986 (Complex Series, #1)

Chapter Twenty-Six

It was fake. All of it. I didn’t save anybody’s memory or fail to rescue someone. It was all a simple trick of the Heads.

The Official laughs at my reaction, “They wouldn’t waste the time or resources on that. Why would they transport the Ecru when they could just use holograms? Why would they bring in, traumatize, and erase the memories of girls when they can just as easily create dummies? The Heads may be without morals, but they don’t waste money.”

A strap around her wrist beeps. She presses a button and a hologram projects into the air. It’s a code of meaningless numbers and letters, but she seems to make sense of them. She nods, “Your friends will be here soon. Any minute.”

“What are we doing?”

She doesn’t respond.

What are we going to learn from her today? The last time I discovered that I killed Dawn. What does she have to top that?

I wait in silence, wondering how far away they are. Each second creeps by.

Finally, the door slides open. Piper’s face peeks in first. She sees me and sprints forward. “Brinn? What are you doing here? I thought you were in the…”

I laugh and tears spring into my eyes, “I thought so too.”

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” Josh says.

 “What happened?” Sienna asks.

I glance at the Official. What does she want me to tell them? How should I tell them? Would they be proud that I didn’t inject someone or disgusted that I wasn’t strong enough?

The Official smiles tightly at all of us, Josh staring at her suspiciously.

“I’m Ella, the new leader of the rebellious Officials. It’s so lovely to meet all of you.”

I freeze. She’s the leader? That means there must be some type of organization between the disloyal Officials. I always assumed it was a few random acts of defiance, nothing planned. How many people are involved? How long have they existed? What’s so interesting about us that the leader would come to visit us?

If she was the new leader, who came before her?

“There should be another Official coming soon. We have to wait for him before we can begin.”

The door slides open and another Official strides in. It’s the Official who discovered us in the boys’ Complex.

He smiles lightly at us. “I don’t think we had the time at our last meeting for introductions. I’m Jeff.”

I smile hesitantly back at him, unsure what to say. Nobody says anything either.

“Alright, we don’t have much time, so we’d better get started.” Ella says.

“With what?” Josh asks.

“We have a…a plan. You can’t just think about yourself when you hear it. Your decision could change anything.” Ella explains.

What could we do that would have an impact on anyone else? Why would they need us when they have Officials with much more power involved?

“We want Piper and Josh to go to the Unknown.”

A small cry escapes Piper’s lips. Josh’s shoulders slump. What good would that accomplish?

But if Officials want them to go to the Unknown that means it at least exists. Dana and Canton are still alive somewhere.

Jeff says, “We have everything planned out. You would get sent to the Unknown through an Official that is on our side. You won’t get any special treatment, attention, or punishment. Just a normal defiance case. We want you to look for an organized rogue group in the Unknown. We know there has to be one, we just haven’t found them yet. It’s nearly impossible for Officials to have contact with anyone in the Unknown, and no one would tell an Official they’re rebellious.”