Cinder sat the robot on her desk with a sigh. From a glance, she couldn't see anything wrong with it. The problem had to be on the inside.
She grabbed a screwdriver and found a latch in the back. She opened it up to find a charging port. She kept disassembling Nainsi until she found the memory card.
She stuck the memory card in a reader. She thought Kai may have accidentally installed malware. As the reader scanned the card, different things popped up onto the computer screen connected to it. When the scan was complete, news articles popped up in front of Cinder.
These must have been the last things open before Nainsi malfunctioned, Cinder thought.
Cinder couldn't help it. She glanced at the articles.
THE TRUTH ABOUT BLACKBURN CORP.
WHO WAS CHANNARY BLACKBURN?
THE MISSING BLACKBURN
THE MERGER THAT COULD END THE...
Cinder saw bits and pieces of the articles under the headline. After that, she had to stop. These articles had to have come from the deepest depths of the web. They couldn't possibly be true.
...Could they?
❂
Kai came by Cinder's locker at the end of the day.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey. I was actually looking for you."
"Oh?"
Cinder grabbed the robot from her locker.
"Here." She handed Nainsi to Kai.
"You fixed her?"
Cinder didn't respond.
"You did fix her, right? Or was the problem unfixable? Oh my stars, tell me it's not that."
"I couldn't fix it."
"Why?"
"Because I don't want to fix it."
"Cinder, I thought you said—"
"That was before I saw what was on Nainsi's memory card."
"But now you understand why I need her."
"I can't get involved in conspiracies. It's all too much for me."
"They're not conspiracies, Cinder, and they could change everything. Don't you see? This merger could ruin my life, everyone's lives."
"Kai, I'm done. End of story."
"Please. You're the only one who can help me."
"Kai..."
Tears welled up in Kai's eyes. He whispered, every so softly, "okay," before leaving.
YOU ARE READING
Artemisia High
FanfictionCrescent Moon never expected she would ever leave her orphanage. Now, she must begin a new life with new people who have problems of their own. From the boy whose father is dying to the girl who is being neglected, every student has something they a...
