XXXI

His blood boils with rage. How dare she…? Doesn't she know…?

And it is then that the answer materializes in his mind with absolute clarity. "You think I lied to you." There's no accusation in his voice, just a simple statement. "You think I'm still lying to you."

Eleven doesn't agree with him. She doesn't deny it either.

"Ah," Henry murmurs with a forced smile. "It's so nice, then, that we are who we are, Eleven, and that we can share all our experiences, don't you think?"

The girl narrows her eyes and tries to move back to create more distance between them. "I… don't…"

"Don't back down now," Henry hisses, trapping her slender wrist in his fingers. "Come here; let me show you…"

"Henry, no, I…"

But it's too late: Henry closes his eyes and presses Eleven's hand to his forehead.

Eleven sees it all—all of Henry's memories in the lab.

The talks with Brenner (Papa?).

The games intended for test subjects.

The games intended against test subjects.

The torture sessions, not just those Henry endured, but the ones anyone who didn't follow the rules had to withstand: test subjects, orderlies, scientists… No one is exempt.

But Henry, who is always looking at her—who is always looking out for her—is definitely the one who finds himself under Papa's punishing hand the most.

And not only does she see everything he sees, but she hears his thoughts. She thinks them, as if they were her own. This way, she knows every one of Henry's impressions of her: those hidden truths inside her that he can access even with his limited powers.

Unlike the rest, unlike… my own family, there is no evil in her heart.

Everything comes to a turning point when Two and the rest attack her. Eleven sees it all through Henry's eyes—he knows that Brenner has been plotting it for some time now, but he only notices what's happening when the plan is already in execution: a blackout that, curiously, disables the security system of the test subjects' bedrooms.

A blackout that—Henry is sure—will soon reach the Rainbow Room, where Eleven's alone time is scheduled.

Although he remains calm, he's already running to her…

… when Brenner and two other orderlies intercept his path.

Henry is aware of the fact his face can't hide his disgust at Brenner torturing Two. Not that he cares in the least about him—the boy is as vicious as any human being, and if his hands weren't tied, Henry himself would be sure to give him what he deserves—but he knows quite well what is hidden behind this supposed "punishment."

Brenner planned it all. First, there's the fact that he is privy to the identities of the perpetrators: although he had turned off the cameras in plain view, there's just no way he hadn't recorded the entire confrontation on some hidden one—after all, the "moment alone" in the Rainbow Room is but one of the man's many experiments in which the test subjects must not know that they are being observed. Henry would bet that the tape containing the attack's recording is stored somewhere safe right now, so it can be used for some future experiment.

His shrewd mind has no trouble connecting the dots when it comes to his intentions: neither Two nor he are the true protagonists of the torture sessions they have endured, contrary to what Brenner may have wanted them to believe. No, in the scientist's mind, they both are nothing more than variables to be played with: "support for Eleven" and "obstacle for Eleven," respectively. In hindsight, he can connect the dots between a plethora of seemingly isolated events that only point to Brenner's clear goal of pushing the girl to unthinkable limits.

And Henry is tired, so incredibly tired, and fed up with the fact a mediocre little man like this is playing to be God with beings vastly superior to him.

It's a risk, he tells himself. It definitely is, yet, if I don't help her… If they torture me one more time, ten more times, I can bear it, but this? He moves them like pieces on a board, following nothing but his own whims, and no one but me notices… She's the only one worth it, and she will end up dead if I don't act.

Eleven—Henry—kneels next to her without her even realizing, picks up the red token she has dropped, startled, and gently asks: "You open for something a little more challenging?"