Houston rolled Romy onto her side. She jerked as a long needle slid between the vertebrae in her neck.

“Be careful!” Atlas snapped.

Houston ignored him, going about his work.

“You’re setting up a rebellion,” Romy whispered.

The knot and Atlas stared at her in stunned silence. She winced as Houston’s hand jolted.

“Ha!” Houston exclaimed. “Told you she would figure it out, shit-for-brains.”

“Jesus, H, try to show some damn respect.”

“I’ve been with you for too long for that.”

Atlas mumbled, “I don’t think you showed any at the start either.”

Houston smiled. “And I probably won’t at the end.”

Something passed between the two—a camaraderie that ran deep.

Atlas stood from the hospital bed and turned to Romy. “Yes, as you have obviously worked it out, there are . . . efforts . . . to counter the Mandate’s rule.” His eyes landed on Romy. “Though it was created well before my birth.”

She knew he was born, not made. But an unwelcome thought occurred to her as he stressed the word “birth”. Did it matter to him that she was made?

“Our network is vast.”

That’s why he’s a little too tall.

“But how is that kind of thing faked?” Elara asked around a yawn.

Atlas’s eyes shifted to Houston. “Once we transport you to the main base I’ll tell you more about our organisation; our vision, our plans. But we work against the Mandate. That much you’ve probably guessed.”

Houston was flicking the machines to life. They started with a whir, and Romy closed her eyes. The ringing had grown to a bell clamour.

“What are you doing to me?” she asked.

“Removing your memory card; taking some snaps of your brain. Turn those on, will ya?” He pointed Thrym to the screens behind the bed.

Atlas continued. “When I first found you, Rosemary, I immediately noticed how . . . together you were. You’d potentially lost your knot. Yet, you were still caring for yourself, eating and drinking.”

Romy blushed. He made it sound like a selfish thing.

“It is nothing to be ashamed of,” he reassured her. “Just rare to the point of . . . you being the first I’d seen acting this way. And I spent ten years on Orbito Four.”

“You kept asking me questions,” she said through numb lips. “Asking me what I’d do if they were dead.”

“And you grew hysterical each time, but still didn’t stop functioning.”

Anger churned in her chest. Even then, he’d been testing her.

“But why did you leave when Thrym came? Why did you lead me to my friends?”

He avoided her gaze and didn’t answer.

The clamouring grew unbearable. She cried out, clutching her head.

“Shh, Ro, you’re okay.” Thrym hovered by her side.

“It hurts, Thrym,” she whimpered.

His eyes burned with unshed tears. “I know, I know. But I’m here. I won’t let anything hurt you.”