There was something invigorating about realizing her entire life had been a lie since she'd met Carswell Thorne. It was horrifying too, of course, but there were stages to grief, and anger was certainly one of them. After two days of barely eating, sleeping, and wallowing in self-pity, Cress was hit with a new resolve.
These people needed her. If she didn't have some key to this program, they wouldn't need her. Thorne would never have been sent to spy on her and she wouldn't be here against her will. If they needed her, then she was smarter than them. Maybe not in every way, since they had certainly outsmarted her—and maybe even Thorne, depending on how he fit into the equation—but Cress was a coding prodigy.
Even the so-called "senior analyst" who sat next to her anytime they brought her into the main room and put her in front of a computer wasn't as smart as her. He was sitting there as a precaution, of course. So Cress couldn't destroy the program or their organization.
At least that's what they thought.
Cress had been in a statewide club during college for people like her. And while she had perfected her skills and competed in challenges with others, she had learned that it was never a good idea to anger a coder. It was far too easy to destroy someone's life and livelihood with the click of a few buttons. Cress had always thought herself above such things but times had certainly changed.
And as soon as she got even a moment alone with these advanced tablets Cinder called portscreens, Cress was going to do three things:
1. Call for help.
2. Expose the organization.
3. Ruin Carswell Thorne's life.
If only she could slowly torture him the way he had tortured her. Cress was skilled at games but not at mind games or lying, and she didn't have the secrecy he'd mastered anyway. But for someone like Thorne, she had realized, feelings weren't the worst things that could be toyed with. Cress would track down his real identity, social security number, address, family, friends, and certainly his bank accounts. She could ruin his life in a monetary way that mattered. She could probably even figure out how to get enough evidence against him to land him in jail.
Then—or maybe before that, whichever opportunity presented itself first—Cress was going to take down this entire organization and any network affiliated with it. She hadn't figured out how to do that yet, especially with the senior analyst hovering over her, but she would get there.
She reminded herself of her plan whenever Thorne's stupidly hot yet traitorous butt walked by her. His presence always gave her heart a fresh sting. Stars, had he played her. Used her. Probably ridiculed her and her stupid crush behind her back.
Cress's fingers left the keyboard. Her hands curled into fists. Thorne stood only a few feet away now, watching her but never making eye contact. He hadn't made eye contact or tried to speak with her since she'd yelled at him in her cell. Though he could open his one eye a little more than the first night here, his bruises had only turned more purple and she was thankful to whoever was responsible for his less-than-perfect appearance.
He was always around. Almost as much as the senior analyst sitting next to her. He made friendly conversation with everyone and anyone as if he had known them for years. Cress wondered how long he'd been involved with this organization and how many other girls he'd conned. The only person who clearly didn't like Thorne was Aimery.
Whenever Aimery came by, Cress noted the way Thorne tensed up.
She tensed up too. Aimery was still creepy and always borderline rapey every time he approached her. Cinder was the only one who comforted her even in the slightest, but she couldn't be trusted either. It was like everyone in the organization had just been waiting for Cress to show up and had nothing else to do with their lives but watch her type on the computer.
And stars, did she type.
Cress felt like she was pulling all-nighters even though they allowed her sleep and minimal breaks. One of her fingers was bloody and her right wrist was getting repetitive strain issues.
"Something particular on your mind, Cress?"
Cress startled at Thorne's voice addressing her. Thorne had moved closer, standing only a foot behind her gigantic monitor now. It obscured his body from the neck down. His blue eyes bored into her as he tapped one of his fingers on his chin.
Her own eyes narrowed but she ignored him and returned to her keyboard. As if she would tell him what was on her mind. The entire room had fallen silent at his words. She heard him step closer until his whole body came into view in the corner of her eye. She continued typing, her strokes coming slower and more deliberate. The analyst blew his nose noisily.
There was no need to be fazed. This wasn't any different from before. Thorne he had watched her the last two days too. The only difference was that he was right next to her now. But she would not let him intimidate her.
One of his ankles crossed lazily over the other as he leaned against her monitor. "She's not working on the program."
She stopped typing and glared up at him. Gone was his intense concentration. Thorne wore an expression of complete indifference, like he was choosing which tie he might wear to a boring business function.
"Excuse me?" she said.
They were the first words she'd spoken to him since Cinder had brought him to her cell. A lump grew in her throat the more she looked at him.
He looked past her, at the analyst. "You're clearly not watching her at all." He turned away and called, "Jacin! Get over here. Cress is playing us."
Cress jumped to her feet, fists clenched at her side. Four guns cocked and pointed at her—one of them from the analyst sitting next to her. That one poked into the small of her back.
She held up her hands, her lip trembling. "He's lying. I've done everything you've asked me to."
Jacin jogged over. He was easily recognizable with his white blond hair and cold, slate eyes. He'd barely said anything but he had been one of her captors. Cress had ranked all of them mentally by how scary they were and how likely they were to kill her on the spot if Cinder left them alone too long. Jacin was probably #3 on that list because Jerrico had not made an appearance since he had led his men into Thorne's apartment.
She swallowed hard.
"What's going on here?" Jacin said.
"Thorne's interrupting my work," Cress said, unable to look at either of them.
"She's only pretending to work," Thorne said.
He was right, of course. Cress was purposely not making any progress. She hadn't expected Thorne of all people to pick up on it though.
You are a genius, she reminded herself. A prodigy. You can outsmart them.
"Thorne may have figured out how to"—she bit down on her trembling lip—"break down some of my defenses, but he can barely use a tablet. I wouldn't bet your whole program on his ability to tell whether or not I'm doing work."
"Of course you wouldn't," said Thorne casually, taking a step in front of one of the guns. He shook his head at Cress. "My assessment of you doing your work or not has nothing to do with whatever you're typing in. I can't tell the difference between HTML and C++—"
"Neither of which I'm using!"
He laughed and it was so condescending that Cress wanted to punch him in the gut. "Clearly."
"Get to the point, Thorne," Jacin said.
"You sent me to Satellite Technologies to get to know Cress. We've spent a lot of time together and I know how Cress looks when she's really working. She gets this trance expression on her face, like she's forgotten everything in the world around her except her work. Cress hasn't had that look one time since she's been here."
"You're—you're going by a look?" Cress spluttered. "Have you considered that I'm terrified for my life? It's not possible for me to get in a trance when someone is constantly pointing a gun at me! And why don't you try working twelve hour days under pressure?"
He tutted. "First time I met you, darlin', I tested out your ability to leave your work behind. I believe you stayed in the office until 3 AM? Rather than come clubbing with me and the rest of your colleagues? You live for long hours and working under pressure."
She thought she might burst into tears but she had to keep her composure. "Not when I think someone is going to kill me if I mess up."
"Ease up on the guns, boys," Jacin said.
"Are you in charge here?" Cress asked, trying to reclaim the conversation.
Jason merely shrugged.
"I want to speak to whoever is in charge!"
"You can talk to me, honey," Aimery said, slithering in between Jacin and Thorne. He had his own gun drawn but he kept it at his side.
"I want to speak with Cinder," she said through clenched teeth.
Aimery looked around with a grin. "I believe she is on her break. Tell me, what can I do for you?"
"I want Thorne gone. He distracts me."
Thorne snorted.
Aimery put his arm around Thorne, who flinched. Then, to her horror, Aimery draped his other arm around Cress until the three of them were in a little huddle. She tried to squirm away but his gun was practically on her neck.
"Now," he said, "you two aren't going to be a problem for me, are you? Cuz I was under the impression we were all getting along so well."
Her cheek was pressed against Aimery's armpit and Thorne's chin was nearly touching her forehead. All she could do was stare at Thorne's chest. He wore a soft, gray T-shirt that she had never seen before. He had a bruise going up his neck.
"I want…Thorne…gone!" she squeaked out.
"If I'm gone you have no idea if she's playing you or not," Thorne said, "and I'm telling you, she's doing something she's not supposed to be doing."
Aimery's grip around her neck tightened.
"He's lying!" Cress said desperately.
"I'm not."
"Cut it out, Aimery," said Jacin. "Let's break it up so we can all see and hear what's happening."
In one movement, Aimery had pushed Thorne away and maneuvered Cress in front of him, pulling her back against his chest. He kept her in a headlock with one arm, so tightly she could barely breathe. "There," he said cheerily. "Now everyone can see and hear." He pointed the gun at Thorne. "I think your girl has been pretty cooperative. You're the one who tried to play us. You're the reason we had to bring this entire business here. Give me one reason why I shouldn't shoot you right now for trying to mess with our heads again."
Cress's hands came over Aimery's arm, trying to get him to loosen his grip so she could breathe more easily. She was trying to digest Aimery's words at the same time. She had replayed the night in Thorne's apartment a thousand times since she'd arrived here. It was clear that Thorne had done something to disobey Jerrico. Aimery's words confirmed that. But whatever Thorne had done had not been to benefit Cress. If it were, he would've warned her about this. And he wouldn't be trying to out her right now.
"I admit that I didn't make the smartest choices in our past business transactions," Thorne said slowly. "But Cinder has vouched for me and my intentions. Where is she, by the way? I'm sure she could settle this right away." He crossed his arms. "Get her. Cress is the one lying this time."
Cress dug her nails into Aimery's arm. He grunted and shoved her into her chair, his gun now pointing at her. "Bitch!"
Cress gasped for air and rubbed her neck. "Don't touch me."
"Get Cinder," he commanded.
"Finally," Thorne said.
"I'd like some water," Cress said.
"You're not getting anything until we verify that you're doing the work you're supposed to be doing," Aimery said.
Dammit Thorne, Cress thought. She wasn't sure how Cinder would be able to tell who was lying in this situation but Thorne's certainty made a pit grow in her stomach. Knowing that it wouldn't make a difference whether she sat up or not, Cress slumped over her keyboard and laid her head on her desk. She'd been trying to encrypt tiny transmissions into the program for when she did get it running. It shouldn't have been noticeable to anyone, let alone Thorne.
Cress closed her eyes and imagined herself back on the beach in San Diego. She had read in a magazine recently that guided imagery could calm you down. But every image she could conjure up ended with her drowning Carswell Thorne in the Pacific.
"What's going on? Did you hurt her?"
Cress forced herself into a sitting position. Light from the enormous warehouse-like room they were in flooded her tired eyes. Cinder passed desk after desk, computer after computer. Nobody seemed fazed that a cyborg was running past them. In fact, no one in this organization was fazed by a cyborg at all.
Only Cress stared and stared and tried to figure out what era she had been time-warped into when they had drugged her. Sometimes it was the only plausible answer to all the questions she had running through her mind. Despite her efforts, she still didn't understand who was in charge or what exactly they wanted. Since she had spent no time trying to actually figure out the program, she still didn't know what it did.
"The precious doll remains unharmed," Aimery drawled. His smile was so startling it almost hurt to look at him, but Cress didn't want to look at him anyway.
She fixed her attention on Cinder. "I want Thorne out of here. He's distracting. All I can think about is how he hurt me."
She refused to look at Thorne, but noticed how he shifted on his feet at her words.
"Cress is just trying to distract you," he said. "I picked up on the fact that she's not doing the work you assigned her."
"More like the work you're forcing me to do under life or death consequences! You think that's not incentive enough to do what you want? I don't have a death wish, Thorne!"
"No, Cress, I don't think you do." He sighed heavily. "But you're not weak, even if you want us to think you are. You could probably take down our firewall in five seconds flat if you got the opportunity."
"I'm not—"
"Cinder, you kept me around because you believed I could be useful because I've gotten to know Cress. So, let me be useful. Ask Cress if she's doing everything she can to solve this program."
"I—"
"Ask her, Cinder."
Cinder regarded Cress solemnly. "Are you working on the program, Cress?"
"Of course," she said quickly. That was wasn't even a lie. She just wasn't working on it the way that they wanted. And how would Cinder even know either way?
"She's not lying," Cinder said.
"Let me ask the questions," Thorne said. "You just do your cyborg thing."
Cress's confidence faltered. Cyborg thing?
"You don't even have to look me in the eyes, Cress," Thorne said. "Cinder will know if you're lying."
"Screw you, Thorne."
He sighed. "If only. Now, are you doing everything you can to solve this program?"
She glared. "Of course."
Everyone turned to look at Cinder.
"Thorne's right," Cinder said, her eyes growing hard. "Cress is lying."
"I am not!"
"Cress," Thorne said, "are you trying to sabotage our work?"
Cress pressed her lips together.
Thorne came closer. Cress backed up in her chair until she couldn't go back anymore. Placing an arm on the desk behind her, he leaned so close to her that they could have kissed. Her heart rate increased and she wanted to get away but she spit in his face instead.
Thorne didn't flinch. He stared at her for a moment before he worked his jaw and slowly wiped his face with his palm. "Are you trying to sabotage our work?"
"No."
"Liar," Thorne whispered.
"She's lying," Cinder echoed.
Thorne backed away and Aimery took his place, yanking Cress to her feet. He grabbed her by her hair this time, keeping her neck painfully arched back.
"There's no need for that," Thorne said. "Obviously if you kill her she's not going to complete your program either."
Aimery growled. "She just needs the right motivation. Clearly Cinder's niceties aren't working. I think Cress and I should spend some time alone to reanalyze her loyalties."
"No!" Cress tried to wriggle away. "I'll do what you want!"
"She's still lying," Cinder said.
Jacin swore. The analyst's gun pressed against Cress again.
Aimery yanked so hard Cress thought she would lose her hair. "Why, you little—"
"Can I remind everyone that you kept me because I know Cress?" Thorne said pleasantly. "So if you could all just calm the fuck down, I'll tell you an easy way to solve this."
Cinder rubbed her temple. "We're listening."
"Aimery, could you loosen your grip a little?" Thorne clicked his tongue. "We do want our prodigy to keep her brain cells intact."
They exchanged words but some of the burning in her scalp ceased.
Thorne shook his head. "You guys are all so primitive. Look at me. I work with relationships. Connections. We analyzed Cress and saw that she was someone who lacked connection. Someone who needed more of it in her life."
Cress's lower lip began to tremble again.
"But I learned that Cress does have a few people she cares about. One person in particular. I think he might be useful in the situation."
He? Cress's heart plunged to the floor. Useful in this situation?
"His name is Julian. He works at Satellite Technologies."
"No!" Cress cried.
Thorne snapped his fingers. "Now that is real fear. Not that she's not afraid of Aimery either, but then again, who isn't afraid of Aimery? Bringing Julian here will be the motivation that Cress needs to complete this project, however."
"No! Please! Leave him alone!"
"Will you complete the project if we promise not to harm him?" Cinder asked.
"Yes!" Cress said desperately. "I was lying before, I admit it, but I'm not anymore. I'll do whatever you say. Just leave him alone, please."
"Truth," Thorne said.
Cinder nodded.
Aimery twisted Cress's hair until she was forced to face him. His eyes gleamed. "Cinder is going to be here every hour on the hour asking you precisely what you did to get this program working. If she even gets a hint of a lie from your silver tongue, I will personally go and find this Julian. Got it?"
Her legs shook. "G-Got it. Yes."
He pushed her away. She stumbled and crashed into Thorne, who tried to catch her but she flailed her arms, preferring the cold concrete floor to the emptiness of his touch.
"You better get to work, Cress," Thorne said quietly.