Limbo (The Last Humans Book 2) by Anna Zaires, Dima Zales Page A

wait. Let’s gather the Instructors and Mason’s more distant acquaintances.”
    “Sounds good.” Fiona squares her shoulders. “I’ll get Filomena and George to start. Meanwhile, you let the children go. They’ve missed enough of the festivities because of your impatience, and until and unless we bring his neural scan to the attention of the Council, ‘they’ also includes Theo.”
    Jeremiah storms out of the room without saying another word.
    The Screen goes blank.
    “Shit,” I whisper to Phoe. “Do you think they’ll take it to the Council? And if they do, how do you think they’ll vote?”
    “I don’t know,” Phoe says. “Which is why getting me more resources is a matter of priority. With more resources, I should be able to figure out a way to manipulate the Elderly without risking exposure to the Envoy.”
    I recall her talking about an idea she had, something to do with a very dubious-sounding Test the Adults take before they become the Elderly. Only then, her excuse for having me take the Test was to help her figure out where we are in the cosmos.
    “I’m not denying that knowing our current location in space and time is an important task,” Phoe says, pursing her lips. “But I’m insulted if you’re insinuating your wellbeing is less important to me in any way.”
    I realize I hinted at something like that, which is unfair to Phoe. She has literally been a lifesaver. Also, even if she is being a little self-serving when it comes to regaining her mental capacity, how can I blame her, especially after I just experienced Forgetting so intimately? Unsure how to verbalize any of this, I change the subject. “You said you could ‘aid’ in their investigation,” I say. “Can you tell me about that? ”
    “Ah.” She gives me an impish grin. “Remember that Keeper archive?”
    “Yes.”
    “When Jeremiah showed it to Fiona, he also, without meaning to, led me right to it.” She summons a chair and sits down. “Now I can plant this little pearl in there for him to find.”
    The Screen comes to life with a grainy image of a Council meeting.
    “Ladies and Gentlemen of the Council,” Fiona says in the recording. “Despite your vote, I urge you to reconsider.” Her eyes look sad. “You know I was against Theodore’s Forgetting.” She gives Jeremiah a seething look. “But this new turn of events—the torture of a Youth—”
    “Questioning,” Jeremiah corrects. “Persuasive questioning.”
    “Torture,” Fiona insists. “I find the very idea abhorrent. Why don’t you talk to the Envoy? There are other options when it comes to obtaining information. Perhaps the Lens of—”
    “I will not bother the Envoy with this matter,” Jeremiah says, his eyes beaming wrath. “He would want me to present him with answers and results, not problemsfor him to solve. You choose to ignore the fact that this Youth has resisted Punish, Forgetting, and a slew of other technologies. Why would the Lens of Truth be any different?”
    “Because—”
    Phoe waves her hand to pause the video, stopping Fiona mid-argument.
    “Don’t worry,” Phoe says. “What you just saw is not it. Quite the opposite. I will delete this part of the recording so thoroughly, even I won’t be able to find an echo of it ever again. I kept it to show you , so you’ll understand the context of what’s about to follow in the portion of the video I plan touse.”
    “This recording is from two days ago, right?” I subvocalize. “It’s from that meeting you made them Forget?”
    “Yes, it’s from that meeting,” Phoe says. “Fiona really was against them torturing you, as you saw. I recorded this because I wanted to know how they voted. Plus, I had some free time while you were in the IRES game. And now, my recording is about to pay big dividends.”
    With a motion, she fast-forwards the video.
    “This,” she says. “This is what I’ll cut out and stick in the archive.”
    She resumes the video.
    Fiona storms