"You don't believe her, do you XS-618?" Renfro asked, walking into the room.
Ire was torn. She did want to leave, after all, Manticore was hell, but her rage would hold her back forever in the real world. Ire looked from Max to Renfro, back and forth.
"I-I don't know." Ire mumbled.
"You would be an outcast out there. Your rage would keep you back forever. You'd never get anywhere, you'd be killing so many people and you do hate killing." Renfro said.
"No!" Max exclaimed. You wouldn't be doing that. Don't listen to her lies!"
"Lies...lies...lies!" Ire said. She was now burning with rage and Renfro knew it.
"She's telling you lies Ire. She's poisoning your mind. There is only one way to deal with those who lie to you." Renfro was egging her on, to kill Max.
"Now, I know who's lying to me." Ire said through gritted teeth, looking at Max. Max could see the rage building in Ire and she knew she was going to explode. "All the lies...lies...LIES!"
Ire launched herself at Renfro. They both toppled to the ground, but Ire was unfazed; she beat Renfro. Max stood by horrified as Ire grabbed Renfro's neck and bent down to speak in her ear.
"Do you want to be number four? Are you ready to die? What are you thinking right now? Am I crazy? Are you going to kill me if I don't kill you? Why did you lie? Are you scared?" Ire hissed.
Renfro was shaking with fear as she looked into Ire's eyes, which were full of fiery rage.
"You-you w-wouldn't kill me wo-would you?" Renfro asked.
"I would kill you in an instant." Ire said, then dropped Renfro and stood up and looked at Max. "This," she said to Max, "is why I can't live out there."
Ire walked out of the room, leaving Max alone with Renfro, who was now unconscious.
Max looked at the unconscious form of Renfro, then back at the door. She knew that three well-armed soldiers would be coming her way and she had to go, had to escape, but instead she ran after Ire.
She caught her just as she was going down the hall. Max grabbed her arm and she spun around.
"What?" Ire asked.
"Go with me." Max urged.
"Didn't you see what I did in there? Were you not paying attention when I was about to snap her neck? Didn't you notice that I was giving it no second thought? Did you see the rage in my eyes? Did you?"
Max was taken aback at the barrage of questions that were running in the back of her mind too.
"You can beat it." Max said. "You were trained for that, but you can beat it. I was trained for it too and look at me."
"I wasn't trained the same as you." Ire said. "I was different. I wasn't allowed to play nice with the other little kids. They were trained the way you were, but me? I was trained harder. They tried to train the anger right out of me, but that didn't work. They let me in the training room after the others were done and they worked me to the point where I would pass out. They thought if I was weak, I wouldn't be able to hurt anybody. They were wrong. All that work did was give me time to build up more steam and one afternoon, a guard came to take me back to my room and I nearly killed him. They eventually stopped making me do anything and now I'm allowed to come and go as I please. I never take orders, not even when I'm fighting."
"You can go anywhere you want? At any time?" Max asked.
"Yeah, they're all afraid to stop me." Ire said.
"I think I've got an idea then." Max said.
Ire was torn. She did want to leave, after all, Manticore was hell, but her rage would hold her back forever in the real world. Ire looked from Max to Renfro, back and forth.
"I-I don't know." Ire mumbled.
"You would be an outcast out there. Your rage would keep you back forever. You'd never get anywhere, you'd be killing so many people and you do hate killing." Renfro said.
"No!" Max exclaimed. You wouldn't be doing that. Don't listen to her lies!"
"Lies...lies...lies!" Ire said. She was now burning with rage and Renfro knew it.
"She's telling you lies Ire. She's poisoning your mind. There is only one way to deal with those who lie to you." Renfro was egging her on, to kill Max.
"Now, I know who's lying to me." Ire said through gritted teeth, looking at Max. Max could see the rage building in Ire and she knew she was going to explode. "All the lies...lies...LIES!"
Ire launched herself at Renfro. They both toppled to the ground, but Ire was unfazed; she beat Renfro. Max stood by horrified as Ire grabbed Renfro's neck and bent down to speak in her ear.
"Do you want to be number four? Are you ready to die? What are you thinking right now? Am I crazy? Are you going to kill me if I don't kill you? Why did you lie? Are you scared?" Ire hissed.
Renfro was shaking with fear as she looked into Ire's eyes, which were full of fiery rage.
"You-you w-wouldn't kill me wo-would you?" Renfro asked.
"I would kill you in an instant." Ire said, then dropped Renfro and stood up and looked at Max. "This," she said to Max, "is why I can't live out there."
Ire walked out of the room, leaving Max alone with Renfro, who was now unconscious.
Max looked at the unconscious form of Renfro, then back at the door. She knew that three well-armed soldiers would be coming her way and she had to go, had to escape, but instead she ran after Ire.
She caught her just as she was going down the hall. Max grabbed her arm and she spun around.
"What?" Ire asked.
"Go with me." Max urged.
"Didn't you see what I did in there? Were you not paying attention when I was about to snap her neck? Didn't you notice that I was giving it no second thought? Did you see the rage in my eyes? Did you?"
Max was taken aback at the barrage of questions that were running in the back of her mind too.
"You can beat it." Max said. "You were trained for that, but you can beat it. I was trained for it too and look at me."
"I wasn't trained the same as you." Ire said. "I was different. I wasn't allowed to play nice with the other little kids. They were trained the way you were, but me? I was trained harder. They tried to train the anger right out of me, but that didn't work. They let me in the training room after the others were done and they worked me to the point where I would pass out. They thought if I was weak, I wouldn't be able to hurt anybody. They were wrong. All that work did was give me time to build up more steam and one afternoon, a guard came to take me back to my room and I nearly killed him. They eventually stopped making me do anything and now I'm allowed to come and go as I please. I never take orders, not even when I'm fighting."
"You can go anywhere you want? At any time?" Max asked.
"Yeah, they're all afraid to stop me." Ire said.
"I think I've got an idea then." Max said.