There was a long silence. Clarke drank and ignored the looks from the other women and Lexa's warnings. She needed some way to separate herself from all of it or she would fall apart and none of them needed to witness that. She didn't want to put Ontari in that position again, where she comforted Clarke because it was what Lexa wanted.
"How is her chip different than the one I had? Does it take her to the City of Light? What does it do, exactly. What do you mean, you hear Lexa? Why would you hear Lexa? What does Murphy have to do with this? How many of us made it out of Arkadia? Who has a chip and where are they?"
"Slow down, Raven. I can only handle one question at a time. The chips that Ontari and Titus have don't look like the ones Allie sent here. They collect, store, and share information with whoever has them. The catch is that only Natblida can use them. Nightbloods."
"What does that mean?"
Clarke sighed and put her mug down. She held her palm out to Ontari. Ontari removed a dagger from her side and sliced Clarke's palm open. Dark red blood welled up. She did the same to her palm and held it beside Clarke's so Raven could see the difference.
"I need to see some of that up close," Raven said.
Ontari put her palm against Clarke's and held it there for half a minute.
"Take a number. Mom wants to look at it, too."
When Ontari let go of Clarke's hand, they displayed their palms again showing healed wounds and drying blood.
"Nanites," Raven said.
"What?" Clarke and Ontari said simultaneously.
"Nanites," Raven repeated. "Microscopic robobts. Some of them are obviously programmed for healing, but I bet there's a ton of other things they do that you take for granted, including interfacing with your chip. But it won't take you to the City of Light," Raven told Ontari. "You've blown right past that. I don't know whether you can interact with her. You might be able to override her," Raven thought aloud, and changed the subject before Clarke or Ontari could respond. "What's Murphy got to do with this?"
"He's seen Allie without having to take the chip. Wherever Jaha found her, there's a huge facility. He was locked in a bunker for almost three months while Jaha listened to it and made whatever deals he made with it. Does Jaha even care that it ended the world?"
"No. A.L.I.E. told him he'd survive to be a leader in the next new world. The programming has two goals: to find the updated source code and to restart the world. I don't know how, exactly, maybe by chipping everybody. How do you hear Lexa? When did it start?"
"I'm not sure. I thought I heard her when I was locked up, and I thought it was just my brain trying to deal because what she said was something she said to me while she was dying. It started for real after Ontari's ascension."
"Sha, the night of the feast she took over completely for the first time."
"Did you share blood before that happened?"
"Yeah, it's part of the ascension. Ontari shared blood with all the clan leaders or their ambassadors."
"Have you done it since?"
"A couple." Clarke stopped for a second. "I hear Lexa louder and clearer after every time. Since I got hurt, it's like she's beside me all the time."
"What happened?"
I had an accident while I was training and Ontari put her blood in the cut to seal it up. It was a big cut."
"Your blood was darker than normal, too. I think you got enough of the nanites for them to multiply."
"What does that mean?" Ontari asked.
"Clarke's becoming a nightblood."
Clarke laughed and they both looked at her like she was losing her mind. "Titus," she gasped, and Ontari laughed, too.
"Gonna let me in on the joke?"
"Titus is the Fleimkepa. He transfers the commander spirit from one heda to the next. He does not like Clarke."
"The only reason he doesn't attack me outright is that Lexa made him swear her wouldn't."
"This is some kind of crazy, Clarke."
"Yeah, and we aren't anywhere near done." Clarke drained the mug and filled it with water this time. "There aren't a lot of us left. Fifty-three sneaked out of Arkadia and surrendered before the attack. Everybody who wasn't with Jaha was killed. Except for me, Mom, Marcus, and Murphy, they're two floors up."
"Who?"
"Miller and Bryan. Monroe and Harper. Sora. Roger and Fay. They'll be glad to see you. They've been struggling to build radios. I can't remember the rest. Their names are posted in the hall with their room assignments."
"Where's Murphy?"
"He went with Haihefa Roan," Ontari answered.
"Who's that again?"
"King of the Ice Nation. Murphy's with him because he knows the whole story. He was there when Titus shot Lexa."
"Insurance policy."
"Exactly."
"What does that mean?" Ontari asked.
"In the old world, people bought insurance policies for their transportation and homes and lives. It was kind of like a bet, but not really. For example, you had insurance on your home and there was a fire, the insurance would pay to fix your house and replace your stuff. With Murphy, we mean that with him out of Titus' reach, he's available to be a witness if anything strange happens to you or Clarke. How many people know all of this?"
"Me, Murphy, Roan, Ontari, Marcus, Mom, and Ontari."
"Are there more of A.L.I.E.'s chips?"
"Not anywhere they can be used," Clarke lied. "Mom has a couple and I have a couple."
"How many more people are there that you know are chipped?"
"Four, and if Mom won't help, I'll remove their chips myself. Especially since you said she can see and hear through them."
Raven put her elbows on the table and rubbed her temples. "I'm so tired I can't think. I'm missing something big or a lot of little somethings that add up to something big."
Clarke stood up. "C'mon, I'll show the bathroom and the guest room."
"Bathroom. Like a place to bathe?"
"Yes."
"Does Abby have one in her room?"
"I don't know."
"No, she has a shower."
"Clarke, you have a new roommate," Raven announced. She turned in her chair and got her crutches. "Lead the way."
Ontari stayed at the table while Clarke led Raven to the room Murphy had used and showed her the bathroom and how to work the knobs. It always had soap, shampoo, hair oils, and towels.
"I'll get you something to sleep in and something to wear tomorrow," Clarke volunteered.
"I'll be in here for a while."
"If you're going to soak, use a towel for your neck. Otherwise you'll get a lecture about keeping your stitches dry."
"Noted."
Clarke left Raven and went to her room. She took shorts and a light shirt from one drawer; underwear, breast bindings, and socks from another; and two sets of shirts and pants from the armoire. She carried all of that into the room Raven would use and stuck her head in the bathroom. "Yell if you need help getting out."
"Will do."
Clarke returned to Ontari.
"Why did you lie to Raven about the chips?"
"What if we didn't get all of it out? What if some tiny piece is still transmitting to Allie?"
"There is no way to know."
"I know that. Raven seems like herself but I can't be sure until we get Jaha and the case he uses to transport the A.I. Raven and I will talk about it more tomorrow. She needs someplace to work."
"She can use the workshop the others were using. They can stay as her assistants if they are all agreeable."
"Thanks. First thing she has to do is make a brace for her leg. Once that's done we can decide what her priorities are. And you need to give her time to just do her thing. She's probably the smartest person you'll ever meet."
Ontari nodded. "She will have as much time as she needs as long as she spends some on the things I need."
"Radios, right."
"And power, so we can move the medical equipment here."
"We can talk to her about all of that tomorrow." Clarke poured some moonshine into her mug. "I want to stay up until she gets into bed, in case she needs help."
The door opened and a messenger entered. He bowed his head to them and put several sheets of paper on the table.
"Mochof," Clarke said as he left, and sighed when the door was closed. She got up and got her satchel and the papers she set aside earlier. When she sat down again, Ontari moved her chair closer to Clarke and they began going through the reports.