by Eliza Green
In the districts, whispers of a new dissent carried among those Indigenes who felt trapped by the peace treaty. Rogue elements on both sides had come to blows over the treaty that did little to mend the bridges between their races. The treaty did enough to stop a war, but the battle for acceptance continued daily.
A chilling thought froze Isobel. What if both the humans and the rogue Indigenes were behind her kidnapping? The doctors and medical staff had been less than welcoming to her. Maybe while she was under, they’d tipped off the rogues, told them when she and Serena would leave the medical facility.
Amid this disturbing thought, Isobel tried to sleep. Her experiences had left her physically drained. None of her usual Indigene senses worked. Without them, she felt alone.
You’ll have to get used to that. You’re different now.
But the group had also taken Serena. She took some small, selfish comfort knowing she wasn’t the only target.
Alex popped into her mind, her one happy distraction in this dismal situation. She unravelled the twisted strands of memories of her husband. Her memory of his face came without effort: light blue eyes and a smile that made her heart dance. He was painting something, a picture—of what she couldn’t see from her position on a chaise longue. His head bobbed over the canvas, and on occasion he would scold her for moving out of position. In her memory, she stuck her tongue out at him, to which he responded with a laugh.
Her feelings for her husband grew with the reversal. She had to return to Earth, to know if there was still a chance for them. How would Alex react to seeing her again after eight years apart? Was he still alive?
A new dark thought sliced through the happy one.
It was possible—dead or alive—she would never leave this place.
6
Isobel woke to the sound of something crashing outside her cell. The door opened and she squinted at the harsh light directed into her eyes.
‘On your feet,’ a male ordered.
Isobel stood on feet that were still wrapped in burlap. She walked slowly to the door. The male grunted and pulled her outside. Outside she saw a chair with scuff marks on the top bar. Isobel checked the door and noticed matching scuff marks on the handle where the chair must have been propped against it. The male, who continued to shine the light in her face, dragged her along the tunnel. The area was quiet. It didn’t smell or sound like District Eight and she had never been to District Three. Wouldn’t there be more activity if she was in one of the districts?
If this wasn’t the network of disused tunnels being occupied by the rogue Indigenes, she had no idea where she’d been taken.
The tunnel opened out into a small area with entrances to two rooms. The room on the left dazzled the brightest. The male dragged her inside and the bright light made her eyes water. The reversal changes had affected her Indigene sight but not her sensitivity. She blinked to dispel the discomfort, then squeezed her eyes shut. The male guided her roughly into a metal chair.
The edge of the seat bit into the backs of her legs as she thudded down. She opened her eyes. The male’s face became clear as he bound her wrists to the armrests. She didn’t recognise him.
Isobel’s feet no longer throbbed but she took care when placing them on the floor. Her body seemed to be stuck between human and the Indigene ability to regenerate and repair. She looked down at her arm to see her skin was losing its translucent appearance.
Isobel’s eyes pinched from the pain of the light. She squeezed them shut for relief. A second set of footsteps entered the room and moved round to her front.
‘I want to know why you decided to change back into a human,’ said a new male voice.
She pushed past the pain and opened her eyes. Through the tears, she saw a male human dressed in a suit. He wore shiny black shoes. A second male Indigene to the one who’d bound her stood off to her left, watching her. She gripped the armrest in fear; she’d been right about the collaboration between humans and Indigenes.
‘I demand to know why you kidnapped me. Where is Serena?’
‘I asked you a question,’ said the human.
‘I didn’t do anything illegal. The treatment is covered under the peace treaty. I was treated by a human doctor. What is this about?’
She cried out when the Indigene struck her suddenly. A sharp sting spread across her cheek.
She looked up at the human. ‘Where’s Serena?’
The Indigene delivered a second slap and she winced. The harsh lights added to her discomfort. Her skin felt hot. She hadn’t slept much. Every effort to open her eyes added new pain. Tears streamed down her face. She blinked them away but with her hands tied, everything remained blurry.
‘I won’t ask again, mutt,’ said the human. She detected an accent.
‘I wanted to go home,’ she said.
‘And where is home?’
‘Earth.’ She let out a shaky sigh.
‘Why?’ The human persisted.
‘I left someone behind. I need to see him.’ Isobel closed her eyes.
The human walked around the room, the hard sole of his shoes clacking on the floor. She listened intently, bracing for another attack. The footsteps stopped in front of her.
‘You’re from District Eight, right?’
‘Yes.’
‘What about your friends there? Why are you leaving everything you’ve ever known behind?’
Isobel had given that a lot of thought before going through the reversal treatment. ‘It was a difficult decision, but my heart tells me I need to return to Earth.’
She endured more questions from the human. He wanted to know why she’d given up her Indigene ways for a life she hadn’t been a part of for many years. She stumbled over the answer. But in her gut, she needed to do this.
An hour of questions ended with the human and Indigene leaving the room. They left the bright light on and Isobel tied to the chair. She tried to block out the light but the orange hue seeped through her eyelids. Was Serena okay? Was she in a room similar to this being questioned by the same man? She tried to tap into her sensing ability, but huffed out a breath when nothing came through clear.
It felt like hours that she’d been left alone. The Indigene who’d brought her here returned. Her wet eyes throbbed with the pain as he undid her restraints. He took her back to her cell and she heard the chair being wedged up against the outside.
With no mattress, the floor was too wet and cold for her to get comfortable. But a hole in the ceiling allowed just enough light from the surface to brighten the dark room. For the first time she saw a bucket in one corner of the room.
She sat on the floor weak from the hunger. She hadn’t eaten in too long. Twenty four hours, maybe? But her reversal treatment had affected her desires to the point where she had no idea what she wanted to eat. Blood and raw meat had been her diet until the reversal. She was so hungry she may just settle for human food.
Her throat ached and she licked her dry lips. She swept her fingers through the wet on the floor that had to come from somewhere. With the new light to guide her, Isobel searched the room for the source of the dampness. She found the spot where moisture leaked into the room and put her face up close to the source, sucking as much from the rock as she could. It barely gave her any relief from her thirst. She looked around, then grabbed the clean bucket and placed it under the rock, hoping that in an hour it would collect enough for her to drink.
Isobel tried to get some sleep, but her hunger pains kept her from respite. The damp floor caused her to shiver as the chill affected her anatomy in a state of partial transformation.
Morning came, or what Isobel presumed was morning. The cell was still illuminated. She crawled over to the bucket to relieve herself, unsure how much longer she would be waiting in the cell. She cursed as she finished and remembered she’d been using the bucket to collect water.
The cell door opened. The male Indigene was back.
‘Don’t try anything.’
He strode
towards her and jabbed a needle into the top of her arm. A sedative? She was too weak to ask. Or to fight him.
The Indigene brought her to the same room as before and tied her to the same chair. The harshness of the lights had not lessened since her last interrogation. Once her binding was secure, the male Indigene stepped back into the shadows. Her male human interrogator came into view. Isobel sniffed the air to learn how many Indigenes or humans were beyond the room. She caught a faint whiff of body odour belonging to just one.
The human stayed behind the light pointed at her. Isobel squinted in the harsh light.
‘Tell me why you decided to change back into a human,’ he said.
Isobel had no new answer for him. ‘I told you, I need to see my husband.’ Her speech was slow, slurred.
‘What species are you?’
To avoid the light, Isobel dipped her chin into her chest. ‘What?’
‘Are you human or Indigene?’
With eyes still closed, she lifted her chin. ‘I don’t know.’
‘It’s a simple question. Answer it.’
‘For the last eight years I have been Indigene. But my human memories are coming back, and now I’m not sure.’
She felt the human step closer to her. He spoke in an even tone. ‘If the peace treaty fell apart tomorrow, where would your loyalties lie?’
‘I don’t know.’ Isobel could barely speak. Her head lolled forwards. She was close to passing out. Everything hurt. Someone, she assumed the Indigene, grabbed her head and yanked it back until she couldn’t hide from the full effects of the light. Her eyes streamed again.
‘Please, let me go.’
‘Where do your loyalties lie?’ She detected slight hesitation in the human’s voice.
‘I told you, I don’t know.’
‘Would you side with the humans or the Indigenes?’
Isobel thought about it. ‘It depends.’
‘On what?’
‘On who needed help the most.’
The human paced the room. ‘Did you know Serena and Stephen are traitors who have been secretly helping the GS humans get rid of the rogue Indigene scourge?’ Isobel shook her head. She couldn’t believe it. She wouldn’t.
The human continued. ‘Would you side with traitorous Indigenes who believe in their cause, even if their motives are questionable? Or would you side with the humans who altered you into an Indigene, and robbed you of your human life?’
‘I wasn’t robbed. I left Earth of my own accord.’
‘Did you?’
‘Yes.’ She couldn’t be sure; her memories didn’t extend back that far. But she must convince this human she was no threat to either species. ‘I opted for the treatment. Nobody forced me to change back.’ She wasn’t sure of that, either. She’d been on the fence until Serena turned up in the district the day before. Had her visit been orchestrated?
‘Did you know the World Government scientists experimented on humans, long after they were ordered to stop?’
Isobel remembered nothing about government protocol. She had a life with Alex Sinclair. A good life, if her memories were to be believed. Had she left of her own free will or had she been forced to go?
The human continued. ‘Do you know what awaits you when you return to Earth?’
Her heart lifted. When. Maybe she would be released soon. She opened her eyes and sat up straighter. ‘A little.’
‘Do you sympathise with the humans on Earth?’
‘I guess. I don’t know much about what’s happening there.’
‘You sympathise?’ The human sneered. ‘Why would you care about a race that’s fucked you over?’
Isobel squeezed her eyes shut. Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. Her stomach hurt. ‘I know the difference between right and wrong. I would help the race that needed it the most.’
The human spoke to the Indigene. ‘Lock her up.’ He said to Isobel, ‘You should get comfortable. You’ll be here for a while longer.’
‘For how long?’
‘Until you give me a more direct answer.’
‘I need food...’
‘Not until you answer my questions properly.’
She couldn’t bear the thought of another day without food. The human stiffened when she opened her eyes and leaned forward in the chair. ‘I told you. I would side with those who needed help the most. I’m no traitor, nor will I abandon people if they need me. You can lock me up for a week, a month, a year, but those are my thoughts, and they will not change. But, please. I need to eat.’ A breath rushed out of her.
The human stayed silent for a moment. Then he walked over to the source of the light and turned it off. Isobel closed her eyes and relaxed a little.
‘She’s ready,’ he called to someone outside the room as he undid the restraints on her wrists and ankles. Someone new came in and stood in front of her.
Isobel opened her eyes and gasped.
7
She stared at a smiling Serena, unwilling to share in her good mood. ‘Why am I here? Did you trick me?’ Her breaths came out so sharp, they hurt.
Serena stepped closer. ‘I’m sorry for the ruse. I had to be sure.’
Free from her binds, Isobel stood up. Feeling dizzy, she swayed and gripped the chair for support. A black imprint of light on her eyes impaired her vision.
‘Sure about what?’ Anger bubbled to the surface. ‘Sure about putting me through hell just after human doctors humiliated me and stripped me of my Indigene strength?’
Serena smiled wider. But Isobel didn’t understand. ‘You haven’t lost anything. You’ve gained something.’
‘What are you talking about? I went through the reversal treatment. The doctors said I would change and I did. I feel different. My skin breaks too easily and my feet hurt. My hearing is useless. I can just about pick up a scent in the same room. I can’t hear thoughts. I can’t see in the dark.’
‘The nanoids work to a strict set of blueprints. They are programmed to strip out any code changes that differ to human base code. But sometimes the changes reverse themselves. I noticed after the treatment that while you had difficulty seeing well in the dark, you had not lost your speed.’
‘But I still can’t hear to my full ability.’
Serena gestured to the male Indigene who had slapped her. ‘Isobel, I’d like to introduce you to Anton from District Three. He’s in charge of our interrogation programme. He’s been drugging you to delay your return to full strength.’ Anton stepped into her line of sight. Isobel stared at Stephen’s friend and confidante. Gabriel had told her all about the Indigene she’d never met.
‘Your Indigene abilities will return in the next couple of hours,’ said Anton. ‘But you’re still undergoing transformation. Your appearance will continue to change and your memories will strengthen, as the treatment promised.’
Isobel touched her cheek where he had smacked her. Anton grimaced. ‘Sorry about that. I have to keep it authentic. How’s your face?’
‘I’ve felt better.’ She levelled a glare at the human, dressed in a grey suit with a pencil black tie, who had tortured her. He watched her, his arms folded.
‘And who’s the human?’
‘This is Bill Taggart. He’s a friend of the Indigenes.’
Isobel studied the human with the grey-dark brown hair and unshaven face. He approached her with his hand extended. ‘Nice to meet you, Isobel.’
Isobel backed away from him and stared at Serena. ‘He’s a friend. I assure you,’ said Serena.
‘I don’t care what he is. He tortured me.’
‘That was under my instruction,’ said Anton. ‘We needed the scenario to feel as realistic as possible.’
The room spun, causing Isobel to grip the sides of her head. She sank to her knees. Serena came to her side. ‘She needs rest. But food first.’ She helped Isobel to her feet.
Anton handed her a bottle. He shook it. ‘I think you know what this is.’
Isobel groped for the synthesised blood, ea
ten by all Indigenes. She tipped the bottle and the contents dripped into her mouth. She sucked on the neck to get more. Blood dripped from her mouth which she wiped away with her dirty sleeve.
Anton spoke to an Indigene she couldn’t see. ‘Arianna, take her somewhere more comfortable.’ A female entered the room. She looped Isobel’s arm around her neck. Too weak to argue, Isobel leaned on Arianna.
At the entrance of the room, Serena said, ‘Welcome to District Three.’
☼
Isobel woke in a room similar to the previous cell, although this one was dry and she had a mattress between her and the floor. To her relief, she saw a handle on the inside of the door.
She stretched out her aching body and absorbed the detail in the dark room with clarity. The drugs, no longer in her system, had returned her abilities to her.
Isobel glanced down at her clean clothes; a pale tunic and a pair of trousers. She untied the ropes that held the pieces of burlap around her feet. The material fell away to reveal cuts and bruises, but her skin felt less sensitive than it had done the day before. Her skin continued its change from translucent in appearance to more opaque. She brushed her fingers over the top of her head, feeling the rough beginnings of growth against her tips—a process the nanoids may have accelerated. She remembered how her scalp had tingled during treatment.
Isobel got to her feet, relieved to find her strength had partially returned. She tried the handle and, to her surprise, the door opened. Outside and free from the confines of the sound-insulating omicron rock, a torrent of voices washed over her. A grinning Isobel concentrated until she’d reduced them to just a murmur in her head. She had her abilities back, the part of herself she wasn’t prepared to lose.
She looked down from the top level of a three-tiered accommodation area. Arianna sat on the top level, with her legs dangling over the edge.