Traitor. When Stryker gets bored with her and has her killed, the word 'traitor' will be etched onto her tombstone. Hell, who was she kidding. She wasn't getting a memorial, the guard would begrudge digging a hole in the first place.
Stryker had polished her up. She'd had women buzzing around her for nearly a whole day, making sure she looked the part. He wanted to make sure Crystal would impress senators, politicians and military personnel. She felt guilty knowing there were thirty mutants still in the facility while she had been polished, manicured and styled. A wardrobe had been rolled in full of business suits and evening dresses. Unfortunately, this came with a price. She had profiles of officials to memorise, laws to understand. It was like learning a new language to her. Above all this, she still had to develop the hypnotic quality of her voice. By the end of the month, Crystal had managed to convince her guards to bring her novels and other luxuries that would usually be off-limits to her. Crystal had always loved stories but had access to very few. Sometimes, when she was little, one of the guards would tell her fairytales to help her drown out the sounds of screaming and crying from the facility. When he'd been caught, he told his superiors it was to stop her sadness from causing an earthquake. Still, he'd been moved to a different area with immediate effect.
Crystal had been moved to a small room, above the basement where the other mutants were held. She sat on her new, soft blue armchair in the corner. She was absorbed in Elizabeth's rejection of Darcy. She was so enthralled that she didn't notice the military personnel march into the room with a briefcase in hand. She missed as he placed the case and a dress bag on the table. Why would anyone refuse a man who loved you despite all the reasons not to? She was about to find out how Darcy would respond when Stryker threw the book out of her hand. She caught the air under in and sat it down by the arm of her chair, but did not dare begin rereading it.
'If you're going to read, read something useful to me instead of filling your head with nonsense and romance'. He spoke so coldly that it made Crystal wonder is anyone had ever loved him. How could they? The man was a monster!
She finally caught sight of the bag. 'Is it time for a test run?' The sarcasm in her voice blindly evident.
'Sir'. She rolled her eyes at him while he wasn't looking. 'Don't forget your place, Crystal. You may feel you now have certain entitlements, but you are still mine and you will follow protocol at all times or you'll end up back in the basement'.
There were no words for that. Crystal threw her head onto the back of the chair and released a sad sigh. 'Yes sir' she whispered so softly she was surprised he had even heard her.
'That's better' he smirked. She was confident that the control he has over her was giving him a God complex. He opened the case and handed her a brief for an evening event. There would be fine food, dancing and (due to Stryker) underhand politics. She was ordered to memorise it, and be prepared to 'persuade' key officials to be pro-mutant registration. It saddened her to know there were mutants out there free to do whatever they wanted. Deep down, she knew she was envious of their freedom.