My eyes burn as I pick at my food, not hungry since my stomach is full of hot chocolate and cookies. Apparently, Eva made them, and they were pieces of chocolate heaven. Now, Aubrey sits at my left, Ash my right, and Hailee in front of me. We found a secluded table in the corner of the large dining area. Voices around us sound extra excited, and hands grab at crisp bacon while forks shove at runny eggs. Even Aubrey greedily shoves down her food while Hailee delicately  picks at hers, showing prim and proper manners. Ash has already finished her plate and shoved it aside, and I shove my mostly full plate aside as well, leaning back against the back of my chair.

"Leane doesn't need you?" I question Hailee.

The girl shrugs. "She won't notice my absence during breakfast. Besides, she's too busy plotting in that head of hers." She keeps her voice quiet, although someone could probably loudly talk about murder and no one would hear them.

"So," Ash nudges me in the side. "How'd it go? How about with Co-" I slap her arm. I had filled them all in on the friends I would be meeting, and my cousin wouldn't stop gushing over the fact that I had a boyfriend.

Aubrey pauses from shoving food in her mouth, a piece of bacon dangling out of her lips. Her plate is mostly clean, save for splatters of egg guts here and there. Hailee taps her napkin against her lips, shaking her head at my curly-haired friend while grinning widely.

"Did they agree to help us?" Hailee proceeds to glance around ever so subtly, paranoid someone will hear our plans and report them to her sister.

I shake my head at them, smiling slightly. I can't get Cody out of my head, how it felt for him to hold me in his arms and make me feel safe again, how it felt it kiss him again. After all, we didn't have much time to build a relationship. We did agree to be boyfriend and girlfriend, but after all that had happened... But, I finally remind myself, pushing through the dense fog of my memory, that we are technically together, and that makes my smile grow even wider. Then, I spill all the details to my friends, who are eager to hear everything that occurred in those few hours I had with the other Chipbusters.

Of course, I try to leave out the romantic details, but my cousins prods me until I do, making my cheeks turn a deep shade of red. I shake my head at her antics, but even Aubrey gushes over it, and Hailee merely smiles, but I can see the amusement in her eyes.

Hailee claps her hands together, startling me slightly. "So, things will fall in place." Her face falls slightly. "We do, however, have another threat. Jeremy."

"Jeremy?" The rest of us question in unison.

"Your boyfriend's dad," she explains with reference to me. Oh, that's his name. "You took him down once, and took away his power-"

"How is he even alive?" Ash asks. "Shouldn't that shock have killed him?"

"It didn't kill Autumn,"Hailee points out, referring to how I removed my first Chip and this all started.

"But then I shoved him into the fence after I got his Chip out," I point out. He shouldn't be alive. I mean, I shouldn't be either, but he is an evil person who will probably hurt people to get what he wants, which is probably his power back. Or, something else entirely. Who knows anymore?

"You should've been dead, too," Ash whispers to me.

"But Leane revived her," Hailee points out. I knew she did. For selfish reasons, obviously. 

"And took away my memory."

"It was actually the only way. All she choose to do was lie to you about the truth. But, that Chip did bring you back."

"How? Can it bring other people back?"

Hailee shakes her head. "It only worked because of how you died- by electrocution. The remaining electricity helped bring you back. And since it was another Chip being inserted, and the technology Leane used. She's actually pretty brilliant, but she uses it for all the wrong reasons. However, your case was still special. You had a spark( get it, spark?) of life left in you. All these factors allowed you to live.

"Leane did use you to test her new Chip on since you made it possible and all that, but she also wanted to see if you could remove it, memory or not."

I gasp, eyes going wide. "One, I didn't even mean to remove the first one and, second, how am I supposed to do that?"

Hailee shrugs. "It actually helps you, so it'll actually be better if you keep it in. Anyways, she didn't want to be like Jeremy. Instead, her Chip simply gives people abilities to fight. For what? I'm not exactly sure. If they do anything else? I have no idea."

I let out a breath. She's right, this Chip is actually an advantage, as twisted as that would've sounded to me a mere year ago. But, things have changed, I realize. I'm not the same Autumn I used to be. I'm not broken because I feel alone, but rather a little cracked from everything I've been fighting through, fighting for. But, I won't allow myself to crack under pressure. I got rid of Chips. I made friends. I found a reason to fight. Now, I have even more than ever, and I'm stronger; and not just physically, but mentally.

I look into the eyes of the girl across from me and offer her a nod of agreement. Looking at my cousin, I see concern in the eyes identical to my own. I offer her a smile and she offers me a tight-lipped one in return. She seems to be silently asking if I'm okay. And, I realize that I am, and I turn to Aubrey, who has a faraway look in her eyes. Then, as they focus on someone, I sigh. Rachel. Aubrey likes her, I can tell. However, how much can I trust her? Definitely not enough to let her in on the situation, but I also can't ruin Aubrey's chance with her. Aubrey became my friend just because, no strings attached, no idea who I was. She's a sweet girl who lost someone close to her thanks to the chaos that is our world. She deserves to find someone. She deserves the world. So do Cody, Eva, Jared, and Teresa. So do Hailee and Ash and everyone else who is stuck in the middle of all of this.

That's why I'll carry on; find out what I can and take down Leane before she does whatever it is she's going to do. Let the others deal with Jeremy. And then, maybe we'll finally find peace.

I stand up at the same time as everyone else in the cafeteria, following the herd out of the doors. Letting my feet drag me to where I'll train, make myself stronger, and not let anyone know I can turn invisible. My abilities are my own, not Leane's. She doesn't need to know about my secret one or my plans.

One of the adults watching over our training randomly assigns us partners. They don't even bother remembering our names, just read them from their watches. I hope I'm partnered with Aubrey or Ash. Aubrey is partnered with, surprise, Rachel. They practically skip away to find a spot to spar, to continue 'training their Chip and physical abilities' as we've just been told. Ash is partnered with some random guy, and soon enough, my name is called. Or, well, the name I'm known by here.

"Summer and Kaylee."

I glance at the orange-haired girl and silently follow her to the back of the rather large room, glancing at the concrete floor that used to hurt so much when I fell onto it. I have my memory back. I know who she is, what she's done. I want nothing to do with her, but maybe my knuckles and abilities can do the talking this time.

 As I take my stance, I sigh. Despite the dark skinned girl now training next to me, my cousin concentrating on sparing her opponent across the room, and Hailee off to wherever Leane wants her, this is my fight. Meaning, in a heartbeat, I'd risk dying again to protect them. To protect everyone. Even if death scares me, I know I will. No, that doesn't make me extremely selfless. It just means I'm human.

My muscles have become used to the sparring, to the hits and punches and to pushing myself past any limits I thought existed. My knuckles no longer burn, and creating a ball of electricity is no more difficult than gulping in a breath. Now, as I duck under Kaylee's arm, her initiating the sparring without warning, I have no problem letting her fall to the floor. In normal circumstances, I would be more gentle. After all, this is just practice. But, I was partnered with Kaylee, and she's going to get a little taste of the new and improved Autumn: Autumn 2.0. She abandoned me when I needed her the most, made me think she was still her friend but found those soccer girls more interesting. She got angry when Eva wanted to be my friend. She stalked me, tried to kidnap me. All for what?  For her to end up a prisoner in the hands of the enemy rebellion, only to join it and end up in the same facility as me. 24/7.

She hurls a ball of electricity at me. I dodge it. Something makes me better. Maybe anger, maybe all I've been through, maybe my prototype Chip. But, Kaylee barely leaves a scratch on my arm, a small burn mark while blood gushes from her nose and onto her standard-issue shirt. She pants, swiping strands of orange from her vision as her stormy eyes narrow.

"You know," she states simply, and the world stops as she lands a jarring kick to my stomach. I stumble back.

"What?"

She sneers. "You have your memory back."

 Instead of denying it like I should, I spit, "So what if I do?"

She laughs, and we're both standing amidst a sparring ground. My stomach twists as Kaylee smirks.

"Why? Why would you do what you did?" I whisper. I want to scream at her, to maybe beg for her to not tell anyone that I remember I'm Autumn, the girl who removed Chips, and that I've been feed lie after lie. Instead, I voice a simple question. Because, underneath the person I need to be, the strong one who almost died, I'm a teenage girl hurt that her only friend would stab her in the back.

She stares at me, dumbfounded. I don't even think she notices the blood dripping down her face any longer. More hair falls out of her high ponytail and clings to the sweat and blood on her paled face. Paler than it ever was before everything happened. 

Kaylee shakes her head, and for a moment, she seems to reflect on what I mean, on what she did and all that's happened. I see a grimace take over her features and hear the sigh. "Because I'm human and I fuck up. Because I craved popularity and thought the girl mourning a death and that people tended to avoid would mess with that said popularity. Because you slipped away, Autumn, after Ashley 'died'. Even I thought she was dead. But, I was also, well, one of The Others, and Ashley's 'death' scared me, and because I thought you were part of the rebellion that was the enemy of my own. That's why. So many reasons. And, maybe a part of me hates you for taking Eva, my friend. For challenging me. For being a fucking hero when I was nothing but a puppet."

I gape at her, and before I can formulate a response, she's gone.

Then, I glance towards Aubrey, who looks at me with surprise in her doe-like eyes. Wordlessly, she and Rachel walk towards me, forming a triangle. With a slight nod of Aubrey's head, electricity flies, senses are enhanced, and we spar. However, I can't get Kaylee's words out of my head. I finally got my answer at a time I didn't think I'd get it, or need it, or want it. So, I don't spar as well as I did before. I shake my head, forcing the thoughts away and tell myself to use the information to move away from the past and towards the mission I'm training for. Maybe Kaylee and I aren't so different; we've both been through a lot, and we've both made mistakes, and we're both human.

Human. We're all just humans.

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What do you guys think? Any feedback on the series so far as a whole? Anything you want to see, or that I should change in editing (for this book)?  Removed, by the way, is in the process of being edited by an amazing editor from the publishing company, and should be published in spring of next year. :)

Please spread the word of Removed and then this book, it's sequel. Thanks to those who keep reading and supporting! This is dedicated to you guys. :)

-Sarah