The drones are all down. Now they're just balls of metal on the floor, their lights off, like the one I stabbed with my shiv before Jane let me out. Gunther opens the door to my room for me, as I'm now shaking against my will. I can't stop my teeth from chattering. My lungs gasp for fixes of air, like I'm hiccuping, and I can't seem to straighten my arms against my sides.

"Take a shower," Gunther says, pushing me into the room, "Brush your teeth, change your clothes, and meet me in my office. I have to clean myself up, too. No one will take me seriously with facial hair like this." He's still trying to joke, but the lilt has left his voice.

My hiccups turn to sobs, as I turn to face him. "Are they really dead?"

"The Council members? Yes. Oh!—Did you mean the Deathless?" I don't answer, and he doesn't pause long before he realizes I can't. "Yes. They were attacked early yesterday morning. Looks like I'm the only family you have left."

I feel my blood turn black, and my vision blurs with tears. "You're not my family. You destroyed everything I ever had. Even Daniel is changed. I've lost everything. I'm...." I lose my breath, the air like poison to my lungs. "I'm an orphan," I choke, "I'm a homeless orphan."

He smiles. "Clean yourself up, and we'll talk bargaining."

He closes the door behind me, and I'm left in Daniel and my red room, with spears for chandelier crystals and torches for lights. Behind my tears, the walls appear to bleed, and I race to the bathroom to throw up.

I wipe off my mouth, my body crying for hydration, so I start the shower like Gunther asked me to and hope to retain some moisture through osmosis. I feel so thin and fragile that it seems like it could work, but when I let myself think again, I start spiraling.

What am I going to do?

One step at a time:

1. I'm going to finish this shower.

2. I'm going to do whatever Gunther needs me to do to get on his good side.

3. I'm going to kill him in his sleep.

4. Finally, I'm going to lead everyone out of here like I promised, and burn this place to the ground. We'll deal with survival from there.

I hug my knees as the water pounds down on me. My tears mix with the shower, until I am sure I can't possibly still be crying. I need to start step two.

I dry off and scrunch some mousse in my hair, like Jane would do when I was running late for breakfast. I dab some foundation under my eyes to cover the redness and apply a heavy share of mascara. That'll do. Then, I find clean clothes from the closet, a black cotton maxi dress with long sleeves, probably worn by Mrs. Cooper to a funeral. It seems appropriate. Then I'm off to Gunther's office.

I open the door and see he's already shaved and wearing a clean suit. "Like new," he greets me.

"What do you need me to do?" I ask.

"Ah, all business. I like it. Thank goodness Nathan injected you with that DNA. That's how I'm conscious now, too. Mitchell found the recipe, so to speak, in Nathan's files. Dr. Wilkes made it for me. Mitchell told me today you saw some of Nathan's files, too."

"Gunther, tell me what you need me to do, and we'll make a deal."

"Cooper was conscious because he was nearly all robot."

"Gunther."

He smiles. "Alright, Ms. Blume, no small talk, I get it. It's been a difficult day for you."

The worst, I'd say. From being nearly strangled to death, to discovering an old friend as a cyborg, to fighting with Daniel, to discovering an old friend as a traitor, to fighting with Mitchell, to seeing my family die, to seeing 19 bodies worth of blood on the floor, to watching my friends and Daniel clean it up. Absolutely my worst day yet.

"Here's what I need you to do: The Council members came here by plane. Their pilots are waiting for their return in the fields outside the wall. I need you to go to the hangar past the runway where they're all waiting. I need you to tell them there's been a terrible accident, and that you need them to come into the estate. The knocked out people and cyborgs can't pull it off. I need a woman's touch. They'll be more likely to believe you than me, and you look more innocent, being a young girl. I'll have the soldiers ready for them in the yard. Wait until you hear my signal to come back inside the wall."

"You need me to lead innocent people to their capture?"

"Not to their capture. To their deaths," he smiles.

The bile returns to the back of my throat, but I swallow it down."You can stop this, Gunther. All those people you killed were the ones who wanted all of this. Now is your chance to fix all of this. No one else has to die."

"No, Isla, they do have to die. This was the plan all along. This is why I destroyed the bunker, why I let Nathan in with you and the President, why I saved you. This is my world now. I make the rules. The implants were happening too slowly, too inefficiently. I'm continuing the implants with my brother at my side, and then, I'm putting an implant in myself."

"Why would you do that?"

"Human to human interface, Ms. Blume. Remote controls are for the old world. Why use them when implanted Mitchell can create a connection that allows me to control everyone with my mind? These are new times, Ms. Blume. And when Roberts and the crew come back to Earth, they die, too. Then it all goes back to normal. I create a new society with the Carrier's genetically enhanced breed, and the world starts fresh. With a better breed of human. A breed who's smart enough not to destroy itself further. I hear the irony in this, I know," he chuckles, "but the slate may only be cleaned after all the filth has been washed away."

"You are a monster," I say.

"I thought you said I wasn't." He feigns sadness.

"I guess that was the young girl innocence talking."

"Ah," he guffaws, pointing to me, "always a laugh with you, Ms. Blume. You know, you can be part of my plan. Your mind, Daniel's mind, both of your genes. You could create and discover more than you could ever imagine without the implant."

I ignore his comment, and continue, "If I do this, I get to walk out of here. I come back in, get some supplies, and leave with everyone."

"Impossible. I'll give you your friends, who are they? Celia Rivera and Nina Allen?"

"I need the Caregivers, and Daniel, too."

He squints his eyes in thought. "Tell you what, you can have Celia, Nina, and the Caregivers. But I need Daniel. I want his mind," he says, raising his eyebrows.

"I'm not doing anything unless I leave with Daniel, too," I demand, crossing my arms.

He pauses to think again, running his tongue over his teeth. "Fine," he says, and extends a hand to me, "Deal?"

"Celia, Nina, Daniel, and the Caregivers, right?"

"Yes, that's the deal," he says.

I shake his hand, and he leads me to the bottom of the staircase, to double doors opening into the yard.

It's only now that I realize I haven't been outside in weeks. Last time, I was running from the ballroom with Daniel, attempting my juvenile escape. Now I'm walking alone, crossing the wall to lead a group of survivors to their deaths.

I'm not myself. Not even the wind against my skin feels normal. It's not my skin. With each step, I grow more scales, breathe more fire, transform further into the monster Gunther had planned for me to be from the start. Somehow he wanted me to read Frankenstein, that's why he asked about it again once I took it... he wanted me to empathize with a monster. Gunther's words echo in my body cavity, like cruel foreshadowing: "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that, in the process, they too do not become monsters." He didn't quote Nietzche to calm Alexander, and he didn't use it to remind himself of who he was: He used it to taunt me. He knew it wasn't possible to keep yourself and fight. He knew I could never stay a hero.

I step onto the runway, and begin to cry. This is the only way we can get out now. This is the only way I can save Daniel's mind. My mind. This is the only way we get out with our humanity.

As I reach the hangar, I count the planes: 10.

10 pilots. They won't die by my hand, but they'll die by my words, and that is worse. I lose my breath and double over to catch it.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," I pant to myself. I'm not sure who I'm talking to. The pilots? Myself? Daniel? My mom? My dad?

I take a deep breath, and throw my head back. There's a full moon. Somewhere in the unseen sky, Laughiticus scowls at me. But the couple understands. They've been to Hell and back for each other. Maybe that's the journey I'm taking now. To Hell.

I have to do this. For what's left of my family.

I decide that if there really were an accident, I would run now. I would run to tell them. So I let the rest of my scales grow in, and start into a sprint toward the first plane.

I pound my fists against the door. "Anyone in there?"

A bewildered older man opens the door.

"There's been an accident at the estate. They need you right away."

He grunts, and pushes past me. And there he goes: the first man I ever killed. I shiver, my scales pulsing over my skin, and I remember the Nietzsche quote. Maybe Alexander wasn't speaking to Gunther. Maybe he really intended for me to hear it, because here I am, leading a man to his death for my own personal gain.

This isn't me. I am the farthest from myself as I can possibly be, as I have ever been. Gunther meant to breed monsters, and he was successful in transforming me.

Until now.

"Wait!" I yell after the pilot. He turns, and I run to catch up with him. "Get in your plane," I pant. "Your leader is dead. Gunther Quail killed him. Get to safety before he kills you too."

"And you were going to send me in there?" the man asks through a heavy accent.

"I stopped you. I'm not a monster."

He stares me up and down, but says nothing. If he could shoot venom from his eyes, I think he would. He passes me, signals the other pilots to start their engines, yells something to a confused pilot who has gotten out of his plane at this point, and boards his plane. The engines rumble to life, and I'm consumed with a gnawing terror that Gunther will destroy us all right here, right now. I clear the runway and hide in the shadows by the wall.

The first plane speeds down the runway and takes off, then another, then another, until all but three of the planes are in the air, with another two taxied behind. Before the first plane can disappear into the night, a loud pulse shakes the ground and the plane explodes.

What the hell just happened? I sprint from the wall, my eyes wide to absorb all the fiery light. Then, another pulse, and the second plane bursts into flames. Again and again, each flying plane explodes. I run to the first taxied plane on the runway, waving my arms to stop them from taking off, when a pulse shakes the earth and that plane explodes too. I scream and fall back, hiding my face in the grass.

Once the heat wave passes over me, I look back at the runway. The remaining pilots are running from their planes, toward the wall entrance. "No! Stop!" I scream over the roaring flames, but they don't hear me.

I stand to chase after them when I hear a radio sound from inside the open cockpit: "Status update, over."

A line out! Maybe this can be our salvation. I climb into the plane, pick up the radio, and press the button. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

"This is Sergeant Major Belinda Lawrence," the accented woman says, "who in bloody hell is this?"

"My name is Isla Blume. I'm a survivor here at Cooper's estate. Your council member is dead, most of the pilots just exploded, and soon your pilot will be dead, too. Dr. Gunther Quail has taken over, and wants to take over the world. Please, we need your help. We need you to come and rescue us from him" I say, realizing now how far fetched this entire thing sounds. "I swear it's the truth... Over."

There's a long pause, then finally, "We don't negotiate with terrorists, Soldier Blume. We have your name here in a database of Deathless rebels from the states. Put our pilot on, over."

"Damn it," I say to myself, then, I try again, "Sergeant Lawrence, I swear, I'm not lying to you. Your pilot isn't here, and we need your help." I hear the door in the wall close and guns fire. "Listen!" I yell to Sergeant Major Lawrence, holding the radio out toward the estate. When the guns stop, I turn it back to myself, "Did you hear that?"

"What have the rebels done? Over," she nearly yells back.

"Nothing!" I throw the radio back against the control panel. "Damn it," I mumble.

I consider running now, but I would be leaving Daniel and all my friends behind. Maybe I can lie, tell Gunther I tried to tell them to come in but they suspected something. But I've never been good at lying. Still, I've got to try. I rush to the wall and pound my fists against the door. "Gunther!" I scream.

"It's done. Come in, Ms. Blume," he yells back to me.

I pull the door open and stumble into the yard. Gunther stands over the two pilots, dead at his feet. He holds up a radio and shakes it at me. "Thought you'd make a call, did you? Saves me the trouble of lying to you about letting Daniel go."

Before I can speak a word, a Prowler swipes me off the ground, crushing me between its claw before throwing me into its hatch. I hit my head off the back of its belly.

And so it ends, I think as my vision darkens, exactly how it began.