Chapter 22 · Kill Protocol

The girl in the tank looked like me.

Not exactly. Her face was sharper, older maybe, but the eyes were mine. Same gray-green that nobody else down here had. Same scar cutting through the left eyebrow.

I couldn't breathe.

"Kai." Ashmark's voice came from behind me. "Step away from the tank."

I didn't move. The girl's eyes were open. Staring right at me through the cloudy fluid. Her mouth moved like she was trying to talk but nothing came out except bubbles.

"How long." My voice didn't sound like mine. "How long have you known about this."

"Kai, listen to me—"

"How long!"

The sand in my pockets started heating up. I felt it wanting to move, to tear through the walls, to rip this whole place apart. And I wanted to let it.

Ashmark raised both hands. "Three days. I found the manifests three days ago."

"Three days." I turned around. "You've been lying to me for three days."

"I was trying to figure out what the hell this was before I—"

"You were part of it." The words came out cold. "You said you were part of the collapse experiment. Is this what you meant?