changing the subject.
I shut the fridge door with a little more gusto than it needed. “I don’t know. This new boss—Andrew Phillips—he’s a tough cookie. Like a steel dough with diamond chips—”
“What did he do?” Reed asked, cutting to the quick.
“He says the government is going to shut down the prison if I leave,” I said, folding my arms in front of me. “That they’ll dispense with the inmates at the first sign of trouble because they can’t provide proper security without meta assistance—my assistance.”
“Ouch,” Reed said, his jaw slightly open. “You believe him?”
“I don’t know him well enough to call a bluff yet.”
Reed stared at me shrewdly. “Would it bother you if he wasn’t bluffing?”
I let that thought bounce around in my head for a little bit before answering. “It would bother me in Timothy Logan’s case. Most of the others … less so. Though I’m not exactly a huge fan of the idea of executing helpless prisoners. Seems …” I searched for a word, but “gauche” seemed wrong.
“Cruel?” Reed asked, still studying my reaction. “Vicious? Over-the-top?”
“All the above and more, probably,” I said. “Which is kinda sad for me to admit since I know most of these people would gladly go out into the world and wreak more havoc, kill more people.” I shook my head. “I mean, I would have to say that at least seventy percent of them view other human beings as objects at best, with little to no empathy for them as people.”
“Which makes them dangerous,” Reed said. “Definitely worthy of at least some incarceration.”
“Yeah,” I said with a sigh. “Anyway, I don’t know—”
A hard knocking interrupted me, rattling my door. “Who is it?” I called even as I got up.
“Ariadne,” she said, and I hurried to let her in. She was standing there, looking more than a little irritable, and she barged right in without so much as an invite. “Can you believe this?”
“Uh … no?” I watched her come in at a full head of steam, looking significantly more upset than when she’d delivered the news to me only an hour earlier.
“We run the ship all through the war,” she said, apparently taking no notice of Reed or my new dog as she paced in, heading straight for the kitchen, “and for over three years after, not a peep from Washington as they kept their distance, but now—one giant screwup later,” I blanched at her assessment of my morning, “and this happens.” She wheeled on me. “Can you believe it?”
“I can believe it,” Reed said, and she snapped her head around in surprise to finally take notice of him. “You’re only as good as your last success—or screwup—after all.”
“Ohh,” she said, making a kind of cooing noise, “your dog is very cute, Reed.”
“That’s my dog,” I said, suddenly irritated. She turned to look at me blankly, like she couldn’t understand what I was saying. “And it’s a stray that’s going to the pound,” I finished, feeling my irritation fade with the calm reality that I was not keeping the animal. Back to being predictable me, I guess.
“I’m not sure I want to stick around for this insult,” Ariadne said, resuming her pacing in my kitchen. “I mean—it really does feel like an insult, doesn’t it?” She swooped past the fridge again and paused, opening it up like she owned the place. She was silent for a moment as she looked into its depths. “How the hell do you not weigh like ninety-eight pounds?”
“We have a cafeteria,” I said crossly, “in the freaking building. Also, my figure is naturally like this, okay? I’m stout, my ribcage is a little broader than average—”
“Whoa, sis,” Reed said, and I followed his gaze to see my hand was engulfed in flames. “Need me to get a fire extinguisher?”
“Gavrikov!” I snapped, and the fire went out. Sometimes when my emotions got high, the souls I had stored in my brain took the opportunity to bubble to the
I shut the fridge door with a little more gusto than it needed. “I don’t know. This new boss—Andrew Phillips—he’s a tough cookie. Like a steel dough with diamond chips—”
“What did he do?” Reed asked, cutting to the quick.
“He says the government is going to shut down the prison if I leave,” I said, folding my arms in front of me. “That they’ll dispense with the inmates at the first sign of trouble because they can’t provide proper security without meta assistance—my assistance.”
“Ouch,” Reed said, his jaw slightly open. “You believe him?”
“I don’t know him well enough to call a bluff yet.”
Reed stared at me shrewdly. “Would it bother you if he wasn’t bluffing?”
I let that thought bounce around in my head for a little bit before answering. “It would bother me in Timothy Logan’s case. Most of the others … less so. Though I’m not exactly a huge fan of the idea of executing helpless prisoners. Seems …” I searched for a word, but “gauche” seemed wrong.
“Cruel?” Reed asked, still studying my reaction. “Vicious? Over-the-top?”
“All the above and more, probably,” I said. “Which is kinda sad for me to admit since I know most of these people would gladly go out into the world and wreak more havoc, kill more people.” I shook my head. “I mean, I would have to say that at least seventy percent of them view other human beings as objects at best, with little to no empathy for them as people.”
“Which makes them dangerous,” Reed said. “Definitely worthy of at least some incarceration.”
“Yeah,” I said with a sigh. “Anyway, I don’t know—”
A hard knocking interrupted me, rattling my door. “Who is it?” I called even as I got up.
“Ariadne,” she said, and I hurried to let her in. She was standing there, looking more than a little irritable, and she barged right in without so much as an invite. “Can you believe this?”
“Uh … no?” I watched her come in at a full head of steam, looking significantly more upset than when she’d delivered the news to me only an hour earlier.
“We run the ship all through the war,” she said, apparently taking no notice of Reed or my new dog as she paced in, heading straight for the kitchen, “and for over three years after, not a peep from Washington as they kept their distance, but now—one giant screwup later,” I blanched at her assessment of my morning, “and this happens.” She wheeled on me. “Can you believe it?”
“I can believe it,” Reed said, and she snapped her head around in surprise to finally take notice of him. “You’re only as good as your last success—or screwup—after all.”
“Ohh,” she said, making a kind of cooing noise, “your dog is very cute, Reed.”
“That’s my dog,” I said, suddenly irritated. She turned to look at me blankly, like she couldn’t understand what I was saying. “And it’s a stray that’s going to the pound,” I finished, feeling my irritation fade with the calm reality that I was not keeping the animal. Back to being predictable me, I guess.
“I’m not sure I want to stick around for this insult,” Ariadne said, resuming her pacing in my kitchen. “I mean—it really does feel like an insult, doesn’t it?” She swooped past the fridge again and paused, opening it up like she owned the place. She was silent for a moment as she looked into its depths. “How the hell do you not weigh like ninety-eight pounds?”
“We have a cafeteria,” I said crossly, “in the freaking building. Also, my figure is naturally like this, okay? I’m stout, my ribcage is a little broader than average—”
“Whoa, sis,” Reed said, and I followed his gaze to see my hand was engulfed in flames. “Need me to get a fire extinguisher?”
“Gavrikov!” I snapped, and the fire went out. Sometimes when my emotions got high, the souls I had stored in my brain took the opportunity to bubble to the
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