Atlantis

Chapter Forty-One

"Hey. There's one thing I don't understand. Why did Alie want you to kill yourself?" Clarke asked when they got Raven into the back of the rover.

"Because I know why she wants a second AI." Raven said.

"Why?" Bellamy asked.

"It's the only thing that can stop her."

"Then lets stop her." Octavia said. "We survive together."

They all got into the rover.

"Here." Clarke offered Faye the Flame. "You should have it."

"No." Faye shook her head. "It's the Flamekeeper's responsibility. If we don't find Luna, I'll be stuck with that thing for the rest of my life, I can wait a little while."

- - -

Faye tried her best to keep her eyes open, but she kept finding that her eyelids would drift close sometimes.

"Becca's journal is amazing." Raven said with such admiration. "At 26, she found a pathway to access the human mind. That same year she had to lock up Alie, because her answer for what was wrong with the world was "too many people." She was 27 when it launched the bombs."

Faye turned in the front seat to face the back. "What did she write about the Flame?" She asked.

"Alie 2.0. She saw it as a way to atone for her sins. She designed it not just to access a human mind, but to merge with one. It could never wipe us out, because it would be one of us. She would put it in herself first. Altered her genes so her body wouldn't reject the implant."

"Bekka Pramheda, the first Commander." Faye looked at Clarke, the only other person who understood what she was talking about.

"The gene therapy made her blood black, didn't it?" Clarke asked Raven.

"Yeah."

"How did you know that?" Octavia asked Clarke.

"She was the first Nightblood." Faye turned back in her seat. She now realized Bekka Pramheda was from space, she was from the Ark.

"Somehow it became hereditary. Faye and Luna have it. That's why we have to find Luna." Clarke explained.

"Wait." Bellamy said, finally taking his eyes off the road. "Why can't Faye?"

"It has to be Luna. I'm only a back up if she refuses." Faye herself couldn't understand why she kept turning away the Flame. She only knew that her and Luna would have been the last two in the Conclave, just like now.

"If she can access Alie-2..."

"She can tell us how to stop Alie-1." Octavia finished.

"Bekka Pramheda gets her second shot at atonement." Sinclair shrugged.

"Get back to the pathway. If Alie uses it to upload our minds to the City of Light, then there's a chance my mom's still alive." Monty said.

"That depends on your definition of "alive."

"Eyes sharp. Weapons hot. We're almost home." Bellamy said. He looked over at Faye in the passenger seat. She had suddenly isolated herself from the conversation. "Miller, come in." Bellamy picked up the radio. "Harper, you there? Your ride's two minutes out."

When they reached Arkadia the gates were left open and the camp seemed deserted. They all got out of the rover and looked around for anyone they could find.

"We left two days ago. Why haven't they fixed the gate?" Clarke said, wondering out loud.

"Maybe because there's no one here to fix it." Jasper said from the open roof of the rover.

"Miller, where the hell are you? I don't like this." Bellamy said into the radio.

"Maybe they got chipped."

"If they got chipped, they would have been waiting for us at the cave." Bellamy corrected.

"Maybe they saw the open gate and went for Lincoln's book." Jasper said.

"Maybe you should stop saying "maybe." Octavia told him.

"If they are chipped, Alie already knows we're coming."

Faye followed the rover like everyone else and held both her swords at the ready.

"Let's get his book and get the hell outta here." Octavia said.

"That's a plan I can support."

Clarke looked at Bellamy confused. "Lincoln." He told her. 

Faye meant to follow everyone else, but Clarke tapped her shoulder and held her back. 

"What's the real reason you won't take the Flame? Lexa picked you to be her successor." Clarke said, reminding Faye of all the months she spent in Polis.

"It's bigger than that Clarke. When we were young, we all knew Luna would win. And when she fled, I suddenly realized that we could train, and train, but I wouldn't be ready to lead. Without Luna, I was the next best. I chose to spare my friend over winning."

When everyone else was inside the main building, Faye finally let Clarke know the truth.

"I'm scared, Clarke. Commanders demand blood. I'm scared they'd disapprove, they'd never choose someone like me." 

"I'm sorry, but approval is not our biggest concern. Why should we go all the way to the east when you're right here." Clarke said, gesturing to Faye. 

"Luna should have the Flame. You don't know her like I do, she deserves to be the Commander." Faye said, walking away to join the others.

"Close it up, turn the rover around. We may need to get outta here quickly." Bellamy ordered. 

"It's like they just got up and walked away." Clarke said, staring at a table still cluttered with food and games.

"We're in and out. Pack as much gear as you can into the rover." Bellamy said.

"I'll get the map." Octavia volunteered.

"I'll, uh, go with her. No one should be alone." Jasper said, trailing after Octavia.

"You don't wanna load gear, huh?" Sinclair said.

"Not even a little."

"What's the rush?" Raven asked. "They won't be coming back." 

"How do you know?" Clarke said.

"Alie's mission is to chip everyone. It wouldn't make sense to return to a place she already took." Raven pointed out.

"It might make sense if there was someone in that place, i.e., you, who could tell us stuff like that." Sinclair stated.

"Good point. Let's load gear."