Page 58 of Anders
Prepare for preliminary assessment,the same clinical voice instructed.We need to determine the extent of the chemical deterioration before reset.
Fear coiled through Etta’s stomach at the wordreset, but she forced herself to remain still, breathing evenly as she continued to catalog her surroundings.
The antiseptic smell.The soft hum of medical equipment.The whisper of fabric as someone moved nearby.
Neural suppression at thirty-seven percent,a different voice reported.Significant deterioration from baseline.
Increase to fifty percent.We need her conscious but compliant for the assessment.
A mechanical whirring sounded near the back of her neck, and fresh pain bloomed where the mark was embedded.Etta couldn’t suppress a gasp as fire seemed to spread outward from the device, racing along her spine and into her skull.
Ah, there you are,the first voice said, almost pleasant now.Welcome back, Asset E5.
Etta’s eyes snapped open, meeting the cold gaze of a middle-aged man in a white lab coat.His thin lips curved in what might have been meant as a reassuring smile but that only emphasized the emptiness in his pale blue eyes.
Dr.Mercer,she whispered, the name surfacing from deep within her recovered memories.
Her childhood tormentor.The architect of her suffering.
Surprise flickered across his features before his professional mask returned.Interesting.Memory recovery more advanced than anticipated.He made a note on his tablet.When did you first remember my name, E5?
My name,she said, her voice raspy,is Eliana Thornwood.
Dr.Mercer’s eyebrows rose.Even more interesting.Personality integration showing signs of reject—
I am not your asset,Etta interrupted.I am a person.A wolf shifter.Daughter of Alexander and Katherine Thornwood of the Silverleaf Pack.
The doctor stepped back, gesturing to someone out of Etta’s line of sight.Increase neural suppression to sixty percent.Subject demonstrating dangerous levels of self-awareness.
The device at the base of her skull seemed to burrow deeper into her nervous system.Etta screamed, her body arching against the restraints, muscles spasming as the device fought to suppress her true nature.
That’s better,Dr.Mercer said as she collapsed back against the table, gasping for breath.Now, Asset E5, I need you to report.What triggered this memory recovery?
Etta wanted to resist, to spit defiance in his face.But the pain was overwhelming, and somewhere in the haze, she felt something else—a compulsion, a pressure in her mind pushing her to respond.
The newspaper archives,she heard herself saying, the words slipping out against her will.Articles about missing shifter children.Then proximity to A.Hamilton triggered a partial shift response, accelerating chemical deterioration and a memory cascade.
Dr.Mercer nodded, making more notes.As theorized.The mate bond overrode the chemical suppression more rapidly than anticipated.He looked up at her again, his gaze clinical, assessing.What else do you remember?Be specific.
The compulsion tightened its grip on her mind, forcing words through her unwilling lips.The Chimera Program.The experiments.The other children.My training as an intelligence asset.My placement in the Sunburst Pack territory.
With each word, more memories crystallized, sharp and agonizing.Children strapped to tables like the one she was on now.Needles and electrodes and endless pain.Trigger phrases embedded deep in her psyche, forcing her to observe, record, betray.
For the first time, she saw the full extent of what had been done to her—and what she, in turn, had done to the Sunburst Pack.
Every interview, every casual conversation had been a data-gathering operation.Every trust she’d gained had been weaponized, the information fed back to the Chimera Program without her conscious knowledge.
She’d mapped their security vulnerabilities.Documented their pack hierarchies.Identified their strengths and weaknesses, all to serve an organization dedicated to controlling or eliminating their kind.
I thought I was a journalist,she whispered, horror washing through her as the full implications settled in her mind.But I was a spy.A traitor.
You were a tool,Dr.Mercer corrected dispassionately.He gave a small, satisfied smile.An exceptionally well-designed one.The integration of your journalistic skills with our intelligence programming created an asset of unprecedented effectiveness.The data you gathered on the Sunburst Pack has exceeded our expectations.
Bile rose in Etta’s throat.Why?What do you want with them?
Control,he said simply.Wolf shifters represent both a potential resource and a potential threat.Understanding your social structures, hierarchies, and abilities allows us to develop more effective methods of containment and utilization.
We’re not animals to be contained,Etta hissed.We’re people.
