Cridex

Chapter Ten

"Where are you taking me?" I struggled against Jonas, pulling helplessly at his vice-like grip, "Where are we going?"

"You demand to know?" Jonas shook his head with a rueful smile, "Ellery, we may be running the same circuitry, but you have not done much to advance yourself to my trust."

"Circuitry? I am not running any cir-."

"This is exactly what I am talking about," he sighed and gingerly pulled me to the side of the hall so that he could roughly turn me to face him head on. "You, constantly denying your heritage, and denouncing our kind."

"Enough!" I pulled away and this time he released me, and I turned my arm over expecting to see a ring over bruises, and a grit my teeth in irritation. "Not only are you causing my mind to whirl in circles but you are also physically abusive." I began examining my arm closer, and thought I saw a flicker when I glanced into Jonas's eyes. It must have been a trick of the lights however, because his gaze hardened and he turned on his heel.

I stuttered forward, my steps faltering as I thought to follow him when I roaring unlike any I have ever heard before droned overhead. Jonas froze in his tracks, quickly looking over his shoulder to watch me. "Come on," He ushered my towards the doorway, "You won't want to miss this... Or rather, the admiral would not want you to miss this."

We trekked down the hallway, Jonas teetering between guiding me and dragging me to our destination. We came upon a large door, and the sounds of muffled gunfire resonated through the open cracks.

"You are engaging?" I felt my heart rate pick up, with some unwarranted concern that the cyborgs would face considerable casualties. Jonas slanted his mouth and hardened his gaze, but swung the door open silently, before stating in a low whisper as I walked by, "We are managing our own. There is no cause for true concern, yet."

"Ah," Zachariah, the man from earlier called from his perch in front of an expansive glass window, "Good. You have arrived."

"Admiral," Jonas demurred, and stood of to the side, silently filling his post in the corner of the room. Part of me wanted to think that he was there for my own protection, as my apprehension of being in the small room as Zachariah skyrocketed. But, I knew his allegiances, and I knew that if had even projected a whisper of a threat to the admiral I would be on my knees with whatever weapon Jonas had handy pointed straight at me.

"Ellery," The admiral stared into me, gesturing my towards him with a flick of his wrist, before turning to face the window once more, "Miss Kent, I want you to come observe- tell me what you see."

"A fool," I bit out, and almost immediately heard the tension rise in the room with a crackling energy, "Standing far too close to a window in the midst of a battle."

Zachariah laughed at me, bending his neck back until the skin thinned enough to show shadows of the machinery hidden beneath the facade, "Your concern is duly noted, Miss Kent."

"And yet you stay put?" I quirked an eyebrow at him even as I shied closer to the glass myself, "Have you no fear of death? Of being decommissioned by your enemy?"

"They can not see me." Zachariah stoically replied as he placed his palm against the glass. I finally let my gaze slide to the warfare that was taking place. Cyborg soldiers we running about with rifles on their shoulders, their boots hitting the ground with worn soles. Drones, controlled by the city that had sent them their, opened fire upon the masses. Some fell to their knees, clutching at open wounds, while others dodged and returned the onslaught full force. "But I can see them, I can see everything that they do." Zachariah stated.

I swallowed deeply as Imogen ran past, shouting muffled orders to Camden, who raised his own rifle and aimed for the nearest drone. "Would it not be much easier to hide? To wait the conflict out or to relocate?"

"We tried that," Zachariah shook his head. "They would still find a way in, still slaughter innocent women and children."

I toed the floor, refusing to meet his gaze, "We tried negotiation, we tried peaceful strikes. The only thing your government knows is violence- the only thing that you government understands is violence. We refuse to back down."

"Refuse or not, your people are dying, being decommissioned, right in front of your eyes," I trailed off, "Would giving in not relieve that burden off of your soldiers?"

At that Zachariah turned on his heel to face me, with the sounds of battle sifting their way through the glass, "It would increase it tenfold," He bit out, "You of all people should know how enslaved cyborgs within the city limits are treated- should understand the pain they must suffer at the hand of those who claim humanity."

I stepped backwards but he ignored my silent protests and continued. "You have first hand experience, even, and like it or not, you are one of us, Ellery. So why will you continue to persist in making our fight a longer journey?"

"You are angered by the fact that I am refusing to answer your questions," I raised my hands slowly, methodically taking another step back, "When in fact I know nothing of value."

"Your mother- adoptive mother- worked for the very people who developed our kind." Zachariah grit out, clenching his fists as he looked away from me to regain his calm exterior, "You must know something."

"I do not," I grit out and looked to see Jonas in the corner, hands clasped in front of him, eyes facing forward. But I knew that he was listening, that he was engaged in our conversation just as much as if he had initiated it himself.

"You refuse," The admiral shook his head, "I will ask you once more, in the face of what your government is doing," He gestured to the glass window, "Help us, answer our questions."

"I know nothing."

"Then you have forced my hand." A look of extreme resignation came across Zachariah's face as his gaze traveled back to the progressively more violent battle, "When we come out of this engagement I will call up the team tasked with your retrieval."

"And?" I scoffed haughtily, trying to cover up my nerves as I glanced back to a now shifting Jonas, "That does not sound as terrible as I think you had intended."

"I will call the team back," Zachariah continued, his expression grim. "And I will send them- with you- to the auction house in the city."