Silas stood with his back to the wall and Tymas and Hugle on either side. It felt as though days were passing and every scream from Malina was another needle in his back. There had to be some kind of chemical or devise that kept her from calming down because she would not be controlled. Even though it looked like there were moments when she wanted to be. He wanted to help her, but she never looked at him.
The screen above her was running through its scenes a second time. There were pictures of her cell, girls and boys that she knew. The one of Marcus made her shriek and struggle both times she saw it. After she’d knocked him out they had removed him, although Silas wasn’t sure when. He just wasn’t in the room now. Silas’ head hurt trying to piece everything together.
It had seemed odd that Marcus survived the aftershock of the riot, but for Marcus to give up on everything he’d said didn’t feel right. Silas thought he was ready to die for the right to stand up against injustice. It must have been some deal to turn his back on what he believed and betray them.
Yet as much as Silas wanted to hate Marcus he couldn’t. He’d felt the same shock that Malina did, but she’d done something about it. He stood there watching, like he did in the woods. He should have pulled Malina away. They were so close, but he’d hesitated. Why did he have to freeze when he needed to act?
The same was true now. He wasn’t fighting, he wasn’t resisting. His sister was connected to the Machine and he was still doing nothing about it. The heavy hand of Tymas squeezed his shoulder and weighed down on him, but even without it Silas wasn’t sure he could move.
The door to the control room opened and a young man Silas had seen before came down the stairs. He was followed by Lemuel and Jamar. Silas watched them. Jamar’s face looked pinched and he didn’t look in Silas’ direction although Silas was certain Jamar knew he was there.
Lemuel snapped his fingers at the guards holding him and motioned them forward. Tymas snatched Silas’ right arm and Hugle grabbed the other. Together they propelled Silas across the room until he was right at the foot of the Machine. He tried to reach out but the grip on his arms only tightened.
“Bring him closer,” Lemuel said.
They pulled Silas into the bright beam concentrated on the Machine. He felt the heat from the light, but it did nothing to ward off the chill inside. The moment Malina saw Silas she stopped struggling, although her whole body shook.
“She’s not quite ready, but we’re getting much closer,” said a man in a white coat who was monitoring a bar graph of vitals on a small computer screen.
“Are you okay?” Silas asked, his voice catching in his throat. Her face was red from straining, sweat drenched her hair so that it stuck to her face. One strand had fallen across the center of her left eye and all Silas wanted was to brush it aside. But every time he tried to move they dragged him back another inch or two.
“Do you know you are the first happy memory I have?” Malina asked. A small tear leaked out of her left eye as she looked at him. “When Mother brought you home she told me I was not allowed to touch you. But you were so tiny. Your hands, your ears, your mouth. When she was resting I would sneak over to your blanket and you would wrap your fingers around mine. I thought you were perfect.”
“Don’t Malina,” Silas whispered. He could almost see her giving up in front of him.
She just smiled. “And the day you arrived at the Cartiam was the best day of my life. You were exactly as I remembered and you looked so scared. I--I was the one who spread the rumor about Sebastian’s babu.” She gave a small laugh. “I made the thing up and it worked. He left you alone. You were my soft spot. I wanted...I want you to be happy.”
Silas leaned closer. “If you knew that then why didn’t you make yourself a key?”
“Because I already had one....”
“Sir, she’s ready.”
“It was you.”
“Jamar, would you like to push the button?”
There was a loud click and then the whine of a drill. Malina gasped and shuddered. Silas heard a soft clink and a small, smoky glass ball, barely an inch around, rolled down a tube into a bucket. His face from different times appeared and disappeared in the smoke.
“Stop! No!” Silas tried to break free.
Malina jerked again and again as more glass balls flowed from the tube connected to her brain. The hum from the Machine increased with each one making the overhead light shine with intensity. She stared up at the ceiling and bit her lip. Her eyes not nearly as bright as they once were.
“You have to--Jamar! Stop this please! Let her go.”
Jamar just stared at Malina an unreadable expression on his face. None of Silas’ words seemed to register.
“If you want it to stop then why don’t you do something about it,” Lemuel said. “After all, it’s only because of you that she’s here.”
“What do you mean?” The question came from Jamar.
Lemuel waved his hand at Malina. “She’s nothing special. An average Car, with what looks like an average harvest. She could have just as easily gone to the farm.”
“Then why didn’t you let her go there?” Jamar asked.
“Him. He’s the only reason she was kept back. All you have to do is watch five minutes of his film. He looks at her, he talks to her and he would do anything for her, but he’s defective. You were right when you said he would need an intense event to bring his emotions out and that’s why she’s here.”
“If I’m the one you want then take me and let her go,” Silas said. He tore his eyes away from her and met the indifferent stare of Lemuel. He could hear more clinks of bigger glass balls rolling away, but perhaps it wasn’t too late.
Lemuel’s thin lips smirked. “I can do whatever I want to you. And I will.”
Silas was a cold, dull rock inside. He turned back to Malina and the draining memories. She wasn’t shuddering nearly as much. Although tears still streamed down her cheeks its flow was also not as strong. He just stared at her watching as the life in her eyes slipped away.
Then it was finished.
“Test him,” Lemuel said.
Silas knew what they would find. He was crushed inside, dead. Malina’s cheeks began to dry, her eyes stared at the ceiling and they looked like Silas felt. Hugle unhooked the head gear and unstrapped her limbs. Deep red marks on her forehead, wrists and ankles were all that was left as evidence of her struggle.
“Sit up,” Hugle said and she did so with her eyes not bothering to look at anyone.
“He still doesn’t register,” the doctor said.
“Well, we gave it a shot. Put him in isolation so he can think over what he’s done. Perhaps we can try other, more physical ways of getting to him.”
Tymas jerked his arm and pulled him away from the Machine. Silas moved but he didn’t notice anything until he was standing alone in a white exam room. All he could see was the look in Malina’s eyes when she saw him. It was his fault that she didn’t make it to the farm. He failed her and now he had nothing.