Obsolution ✔

Chapter 13.3

The mention of Sam's name brought her unknown fate to the fore of Ty's mind. She had ceased to matter after he had seen Jenn 2.0., but suddenly, he wanted to know where his double was. He asked Zeemo, who remained silent.

As always, Crendan was the main mouthpiece.

"Samantha is safe, and she contacted us. She willingly traded herself for your wife's release."

It was beyond reasoning. Sam had traded herself? And how had she known to do so? Her secretive behavior made much more sense than it had before. Ty stared at the ground, silent tears falling. He had no shame for his open emotions. What he did feel ashamed about was the thought, would I have traded myself for her? He didn't know. It was the shame that made him cry, and the realization he would never see his sister again.

Sister?

Yes, that's who she was.

"Tears for a composite?" It was like a human trying to understand an ant, but Crendan persisted. "Why not cry happy tears for the return of your wife?"

"She's not my wife." (Yes she is. No, she's not). "What do you care, anyway?"

"It's interesting." Crendan very carefully and very deliberately wiped a tear from Ty's face, looking at her wet finger as if she had never seen one before. "Your entire family dynamic is interesting."

The words were clinical, but the tone was not. Ty brought his head up to watch Crendan. He tried to see himself through her endless ocean eyes: a low-income Hispanic with post-secondary education and religious affiliations. Even by Tramp standards, he was a loser. By Prominent standards, he was gum on the bottom of a shoe. Does it matter to her, my being a man? He saw her deferential treatment of Zeemo and thought it might.

Crendan went back to her spot by Zeemo, and her demeanor went from personal to professional, like throwing a switch. No more insights about him, or statements about how interesting he was.

"If you don't want it," The it being Jennifer, "we'll gladly inter the rest of her twelve years of life to a work camp."

Twelve years of hard labor for a composite. So what. Ty didn't blink or move until he heard Crendan's next threat.

"If you speak about this to anyone, or do anything equally stupid, we'll put Damon in a work camp beside Jennifer, along with Martine and Antoinella."

Martine. They had Martine as well. Sam had been the only one to wonder about her fate with a dogged persistence. Martine's disappearance must have been what had tipped off Sam to the kidnapping capabilities of the Prominents. He wondered if Sam's deal had released Martine as well.

"Martine is still taking part in her rehabilitation and therapy process, and her release is contingent upon her responses to the treatment. Antoinella is still at home, untouched. For now."

Crendan nodded at Ty. His eyes were burning with hate, but he was listening.

"And if you still wish to be a dissenter, we'll put Helia in camp, and then you."

Ty had heard of the camps, but he had hoped it was a rumor. At the rate people were disappearing, the existence of the camps were hard to deny. In the face of Crendan's threats, their existence was impossible to deny. Through Crendan, Ty learned if convicted (even falsely), of Un-diligent Conduct, one would be sent to "work off" their crimes, until the State deemed their sentence to be complete. After release, work camp detainees were forbidden to speak of their time served, under imminent threat of return. Conditions in the camps were deplorable. Damon and Helia would never survive.

"If I'm a model citizen," Though he knew he never could be, "will you leave us alone and release Martine?"

Crendan clucked her tongue.