Christie drifted back to consciousness as the pain in her muscles demanded her attention. Her tiny cell seemed to grow larger, then shrink. Or was it warping with time, as though a gravitational field was twisting reality? She wasn’t sure anymore. The torture would never end, that much was obvious. Rayker was going to break her one way or the other. But all Christie needed was time. More time, and more time, and more…

How much had passed? She didn’t know, but it was more than an hour. Or a day? Was it a week? Was she being too hopeful?

“You’re such an idiot,” Kayla’s shade said from the dark corner. “And now we’re all dead.”

“No, no,” Christie murmured, her voice slow and heavy with fatigue. “There’s still time.”

The first day, she thought, had been experimental. She had been drowned. Men forced her down into a tub until she choked and swallowed water in her desperation to breathe. Then they had pulled her out and left her body to fix itself. It seemed to be Rayker’s favorite approach, because neither the electrocution nor the fire had lasted long. The pain, though agonizing, soon overwhelmed Christie’s senses, leaving her numb and unresponsive. Neurological saturation, she guessed.

“Know it all bitch,” Kayla spat from her corner.

But the drowning had continued. Rayker probably enjoyed seeing Christie’s panicked thrashing as her instincts fought for survival. At night, when she drifted off to sleep in her cell, she woke up coughing and clawing at her throat. Her tormentor enjoyed inflicting trauma, obviously hoping it would break Christie’s mind.

But she hadn’t broken. She was ready to die. What did agonizing suffering mean next to that?

Another shade appeared next to Kayla. “They tortured the Christians, you know?” Thandi said. “Burned them alive, or fed them to wild beasts. But the evil little atheist can’t even handle a bit of rough play?”

“I’ll show you,” Christie murmured.

The world darkened to blackness; then brilliant illumination filled the room. It faded, and brightened constantly. Christie drifted out of consciousness, then snapped back as her aching limbs woke her up again. A baby began screaming loudly in her ear, followed by the screams of a dying woman. Or was it her own screams played back to her? Rayker would probably find that funny. The sounds played randomly, on and on as time hurried past, a passerby determined to act like it hadn’t seen her.

Rayker had soon tired of inflicting pain. She seemed easily bored, and Christie decided she only had to wait out the woman’s mood changes until a bone spike ended it all. But then her tormentor had found a new toy, and an ingenious new approach.

“These wonderful devices,” she explained as she lifted one up to Christie’s dull, bloodshot eyes, “were just discovered in a prototype workshop.”

It was a small object that hung in the air as Rayker pulled her hand away. An anti-gravity motor? The thing moved slowly, darting left and right, then up and down, before flying in a circle. Then Rayker strapped one to Christie’s wrist. It was a little heavy.

Rayker grinned at her. “The brilliant part is that I can program in random patterns. Look.”

Christie’s arm began to drift upwards, then back behind her, until it felt like her shoulder was being wrenched out of its socket. She struggled to bring her arm back, and found that she could resist the movement if she made an effort. It didn’t seem too difficult. But the thing kept going, drifting downwards, and pulling her forward. She straightened up, and men closed around her, strapping devices to her other wrist and her ankles. Then they left her like that.

“They have a month’s power supply. Have fun,” Rayker said, as she locked the cell door behind her.

Controlling the legs was easy; all Christie had to do was stand up and keep her balance. She could even keep her arms still, though it required constant effort. And that was the brilliant part. Pain from the nerves was manageable, but the slow destruction of her muscles and tendons drained her entire body of energy. The emotional havoc wreaked by such abuse had already sent her through the rollercoaster. First, she raged in fury, then she sobbed, and finally she had shaken with panic attacks.

She never slept, and the pain from her muscles built into a constant, agonizing force. Between that and the assault on her senses, her mind would probably be reduced to a gibbering mess before long.

“It already was to begin with,” Kayla said. “This was all your fault, starting when you planted that tracker.”

“I had to try something,” Christie stammered. “Didn’t I?”

Kayla sniggered. “You think you’re so clever—always trying to outsmart everyone. It’s the only reason we don’t hate you, isn’t it?”

“She won’t even understand basic morality,” Thandi said dismissively. “Just let go and blame the gods, you stupid girl.”

“Why can’t you give the woman what she wants?” a shade that resembled her mother demanded in her usually haughty and critical tone. “Don’t act like the trash—do as you’re told.”

“But mummy,” a child’s voice cried, “she laughs at me in front of the whole class,”

“Well then, stop acting like the trash. You’re an Earther, for god’s sake.”

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Hours passed by and Christie collapsed again. Sometimes she threw a tantrum and allowed the devices to take over in the hope that they’d rip her to pieces. Unfortunately, they weren’t strong enough, and the constant pulling and twisting of her limbs only added a different harmony to the screeching off-note of pain.

Then the doubts crept in. All Rayker wanted her to do was explain some things she would probably learn anyway. Would it really be so bad to end it all? Surely the other Valkyrie had gotten away by now?

“Go on, you selfish bitch,” Kayla spat. “Be the loser we always knew you were. Filthy, evil Helvet.”

“She wants me dead, anyway,” Thandi said. “Me and my disgusting ignorant ways.”

“No,” Christie whispered.

“Why not?” Kayla demanded. “You could be a hero for the Helvets. Rayker likes you, she said so herself. She’ll probably make you rich and powerful.”

“No,” Chistie insisted. “I don’t want that. I just want you to stay here, with me.”

“Even though we hate you?”

“Yes.”

“Aww,” Thandi said sarcastically. “What a pathetic little girl. Hasn’t got any friends except the ones she made up in her head.”

“I never did,” Christie said.

She slowly raised herself to her feet and prepared to resume the endless struggle, even as the tears ran down her cheeks.

“I can keep going,” she croaked. “I’ll show you.”

Rose appeared before her, and once again, Christie found herself calmed by the woman’s beauty.

“I think she’s the sweetest, smartest, most beautiful woman I ever met,” Rose said.

Kayla laughed. “Look at her knees shake. She’s still afraid of you.”

Rose leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. “I love you, Christie,” she said softly. “Why couldn’t we be together?”

“No,” Christie cried, as she saw what was coming.

“Why did you let me die?” Rose asked.

Her skin bleached white as a red tear opened across her neck, gushing blood across the floor. Her eyes went wide, and her expression turned to one of desperate terror.

“Please, Chris, don’t let me die,” she begged.

“No,” Christie cried again. “I couldn’t… I couldn’t...”

“You’re asleep in the dropship. All you have to do is wake up. Wake up and save me, Chris.”

Rose fell to the floor and wailed as her life left her.

Christie screamed.

Byoran came to see her. Or had she imagined him. Did it matter?

“What the hell is this place?” he demanded.

Christie chuckled. “You’re not real.”

He grabbed her head and stared into her eyes. “Hey, listen to me,” he hissed. “I want to know what is going on here. Divine tells us nothing. All this stuff, this base—it’s alien, isn’t it?”

“Aliens,” Christie giggled. “Aliens aren’t real, Rayker said so. I know, because she told me.”

“You need to stay sane—you have to help me. I didn’t sign up for this kind of bullshit.”

He returned to her cell. When had he left? How many times had he visited?

“I know that she’s strong,” Byoran said. “And I’ve seen that you’re strong as well. I won’t ask for your secrets, but is… is there a way we can kill her?”

“Liar, liar, liar,” Kayla yelled and stamped her foot. “He knows she can’t be killed.”

“Why?” Christie demanded. “Why does he know?”

“Christie, please,” Byoran said desperately. “I don’t know what this machine is for, but it’s studying us. I talked to the scientists, and they’re saying it’s learning how we think. Are they enemies, the ones who built this place?”

“Probably,” Christie said. “They’ll kill us all.”

“Can’t you help me?” Byoran asked with a pleading expression. “We can do something about this. Maybe I can find a way to shut it down?”

Thandi shook her head. “Nope. Don’t like him. He’s a bad boy, and you should watch out for bad boys.”

“Do…” Christie struggled to think clearly. “Do the others have doubts too?”

But there was nobody there. Maybe there never had been.

Christie opened her eyes to darkness and silence. She was lying on the cold floor of her cell, which meant her restraints had been removed. Though her muscles still ached, the pain had eased. Nausea, headache, and the perpetual sensation of nails running down a chalkboard corroded her brain. She had to have slept and begun to recover, but why? What was Rayker going to do to her next?

She tried to shift, but there was a dragging sensation on her right ankle—a thick steel chain. Obviously, Rayker didn’t want to risk her escaping.

An hour passed and there was a tap from outside. Light filled the cell, and Christie sat up as the door slid open. The girl she had guessed to be Milani Mayosi waited outside, carrying a tray of brown colored blocks and a bottle. Prison food.

Milani stepped forward hesitantly and her eyes flickered towards the ceiling. “Madam Divine said that if you hurt me, she’ll torture you again.”

Christie nodded slowly. “Well, I wouldn’t want that to happen,” she said, and held out a hand for the tray.

Milani edged forward, then shoved it into her hand before darting back to the doorway. Christie ignored her, and tore into the dry, tasteless nutrient blocks. Her appetite was ravenous, and she couldn’t care less if Rayker had decided to poison or drug her.

“All your friends were defeated,” Milani said angrily. “You should just tell Divine what you know.”

Christie shrugged and emptied the bottle down her throat. It tasted a lot like water.

“I don’t have any friends,” Christie said when she had finished.

“You’re lying. You’re a terrorist and you’ll kill people if you get the chance.”

“Really?” Christie asked. “What if I killed Mr. Tensall?”

The girl didn’t even blink. She was obviously too well practiced.

“Why would you do that?” Milani said. “He works hard and treats people well.”

Christie decided not to push. She was only a teenager, and cocooned in whatever world had been built for her.

“That may be true,” Christie said carelessly. “I’m not a terrorist and I don’t want to kill anyone.”

“So why does Madam Divine keep you prisoner?” The girl’s voice carried the hint of a challenge.

Christie decided that meant Milani wanted to believe her. It wasn’t surprising. Most teenagers didn’t want to believe that anyone they actually met was evil. She thought hard for a way to respond.

“I know secrets about this place that Divine doesn’t,” she said eventually. “But I won’t tell her until she agrees to let me go.”

“Why wouldn’t she let you go if you told her what she wants to know?”

Christie smiled. “Would she let you go?”

“Of course,” Milani said. “I’m free to go wherever I want, and do whatever I want. So far, I’ve been learning all about the technology in this place, and the people who built it.”

“Can you go outside?”

“Why would I want to do that?” The answer came faster, and was almost angry.

“It’s nice to go outside and see the world,” Christie said.

Milani shrugged. “I can go for a walk if I want.”

Christie smiled. “Off the mountain?”

“But I wouldn’t do that anyway, because there’s nothing interesting out there,” Milani said quickly. “It’s just mountains for miles in every direction. That’s boring. I’m happier here learning about science. And everyone’s so nice, and they’re all working so hard I don’t see why anyone would want to go off and waste time by walking for hours. We have a great time here. You’d probably like it if you weren’t so stubborn.”

She stopped, and her vaguely frustrated expression transformed into a bright smile. “If you told Madam Divine what she wanted, we could hang out and I could show you all the cool stuff here.”

Christie cocked her head and thought for a moment. “Okay then, you’ve convinced me. But first I have to tell you a secret. Come here so I can whisper it to you.”