Joan Ascends

Chapter 4: You forced us to be enemies

On the morning of my meeting with Lexi, Strand's public response to the Day Zero vid comes in the form of a press conference. Blake Green, Strand's videographer, insists that all of the footage is fake, the product of good editing software.

The online response afterward is mixed, with conservative media outlets predictably siding with Strand, and the indie outlets convinced that the footage is real. It's too early to tell which way public opinion will swing.

Marie, Harriet and Justus are all hovering around me as I get ready for my meeting with Lexi. For all they say that our plan is foolproof, they're acting like mother hens.

"The likeliest reason for this meeting is to get you to issue a public statement supporting Strand's statement that the footage is false," Justus reasons, pacing the main room of the Bunker.

"Which is why this is the perfect opportunity to get Lexi to admit the truth to Joan on camera," Marie says, handing me a case with contacts that double as cameras. "They're ultra-thin, so she shouldn't be able to detect that you're wearing them. The resolution on the cameras has been upgraded, and when you squint, the contacts allow you to zoom in on whatever you're looking at. It will stream your vid live to us so we can all watch."

I practice, squinting at Marie's eyes, and immediately I can see every fleck of color in her iris. When I stop squinting, my vision returns to normal so quickly that I nearly stumble.

"That's pretty cool," I admit.

Lady Cleo sweeps into the room as I zip up the black bodysuit I'm wearing to the meeting. She looks me over with a critical eye, though she was the one who selected this outfit, and there's no time to change now.

"It's working for you," she says at last.

"She looks like she stepped out of a 20th century music vid," Justus says, but his eyes are lingering appreciatively over my curves.

"Nineties couture is very on trend right now," Lady Cleo insists. "And it suits the requirements you laid out."

I turn away from my friends and straighten my shoulders. If I've learned anything from my time at Seattle Secondary, it's that I need to do more than act the part of a confident leader of an underground rebellion. I have to inhabit that role in my mind—at least until this meeting is over.

"You're unstoppable," Justus murmurs in my ear, low enough that no one else will hear.

I stifle my natural urge to disagree, and choose in this moment to believe him.

~ ~ ~

Harriet drives me to a spot about a mile from Liberty Bridge, which is where I'm meeting Lexi. Any closer and we risk someone from Strand spotting Harriet and following her back to the Lab.

"You can do this, Joan," Harriet says, and she reaches out to squeeze my hand.

It's rare for Harriet to be so openly affectionate, and I know with that squeeze of my hand she's also telling me that she's proud of me for taking on this challenge. Harriet is the person I respect most in this world, and she still has faith in me.

"This is going to work," I say, as much to myself as to Harriet. "We're not done changing the world just yet."

"Done? We're just getting started."

Harriet gives me a nod as I get out of the van and slam the door shut. It's drizzling lightly, and the drops cool my overheated skin.

With effort, I shrug off the insecure Joan I've turned into, and instead inhabit the Joan I need to be today in order to succeed. My steps grow more and more confident the closer I get to my destination.