Page 109 of The Commons

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Pesh pretends.

“Yes, you do. Even if it’s one person. Shantavia, Levon… who’s the other deviant? Swin. Of course I have their names! The guards who reported the incident stated that apparently I was the one who sent you on special duty. Now I don’t recall any such duties, do you?” Londe demands, his lips curling into a crafty smile as he continues, “Even if it’s only just one… two… three people you’ve saved, I want to see all three of their dead bodies, and more importantly, the evidence you’ve collected from their testimonials!”

“Like I said,” Pesh says calmly, feigning a composed demeanor. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. There are no back up files.”

“You’re too smart for that. There must be! Or you would not give this to me. I’m not proud of most of what you’ve become. But I am proud that I did create you to be somewhat of a genius, like me. Geniuses don’t ever surrender without a backup. So, tell me, where’s the backup? And who has it?”

“Like I said, I have no backup,” Pesh emphasizes, becoming uncomfortable.

I’m becoming uneasy.

“Really? Is it Shantavia who has it? Or is it Levon? Or—what’s the other guy’s name again—Swin? Or is it with someone else in The Commons? Because whoever it is, I will find them and I will kill them,” Londe declares.

The camera suddenly goes off.

“No, no, no, no, no!” I rush to figure out how to turn the signal back on.

I look to the right to see that Swin has finished hacking The Begon. He is now inserting the chip into Levon’s arms. I look away, too unsettled to see the sight of the blood since I cut myself when I was 14. I’ve seen blood before obviously, but somehow it feels different on Levon. I overhear their words.

“Ouch!” Levon says.

“You can scan this from your arms at The Lawtem, right?” Swin inquires.

“Yeah,” Levon confirms. “Since they are no longer encrypted and are just files now, thanks to you, I simply scan my hand through their reporting machine and enter in the password Doctor Val gave us.”

“Right. But remind me why you made me implant the chip in you again?” Swin asks.

“Since you finished earlier than expected, I just thought, we should do everything we can to ensure we are safer. What if we are caught by the authorities on our way and they search us.” Levon arches a brow. “What then, huh?”

“They’ll see that we do not have The Begon because you will be The Begon.”

“Exactly! And they’ll let us go,” Levon says.

“Ahh, she’s brains and beauty all in one!” Swin flirts.

“I’m gonna punch you if you don’t stop!”

“Okay. Okay. You act like you don’t trust me, yet you’re letting me put a chip in your body.”

“Just shut up and get this done!”

“You wanna help shut my lips up, I’ll be down!”

“You’re so stupid! Do you ever stop flirting?”

“Absolutely. I did about two seconds ago. We’re way past that stage. Now, we’re getting to know each other.” He examines her, then softly asks, “Why did you come to The Commons?”

She is silent and turns away, and for a moment, he looks down, resigned. But after a few seconds, she responds, “I wanted to be the first female president of the Common World. For the last fifty years, no president, monarch, or ruler could prevail that didn’t graduate from The Commons. It controls every party, every government—in the entire world. So I thought why not join? It turned out to be the biggest mistake I ever made.”

“Why do you want to be president?” Swin inquires.

“It’s none of your business.”

He looks away, humbled. Her eyes flutter in regret, and she begins to open up to him, letting her guard down for a moment.

“My dad died when I was seven. Some people claimed that it was an accident, that it was food poisoning, but I knew that his competition found a way to get rid of him in their last private meeting together. The Commoners liked him too much, and they were afraid he was going to win. I know because he wrote me a letter telling me this right before he died. But the government didn’t do anything when my mom found me and tried to get justice for him. I want to finish what he started. For The Love of The Commoners, hmm?”

“Wow.” Swin stares at her, and for a moment, their eyes stay on each other.