TITANIUM || The Death Cure ? Newt [3]

Chapter 11

Teresa was silent once again. But I didn't feel good about it. It wasn't fair to throw my emotions at her, even though she betrayed us. I wanted to do this.

"Have you figured out why we were put in the Maze?" Teresa suddenly asked.

I stared at her, the question catching me off guard. It's quite obvious, isn't it?

"Yes. To study our brain activity to find a cure."

She shook her head. "There's more to it than that."

Now I was really confused. "What are you talking about?"

I waited for her to give her answer, but was growing impatient with every passing second. If she would suddenly bring up that question, then she better give me a damn good answer for that. After collecting her thoughts, she spoke in a soft tone. I sat and listened intently.

"When the Flare was growing stronger, the remaining governments of the world realized this disease was far more dangerous than expected and had a life choice in their hands. Thus, they combined their resources to create W.I.C.K.E.D. Being desperate for the purpose of their experiment, they needed all the immunes they could get. They gathered children from dying parts of the world and separated immunes and non-immunes. They put different kids in Group A, which was where you and I and the rest of us were put in, and Group B, which was where Aris, Harriet and Sonya were put in. They selected the best and threw out the ones who they knew were a lost cause. W.I.C.K.E.D. used us as subjects and gave us tests from youth to adolescence. We were named after famous people, such as Thomas Edison, Isaac Newton, Rosa Parks and so on. Even though I got my memories back, I don't know what our real names are. Not even mine. Anyway, they recorded everything that could be useful, and soon after, they found that subjects A1, A2 and A3 to be quite valuable. You, me and Thomas were given different jobs to help make the trials a complete success.

"For years, we've studied and watched how immunes' brain activity worked, and had no luck whatsoever. Then, that's when they decided to bump them up to the Maze Trials. Over the next few years, the Maze was complete, thanks to Thomas. Since he was the one who helped provide our test environment, he helped Dr. Paige and her colleagues watch the Gladers. But three years went by and Thomas couldn't stand to watch his friends get killed. He discussed what he wanted to do with the Trial plans with me and you. He wanted to give the plans to The Right Arm, but knew he was going to turn his back on everything we've worked hard for. He wanted you to be a part of it. It didn't take much convincing until you agreed to help him. So, you and Thomas had been sending anonymous signals to The Right Arm so they could do everything in their power to take us down. But W.I.C.K.E.D. was clever. They tracked all of yours and Thomas's data and sent for an arrest upon you both. They already apprehended Thomas and sent him into the Maze, but they kept you here longer.

"The reason for this is because you knew about the location where The Right Arm was hiding. You knew about which blueprints, results and compound Thomas gave, and you held onto it, refusing to cooperate with them. So, in an attempt to get you to slip between their fingers, and as punishment, they sent you into the Maze where they were hoping to get under your skin. They found you to be quite hopeful, so that's when they saw you to truly be subject A3: 'The Invigorate.' "

Once Teresa finished her story, my mind was numb. All of this information she just explained to me was overwhelming, but now it all made sense: Those nightmares I had weren't just memories, but implants to push me past my breaking point until they find out what Thomas did with those plans. But why didn't they just ask Thomas? Why was I the one to go through that? Did Teresa know why, but is holding it from me? Or does she not really know?

"So... Everything Thomas and I did... it was all done to help save the lives of the Gladers?" I finally asked, my voice sounding dryer than I expected.