Improved

61. Uniters Divided

61. Uniters Divided

                        Total and complete uproar.

            “She is nuts!”

            “She’s completely lost it!”

            “I always knew that she was weird, but I never thought that she was insane!”

            And then slightly quieter, as if afraid of being detected by their more skeptical peers:

            “Do you think that she could be right? Lai has never been into conspiracy theories before…”

            “I always did think that Lady T was a little creepy. Maybe…”

            “Remember when we were guarding the Amitys’ division? Lai just ran right out the door, and a couple days later, the report came that we weren’t going to be looking for the nimp anymore. I guess it is possible that something could have happened…”

            In her quietly threatening way, Lady T is livid. Her teeth are gritted, gleaming like vampire fangs without the sharp points, and the skin around her eyes is stretched taut. She strides up to Lai and clamps her fingers around the young nimp’s wrist before she has a chance to react. “That’s quite enough, Lai!” she hisses. “You should know better than to make such…outlandish claims!”

            Lai smiles nastily. “What’s wrong? You didn’t want your precious secret nimp to reveal herself? Of course you didn’t. Then someone might notice when you make me disappear!”

            Lady T’s lips curl back. “Short of a DNA test, there’s no sure-fire way to prove that you are who you say you are. I think it’s much easier to just reach the conclusion that you’re delusional, don’t you agree?”

            “You can ask the Amitys,” responds Lai matter-of-factly. “Or my parents, I should say. Anyone can ask them, and they’ll confirm that I used to be their daughter. And they hate being confronted with me! They would lie about it if they could get away with it!”

            “And speaking of the Amitys,” contributes Les, folding his arms across his chest, “we heard you threatening them. Me, Lai, and Alec can all bear witness to the fact that you threatened to kill them if they tried to interfere and keep you from taking Lai. And I, for one, am going to back up Lai’s claim. I know that she’s the nimp, she knows it, and you know it to. Playing dumb isn’t going to help you this time, ma’am.”

            The confused whispers burst forth into full-out incredulous exclamations. Lai has always been rather strange, and Alec…well, no one quite knows what to think of a surly android like Alec. But Les is their levelheaded leader, and he’s always been one of the most normal members of the community. It holds some weight that he’s vouching truth for this seemingly impossible fact.

            The ILG members are no less stunned than the Uniters as they begin to stray from their imprisoned formation and mutter at one another worriedly. Is it possible that they were wrong about their enemies, that the Uniters didn’t even know about who they’re working for and why they’re trying to find the nimp?

            But no one is more shocked by this turn of events than Ule.

            “Miss Mansen…” he begins slowly. “Or should I say, Miss Amity?”

            Lai smirks at him. “‘Lai’ will do just fine.”

            “All right. Lai, then.” He takes a wary step towards her, and none of the guards try to restrict him. “Do you understand the impact of what you’ve just done?”