I had forgotten about my appointment with Rye until I nearly bump into her on my way to the vault. I don’t have time to close my office door before she pushes a hand behind me and props it open.

“It’s Thursday,” she says, and that’s all I need for her to remind me that my plans will have to wait. As irritated as I am, I try to be consistent with my students, something my professors rarely were with me.

“And after 2 o’clock, I presume,” I reply as I rub my glasses against my sleeve before returning them to the even bridge of my nose.

“Just a minute after,” she says proudly. “Can I come inside?” I nod, and she enters. “There’s glass everywhere,” she observes as she tiptoes around the shards I hadn’t bothered to pick up since Ves’s unwelcome visit. I drop my things onto my desk and then sink into my chair. “Where’s the pill?”

“Not here.”

“You said you were going to show me how to make them.”

“I never agreed to that. I merely asked you to remind me.”

She is frustrated, although she hides it well. She clutches a thick notebook to her chest, enforcing my decision to avoid a demonstration. The Institute’s logo winks at me from behind her folded arms. “Are you not allowed to tell me?”

“I can do whatever I want.”

“But I told you,” she protests. “There’s an issue out there. And people who don’t solve problems – “

“Are monsters?” I finish. “What about the ones who cause the problems? Are they monsters, too?”

She shows her first sign of hesitancy by clutching the notebook closer. I narrow my eyes. “Of course.”

“And the ones who do the solving. What are they?”

“Heroes, I suppose.”

“What a simple mind you have,” I murmur, slightly disappointed. She raises her chin to say something, but I add, “If I hold the solution to a problem, I have the potential to be a hero, if we are to agree on your terms. But I do not intend to be anybody’s savior.” A savior requires selflessness, and frankly, I have nothing to offer anyone that I wouldn’t first give to myself.

She is quiet, and then, “So you won’t tell me how to devise the pill, then.”

“Why do you want to know, Rye? Do you want to be somebody’s savior?”

“I just want to understand the world I live in,” she whispers fearfully. “Make it clearer, if only for a little bit. I still think the Government is full of monsters for putting the Institute on a leash. But at the same time, the Institute has us on a leash, and I feel that your pill could tell me who is the bigger monster.”

“Speak for yourself.” I spread my arms to display my freedom. “Nothing ties me.”

“Even the professors have rules.”

We wouldn’t be an institution if we didn’t. “My pill won’t tell you anything.”

“At least tell me what you’ve told anyone else,” she implores, sitting down, the notebook balancing on her sharp knees, the eye disappearing from my view. “Isn’t that public news?”

I am bored. “If it were, you wouldn’t be here.”

“I met that woman,” she pipes up, adding a small leverage to her request. “She was snooping around the student quarters.”

I yawn. “If you came to tattle tale, you can repeat that to the hall monitor.”

“They chose her for a reason,” she persists. Her trust in me is so innocent. A child’s faith, and the most foolish, dangerous kind there is. A pity that, as smart as she is, she has yet to find this truth. “She is an Argent who loved an Exon. Days before she came here, the Institute was at the Government to present our 3^rd Gen Exons. And shortly after, word goes around that you’ve created a pill to keep us innocent.” She shakes her head. “But what do we need to be innocent for?”

Her words steadily pound against my brain like an unforgiving headache. As intriguing as she can occasionally be, she has proven herself unreliable, and I absolutely cannot have liabilities; therefore, I redirect her attention and recalculate my course of action.

“I am going to assign you a class project,” I begin. Before she can grumble, I continue, “I want you to speak to the Argent.”

“I thought we weren’t allowed.”

“Those regulations will not apply if it is for educational reasons,” I say, and she understands what I am asking of her. “If you want to know the answers, you can ask her yourself. But I will not tell you anything.”

“What do you want to know about her?”

My sharp laugh cuts her off. “I’m not asking for your help. Let me rephrase this for you. I will not speak to you anymore about this matter. But you can speak to her all you want, under the constraints of this project.”

She weighs me, as if I would be open to a compromise. As the minutes feed my disinterest, she agrees at last. “Okay. Thanks.” She rises, only to pause before she reaches for the doorknob. “Professor … “

“I’m not going to change my mind.”

As soon as she leaves, I take the pill out of my coat pocket and twist it between my fingers. The same throbbing, soft, pale skin gazes up at me. Unchanging. Flawless. But as I allow it to meander around the grooves of my palm, I cannot help but think it has grown heavier.

I can correctly foresee what Emer would do if she found out how to enter the vault. She would be shocked, at the least. The Institute would be endangered the moment she notified the Government. It is all so predictable, and I want to throw a bone to the pitiful dog that is Emer, if only to cast another piece in the game. It is dull watching her spin in circles and chomp on her tail.

So with a new agenda in mind, I send her an Exon with an invitation to dinner. And when the Exon returns bearing a message of acceptance, I decide that if I am going to offer her a bone, I am going to do it in the most memorable way possible.

I exchange my black coat for a sweater and run a hand through my hair. Prior to getting ready, I had asked a couple of Exons to prepare the largest dining room for us. Although I am aware that word of our dinner will reach everyone within the Institute by tomorrow at dawn, I do not care, for that is exactly my intention. When my computer informs me of my imminent date, I pocket the pill and stride to meet her.

As I had instructed, the Exons cleared the room of everything except for a square table and two chairs. The furniture stands in the middle of the room with one pale blue lantern hanging from above. It looks like a trap, and a successful one at that; and there she is, the woman who had unwittingly walked into it.

She dresses simply – a cream dress hangs from her frame and a silver bracelet graces her wrist. A living equation. A piece in the game. But when she looks at me, her eyes glowing with expectation and fear, I notice that I had been holding my breath.

So I exhale, and I breathe in the air I recognize, and I greet her exactly the way I planned.

“You have an affinity for white.”

“It’s the first thing I saw, so I wore it.”

“You actually took the time to get ready?” I allow my eyes to leisurely gaze over her. She blushes.

“I mean, a highly regarded professor did invite me to dinner.”

I gesture toward the empty chairs. “I’m just one professor.” We seat ourselves. “So. How was your day, Emer?”

“It was fine,” she replies cautiously. “I met some new people, but that was it.”

“Were they colleagues of mine?”

“No. One of your students, actually. Rye.”

She wastes no time, that girl. Although she did almost waste mine. “She’s my most intelligent student.”
“I’m sure she is,” she agrees. “She was very eager to learn about me. Something to do with a class project.” She pointedly looks up. “This whole time, I thought the Institute was only concerned with itself. Imagine my surprise when I heard she was making a presentation on the Government.”

A weak excuse, although I can commend her for trying. I can see Emer did not believe it. “That, I did not encourage.”

The Exons interrupt our conversation by bringing us two plates of fresh chocolate chip pancakes. Both laughter and confusion vie for her attention as she cuts a small slice.

“I heard you like sweets,” I comment.

“I do.”

I hide my smile behind the guise of wiping an indiscriminate crumb from my lips as she chews thoughtfully. A question mark flickers past her eyes, followed by disbelief.

“Why did you bring me here?”

“I wanted us to enjoy a civilized meal together,” I answer, “away from the watchful eyes of the Institute.”

She jerks up, as though she can feel someone tracing her every move. Her eyes fall on the eye insignia engraved onto the handle of her knife. “With a logo like that, I doubt the Institute misses anything.”

“You’re correct. They don’t. Although I do like to think that in the dark, I am less susceptible to being noticed.”

“The grayed out room in the North Wing. Are you going to tell me about it?”

I cut my pancake in half. “No.”

“Then why am I here?”

I am becoming more annoyed of people who can’t figure out the answers for themselves. “Is it really that impossible for you to believe that I honestly wanted to have a simple meal with you?”

“Yes,” she responds and digs into her food, angrier. “This isn’t even a meal. This is … gosh.” She sets the utensils down, syrup dripping from the edge of her knife. An Exon returns to retrieve her plate. “I wasn’t done with that.”

“You looked like you were.”

She looks at me incredulously as I continue to eat. When I look up and see her eyes are still on me, I shrug. “Do you want some of mine, then?” She mumbles a denial, although her eyes do linger on my food for a while longer. “Are you thirsty?” Without waiting for her response, I beckon an Exon to bring us our drinks. He returns with two cups of water as well as two steaming mugs of hot chocolate. She immediately reaches for the mug and raises it to her lips. The moment the liquid hits her tongue, her eyes widen. She drops the mug, and the rich brown color rushes to stain the tablecloth and her immaculate dress. I continue to eat as she stands, the chair scraping, the liquid spreading like blood on granite.

“This drink … and the food. But how … only he …” she trails off and watches the liquid run until it hits the toe of my boot. “Only Luhan made it like this.”

I reach for my own mug and try the beverage. It is not exceptional, although the pinch of cinnamon does add an unexpected kick.

“How did you do … He’s alive. He’s alive, isn’t he?” How quickly she jumps to conclusions! She stumbles toward me, a clumsy fury emanating from her hands as they grab my collar. “Where is he? Where in this bloody Institute is he?”

“Let go of me, Emer,” I say calmly. “I’m not sure the Government would be pleased to hear you attempted to strangle me.”

Her eyes are wild now, her neck shimmering with sweat. She releases me, and I fix my collar.

“You’re a jerk,” she accuses. “I honestly thought you were here because … I can’t believe I even let myself think that way. You’re as bad as the rest of them. Worse, even. A prick is what you are. A sadistic, narrow-minded prick.”

I raise my brows and say nothing.

“You’re just using me for your own entertainment. All of you. Even the Government … “ she swears, and then kicks at the puddle, only to have it splash across her knees. “I’m going to report this to the Government.”

“You realize you will sound like a deranged lover,” I say. “You have no proof the drink tastes exactly like how your Exon made it. And even if you did, that isn’t enough to incriminate us. The Government isn’t interested in shallow details. They would want something solid. Not this pathetic puddle.”

Her shoulders sag as the truth sinks into her. “The Institute would have seen this, though.”

Did someone tell her about the cameras? “No. As long as we aren’t here for much longer, they won’t notice.”

Her voice is a decibel above a whisper when she asks, “Why?”

“A pact. Isn’t that what we agreed on? I’m offering you a line, Emer. Now it’s your turn.”

Those blazing eyes watch me as I clear my plate of any crumbs. She notices the perfectionist in me and realizes that I am not prone to making mistakes. She leans forward, and a small crunch escapes her shoe. We both look down to see she has broken a piece of the mug.

“What do you want, Lay?”

I cross my arms and lean back. “If you tell me everything you know about the Government, the Test – absolutely everything, Emer – I will lead you to Luhan.”