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|• what you did for me and hidden within, is over what we deserve •|

The soft cushioned pillow let her head rest in peace. Lyra snuggled her nose into the warm blanket, the scent of jasmine engulfing her nostrils. Her head rolled onto her left, crushing her ear in between. A light ringing made her mumble in her sleep.

Lincoln.

She jumped awake, her heart pounding faster, almost blasting out of her chest. She ripped the duvet away from her body, a wave of cold air made the hairs on her body stand erect. She frantically searched for the door, but all four walls were white, her own attire was white, a menacing kind of white, too blank for the eyes, almost like it was shrouding secrecy rather than shining purely. Lyra shuddered at the thought as she began dragging her hands across the wall, slowly searching for some kind of indication of an exit. Her fingers, unfortunately, found no faults. Each wall was as pristine as the other. Lyra had walked in circles three times, not once had her slender fingers caught onto a fraction of a flaw.

Her heart felt like it was sinking, her mind panicking away. On one side she was trapped, on the other was Lincoln. Lincoln. Injured, maybe dead. The thought made her cry. The confined room made her scared. She felt it, her sanity, slipping away slowly. She could feel every fragment of her brain twitching, throbbing, and burning.

"Help," she croaked, her dehydrated throat not willing to scream. "Help." She tried to be louder, yet doubted that anyone heard. Lyra sobbed into her lap, wishing that Lincoln was safe, balancing on her precarious intuition; someone must've found him.

A gentle buzzing made her lift her head up, she saw an exit, just parallel to her bed. The glass hallway was visible to her. She watched the trees, swaying in the torrent of wind. the darkness of the green contrasting with the pale, blue sky. She gasped slightly before running out and glancing right and left. Left seemed darker, almost like the lights were switched off. The right seemed to be glowing, almost like it was on fire. Lyra turned left, for all she knew, she could be in danger here, it was better to take shelter within the darkness.

Lyra walked as fast as she could, avoiding the gazes of strangers. Every stranger she glanced at, was wearing white, except they had a green engraved logo of some sort on their left chest. She tried to read it, but they were too quick for her averted gaze to catch. Aggravated, she paused too see the logo: it was a dark green emblem of a circle and a square, the word 'Cortex' inscribed in white. A faded shadow of the letter 'S' could be seen. She didn't pay close attention to the shape, it was no ordinary shape, it was a neuron, she tried to scrutinise the passerby's, just as her head collided with someone's chest.

"Lyra?" he said, helping her up on her feet. "Why are you in the workforce sector? I thought you had a lot of work to complete for the Elite program."

Lyra snapped up to look at the familiar voice. "Jude? Oh, thank God, you're alive." She hugged him tightly, wishing to not let go. "We need to find Lincoln."

Jude began to laugh as if he had never heard anything funnier. "Why would I not be alive? And Lincoln is probably home, I can call him for you."

"Jude, you don't understand! I just came out of T.P.R.P. You were in there too!" Jude gave her a concerned look before guiding her back the way she came. "Where are you taking me?" He didn't respond. "Where are you taking me!" She screamed, attracting a few glances from strangers.

"You probably haven't slept the last few days, working your butt off and all, now you need to sleep." Jude gave her a warning look. "Don't even try, you know I'm right."

Lyra slashed her hands away from him. "You don't understand! She probably wiped your memory away, I just came back from a cycle, I just know it. I've seen the horrible things that happen, how she kills us all, how she makes me a monster. Everything she puts us through is to save Dun—" Lyra collapsed into Jude's arms as Candace towered above her body.

"Help me carry her, Jude." Candace sighed as she grabbed Lyra's feet. "She never learns."

"Why did you do that?" Jude exclaimed, the sudden action scaring him.

"Don't you see, sleep deprivation has taken hold of her system. We need to get her back to normal. Her disorder isn't doing her any good. You know about it, right?" Candace asked.

Jude nodded before picking Lyra up. "I know. Let's get her back to normal, we need her for the test runs for the Elite program."

They dragged her along the hallway before taking an elevator. "Let's take her to my bio laboratory, I can run some tests and see how her vitals are." Candace instructed whilst Jude entered the elevator.

"Leave her here." Jude placed Lyra's head gently on the bed. "You may go, I'll deal with this." Jude bowed slightly and left the room.

"Once again, just you and me."

—

Lyra squinted as the light burned her eyes. A blurred visage looked over her. She opened her eyes to meet Candace's, Lyra tried to bring her hands to her chest, but she came to realise that they were tied up. She rattled her hands and growled at Candace. "Let me go."

"Uh-huh, but before that, let's discuss how you are." Candace leaned down and sat herself down opposite to Lyra.

"You don't bloody care how I am, all you care about is yourself."

Candace tutted. "Now, now, no need to get angry."

"Why should I not get angry? You killed every single one of them. You turned me into a monster. You—" Candace placed a finger on Lyra's lips.

"I killed no one." She hissed. "Let me show you." She swiped her wrist, a holographic slide appeared. "See that, it's Lincoln, all safe and sound, having a good nap. And you see there, that's your mate Juniper, she's all fine too." She zoomed out, revealing a series of other pods, aligned next to each other. "See, all safe, it was just a simulation after all." She switched it off, fixing her gaze on Lyra. "And to answer your last question; I did not make you a monster. We are all monsters, in one way or another. A given example would be, when I decided to leave your memories from the simulation, some may say I was merciful, others would say I'm horrible because I allowed you to recall those times of suffering."

"I hate you." Lyra shrieked as she tried to rip her hands out. "I will always hate you."

"You will never understand me, Lyra. If you lost your mother, you would still have a father. If you lost Lincoln, you would still have Jude. You don't know what it feels like to have parents who disowned you or the man you love going away to marry someone else and build his family, or a dead sister. I only had Duncan." Candace chocked on her tears, she was finding it hard to breathe. "I had just one person left. If you were in my shoes, you would do the same."

Lyra shook her head. "I would never put the lives of children at risk to revive a dead body. You lied to me, you said Duncan was brain dead, that he could be saved." Lyra found herself crying too, betrayal burned her insides like magma swimming in between her veins. "You lied."

"What else was I meant to do?" Candace jumped out of her seat, her wrath evolving into hatred. "If you can't fight for those you love, you're pathetic." Her words came out spitting, her anger taking ahold. "Duncan's life, meant more to me, than a hundred other children." She turned around to walk away, just as Lyra opened her mouth to speak.

"I will bring justice, to every one of those children you used. For every life you called worthless, I will bring justice." Lyra found herself shivering, the air around her cooling down every second.

"Just remember, Ly, one squared will always be one, no matter how much effort you put in, alone; you'll always be back to square one." Candace gave her one last glance. "You belong in square one."

—

This chapter was initially meant to be the last, but I decided to give my amazing readers just an extra one!

What do you think about Candace's last words? As much as she hate to admit it, they hold truth.

Thoughts?