Series: Zandian Brides Series by Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 57939 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57939 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Katia shakes her head. “The Ocretions are stubborn and wily. If anyone could locate a pin in an ocean, it might be them. And we’re very valuable. Maybe we should tell the Zandians? They could find a way to protect us?”
“No!” Flora’s more vehement than I’ve seen her. “You have to be quiet about it. All of you.” She leans forward. “If the Zandians find out we’re potential spies who can’t even control our own brains, they’ll kill us themselves. It’s the only logical thing to do. You don’t want that for yourself or the rest of us, do you? Now that we’ve finally found safety?”
I lean forward too. “Of course not! But maybe they would help us, not hurt us.”
I think of Daven and my promise to always be honest. Guilt wells up.
“If we tell them, they’re smart. They have resources. Maybe their doctor can get the chips out of our heads. Or come up with a plan…” My voice trails off. The problem is that I, too, worry that we’d be killed or banished. Trying to argue the opposite doesn’t help.
“You know the chips are intertwined with brain matter, Sia.” Flora’s voice is flat. “Even the experts on Ocretia agreed that once they’re in, it’s permanent. They can’t even remove them.”
Stars, she’s right. The memory starts, and I start to murmur along. “Once the chips are in, they’re never coming out. They grow into the brain matter, which is what makes them so perfect. Undetectable. The perfect human recording technology.”
Katia mouths it too. So does Flora. We stare at each other.
“You have that same memory?” Katia’s eyes are wide.
I nod. “It’s from the lab. It’s like–the memories are so vivid. Like holos in my brain.”
Flora’s eyes narrow. “Do you think it’s the chip?”
“I actually do. I think our chips are playing back random things that we recorded back on that planet while they were testing and calibrating the signal.”
New memories fluctuate and undulate in my mind, dirty serpents that make me shake. We own your mind, Sia. Now and forever. You’ll be a perfect recording device.
The chip will record everything we want to learn about. We can wipe your memories after we retrieve them.
“So what should we do? We can’t get rid of the chips. And even if the Ocretions can’t read what’s being recorded, the chips are still doing stuff. I hate it.” Flora scowls.
“I know. The only way to be free of the tech is to deactivate them from the control panel back on Planet Larew. Remember they have that master module where they can completely deactivate any chip? They said it was in case of emergency, if their spies were in danger of being found out. They can auto kill and lose everything or just completely deactivate and save their human property to reactivate, as long as we’re within range. So if we could get back to that planet and deactivate ourselves? We could halt the whole program. Deactivate it at once!”
“It’s impossible.” Flora frowns. “How would we get there? Fly ourselves in a starship?” She snorts. “As if we weren’t under total guard anyway. iIt’s not like we’ve even been on a craft before.”
“Except for our rescue.” I think about Daven, bending down, saving me, and my heart melts.
Flora nods. “Right. So right now we have to be quiet. Promise me. For all of our sakes.”
“I feel horrible about continuing to lie. Don’t you?” I give her a pleading look.
“No,” she says sharply. “I don’t feel horrible about staying alive. It’s our only chance.”
Katia agrees. “How can it really harm Zandia, after all? We’re out of chip range. For now, we’re all safe.” She squeezes my hands. “I just hope the Zandians are not recording us talking now.”
I give a dry laugh. “Maybe the Zandians are recording us talking about our brains recording us talking. It’s quite a concept.” I hesitate. “I don’t think they would, though. They seem so honorable.”
Katia chimes in. “We just need more time, me especially. Once I get my master to trust me and lo–care for me, at least–maybe we’ll have more sway. Especially if we keep sharing the useful memories. We can convince them to save our lives, not banish us for being brain-chipped monsters. Please.”
I nod slowly. “I don’t want to be banished.”
“--or killed” Flora interjects.
“Or killed, either. I like it here.” I think of Daven, and my chest grows warm. I more than like it here. I absolutely adore it. “We’ll do our best to fit in here, make them trust us. Value us. They seem to like the memories I share, the safe ones. About chemicals and technology.”
“Me too! I gave them some info about some tech stuff I didn’t understand but could transcribe from my chip, and they loved it.” Katia smiles.
“Yes!” I squeeze her hand. “Any memories you can get off your chips–about chemicals or human anatomy or starships–share it all. Everything that seems beneficial. Just not that we have chips. And in the meantime, I have an idea about how we can maybe fix ourselves.”