Amanita: Poison Shot

Chapter 12: A Brand-New Toy

Agape dismissed us. She was defiant and scary, but I admitted that she was right.

A few seconds later, both Siegfried and I were out of the nightclub, standing by the railing at the highest end of the promenade. Fortunately, Momo had vanished. I wasn't in the mood to see her again.

"Everything okay?" Siegfried asked me, putting his hands on the rusty railing.

"No," I replied in a low whisper.

The soft breeze combed my loose hair gently. It felt nice but I wasn't feeling alright. I was far too dejected due to my little brother's loss and far too stunned by the Agape's challenge. However, I was feeling more alive than I had ever felt in my entire life.

I took off my white coat and folded it slowly. Folding it gave me some satisfaction. It was something I could control and helped me to relax.

Siegfried remained silent, staring at me and giving me time to process what had happened that afternoon.

My life had suffered a radical change. I was afraid of everything, of Siegfried, Agape, Momo, and the rest of the group, of what they had already done and were probably planning to do in the future. What they would require me to do.

But I had no choice. I didn't want to die. I would be forced to cooperate, regardless of how I felt in moral terms.

I let out a hysterical chuckle. My hands were shaking.

"I think she likes you," he said.

"Are you insane?!" I exclaimed, taken aback. Had he gone mad?

"She likes stuff that gets broken. Especially if it's new," he replied looking quite comfortable as he leaned his full weight on the railing.

I didn't know how to reply to that. We remained in silence, watching the turquoise hues of the Neon Sea in front of us with the afternoon sun warming our backs. We were lucky that there weren't many people who could overhear our conversation, either down at the beach or walking along the promenade. It was mostly deserted.

He seemed calm and confident that everything would be okay despite what had just happened inside. To any onlooker, he appeared to have a mundane and casual conversation with me. I wasn't so afraid of him anymore.

"So, I guess I'm just a brand-new toy for her, aren't I?" I asked him.

"We all are," he replied with mild sadness. "On the hands of some crazy puppet master or other."

So, Agape was a puppet master. No surprise there. He was turning out to be wiser than I had originally imagined him to be.

"Listen, Daphne," he went on seriously, "remember you have to lie to all the people you interact with. Everybody who's got a normal, unhacked chip could betray you to the clone authorities, willingly or unwillingly. That was the reason I doubted when I was talking to you before, on Dam Road. You have to choose your words carefully. What you say to whom, about what you do, where you've been, or how you feel. The clone government will only know who you are and what you do from the point of view of those people around you thanks to their chips. From now on, you'll have to lie constantly – and you'll have to do it well. If you don't, the government will get you and kill you. And then, they'll come for us."

"I understand."

"I generalise as a rule. I omit details. The shorter the sentences, the better," he advised with a warm smile on his lips. "I also avoid places where there are few people. I could get easily recognised. A large crowd is an easy way to dissolve into anonymity."

His tips were going to be useful. I was sure of it.

"Siegfried, can I ask you something?" I asked, feeling curiosity urging me on.