Breed

Chapter Forty-six

"This is crap," Irene said.

Cris sighed. "I know."

"No. You don't. Because you got a choice. They asked you. I'm being babysat; not only do they not trust me, but they distrusted me so much that they sent you here to make sure that I can't screw up their plans."

"I don't know if that's fair... but I don't think they're treating you fairly, either."

"So don't take it," she said. "Just because they tell us we're benched doesn't mean we actually have to listen."

"But what can we do, really?"

"Fight back," Irene said.

"Meaning what, exactly?"

"Meaning you and I aren't weak. You and I are valuable, and they can't just lock us away like we're liabilities."

"I'm with you that far. But I don't know what we do with that sentiment. Because even though I think they're making a mistake, I don't feel strongly enough that I'm right that I'd impose my opinion on them."

"Well, I guess that's where you and I are different," Irene said. "That, and you'll be able to grow your eardrums back after this." She opened her mouth wide and screamed. The intense pressure from it caused Cris to feel faint. He tried to force himself to stay upright, but couldn't, and crumpled into a ball on the ground. He felt warmth and wetness at his ears, and wasn't surprised to find blood.

"Wait. Don't," he tried to say, but he was rapidly losing consciousness.

"This isn't a conversation," Irene said, "least of all because you couldn't hear me even if you were interested in actually conversing back and forth." She sighed. "I am sorry, Cris. But we can't let Rox do this." She closed the door behind herself.

Irene wondered where Linc was. It seemed like what she was going to say wasn't the kind of thing you did over the phone. But she was light enough on time that she couldn't justify waiting.

She dialed him up.

"Irene?" he asked.

"Yeah. Where're you at?"

"My office. I was so glad you were okay today."

"Me, too. But Rox isn't."

"What's happened?" he asked, concern lining his voice.

"It isn't what happened, it's what she's about to do. We need to stop her, before she makes everything worse."

"Slow down. What are you talking about, stopping her?"

"Mahmoud has figured out where the NSA keeps its transhuman tracking program. It's in our own backyard. And she means to dismantle it."

"Why the hell would she do that?" he asked.

"Because of what happened to Elijah. Mahmoud. And Mariyah this morning."

"Yeah. When you stack those together... it becomes easier to understand her reaction. She's angry. We all are. But what monsters like Dowell want is for us to be at war, for us to ignore millenia of humans learning to peacefully coexist with people who were different."

"You don't have to convince me. I wasn't invited."

"What?"

"They cut me out. Didn't even let me know it was happening until they left me with Cris."

"They already left?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"I need to go."

"Not without me."

"I'm hanging up the phone. I have phone calls to make, to try to stop this before it gets out of hand. If you want to help, meet me in my office."