Between Burning Worlds (System Divine #2) - Jessica Brody Page 0,171

them for twelve years. They pretty much raised me. I just didn’t know who they really were until recently. I called them sisters.”

“And that’s how you know Dr. Collins’s daughter?” Cerise confirmed. “Denise?”

Alouette nodded and ran her sponge across the countertop, feeling a deep ache pulse through her as she thought of Dr. Collins’s head slumped against the contrôleur of the aerocab. And the promise she’d made to him mere hours before he’d died.

“Don’t worry. We’ll find her.”

“She’s one of the only sisters left,” Alouette said. “I have to find out where the general is keeping them, but I don’t even know where to start looking.”

Cerise leaned forward on the counter. “Well, who else might know where the general’s detention facility is?”

Alouette shrugged. “Marcellus said, besides the general, only Inspecteur Limier knows. I guess he was the general’s primary interrogator. But according to Marcellus, Inspecteur Limier’s condition is—”

“Unknown,” Cerise said with a nod. “Yeah. The last I heard, he was going into surgery. Subdural hematoma. Blood clot in the brain. It didn’t sound good. Apparently, his cyborg circuitry was pretty fried.”

Alouette scrubbed harder against the countertop, trying to keep the guilt from creeping in. Was it possible that their only lead to Jacqui and Denise’s whereabouts was lost because of her finger on the trigger?

“Do you …” Cerise started to ask something, but stopped herself, clearly wrestling with the right words. “Did Denise ever talk to you about …” She huffed and finally finished her sentence in a rush, as though afraid if she didn’t say it quickly, the words would float away from her. “Did she ever say anything about her decision to become a cyborg?”

Alouette’s hand abruptly stopped on the countertop. She certainly wasn’t expecting Cerise to ask about that. “No. Hardly any of the sisters talked about their lives before the Refuge.”

Cerise nodded, looking disappointed. “It’s just … I can’t stop thinking about what Dr. Collins said. How she joined the program so willingly. Why would she do that? What was she thinking?”

Alouette shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“Would you ever choose to be a cyborg?” Cerise pressed, and there was something about the look in her eyes that made Alouette certain this was not just an idle question. As though Cerise’s life depended on Alouette’s answer.

Her grip around the sponge tightened. “No. I don’t think I would.”

Something cold and chilling flashed over Cerise’s face. For a moment, it looked like she’d fallen into some kind of trance. And when she spoke next, her words were flat and distant. “My operation was supposed to be yesterday.”

Alouette blinked, certain she’d misheard her. “What operation?”

Still Cerise didn’t look at her. She kept her gaze straight ahead. “My cyborg operation.”

The sponge fell from Alouette’s hand. “You mean, to become a cyborg?”

“Papa signed me up for the program a few years ago, as soon as he started to notice that I had a knack with devices and networks. Of course, he had conveniently chosen not to have the procedure done on himself, which never seemed fair. But he expects me to become a technicien, and maybe even a directeur of a lab one day.”

“Will you still be able to hack?”

“Oh, I’ll be able to. I’ll be the best hacker in the world. I just … you know … won’t want to.” Cerise let out a bitter laugh. “How’s that for irony?”

Alouette immediately understood. Cyborgs were programmed to be obedient. Wired for precision and loyalty. The operation would make Cerise even more talented than she already was, but it would steal away every thread of her rebellious spirit. Essentially the very thing that made Cerise … Cerise.

“That’s what you meant when you said, ‘superficial is the safest thing to be,’ ” Alouette realized.

“Yeah. I figured that if I could fool my father into thinking I wasn’t as smart as he thought, maybe he’d change his mind about the surgery. But I’m pretty sure he sees right through me.” She let out a heavy sigh. “What do you think prompted Denise to take out her circuitry?”

“I don’t know,” Alouette repeated.

Cerise shook her head, like she was trying to jolt herself awake. “Well, anyway, that’s the other reason I left Ledôme to track down Marcellus. I wanted to tell the Vangarde about the message I found, but also … I was running away.”

“From the operation?”

Cerise nodded. “I couldn’t stand to think of myself as one of them. A cyborg programmed to serve the Regime I despise. I was foolish enough to think I could change