Collided

Chapter 32

Breakfast was over, and Alyssa was back in her room. Her talk with Tinker ended well. They were not exactly back to being best friends or even buddies by a long shot, but they were heading in the right direction now. Maybe they would patch things up to some semblance of normal—although Alyssa did not see that happening while Tinker was still friends with that witch Calypso. That was the start of their conflict, after all. Still, it was easy to make peace now that she knew her babies were alive and well, even if she could not hold them in her arms like every other mother.

Boman was still busy with whatever he was doing, and for that, Alyssa was grateful. Pretending she did not know the things she learned was harder around Boman. Before now, she had not dared entertain the idea that he was a good man, but the content of those files proved that he was no man. He was a monster. And she hated him so much. Almost as much as she feared him.

Project XX was a military experiment that had secretly been carried out on Helian women. The scientists, acting on Boman's authority and instructions, used them as lab rats without their permission or even knowledge.

She did not fully understand it, but they were trying to isolate the traits that made up what they decided to be a perfect soldier; resistant to diseases, peak physical conditions, resistant to the natural environment, the list went on.

The experiment had been deemed ready for mass application, but it had somehow accidentally left the women unable to conceive female children. And that was not the worst of it. The first test subjects suffered the most. The numerous experiments had completely botched the reproductive systems of the women; among whom was Ada. It had gone so thoroughly wrong there was barely any chance she, and the others, would ever give birth again. Like the others, Ada was unaware of this. Alyssa could hardly imagine what that must be like, to be completely loyal in hopes that it could take pity on you and fix you when it was that very same system that screwed you over.

A knock on the door startled Alyssa, but when she went to open it, she found Blaze standing in the hallway. His hair was tousled as he had just gotten out of bed and his clothes were only half arranged, but his eyes were alight with anticipation.

"Is Boman around?" he asked.

"No, he's busy elsewhere. Where have you been?"

Blaze waved off the question.

"So? Tell me. Did you do it?" he asked instead.

"Yes. I got it." She produced the serum and handed it over. "Here."

He took it from her and quickly stashed it away, looking left and right to make sure no one caught sight of their little transaction.

"What was the point of stealing it if I'm not going to be taking it?"

"Oh, you are taking it, make no mistake. But you see, injecting the serum puts you to sleep for at least a day. We cannot have you napping for thirty hours, that is a long time, and it would certainly raise suspicion."

"Ah. Well, that makes sense."

"Our plan worked really well," he commended.

"So, what do you have in mind?"

"I have an idea. We play it off as you being insomniac due to depression and needing something strong to put you to sleep. But for that, I'll need Ada's help, and something tells me it will not be easily obtained. I might be a war general, but her loyalty is much stronger. I doubt I could offer her anything more valuable than a child. It's all she's wanted for as long as I can remember."

If only he knew what she knew, Alyssa thought. If only they all knew.

Blaze noticed her shift in countenance and frowned in concern, but he did not ask, instead going on as if he did not see anything.

"Until then, I'll keep it safe."

"You never answered." Alyssa folded her arms. "Where were you? I didn't see you at the dining hall, and you look like you just woke up from a nap."

"I did just wake up. Not sure I'd call it a nap though. I told you I would switch out your anesthesia, and I did. I switched with mine."

"You did what? Why didn't you switch with some random person?"

Blaze shook his head. "That would have been too risky."

"But what if you were caught?"

"I'm a busy man. They'd understand I was tired."

"But still..."

"Alyssa, were you worried about me?" He got closer to her and pulled a strand of her hair to the back of her ear. 

Alyssa's cheeks heated.

"No. As if I care," she said.

"You don't?" Blaze's brow rose slowly, and a smile crept onto his face.

"Shut it," Alyssa said.

Blaze had a smug grin on his face long enough to have Alyssa seriously considering punching him in the face just to get rid of it, but then his expression turned serious.

"On a more serious note, did anything go wrong on the mission? Did anything happen?"

Alyssa paused. She wanted to tell him. The burden of this knowledge was a lot to bear. But when she finally answered, it was with a shake of the head and the words,

"No. Nothing happened."

"Are you sure?" Blaze asked. His piercing gaze locked with hers with concern.

"Positive." She nodded.

The look he gave her told her he knew she was lying, but he was ready to let it go, for now at least.

"Well then, I'll get out of your hair until later." He offered a thin smile.

He started to leave when Alyssa grew a nerve.

"I have a question for you."

He turned back to her.

"Shoot."

"Why are you doing this?" she asked. "I don't know what exactly your plan is, but it feels like treachery to your own people."

"I don't know what to tell you other than it feels like the right thing to do." He smiled again, but it seemed sad this time, like there was a story behind the statement. A long one.

"How can I trust you if you don't tell me anything?" she asked.

"You don't have to fully. Not until I give you a reason to. Out of everyone here, I have been more honest to you though. Trust that, trust logic and if that fails you, trust your heart."

That did not make sense to her. 

Before she could tell him that, he walked off.

She stared at the back of his head until she, by herself, decided she was being weird and looked away.

The problem was logic said not to trust him, but her heart was singing a different song. She was conflicted. 

She shut the door after him and went back to sit on the bed. She didn't like being an accomplice to Boman's lies at this point and she wanted to return Blaze's help. Other questions clouded her mind, this time for herself.

Why did she not have it in her to tell him about the files and about the project? Was it because of the power it gave her? Or was it because she feared he was a part of it?

A better question yet. Is what she saw on those files a small part of a monopoly of information and power?