5 Chapter 5

"Have... have you found her yet? The girl?" I ask, not daring to say more.

"I think I just did," he replies quietly. "If- if you were like everyone else... you would've called the police. Called me insane and locked me up somewhere. But you didn't."

I nod, glad that he connected the dots without me having to explain it all. "What do we do? We can't possibly stop them. Have you seen the government buildings? They have the best security in town, and that's saying something."

"That's the problem..." he muttered. "Security. I have no idea how to get past it."

"You know... my parents work there. My mom has this office job, my dad's head of security," I reply nonchalantly.

He cuts me off, grinning, "Perfect. Get close to them, like real close. Have them take you to work or somethin', then destroy the system from the inside. Just like those old action movies from the 21st century!"

I smile, "You watch those movies too?"

"Only when my parents aren't home. Everyone else sure is missing out..." he mutters, snapping back into reality. "So will you do it? I'll help you."

I'm about to say yes when I hesitate. These are my parents we're talking about. Sure, they're strict, but they love me, right? These are the people who taught me to ride a bike, who helped me with my homework, who took me out to ice cream after I aced a test. Can I really do this to them? "I can't..." I say aloud. "I mean... they're my parents, after all. I can't do that to them. It'd ruin their lives."

Thomas sighs, saying, "I know, but your entire life is a lie. Don't you want to get back at them? At the very least, don't you want the lies to stop?"

I do. I want the lies to stop, I want to know what's happening, I want to make them pay for what they did. But something's tugging at the back of my mind. "What if they don't know what they're doing? Maybe... their generation's brainwashed or something?"

"Quinn, it's not that easy. I wanted to believe that too, trust me, I did. It doesn't work that way, though. There's pictures, too," he says, removing three crumpled pieces of paper from the back pocket of his jeans.

I take them, studying them carefully. They're all standing in large rooms, machines everywhere. They're all wearing lab coats and goggles, and they're standing over... I gasp. Bodies. And not just any bodies... I recognize them. They're my friends, my classmates, my neighbors. All unconscious. Thomas watches me carefully, "This is them. Working on the procedure."

I look over the pictures again, beginning to recognize some of the adults. I see my teacher there, my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Freeman... all of the adults I trusted. "What...?" I gasp.

He touches my shoulder lightly, "I know it's overwhelming."

I want to feel sad, upset, worried, anything other than what I'm feeling. It's just pure rage. They hid everything from me. My life is a lie. Even my friends are a lie. They're programmed to be the way they are. Everyone at my school is. And my parents, my teachers, everyone I trusted, they did this. I hate them. That's it; I have to do this. I'll work from the inside. I'll lie. I'll steal. I'll cheat. I'll do whatever it takes to reveal them to the world as the monsters that they are, taking away children's lives. "I'll do it," I say, my voice hardening in anger.