Error | The Maze Runner / Newt ? ?

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Rat Man paused for dramatic effect. I rolled my eyes at the mumbo-jumbo coming out of his mouth.

"This dude's shucked in the dead," Minho grumbled. I couldn't agree more.

"I represent a group called W.I.C.K.E.D. I know it sounds menacing, but it stands for World In Catastrophe, Killzone Experiment Department." I mouthed the words to myself as he said them, and luckily nobody noticed. "Nothing menacing about it, despite what you may think. We exist for one purpose and one purpose only: to save the world from catastrophe. You here in this room or a vital part of what we plan to do. We have resources never known to any group of any kind in the history of civilization. Nearly unlimited money, unlimited human capital and technology advanced beyond even the most clever man's wants and wishes.

"As you make your way through the Trials, you have seen and will continue to see evidence of this technology and the resources behind it. If I can tell you anything today, it is that you should never, ever believe your eyes. Or your mind, for that matter. This is why we did the demonstration with the hanging bodies in the bricked-up windows. All I will say is that sometimes what you see is not real, and sometimes what you do not see is real. We can manipulate your brains and nerve receptacles when necessary. I know this all sounds confusing and a little scary, perhaps."

My breath was stolen from my lungs. "...you should never, ever believe your eyes. Or your mind, for that matter." What did that mean? That quote sent me in a frenzy of hidden panic. Did that mean that the memories in my brain weren't real? I had been clinging to the hope they brought like a koala would cling to a tree. What if I was holding onto memories that weren't even mine and had been made up by W.I.C.K.E.D? I was sure I would lose it if that was the case.

Rat Man's eyes scanned across the room. "The Maze was a part of the Trials. Not one Variable was thrown at you that didn't serve a purpose for a collection of killzone patterns. Your escape was part of the Trials. Your battle against the Grievers. The murder of the boy Chuck. The supposed rescue and subsequent trip in the bus. All of it. Part of the Trials."

Images flashed before my eyes- haunting, grotesque memories of death that I wished never to relive. I saw Garret wringing Theo out of the Griever's clutches and sacrificing himself so his best friend could live. I saw Max, digging his sword into a crack in the cement in an attempt to save himself. My fingers brushing his just before he was eaten alive. Chuck diving in front of my brother and me screaming as he died.

They had all died for nothing. They thought they were saving us, and Gally had been right all along- for the most part. He had tried to tell us just before the knife was thrown. What had he said? "They...can control me." They could control him. What if they had controlled Chuck as well?

I didn't realize it, but I was shaking all over. Trembles of my body caused bumps to rise on my bare arms where the short sleeves ended. Theo's hand was warm when he set it on the inside of my elbow, silently asking me if I was okay. I nodded. I lied.

Thomas had half risen to his feet before Newt pulled him back down. Both of their eyes were glassy- Newt's with sadness, and Thomas' with anger.

As if Thomas' undesired reaction had spurred him, Rat Man stood up from his chair so quickly that it slid back and hit the wall behind him. He placed his bony hands on the desk and leaned forward. "All of it has been a part of the Trials, you understand? Phase One, to be exact. And we are still dangerously short of what we need. So we've had to up the ante, and now it's time to begin Phase Two. It's time for things to get difficult."

Phase Two. The Maze wasn't the end. There was more. More horrors, more death, more unbearable Variables that pushed us to our limits and sometimes past them.