Jaw dropping, Cinder followed the doctor with her gaze as he slipped back into his chair. “He would have been rich.”
“If he had survived, perhaps he would have been.” The doctor turned off the screen. “When he unveiled the invention at the fair, the prototype was as yet untested, and his contemporaries were skeptical—and rightfully so. He first needed to test it.”
“And for that, he needed a Lunar.”
“Ideally, he needed both a Lunar and an Earthen subject—in order to test the two purposes separately. If he found an Earthen subject, I have no idea, but clearly he did find you, and he did install his invention as a means of keeping you from using your gift. This explains why you have not had the use of your gift since your operation.”
She bounced her foot, restless. “You didn’t misread my diagnostics. You knew this from the start. From the moment you walked into that lab room, you knew I was Lunar and I had this crazy lock and—you knew.”
Dr. Erland wrung his hands. For the first time, Cinder noticed a gold band on his finger.
“What did you do to me?” she said, planting her feet and standing. “When you touched me and it hurt so bad and I passed out and—and then again today. What’s causing it? What’s happening to me?”
“Calm down, Miss Linh.”
“Why? So you can lie to me some more, just like you lie to the prince?”
“If I have lied, it has only been to protect you.”
“Protect me from what?”
Dr. Erland steepled his fingers. “I understand you’re confused—”
“No, you don’t understand anything! A week ago, I knew exactly who I was, what I was, and maybe that was a worthless cyborg, but at least I knew that. And now…now I’m Lunar, I’m a Lunar who supposedly might have magic but can’t use it, and now there’s this insane queen who for some reason wants to kill me.”
SPIKING LEVELS OF ADRENALINE, warned her control panel. RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION: SLOW, MEASURED BREATHS. COUNTING 1, 2, 3…
“Please, calm down, Miss Linh. It is, in fact, a good thing that you were selected to receive this lock.”
“I’m sure you’re right. I just love being treated like a guinea pig, don’t you know?”
“Like it or not, the lock has been beneficial to you.”
“How?”
“If you would stop yelling, I would tell you.”
She bit her lip and felt her breath stabilizing almost against her will. “Fine, but tell me the truth this time.” Crossing her arms, she sat back down.
“Sometimes you are quite unnerving, Miss Linh.” Dr. Erland sighed, scratching at his temple. “You see, manipulating bioelectricity comes so natural to Lunars that it’s virtually impossible to refrain from using it, especially at such a young age. Left to your own devices, you would have drawn too much attention to yourself. It would have been like tattooing ‘Lunar’ across your forehead. And even if you could have learned to control it, the gift is such a fundamental part of our internal makeup that tempering it can create devastating psychological side effects—hallucinations, depression…even madness.” He pressed his fingertips together. Waited. “So you see, putting a lock on your gift protected you, in many ways, from yourself.”
Cinder stared, eyes boring.
“Do you understand how this was mutually beneficial?” continued the doctor. “Linh Garan had his subject, and you were able to fit in with Earthens without losing your mind.”
Cinder slowly leaned forward. “Our?”
“Pardon?”
“Our. You said, the gift is ‘a fundamental part of our internal makeup.’”
The doctor drew himself up, adjusting the lapels of his coat. “Ah. Did I?”
“You’re Lunar.”
He took off his hat and tossed it onto the desk. He looked smaller without it. Older.
“Don’t lie to me.”