But then, the old Lilly returns, and the guard is back up like an invisible shield surrounds her.
"Alone, my mother sought refuge with SAFE. Most of them welcomed her with open arms but there were some who didn't. There's a stigma towards homeless people, as you all very well know, and those who weren't receptive of my mother were prejudice against her. She couldn't handle the constant name calling or whispers behind her back, as if the rebels were any better than she. When I was born, sliced out of her by SAFE doctors, she took me and fled. She was weak, my mother. The positives of SAFE didn't outweigh the negatives. She couldn't handle the negatives so she bolted the moment we were both healthy enough to leave.
"I was raised on the streets with her, hiding out in abandoned buildings or in the sewers. We avoided SAFE territory for the most part and were mindful of White Agent patrols. My mother was a clever woman, I give her that much credit, and she was resourceful. Instead of feeding me garbage, she managed to accept food from rebels generous enough to give her some, traded salvage for meals, sacrificed her body for milk and bread, and pilfered whatever else we needed from grocery stores and people who had a surplus. By the time I was four or five, I was adept at charming people into giving me all kinds of food staples, even high-end stuff like sirloin steaks. I guess I naturally had the ability to trick people's minds."
"Like with your Trickster powers?" Charlotte surprises us all by speaking for the first time in minutes.
Lilly appears impressed. "You know about Empaths?"
Charlotte nods and I stare at the two of them, wondering what they're both talking about. Trickster powers? Empaths? I have no earthly idea what any of those terms mean, other than vocabulary I learned during my training. And I don't think they're referring to trickster and empaths with textbook definitions.
"Ah, Dr. Cato's information," Lilly puts two and two together. "I wonder what other secrets she has unearthed."
"Enough," Charlotte declares.
Lilly pauses, eyeing Charlotte for a moment, before she returns to her story. "I was also good at bartering with people and I could steal the clothes right off of a person's back too. The one thing my mother never allowed me to participate in was of course allowing men to take advantage of me just to put food on the table. I witnessed some of these acts and they scarred me, watching my mother laying there helpless while a man used her for his own pleasure. But my mom would do anything for me, to ensure that I was safe and well-fed. I guess she wasn't weak after all, because in the end, she was strong. But just not strong enough to stop herself from being taken away from me.
"There are some dark places in even the darkest reaches of Paradise. I was led to believe by SAFE and my mother that the Core represented the true monsters of society. I know better than to believe that now but at the time, when I was eight years old, I absorbed everything that my mother told me. Then, I met a monster worse than any monster imaginable. He was supposed to be one of the good guys, one of the revolutionaries fighting against the tyranny of the Core. But even in light, there is darkness, a perversion that taints even the best of places. He was nothing more than a bastard, selling girls into slavery to offer protection to families living outside of the Core's jurisdiction. I won't tell you his name because it's insignificant, but he was interested in me at first. He wanted a freaking eight year old for all kinds of twisted fantasies but my mother bargained with him. Beneath all of the dirt and grime, he could see a jewel there, as my mother was a gorgeous woman. He took her instead and left me to fend for myself."
Lilly glances away from us and pauses for a moment. This must be difficult for her to tell us all of this. It doesn't make sense for her to bring up her painful past but maybe this is her way of dealing with it, of getting some things off of her chest. The longer she takes however, the longer I have to try and think of a plan of escape. So far I have nothing though. I hope Charlotte's thinking of something but she's still thunderstruck by Lilly's sudden treachery.
"You see, he wanted her all to himself. He wanted her to become his own personal slave. He had no intentions of selling my mother to the highest bidder. In some perverse way, he was in love with her. That's why he left me when he was supposed to protect me. He betrayed my mother's agreement with him. My mother being taken away from me nearly destroyed me. I cared about her. She had taught me everything I knew and she was all I had. I was like you Charlotte, willing to do anything for my mother because she was my family, even if it meant being reckless."
"Don't you dare compare me to you," Charlotte mutters harshly through gritted teeth. "I am nothing like you! You saw what that guy did to your mother, how he betrayed her, and yet you do the same thing to me. You're pathetic."
"Call me what you will or don't think we're similar in that one regard then," Lilly tells her. "Regardless, I tried several times to rescue my mother and I failed because as clever as I was, I was also stupid. I was angry and I wanted revenge and anger clouds everything. Revenge is better served cold. I had to be ruthless but I had to let go of my anger. I had to wait for the right time. I had to be patient. An eight year old against an army of bodyguards would never work, no matter how brave or intelligent I was. I had to wait and observe and my revenge would be absolute one day. I knew this to be true because everything happens for a reason. It's how we become the people we are today. It's why the three of us are standing in this room right now having this discussion. Every event in our lives is critical to leading us to the next event through the choices that we make to respond to these events. I chose to stop trying to free my mother and instead I returned to the life that we had together before she was taken. I went back to doing almost anything for food. As fate would have it, I tried to rob from a man named Alexander Donovan, an upstanding citizen. I thought he was going to let me go when he caught me but he called the police and I found myself in a juvenile detention center a few weeks later after my trial."
Alexander Donovan? I know that name. Then, it comes to me.
"I recently arrested him for inciting a SAFE rally," I enter the conversation, or at least I create another break in Lilly's tale.
Lilly grins proudly. "That's an example of revenge at its best. I waited a long time to offer payback to Mr. Donovan as well. When I found out that he was immune to the Purge and how his condition is one that drives people mad, it was easy to get him in trouble. I made one phone call and his life was over. I could have easily killed him, but now he will spend the rest of his life in prison for a crime he didn't commit, all because he decided to turn in a little girl who was only looking for something to eat. Payback is great, isn't it?"
"You're mad!" Charlotte exclaims, horrified at Lilly has done.
"Nope," Lilly thinks otherwise. "I am not immune to the Purge because I never inhaled it, so I'm not mad. How does the Purge taste by the way? I always imagined that it tastes like bubble gum for some reason." She cackles.
I try to capture Charlotte's attention, to tell her that taking jabs at Lilly will not help our situation. But she never looks at me. She only glares at Lilly.
"I didn't spend too long in jail, however," Lilly continues her story. "Project Lightning took a sudden interest in me and I started receiving training for the Amber Army at a facility in the northern ruins headed by your father, Liam." Lilly's eyes slice into me then and I realize that's she about to reveal to me what Project Lightning is. I have wanted to obtain this information for quite some time now. Here it is at last.
"I bet you didn't know that your father was no saint either, did you my precious, Liam?" Lilly asks me and Charlotte clenches one of her fists. I take it that she didn't like Lilly calling me precious. "He made me who I am today. He gave me my Trickster abilities. He turned my gifts into something I can use to my advantage. He made me strong. But at what cost? I thank him for what he did but I hate him for it at the same time. Under Project Lightning, I was living in conditions with other children that were as bad as when I was homeless with my mother. The food sucked and I spent most of my
time trapped in a dark and tiny cell with a couple other girls. Sometimes I was put to work, scrubbing floors or farming crops like a slave, and sometimes I was forced to fight other children to the death for the entertainment of those who were in charge. I faced the Catalyst a grand total of sixty-eight times before finally, my vector field was activated and I could use it to manipulate the minds of whoever was the most mentally susceptible. I was now ready to serve the Amber Army and wear the armor I used to find frightening."
So that's Project Lightning in a nutshell. And my father was responsible for it all. He was the head of the project. He tested the Catalyst on children instead of trying to figure out what it could do other than powering the Grid, like I always thought he had done. He allowed children to fight each other, to kill each other simply to prepare themselves as soldiers of the Amber Army. It's all horrible and I can't believe my father was ever a part of something like that.
I'm really starting to lose my faith in the Core now. Our government leaders are just as responsible for this as my father.
"Nine years old is a little young to become a soldier, don't you think?" Lilly asks us rhetorically. "Just like six is too young to start training for the White Agency." She eyes me again, somewhat seductively. Charlotte growls quietly. "But the Amber Army and the White Agency don't give a damn about age. I don't even possess the superior genes they desire by their mating pairings. After all, I'm an abomination, born outside of their system. But because of some kind of fluke or by the grace of God that some people believe in, I am a freak of nature. I had what it took to be great, to be special. I only served in the Amber Army for one year but I was one of the best soldiers. My deeds brought me to the Coalition and they gave me a purpose in life, guiding me in the right direction. The Coalition observes everything because they are the true power of Paradise. They find extraordinary people to serve them faithfully. They gave me the home I never had, even when I was imprisoned by Project Lightning or serving the Amber Army. They became my family. And I would do anything for them, just like I would have done for my mother.
"I became a saboteur, a spy trained to observe the going ons around Paradise concerning the Core and the citizens of the island. The first thing I did was dispose of the man who took my mother away from me. We were reunited at last and my mother joined the Coalition as well. Like she, I cherish my job, always anxious to prove my loyalty to those who trust me. Most of us observe from the shadows and when something is out of place that the Coalition doesn't want out of place, we strike quickly like snakes hidden in grass to stamp out the problem flame before it spreads. We maintain the experiment that the Coalition has invested in and we keep the right balance of power here. We ensure that the Core doesn't govern too heavily and that the SAFE rebels don't get too out of control. I'm different than a lot of saboteurs. I perform my duties well but I invest my heart and soul into everything that I do. That's why I've connected with SAFE through old ties my mom had made when I was born, before she had left them for good except to meet up for occasional trades and stuff of that nature. I became an agent for the White Agency and also dabbled into acting starting when I was only ten. I have always done anything I can to ensure that I am on top of everything. I learned that from my mother as well. She always liked to be on top."
Lilly can't suppress the grin that curls her lips upwards in spite of herself. I don't find what she said amusing. Neither does Charlotte.
I'm stunned actually. The Coalition is the company that Lilly works for and based off what she has said so far, they are in control of Paradise. I find it hard to accept this after serving the Core faithfully my entire life. This is rather depressing news that changes everything. And experiment? What had Lilly meant by that? I don't understand it one bit. How does the Coalition keep SAFE under control? If they are the true authority around here, I can see how the Core follows their commands but I don't see SAFE bending to their will easily.
"Us saboteurs, we also seek out new talent for the Coalition, finding those people who are hidden under the radar, so to speak. That's why I befriended you Charlotte, because I saw potential in you. I had to grow close to you because I had to get to know you. Whether you believe me or not, I cherish our friendship. You may dislike me now but you will appreciate everything I have done for you later, once you become a member of the Coalition."
"Dislike is not the word I would use to describe how I feel about you right now," Charlotte corrects her. "Try another word. Four-letters. Starts with an h. Since you're so clever, it shouldn't take you long to figure that one out."
Lilly shakes her head. "You don't hate me, Charlotte. You're just disappointed right now that you don't know everything yet. But I'm getting there. We're almost at the end of the journey now."
"Good," Charlotte says sarcastically. "I was getting bored."
Lilly ignores her but only after twitching briefly with annoyance. "That's why I also grew close to Aidan as well. We met while training for the Amber Army. He shared some of his secrets with me and I was impressed with his tech skills from the get go. After he escaped from the Amber Army, one of the few secrets he never told me—his brilliant flight from the Core—and I joined the Coalition, I managed to track him down using various resources and a lot of patience. I learned that he helped Dr. Cato obtain information about Paradise that I couldn't allow to get out to the public. I met Dr. Cato and tried to learn what she discovered, but my powers didn't work well on her since she didn't rely on the Purge anymore. My abilities only worked on Aidan because the poor boy had always had a thing for me, harboring secret feelings ever since our training days. By loving me, I could shape his mind with ease, and use him as a pawn to obtain the Hippocampus, the device where Dr. Cato stored everything she uncovered so that she could give it to Noah Emerson, a man she trusted to spread the news.
"I was too late in stopping her from turning the drive over to the Entity, the one person on this island outside of even the control of the Coalition. He or she is a nuisance at best. I managed to penetrate the Entity's network but even I, decorated of a saboteur as I am, have yet to learn his or her true identity. It's maddening sometimes but if I can ever pull it off, I will receive the greatest praise ever. I might even become a candidate to lead the Coalition one day. But for now, I wait. The Entity will slip up one day and I'll be there to watch him or her fall."
She falls silent, reveling in the glory she would receive if she's successful in her endeavors to find out who is the Entity.
"I was the informant who got Dr. Cato arrested by planting rebel paraphernalia inside her home. I also tricked her through my words alone, convincing her that I could help her. She wasn't a rebel. She was just a woman who got in over her head with information she should not have discovered in the first place. Not taking the Purge was her only crime, but then again is it really a crime when none of the Coalition inhales the awful gas?"
I am in disbelief suddenly. "You set her up?" I find myself asking Lilly, also noticing what she said about the Coalition. Those people who are in charge of Paradise don't even take the medication that they force others to take.
"Yes, I did, and I imagine she accepted her punishment easily, hoping that whatever she found out would free her soon after Noah Emerson had spread it around like wildfire. I would have killed her in any other circumstance, but Dr. Cato will prove to be a good ally, as far as medical research is concerned. The Coalition doesn't like to waste talent, but a few exceptions have been made."
She was innocent all along, other than not taking the Purge. I put my mother in prison for no reason. Well, not taking the Purge is a valid reason but . . . .
"I tried to get Aidan to tell me all that he knew, but Dr. Cato never told him much and Aidan tended to work through intermediaries, except when it came down to hacking complex computer systems and such. For a while, I was stuck. But then, you came to me Charlotte, to help you with your disguise as Ava Suarez. You trusted me with the task that the Entity had given you and I came up with a plan then. I
knew how I would obtain the Hippocampus and end this discreetly. Aidan got me into BioLife by deactivating the scanners and I handled the rest by influencing guards. I arrived at Emerson's suite before you Charlotte and intended to wait on your arrival. But Emerson had somehow discovered who I was. We got into a scuffle and I accidentally shot him. No lost there anyways, except that my plans were ruined and I had to get out of there. I had to wait for another chance to seize the device. You wouldn't have trusted me with it if you had seen what I had done and I didn't want to shoot you too. My powers don't work well on you either, Charlotte, other than to calm your nerves a bit. So, I had to bide my time and continue to operate behind the scenes. We can't have people learning about the Coalition. That would be very bad for business.
"You were of course framed for Emerson's murder, Charlotte. I made sure of it and I apologize for it but it was necessary. I counted on you being arrested and everything would be all said and done, but the stupid, blundering cops and White Agents continuously screwed things up. You were a little too slippery, always eluding capture, which advanced my desire to bring you to the leaders of the Coalition. It worked out for the best though, because you continued to trust me after I lied to you that the Entity sent me as your contact requesting to help you break the cipher on the envelope. Dr. Cato went through a lot of security measures to ensure that everything was for Emerson's eyes only. He's no Aidan but the politician was also talented with technology. It's a shame he had to die, but I realized that even if I took the package from you, I couldn't access it. The Coalition wanted to know what Dr. Cato had saved on the drive inside, so my priority was to find out for them. Aidan cracked the envelope's cipher with ease but there was another problem: the flash drive was blocked with the stupid digital code.
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