt. Dressed in a night's gown too early to end the day. Her hair was a mess of blonde waves. Dark lines of makeup stained her eyes. Her bottom lip pressed out as she sighed.

So did mine. "It's my family's fault he's out there." I looked back out the window. "It's my family's fault he grew up alone as though he were shunned. No infant should be taken from their mother."

"Elena, we don't know if that's what happened." Marleth scooted closer, her chair right beside mine. "If there is a treaty, there have to be rules, and laws, and—"