The Chief Architect lowers her head at the sight of me, then pushes her glasses higher and smiles a smile that never reaches her eyes. “You’re early this morning, Skyhunter,” she says to me in Karenese. Beside her, the translator signs to me in Maran sign language.

As always, I wonder who this girl used to be. Whether she was once a Striker now taken from her old position and made a translator by Constantine. Where she used to live in Mara and how she ended up here.

Now, though, I have a new suspicion: whether or not she’s actually a spy for a rebellion.

I look at the translator, searching for some clue in her eyes, but she just turns her gaze nervously down and follows the Chief Architect as she leads us inside. As we go, I manage to glance behind the translator’s ears, searching for any telltale scar. But there’s nothing.

My gut gives a nauseating lurch as we head through the entrance and deeper down the hall. It’s the feeling I have every time I step in here. I’d spent months within these corridors, bearing torture as they transformed me. Every corner is full of terrors. I can feel those nightmares crowding in my mind now, threatening to overwhelm me, but I force myself to stay straight and unerring, to put one foot in front of the other. I’ll be damned if I’m going to show weakness to the one who turned me into the weapon that I am.

“The Premier wants an update on how the other Skyhunters are progressing,” I sign to her now, an order she’s used to seeing from me. To my relief, my hands are steady, nothing like the turmoil in my mind.

“Since you’re early, I’m afraid one of them is still resting,” she tells me after the translator explains my words. “One of our Skyhunters-in-progress can’t be disturbed right now. But you’re welcome to see the second one.”

I nod at her. “Show me.”

The Chief Architect turns to the two guards trailing me. “Stay out of the room,” she tells them in Karenese that I understand. “This is only for the Skyhunter to see.”

They don’t hesitate to do her bidding. One of them casts a nervous glance down the hallway, knowing that the vast rooms beyond contain a multitude of monsters.

They stop at the end of the hall while we continue on. The Chief Architect opens one of the doors and ushers me inside.

It’s a dimly lit space, lighting that I remember from my time here, tailored specifically not to injure our new eyes when they’re healing.

Before, my eyes had to adjust to the dark. Now, though, I can see everything immediately. My gaze goes straight to the figure sitting in a warm bath at one side of the room. It looks like it should be luxurious and relaxing, but he’s hunched in the water and trembling slightly. His eyes are hidden behind a layer of bandages.