mutated

chapter forty five: i think i accidentally snitched

Starling, Jasmine, whatever you wanted to call her, whirled on Lily, who's warm dark eyes seemed to harden as she noticed my outstretched, accusatory finger. A low growl sounded from her throat, and she met Starling's gaze. "Is it true, Agent Owl?" She asked, her voice deathly soft. "Is Flux responsible for Agent Dolphin's death?"

"Leon does whatever the Ghost tells him to do," Lily replied at the same softness, and I lowered my hand. "He doesn't have the best sense of justice but he is a good person inside."

"He killed Sophia!" I exclaimed from my where I stood, Ruby suddenly pale. "Good people do not kill children. She wasn't given a quiet quick death, she was beaten and then ripped apart."

"And how many people have you killed, Jade? Not many people face my brother and live. Did you leave him to die on the docks? You have fought him twice, Agent Viper, and left both times alive. What of the grunts that you slit the throats of in that dark alleyway in Kwun Tong? Did you stop for a moment and think of what lives they might have had, what families they might have? What child might have been waking up and realizes that no, their father is not coming home. Did you think about that?"

Any fear, any sorrow, any ounce of guilt I felt was steeled into anger at her accusations. "Do you know what? No, I didn't. But at least I can own up to my mistakes and realize that, no, I didn't have a choice that night. Because I was attacked, and my friends were hurt, and those men, your brother, wanted to harvest me like I was some sort of crop for him to plow. I left him alive. Alive. I had the chance to kill him with him blundering in the dark. He was blind. I wasn't. And I could have ended his misery in serving some dark cruel master for the rest of his life but I didn't because it was his choice. Did I choose this life? No, I didn't. You came to my school in my classroom and attacked us. And you sowed enough fear into me that we were all too scared to leave this place that gave us protection."

"You didn't hesitate to pick up the sword."

"Because I needed to learn how to defend myself from the monsters you set loose upon us."

"You were vicious enough to come out top," Lily was nearly snarling at me now, her hands clenched around the knife in her belt. My fingers twitched, ready to rally my telekinesis, but a flare of heat on my arm stopped me. Ruby. Her tan face was drained of blood, and she gave a little shake of the head. We were in mourning. We should calm down. Take a deep breath. It wasn't my fault.

"Agent X-20 Viper you are dismissed. Agent Ptiloris is waiting for you in the laboratory." Starling said curtly, and I took the opportunity to leave the room swiftly, Ruby still at my side. As I clicked the floor of the lab, I could still hear the yelling back in the room. I lifted a hand to my temple, rubbing the aching pain away and slowly easing my mind back into that quiet, emotionless calm that allowed me to think, actually think, during these times.

The lift door dinged open, and I slipped into the lab, my pace quickening as we drew closer. A burning sensation in my leg reminded me that I should probably pay a visit to Mercy before I went to bed tonight, but there were more important things to be done before my healing.

"Jade," Max greeted, not moving from his seat as he furiously tapped at his keyboard. What he was doing? I think I had a slight idea. "Glad you could make it."

"Lily is being yelled at by Jasmine. I'd rather not be stuck in there any longer." I said as my way of an explanation and pulled out a seat. Ruby did the same, frowning at the currently glitching hologram that was lit in the middle of the lab. "Is it starting?"

"The brain waves have been successfully transferred into the program, but it's still rendering. In all technical aspects, this should be working, but unfortunately-"