“Yes, you can.” Nostrand’s voice sounded different from usual. Still hard and unyielding, but maybe the slightest bit quieter. “You can and you will, Locke. You know Jackson inside and out. That means you might just be the only one who can pull this off.”
“But I—” Chester’s lungs felt tight. “I?—”
“The entire situation with Solomon and Gutierrez is so unprecedented that the Council is willing to show Jackson some level of clemency,” Nostrand cut in. Chester’s heart leaped. “And you know how rare that is. If you can get Jackson to tell you where they are, the Council won’t burn him alive. They’ll attempt reeducation first.” His eyes narrowed. “Not many interrogators get the opportunity to save a dissident before they’re too far gone. Don’t screw it up, Locke. Jackson’s fate is on you.”
“So that’s how they did it,” Obie says.
On the mattress next to him, twenty-two-year-old Chester takes a moment to drag his eyes away from the memoryscape still playing out in front of them like a movie on a screen. “What?”
“How they got you to agree,” Obie says, nodding at where Memory Nostrand is explaining the assignment to an ashen Memory Chester. “They specifically tailored it to make it sound like you weresavingJJ—and that you were the only one who could pull it off. They made it sound like, if you truly cared about him, then you had to do it.” Obie meets Chester’s eyes. “Of course you agreed. You love JJ.”
Chester’s fingers tighten around Obie’s, but he doesn’t answer. Now that Obie has access to Chester’s memories, he doesn’t technically need the physical contact anymore, but he isn’t going to say anything unless Chester does.
Obie looks back at the sixteen-year-old Chester, frowning. There’s something different about him, something that was especially prominent right before Memory Nostrand walked into the room.
It was in Memory Chester’s shoulders, Obie thinks. They were more relaxed than Obie has ever seen on his own version of Chester. That hard edge in his eyes wasn’t there yet, and neither was the stony mask Obie is so familiar with. No, this Chester almost seemed…
Hopeful. Obie’s heart cracks a little. “You were so young.”
“I mean—” Chester’s shoulders hunch. “I guess. Sixteen isn’t reallythatyoung.”
“You were a child, Chester. By human standards, you were stillconsidered a child.” Cautiously, Obie rubs his thumb over Chester’s knuckles. “Do you want to skip ahead?”
Chester’s face was bloodless as he approached Room 16. On the other side of the one-way glass, JJ was already strapped to the interrogation table, his expression hard and his eyes fixed on the ceiling.
Chester’s hands started shaking again. He clenched them into fists to hide it.
This was going to be bad. He knew it was. JJ was going to hate him, especially at first.
But, as long as Chester got a confession, at least JJ would still be alivetohate him. Taking a deep, steadying breath, he forced himself to grab the doorknob and shoulder his way into the room.
JJ’s eyes shifted over to him, dark and shadowed. “Hey.”
His tone was curter and more distant than he’d ever used with Chester. Scowling, Chester stalked over to the interrogation table. “What the hell are you doing, JJ?”
“Right now?” JJ tested the restraints around his wrists. “Not much.”
“Jackson,”Chester snapped.
JJ scoffed. “Wow. Last-name basis already? You work fast,Locke.”
Chester fought back a flinch. “You’re right,” he said, hating how easily the words came out. Hating how smoothly his brain slipped into interrogator mode, into that delicate back-and-forth, into giving a little to get even more in return. “I’m just… frustrated, JJ. Andsoconfused. Just tell me what happened, man.”
JJ’s jaw tightened. “You know what happened. I’m sure the Council told you all about it.”
“We both know they exaggerate, Jayj. I want to hear it from you. The truth.”
“No, you want me to say something to incriminate myself,” JJ said, an edge creeping into his voice. “I know how this works, remember? You’ve told me about all your interrogation strategies.”
Damn it.Chester bit back a grimace. “Well, the Council told me that you tried to defect and join Sawyer and Naomi. But I’m certain that can’t be right, because the JJ I know wouldn’t do that. They betrayed us. Theyleftus.”
“No, they leftyou.”JJ’s eyes moved back to the ceiling. Away from Chester. “The night they left, they asked me to come with them. I—I said no. And I’ve regretted that every single day since then.”
“Why?” The word tasted like ashes on Chester’s lips. “Why would you regret that?”
JJ laughed bitterly. “Because at leasttheydidn’t look down on me—onus.At leasttheydidn’t ignore us and disdain us and outrightinsultus for daring to exist. The Sanctum doesn’t want us, Chester. They never did. They’ve been trying to get rid of their resident neophytes from the start. I didn’t—I didn’t realize just how much everyone hates us until now.”
“That… sounds accurate, actually,” Obie says, casting a sideways glance at the real-life Chester next to him. “Did JJ come up with that himself?”
