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morning. My daily cup of broth sits cold on the table beside my bed, and my feet have been unshackled. I’ve never slept through the morning visit from the nurse before, so it’s a testament to how exhausting yesterday’s testing proved to be. The one bright spot was Sam. Though I knew it’d be difficult, I hoped I could be given a chance to become a soldier. Surely anything was better than living in a drugged stupor. I would just need to find a way to avoid becoming Kane’s target.
    I dr ink the cold broth and feel Willow watching me.
    “Where were you?” S he eyes me accusingly.
    I can still smell the chlorine on my skin and know it would be no use lying to her. “They took me for testing.” I leave out the parts where they tried to drown me and about seeing how the soldiers lived. Meeting Will and Sam had started to change my mind ever so slightly about this place – but Willow couldn’t know that. She has no chance of getting out.
    The cat I’ve seen wandering, Tuesday, she’s called, hops up onto my lap, kneading my stomach with her paws. I never understood why cats did this. I watch her work with a smirk on my face. Willow clears her throat and when I look over at her, I swear I catch a bit of jealousy on her face.
    Before I ha ve time to process what it means, the door swings open. It’s time for the next dosage. A nurse I haven’t seen before begins making her rounds, going from bed to bed with a tray of syringes. When she reaches my bed, she grabs my wrist to verify. “5491, you’re to report to the lab for testing.”
    I nod and pull the blankets from my legs. I breathe a sigh of relief at not being stuck with a needle again, but begin to worry that I’ll have to spend the day with Kane.
    “I’ll walk you there as soon as I’m through.”
    She goes to Willow’s bed next. I feel bad that Willow didn’t have the opportunity to pretend she was still sleeping, since we’d been sitting up talking. She presses the needle to Willow’s arm, and I wince. I carry Tuesday to Willow’s bed and tuck her in safely by her side. I stand there, smoothing my hand over Tuesday’s fur and Willow’s hair, until the nurse is ready to escort me down the hall, and Willow’s eyes begin falling closed.
    Just before I turn to follow the nurse from the room, Willow grabs my hand. “Be careful, Eve.” Her voice is thick and groggy.
    I nod and squeeze her hand.
    ** *
    The nurse brings me to the lab I was in yesterday, disappearing as soon as I’m in front of the door. I enter to a confused looking Dr. Nolan and stand beside the data terminal I was stationed at yesterday. “So, how’d I do, Doc?”
    He looks up , and his eyes narrow, like I’m a puzzle he’s trying to solve.
    “Well,” he draws out the word, “that’s the thing.” He sets down the papers he’s been reading. “Didn’t really learn much.” He releases a deep sigh. “O’Donovan’s not happy with me. But the thing is – your brain just seems to work differently.” 
    I consider his words, but they have no meaning. I know I am painfully normal, that’s the main thing about me. I’ve never stood out in any way, from smarts, to looks, to personality, to athleticism. I’ve always been average – at best. “So, what are we going to do today? More tests?”
    He pats the stool across from him. “Come sit down.”
    I climb onto the stool.
    “How much do you know about your father?”
    His question knocks me back; it was not at all what I was expecting. “Hardly anything. My mother didn’t talk about him much, and I’ve never met him.”
    At this, his mouth quirks.
    I’m feeling brave, and so I ask, “What do you know about my father?”
    His smile falters and his Adam’s apple bobs, like I’ve somehow made him nervous. “That’s not … I can’t.”
    “You know something.” I look him straight in the eye, refusing to back down.
    “Eve.”
    “Please. I need to know.”
    He presses the intercom button. “She’s all