“If I can trust you, I’ll show you all the proof you need, but I need to know you’re on my side and not H.I.V.E’s.”
Norine paused, “If what you say is true, then by helping H.I.V.E, I’m only putting nails in my own coffin.”
Tessa shrugged, “That’s one way to look at it.”
The two women talked for some time in their quiet storage room. Tessa felt more at ease learning her aunt might not be the villain she feared. She seemed ignorant of H.I.V.E’s master plan. Or was she a brilliant actress waiting for the moment to reveal Tessa’s plan to the Director? There was no way for her to know for sure.
After Tessa spilled the truth of H.I.V.E’s real mission, it conflicted Norine. She thought she had this place figured out. She played the game well enough to escape the Evo prison, but instead stumbled into a different prison altogether. The type of imprisonment you didn’t even realize you were subject to, and that realization was terrifying.
Tessa wasn’t interested in recruiting her aunt, but there were few options. The cat was out of the proverbial bag now, and there was no stuffing it back in. Norine had to decide if she wanted to leave with Tessa or stay here and die. If Norine went with her, Tessa wondered she could trust her. Norine had already betrayed her in manipulating her mind and feeding her lies. If she could do that to her flesh and blood, then there was no telling what else she might be capable of doing. Tessa had to hope her aunt reached such extreme lengths because she feared for her life.
Norine weighed her choices, and Tessa sensed she didn’t care for either option. She still wrestled with the idea that her lover planned to leave her here on earth to die — all the more reason to put more faith in family. Tessa witnessed Norine’s heartbreaking. This was why Tessa had never been in a relationship. They were complicated and opened you up to a broken heart. Tessa had trust issues.
When you’ve been lied to your entire life by the government, including teachers at school it was difficult to believe anything. The propaganda machine was vast, and most people just kept their heads down while struggling to make it to the next day. People weren’t interested in fighting Evos; they wanted to live. So they did their part and fulfilled their assigned government jobs and in exchange H.I.V.E protected them from Evo tyrants.
Norine agreed to leave with Tessa and her friends. She didn’t think she could continue operating at H.I.V.E, knowing the truth. She couldn’t pretend like the people she worked for hadn’t already signed her death certificate. She thought she earned some respect as an Evo, but they just used her.
With that choice out of the way, Tessa had to take Norine to her flat. She was still under the influence of the blue pill, with no access to her Evo powers. Meaning she needed to keep Norine close. Close enough to kill her with bare hands if she tried to double-cross. Tessa couldn’t allow their plans to leak.
When the two women walked into Tessa’s flat, Arica lost her mind. She knew Norine was a H.I.V.E operative. Tessa, Arica, and Sam all had altered memories, and now learning Norine had been the one to plant the fake memories was upsetting. Arica and Sam felt violated because of the mental manipulation, and they weren’t wrong. It was an invasion of their most sacred temple of the mind.
Tessa had to explain that Norine was also a victim, and she would be closely watched. If she showed even the slightest sign of being a double agent, Tessa had no problem removing her from the equation. Norine wiggled in her chair at the sound of her threat. Tessa already threatened her with a knife, so Norine understood she was serious. Norine also realized she was more than able to cause pain and even kill if necessary.
Arica continued to argue while Tessa attempted to relax. Norine sat on the edge of her chair, still in a dreamlike daze after learning about Project Genesis. Sam sat at Tessa’s desk with his face buried in her tablet. He combed through mounds of H.I.V.E data and information detailing their nefarious plans.
Sam started tapping the tablet screen with odd frequency, and the pecks became more and more intense. “Ah… Tessa, I think we lost our uplink.”
Tessa picked up the tablet to troubleshoot the problem, but realized Sam was right. The feed was gone, and the tablet screen black. She reached for her jerry-rigged comms and slid the earpiece in, “Finn… come in Finn.”
Finn’s voice answered on the other end, “Yeah, we got a problem.”
“We lost feed on our tablet.” Tessa hoped the problem was an easy fix. They needed all the information to plan their escape.
Finn’s pause wasn’t very promising, “They found the backdoor I made.”
Tessa’s stomach dropped, “What do you mean; They found your backdoor?” The room fell silent. Tessa could have heard a pin drop.
“H.I.V.E… they know they’re breached. I’m trying to re-route, but they seem to be onto me. They’ve increased security and raised additional firewalls.”
“Finn, do they know about us?” Arica’s hands covered her mouth as she gasped. Norine and Sam stared intently, awaiting additional information.
“No. But, with enough forensic digging, they will trace my steps to you; however, it will take them a significant amount of time to do so. I operate much faster than they can.”
“How long do we have?”
Finn hesitated to commit to a time frame, “I’d say twenty-four hours.”
“Then we need to be out of here in twenty-three. Can we re-establish access?”
“It will be more difficult with H.I.V.E on high alert but not impossible. They will look for me, and when they find me, they can track in real-time. It will
