The Researcher

She kept her composure, but she understood something in that moment. He thought she didn't care about her team, but that was a lie. She cared deeply. There were many things she might not care about, but when it came to her team, it was different. Even if she had to pretend, then at least she decided to do it the right way.

"Looks like the rebels now want to be more than just rebels," she said with a faint smirk. He nearly slapped her but managed to hold back. Instead, he said:

"So now you're showing your true colors."

"So you're angry at the system that does everything it can for people to survive?"

"The thing is, I don't want to just survive, I want to live. And this method the researchers use to keep order hasn't worked for a long time—you should know that, being one of them."

She had to restrain herself not to break character.

"You're going to create a weapon to destroy those things," he stated. "Take her to the cell."

Alia was dragged away, almost hauled, but still she pretended—pretended not to care. At least now she knew they wanted a weapon to destroy the tree-men, and she wasn't going to build it.

She was thrown into a small cell where the only thing she could do was sit. It was filthy. She remembered reading about this type of prison in a book—it had been called solitary confinement. But she didn't think this place had originally been a prison. It felt more like a bunker. Everything about it screamed bunker.

After sitting down in that dirty place, she leaned her head against the grimy wall behind her and took a deep breath. They were clever not to put her in with the others, but that didn't change what she had to do. It was her duty to get her team out of this mess. She took another deep breath, eyes closed, hoping some idea would come to her—and that her team would stay safe.

***

Tyler was restless. He knew it had already been about three hours since Alia had disappeared. He wanted to find a way to get out of there and look for her, but he was still trapped, unable to do anything. Melanie noticed his impatience—actually, everyone had. After all, he had been pacing back and forth non-stop, going up to the bars and peering out.

"Relax, Romeo," Melanie said aloud.

"She's not coming back," he replied, still pacing.

"She will. Just have a little patience," Isaac said.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Isaac," Melanie added.

"Why not?" Isaac frowned.

"It's been hours. They wouldn't start with torture right away, so my only guess is that she's in a separate cell."

"I agree," Helena nodded.

"So she's not coming back at all," Tyler muttered, biting his lip.

"No. Most likely, they'll try to use that information to turn us against her," said Melanie.

"Basically, their strategy is to make us believe she's in a five-star hotel while we're stuck here, and on top of that, they'll say she doesn't care about us—since that was common with the last researchers, who didn't care about anyone else," Isaac explained.

"It's the reputation of past researchers that will make them think she's just like the others, that she doesn't care—and I'm sure Alia will use that to her advantage, pretending, manipulating them. They might even start thinking she hates us, but that's actually a good thing," Helena added.