{Gait}

A commotion stirred from the lobby where everyone waited upstairs for the Progeny to return from the Tribunal in Enki. Everyone but Silence. Watching something parade around in Kyle’s bones sent her eavesdropping from the floor below. The sight and sound of the charade hurt her teeth and twitched her eyes. Either few others noticed, or they were much more capable of hiding it.

Still, she kept the chain It gave her. All the Shadow carried them. The significance of it wasn’t lost on her. She only wished it’d reverse whatever happened to him—

“You cost us worse than our lives, Kyle!” Conscience.

The unmistakable thud of a fist to a face resounded after.

“If Celindria gets her hands on my son, I’ll kill them and all of us. Do you understand me?” Tameka sounded beyond infuriated. Almost scared, even.

Sagan interrupted, closer to the stairs. “It won’t come to that. I’ll get us out.”

Again, Andrew growled in that cold calm of his, “We can’t. We risk them rescinding entry of Earth from the Vast Collective. And possibly Karter off the Tribunal.”

Such interesting revelations.

“Earth? They accepted?” Lynn’s excitement infected Silence.

And apparently Pablo, too. “Well, at least some good came out of it—”

The Tritan, Tumu, cut through the celebratory din, “We can’t let them have you. You’ll need to create a suitable enough punishment. Like King Rayne and the Martyr Complex. But something that also leaves you free.”

“I’ll volunteer myself to Celindria’s lab,” Kyle’s controller announced grimly.

Tameka, the first of many footsteps on the stairs, huffed at him. “Yours is definitely an ability we don’t want her to have.”

“There is no other way.” The tiny Seamswalker. She appeared beside Silence with a strange expression. Familiar and conspiratorial.

What the fuck?

The others made their way down while continuing their argument. Some celebrated the entry into the Vast Collective. But Silence only clamped her jaw and focused at the wall straight ahead.

Don’t. Look.

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Hide. That was better. She bolted from her seat and stiffly made her way to the labs. Dr. Suarez was kind enough to grant her entry into the main area so she could examine the machines as they calculated the results. Entering Med Lab 2, she reached the detainee pods.

Twenty-One looked up from his bunk. In good humor, he asked, “What the hell is your name?”

Softly, she answered, “Silence.”

“No smile today?”

She shook her head.

He sat down on the floor with only the glass between them. “You haven’t smiled in a few days. What’s wrong?”

How to phrase this? “I see a change in someone I care about that no one else notices.”

“I’ve noticed. What little I’ve seen. It makes my skin crawl.” He popped his neck. Left, then right.

So it was obvious. Silence chafed her arms and bit her lip as she considered the best course of action.

Twenty-One frowned while he scrutinized her more closely. “You look familiar.”

She laughed. “Well, I thought I was more memorable than that—”

“Unforgettable.” He gave her one hell of a grin. “But that’s not what I mean. I think I met someone who looked similar to you on Cinder. A very long time ago.” Indicating her expression, he elaborated, “A similar sadness.”

“How unfortunate for us.” Silence looked away.

“Ask me.”

That brought her back around.

“You came here to ask for my help. Ask me.” Twenty-One stretched his legs like tree trunks in front of him and tapped the soles of his boots together. Patient. Anticipatory.

Was she apprehensive? No. Until she witnessed something piloting around her only friend, Silence didn’t understand fear. This hesitation made her recall the conversation with Andrew. What would he want her to do? She asked, “When it’s time, will you help us?”

“Anything for the Shadow. Iona is the best thing that ever happened to me. I haven’t been this sure of my next meal or slept with both eyes closed since before Umbra ruled Cinder.”

An azure pulse traveled under her skin. A vague inkling nudged her. Itched and scratched for recollection. Why was Umbra always the trigger for these “almost” moments?

“We can’t keep you two apart.” Kyle’s voice sounded wrong, flat. Too high and off key.

And Silence’s skin shriveled off her bones. Even Twenty-One gazed up at him blankly from the floor. Why was it easier for others to hide their revulsion?

“Silence.” Please let the monster never say her name again. “Can you come with me? I want to break the news to you, myself.”

The news she already guessed from a mouth she couldn’t bear to see move. “Of course.”

With a wave to Twenty-One, she let the impostor lead her into an empty lab. But before she gave It a chance to speak, she said, “I know you’re offering yourself to Celindria’s employ for punishment. I want to know why you bombed Reipon—why you lied to us—in the first place.”

The puppet raked a hand through Kyle’s curly brown hair. Gruffly, It explained, “I can’t tell you, yet. But I promise. Everything will make sense soon.”

“Fine. May I go now? Dr. Suarez needs to see me as well.” Silence made for the door, but a heavy hand slammed against the wall and stopped her. She turned back to him with an eyebrow raised all the way up.

“Spend the night with me.”

Bet they heard that slap all the way upstairs in the patient rooms. Kyle’s head nearly turned completely around. When the thing turned back to face her, It was slow with little creaks and crackles. Blood dripped from his nose. But… the eyes. The green glass sparked and fizzed out. Lit and extinguished. His entire body trembled.

Teeth clenched, muscles contracted, It spit out the word, “Sorry.” And left as if fleeing the room.

What the hell was that all about?