The Restrainers: Third Book in The Amplified Series

by Lauren M. Flauding

  Roxy steps forward. "Miles, would you help me take her to the shaft?" She asks solemnly. Miles takes a deep breath, clearly disappointed with my destination, but he takes my arm and follows Roxy down the hall. I don't know what "the shaft" is, but it sounds far worse than the regular holding cell I thought they were going to keep me in.

  We wind through several hallways and passages until we reach the end of a dark corridor. Miles opens a short door which reveals a small compartment completely encased by walls of slick rock. I step in and notice a few tiny cracks for ventilation, but other than that it’s a completely impenetrable room. Miles unties my hands, gives me one last unreadable look, then shuts the door and locks me in. With my hands now free I'm able to carefully remove the thick tape from my mouth. In complete blackness I curl up on the cold floor and attempt to go to sleep.

  Chapter 22

  "Felicia, you absolutely cannot see her without Roxy's permission."

  "But I won't see her! I'm blind!"

  The guard outside of the shaft does not appreciate my mom's joke.

  "Okay, I'll go talk to Roxy," my mom concedes. I listen to her walk away on the other side of the door, glad that she at least wants to talk to me even if the guard didn't let her in.

  I did sleep a little, but now my neck is extremely stiff. Despite my situation I'm actually feeling pretty optimistic. Alia came back from the North and Miles got out of prison. Two down, one to go. I don't know what the Dissenters are planning to do with me, but I'm hoping the fact that I helped Miles escape will sway their decision.

  There are tiny points of light seeping through the ventilation cracks of the shaft. It's just enough to give a dim illumination to the small room. There's not much to see. I run my hands along all the walls, looking for any kind of opening, but it's all continuous, solid rock. I am completely trapped.

  I jump as I hear something outside the door. I'm hoping my mother got permission to talk to me. The door opens. I squint at the light flooding in, struggling to make out who is entering. It's not my mother. It's someone much shorter and bulkier. The door closes and once my eyes adjust again I see my little brother holding a light stick and wearing the oddest suit I've ever seen.

  "Daniel!" I exclaim. "What are you wearing?"

  "It's flexible armor," he responds. "I had to wear it in order to come see you, so I'd be protected. But," he adds, shaking himself out of the bulky suit, "I really don't think you're going to hurt me."

  I laugh and pull him toward me, hugging him so tightly that he starts to squirm.

  "Ok, maybe I should have kept the armor on," he jokes, his voice muffled in my shoulder. I release him and we sit on the hard floor. There's barely enough room for us both to stretch our legs out.

  "How have you been?" I ask him. "I see that they're letting you go on missions now," I say, remembering how he was with the Dissenters the day they blew up the Governor's mansion.

  "Yeah, it's been great!" He tells me enthusiastically. "I almost got caught by a soldier last week when I was switching out some of the Euphorics pills, but I hid in a crate until she left."

  "Wow, sounds exciting," I respond, trying not to imagine what would have happened if my brother had actually been discovered by the soldier.

  "We're going to deliver some more Euphorics to the Community tomorrow too," Daniel continues. "We figured it'd be a good time since almost all of the Restrainers were sent to the East."

  "Really?"

  "Yeah, the Governor sent a whole convoy out there."

  I sit forward, wondering why the Governor would send all the Restrainers out there when he'd already gotten all the information he wanted from us.

  "Anyway," Daniel says a little awkwardly, "what's it like to be a Restrainer?" It's hard to see his face with just the light stick, but he seems a little strained.

  "It's pretty lame, to be honest," I reply. "They all kind of hate me."

  "But what's it like to have the enhanced Amplifier?" Daniel presses. "Have you done any really cool stuff?"

  "Well, actually... " I stop when I notice something flashing on Daniel's shoulder. "What's that?" I ask, pointing to the flashing light.

  "Um, it's... "

  I look at it more closely. "Daniel, is that a microphone?" I say incredulously.

  "Don't be angry, Mari!" He pleads. "That's the other thing I had to agree to do in order to see you!"

  "I can't believe it! You're spying on me!" I groan, shaking my head in disappointment. I shouldn't be surprised. Daniel, who faked a stutter for years, would be the best candidate to subtly obtain information from me.

  "Who asked you to do this?" I demand.

  "Miles," he responds weakly.

  I grab the microphone on Daniel’s shoulder and hold it up to my mouth. "You can tell Miles that if he wants to know anything he should just come ask me himself!"

  The door opens and I see Miles' large frame silhouetted against the light from the hallway.

  "Well, thanks anyway Daniel," he says.

  "Sure," Daniel replies sheepishly. He gives me one more apologetic look. "Sorry," he squeaks, then grabs the armor and scampers out of the shaft.

  Miles sighs. He comes in, shutting the door behind him, and sits down on the floor next to me. I try to scoot away so that I'm not touching him, but it's impossible in the cramped space. He turns on a small electric lantern which lights up the shaft. I can now see the walls are made of limestone, the same that surround the cavernous lake. I glance over at Miles. He's cut his hair and he looks well rested. I make myself look away. Now is not the time to be distracted by how attractive he is.

  "My own brother, Miles? Really?"

  "I know," he confesses, "that was pretty underhanded."

  I wait for him to interrogate me, but he says nothing. “So, how long are you going to keep me here?" I ask coldly.

  Miles takes a while to answer. "They're going to put you on trial."

  "For what?"

  "For betraying us, for endangering me, and for using the Dissenters to secure yourself a position with the Restrainers."

  "Is that what you think I did?"

  "Unfortunately," Miles continues, ignoring my question, "with everything that's going on, we won't be able to start your trial until next week."

  Next week? I've held up all right in this little room for a night, but spending several days in here might just make me go crazy. I'm not worried about the trial. If it comes down to it, I'll just tell them the truth. Although I might have a hard time proving it.

  “There are actually quite a few people that are glad you're here," Miles announces, suddenly changing the subject.

  "Like who?"

  "Talina, for one."

  "Really?"

  "Well, I don't know that it's so much you as your transmitter, but since you've been here she's been using her Amplifier non stop. It's actually been pretty annoying."

  I grin. My former head trainer and the only Dissenter who's Amplified told me once how much she missed being able to use it. I look over at Miles again. Just him being here makes the whole room warmer. I suddenly flush a little at the thought of how near he is.

  "So why aren't you taking any precautions now?" I ask, genuinely wanting to know. "Yesterday you tied me up and silenced me. Aren't you afraid that I'm going to try to use my Amplifier against you?"

  "I did that yesterday mainly for the benefit of the others," Miles responds. "I know that you would never physically hurt me."

  I nod slowly, noting the designation. What he means is I don't need my Amplifier to hurt him emotionally.

  We sit in silence for a few moments.

  "Do you ever wonder what it would be like if there were no Amplifiers?" Miles asks unexpectedly.

  "All the time," I admit.

  "I just think that if there was no Amplification things would have been different between us."

  I groan, feeling like we've had this conversation before. "No," I respond, "things would not be different between us, because you'd probably
just get hung up on another one of my many flaws."

  "Yeah? Like what?"

  "I don't know, that my eyes are too big or something."

  He laughs. "Mari, your eyes are perfect."

  My pulse quickens. Luckily it's dim enough that Miles can't tell I'm blushing. I glance over and notice that he's staring at the floor.

  "You really do love being Amplified, don't you?" He asks hopelessly. I swallow hard. I should tell him the truth, but I can't. It's probably my stupid, stubborn pride. But I can at least tell him part of it.

  "Miles," I say quietly, "I did this mostly for you."

  "For me?" He replies, suddenly agitated. "Mari, it'd be better if you had never gotten Amplified in the first place, if you had never become a Restrainer!"

  "Well, it happened, Miles!" I shout, frustrated with his obstinance. "I can't change that now! The only thing that can change is whether you accept me or not!"

  "Why do you care if I accept you?"

  "Because I love you Miles! I have always loved you!"

  There it is. I said it. Each word hangs in the air. Miles stares at me, his eyes warm and his mouth slightly open. But then his expression hardens and I see the sadness seep back into his eyes. Looking at him now I can see just how much the months in prison and the Override experiments took out of him. There is doubt and bitterness where there used to be confidence and resilience.

  "I can't trust you, Mari," he says shakily. "Your choices contradict your words."

  He slowly gets up and starts to leave, then turns back, pulling a small bag out of his pocket.

  "I brought this for you," he mutters, placing the bag in front of me. Then he takes his lantern and walks out, shutting the door and leaving me in darkness again.

  I pull my knees up and rest my head on them. I'm being stupid. I should have told him everything. It's selfish to expect Miles to love me despite the decisions and allegiances he thinks I've made.

  I pick up the bag Miles left and reach inside. There's a small bottle of water and three other small, wet objects. I smell them and know what they are immediately. Strawberries. My heart sinks. I've caused Miles so much pain, and yet he's still thoughtful enough to remember the first real food I ever ate. Hopefully after I finish everything I plan to do all of this will be worth it.

  Chapter 23

  I'm surprised when the door opens. I have no concept of time in this dark room, but I'm guessing it's the middle of the night. I'm even more surprised when I see it's Blaine. I don't think he's ever really liked me very much, so I don't know why he'd want to visit me. He doesn't come in, he just stands in the hallway and leaves the door open.

  "How are you doing, Mari?" He asks.

  "Fine, considering everything," I reply hesitantly. There's something weird about the way Blaine is standing, the way he keeps looking back down the hall. It makes me nervous.

  "Miles told you we're putting you on trial, right?"

  "Yes."

  "Problem is, it's going to take a while for us to get around to it. Too long, in my opinion. So I figured I'd just take care of this now."

  He's going to kill me! I think. He doesn't want to waste everybody's time by going through a trial, so he's just going to get rid of me now!

  I shrink back into the corner as he takes a step forward.

  "I've been watching you," he says, pulling something out from under his arm. I tense up. "I know what you're doing," he continues, "and I think it's brilliant.”

  Wait, what?

  "I don't know exactly what your plan is, but I'm guessing it doesn't involve being imprisoned down here."

  I exhale slowly. “What do you mean?"

  "I'm letting you out, Mari, but you're going to have to be quick."

  I get up slowly, still not completely convinced that he's not going to kill me.

  "I'll need you to wear this," he explains, handing me a bundle of fabric which turns out to be a long jacket. "We put you in the shaft partly because it conceals the signal from your transmitter so well, but once you come out of here and especially when you get above ground you'll be completely visible on their radar, and I imagine they'll be looking for you. The collar on that jacket will cover up your Amplifier's signal, so make sure you keep it up. There's a vehicle in the entry chamber you can use to get out."

  I stare at Blaine in disbelief as I put on the jacket.

  "Thank you," I say simply.

  "Get going," he responds impatiently, again looking nervously down the hall.

  I take off running, moving through the dark hallways as quietly as I can. I make it to the entry chamber and expect to see a truck, but what I find instead is one of Blaine's modified monster tractors. It's going to be a fun night.

  ———

  I hide the tractor in some abandoned buildings just outside of the city. It would be a shame for such a fine and exhilarating piece of equipment to be destroyed or stolen. I walk the remaining quarter mile to the outskirts of the city.

  Blaine said he didn't know what my plan was. Unfortunately, neither do I. Because of my stunt at the prison I'm positive I'm in trouble with the Community, and the safest thing for me might just have been to stay locked up at the Dissenter base. But things seem to be progressing rapidly, so there really is no time to waste.

  I creep around some buildings and come to a plaza. I gasp. My face is everywhere. On every building a screen with my face on it glows in the darkness. I step up to one to see what it says.

  "Reward for the capture of the former Restrainer Marianna Quillen. Anyone involved in the seizure of this criminal will receive enhanced Amplification."

  Great, I think, now everyone is really motivated to catch me. Nearly everybody in the Community would love to have increased abilities and be on the same level as the Restrainers.

  I clearly won't be able to walk around in the daytime, so I better take advantage of the time I have right now. I make my way over to the new building, wanting to see if anything has changed. When I get there I see there's a light on inside. I find one of the back doors open and I slip in.

  Directly in front of me are stacks of empty crates. A piece of paper floats down next to my foot. I pick it up and move toward a light so I can read it. My mouth goes dry. On the paper are the designs from General Remington's Hybrid Experiment. I peer through the slats in the crates and see that the immense room that was once empty is now full of operating tables and robot parts. From the ceiling hang various instruments. It looks exactly like the room we saw in the North, only much bigger.

  I am shocked. I knew the Governor was unstable, but I never imagined he was demented enough to carry on with General Remington's work; to turn everyone in the Community into immortal, unfeeling, demi-robots. This is disastrous. I don't care how reliant people may have become on their Amplifiers and the Override, I'm positive that most of them would be resistant to this idea.

  I have to tell someone, but who? Everyone here is trying to capture me and most of the Dissenters think I'm a traitor. I doubt anyone would believe me. My best bet right now is Adrian, but I'm not even sure he'll be on my side.

  When I get outside again the sun is just starting to come up. I fold up the paper with the designs and walk quickly over to Adrian's apartment building. There are a few people out, but they're either too busy or too tired to pay much attention to me.

  I knock softly on Adrian's door and a few moments later it opens just a crack. Adrian peers out at me, his eyes growing wide. For a minute I don't think he's going to let me in, but then he flings the door open and pulls me quickly inside.

  "Mari," he hisses, "what's going on? What did you do to become a criminal?"

  "I released Miles Paxton from prison."

  "What? Prisoner 568?"

  "Yes, Miles Paxton."

  "Why?"

  "Because he's not the bad guy."

  "But he's a Dissenter! Those people are barbarians!"

  I blow my hair out of my face. It's time to tell him the truth.

  "Our m
other is one of those people. So is Daniel."

  Adrian's jaw drops. "What are you saying, Mari? Have you gone crazy? Mom and Daniel are dead."

  "No, they're not," I state firmly. "They're with the Dissenters. Mom has been a Dissenter since before we were born. Her and dad were some of the first. Think about it. The way we were raised? The games?"

  Adrian doesn't say anything, but he nods his head slowly.

  "Mom realized the Restrainers were starting to suspect her," I explain, "so she had the house blown up to make it look like her and Daniel had died."

  "So they're alive?" Adrian murmurs, a glimmer of hope creeping into his eyes.

  "Yes," I affirm. "And by the way, Daniel's stutter is fake."

  "What?" Adrian roars.

  "That's about how I reacted when I found out," I say.

  "Where are they?" Adrian asks. "Can I see them?"

  "Another time," I answer. "Right now, I need your help."

  "With what?"

  "The Governor is planning to perform an operation on everyone."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Yes. Look at this," I say, handing him the paper I found. He studies it for a moment.

  "That doesn't seem so bad," he muses. "We would live forever."

  "It's very bad!" I counter. "This is what they were doing in the North and they all died because of it!"

  "You went to the North?"

  "Yes," I respond. "They had all undergone this operation, but they couldn't let themselves feel anything too strongly because it would kill them. They could barely have emotions!"

  "What do you mean?"

  "If they got too angry or afraid or passionate, it would destroy their systems. Adrian, if you have this operation, you won't be able to feel any grief or joy. You won't be able to do anything with all of your girlfriends," I finish awkwardly.

  "That would be horrible," he says, frowning, finally getting the point. "What do you want me to do?"

  "Remove your Amplifier."

  Adrian's face goes pale. “Mari, you can't ask me to do that."

  "That's the only way you can avoid having this operation," I tell him. "I'm positive the Governor will use the Override to do this to everybody."