SYSTEM REBOOTED. CONNECTION RE-ESTABLISHED. CONNECTION: NOT FOUND. SYSTEM STABILISED. CONNECTION: NOT FOUND.

Feeling as if she slowly emerged from deep water, Cinder woke blinked at the intense light from the ceiling, as her eyes tried to get accustomed to her surroundings.

Gingerly, she moved herself into a sitting position, willing her eyes to focus. It looked like a lab or an operating room. Whatever it was, it was top-notch, probably up to par to the palace's labs in New Beijing. It gave Cinder an uneasy feeling. She remembered Dr. Erland's –Dr. Darnel's – labs all too well and how trapped she had felt there.

A door slid open behind her and Iko entered the room, a soft smile on her face. She held a cup of water in one hand. "How are you feeling?"

She took the cup gratefully and took a sip. "Like I passed out and woke up in a lab with no clue what's going on?"

"The hardest part is over. We made it here."

"So, we're entrapped in a lab surrounded by angry cyborgs?"

"Pretty much." Iko was as bubbly as ever and if she wasn't concerned, there was no reason for Cinder to be.

She nodded and placed the cup next to her. "How will we escape?"

"Already trying to run away?" Jacin moved into the room, followed by Cress.

Cinder shrugged. "It would be good to have a Plan B. Where is Kai? And Thorne and Kinney?"

"They're waiting outside and checking the surveillance," Cress answered.

"When will you tell me why you brought us here?"

Cress smiled but it was tense. "Now. If we could have told you before we would have but …"

"It was hard to reach you. And we weren't sure you would agree," Iko finished in Cress's stead. "Should we stay, or …?"

"Please already prepare with Jacin." It was odd. It felt like suddenly Cress was the leader who called the shots. Whatever was going on, it had been her idea. Suddenly and for the first time, she saw Dr. Darnel in Cress' demeanour. The way she had evaded Cinder's questions, how she set things in motion without informing Cinder, how she planned and schemed - it was as if she were back in the laboratories. A test subject who was revealed to be Lunar and, later in her prison cell, the lost princess Selene. Dr. Darnel always had known, had planned everything, sacrificed many lives in order to find her.

And as she stood in front of her with the same blue eyes, Cress seemed to carry on that strange legacy.

Cinder stood up, feeling a bit better now that she hovered over the smaller girl. She had never liked being powerless and clueless in Dr. Darnel's presence but at least, she had been able to hover him a little. It was petty but it gave her some control back.

Behind her, Iko and Jacin went to a second room behind Cinder and started to rummage. Cinder turned to Cress. "Mission Phoenix?"

"Ah, Iko told you. We were very proud to come up with that one." Cress moved to one of the screens and what Cinder had assumed were random files and diagrams were actually blueprints of Cinder's cyborg limbs and internal processors.

"Why are those files here? Where did you get them?!" She didn't even need an answer. Cress was the best hacker, she could have gotten those files easily.

But Cress's answer surprised her. "From my … father's files. Kai gave me access to all of his belongings a few years ago. That included his research. I didn't look at them before but," Cress took a deep breath "I looked for those files because it's time that we reverse that surgery you had one year ago. We will return all of your cyborg functions to you. And extract the bioelectricity security device as well."

Cinder stared at Cress. Whatever she had expected, this wasn't it. "No."

Cress nodded as if she had expected that answer. "I thought you would say that. We all did. That's why we couldn't let you in on the plan before now."

"All of that trouble to get me here, the hacked spaceship, the track through the forest, the fight with the cyborgs and all that. Just to come here and do yet another surgery?" It was a ridiculous plan and she never would have agreed to it if she had known. "I had to remove everything while the whole surgery was being televised to the other Earthen Leaders, so Kai and I wouldn't have to abdicate the throne! That was the agreement. You think this was fun? You know what I've been through? But it happened and I can't change it."

"But we can. And we have to." Cress's voice was more of a whisper and she reminded her of the girl she had been after she had been rescued from her satellite. Often speaking in hushed whispers, not wanting to draw attention to herself for longer than necessary. "Please let me explain."

Big blue eyes stared up at her and Cinder sighed. It was no use being mad. She could hear what Cress had to say and that was it. There would be no surgery. Her hand clutched at her cyborg one and she wondered how it would feel to have everything back to the way it was. She shook her head, angry with herself.

"But let me start before that. I'm sure Thorne told you why I was gone for a few weeks?"

It seemed like a lifetime ago instead of a few hours. "Shells are being kidnapped."

Cress nodded. "I thought I should try and see what happened to them. If it's Lunars, they can't detect me and if it's Earthens … I don't know but I felt like I could track what might have happened and find out where the shells have been taken."

"Please tell me you weren't trying to get kidnapped as well?"

"No. But if someone was taking shells, it would have only been a matter of time until they came after me."

Cinder's lips twitched. "Didn't fit in with your honeymoon plans?"

"Not really, no."

"Congratulations by the way."

If Cinder expected a giddy expression or even a smile, she was mistaken. Cress's head was lowered as she fiddled with something on her jacket.

"That marriage … it's not quite as valid as Thorne might have told you."

"What?"

"Earthens and Lunars are still not legally allowed to be married in the American Republic."

"But … Thorne…"

"I know. We pretend that our wedding was legit. We had all the documents and there was a guy who was allowed to officiate weddings. But the American Republic won't accept it."

There was a long pause. The bitterness in Cress's voice was evident and Cinder felt for her friend. Her own wedding needed quite some bureaucratic effort but had helped that Kai and her had been the sovereigns of the Eastern Commonwealth and Luna respectively.

"Oh." She was aware that progress had been much slower in some of the other Earthen countries but she hadn't thought about what it meant to Cress and Thorne. They both worked for the American Republic, they should have been the first to get similar rights as other citizens. "But does it matter? I mean, it's just a wedding and if you feel you are married …?"

Cress's nose crinkled in annoyance. "It makes a difference if us being together is legal or not. If I'm not allowed to marry Thorne, if I'm just tolerated in the American Republic as long as I work for their government, I won't have any rights. Neither will our children."

Cinder stole a surprised glance at Cress's midriff. "Cress … are you pregnant?"

Shaking her head, Cress didn't take her eyes from the netscreen but there was a slight blush on her cheeks.

"I'm not. But the topic came up and …," she trailed off and after a while it was clear she had no inclination to say more about it.

"You could always move to the Eastern Commonwealth and get married there. The European Federation has also legalised Earthen-Lunar marriages. Scarlet and Wolf's children are legal. As they would be in the Eastern Commonwealth," Cinder offered.

Cress waved those suggestions away. "I know that but we shouldn't have to go somewhere else. Thorne and I work for the American Republic-'' She took a deep breath of air. "Nevermind, that's not important right now. We only have a few more hours and we shouldn't waste it."

Behind them Iko and Jacin entered the room again. Iko wheeled in a cart with an assortment of tools and instruments that made Cinder's stomach drop and Jacin wore scrubs. Cinder had known that he was a medical student and functioned as a guard for Winter only but to see him actually look the part was strange. "You're still not finished?"

Cress ignored him and continued as if they had never discussed anything but the topic at hand. "I started my research and I thought, maybe some of the Earthen leaders know what's going on. Or maybe they kept track of the missing shells and did some investigations."

"And with research you mean …"

At that, Cress cracked a smile. "I hacked into their databases."

"Of course."

"I didn't find anything about the missing shells though. I did find a lot of confidential information about you though. Specifically your cyborg parts and Lunar gift. The lie detector, the weapons in your hand, everything."

That came as no surprise to Cinder. "They worried about that. As long as I kept my gift and cyborg parts, they would have never agreed to confer with me and Kai. They believe that me having weapons ready would pose a serious threat."

"Sure. And you spotting their lies would also be detrimental to their plans, right?"

"It wouldn't be fair. Same with me recording everything. Or using my gift. Us working together should be based on mutual trust." That's how Torin had explained it when the other Earthen leaders had first proposed their plan. Kai had been outraged but Cinder had understood that, to keep peace between the nations, she would have to remove everything that the other humans didn't have.

"Mutual trust … So, you can't spy on them, spot their lies, have weapons ready? So, tell me Cinder, why should they be allowed to do the same to you?"

"I- what?"

"They are spying on you and Kai. I saw the bugs they planted in the palace. Did you know they installed the same software that is used in your lie detector in your videofeed program? And as for no weapons, that's something we should discuss when we have more time."

Cold shudders ran down Cinder's back as she tried to piece together what Cress had said. The other Earthen leaders … spying on her and Kai? They all had agreed that Cinder had to get rid of those parts that would give her an advantage. The Lunar gift, the cybernetic brain and functions, the weapons and tools in her hand. Even the compartment in her leg had to be sealed shut, so she wouldn't be able to smuggle something into meetings. And now it turned out, the other Earthen leaders had instead installed systems to spy on them instead?

"Oh, and one more thing." Cress looked up to Cinder and her face was as serious as ever. "You think those rioters are all angry citizens of the Earthen Commonwealth?"

Pictures of angry protests and violent riots came to Cinder's mind and she felt herself pale. "What do you mean?"

"Some of them, sure. Many of them are agents sent by the other Earthen leaders to infiltrate those groups and cause more violence. It's a trick and the media won't know the difference. Cinder, everything you've done for Earth, for Luna is being fought against by Vargas and the rest. They want to weaken you and the Earthen Commonwealth. You were a cyborg and a Lunar when you fought and started the revolution to free Luna. You need to be a cyborg and a Lunar to defend the Earthen Commonwealth and millions of Earthens and cyborgs, Lunars and shells as well."

Cinder's mind was racing, every thought too jumbled to say it out loud. She could feel her internal processor slowly overheating and the first warnings flared up.

"Deep breaths," she heard Jacin's even voice and she had hardly noticed how her breathing had become more shallow. Her eyes found a diagram of her cyborg hand as it rotated to show every angle. The steady movement calmed her down.

When she spoke, she surprised herself by admitting, "You make me sound like a tool to be used."

"No!" Cress cried. "No, that's not why we want to reverse the surgery, Cinder."

Iko stepped next to Cinder, catching her eyes. "We want you to be able to protect yourself. The cyborgs really got the best of us out there. I forgot for a second that you need protection now and tried to shield Thorne because I thought … Cinder, I forgot that you can't defend yourself anymore. Or protect Kai. It's not about you being a tool to save the world. But all of us are worried. So many things are happening right now. You and Kai are targets and you didn't let us close so we could protect you."

"I don't need protection."

"You do." Jacin's tone left no room to argue. He had stayed mostly stoically to the side as he usually did but whenever he spoke, it had weight to it. "And you don't like it. Tell us you're fine with the surgery."

She couldn't. The last few hours she had wished nothing more than to get her cyborg replacements back and had the Lunar chip removed. She had felt helpless like she hadn't since the revolution.

No one said anything for a long time.

"And we also want, no, need you to be yourself once more. The other Earthen leaders took everything from you to weaken you while they use almost the same technology to spy on you and Kai. I saw the confidential files Cress found," Iko said with some disgust.

"Why did you bring me here? If that was the plan all along. The palace has a lab that's on par with this one. Why get us through all the trouble to infiltrate an illegal cyborg refuge?"

Iko and Cress looked at Cress who shrugged. "If we had done it at the palace, it would have been noted. As I said, the palace is full of bugs. I think it makes more sense to not reveal that we reversed the surgery. Keep surprise on our side. I asked the cyborg leader here to let us access it but was denied. But we needed to have an excellent lab that had everything we needed but which wouldn't store any information about what we would do here."

Getting here had also served as a reminder to Cinder how helpless she truly was without her Lunar and cyborg skills, she thought but didn't say out loud.

"Iko, Jacin and I have researched all the procedures for weeks now. This is a bit more complicated than last time we had to restore mobility in your hand and leg but we studied my father's documents and Garan's chip."

It struck Cinder that Iko, Cress and Jacin had been the ones who, after she almost drowned in the Artemesia Lake, had been the ones who had already repaired her cyborg limbs before. She had been unconscious but once she had woken up, she had been able to use her cyborg hand and leg again, thanks to them (and to a minor part, Thorne).

She had trusted them then, it was time to trust them again. She nodded to show she accepted their plan.

Cress pointed to Iko and Jacin. "Iko will fix the tools in your hand. The projectile gun, the screwdriver, and so on. The plans my father made are still up-to-date and we used the same platinum he used. She'll also reopen the compartment in your calf. Jacin studied the procedure to install and to remove Garan's chip. He has the medical background and he will extract it." She proceeded to point towards the netscreens. "I'll install all the software you previously had. The lie detector but I'll also reinstall the brain-machine interface you had before. We'll work together, help each other out."

"You've really thought this one through."

It wasn't a question but the three nodded nevertheless.

What was left to say? "Okay. Let's start."