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A telepath, thinks Anna. A telepath, the forbidden, the enemy that will slither into her and spread rot from her inner core cabling to the exterior of her body.
“Bring in the—Control,” Justin had said, moments before, which doesn’t seem like a very human name for a human telepath, but it doesn’t matter. She doesn’t matter. This futile attempt at reverting Anna to a weaker state will be torturous, and utterly unnecessary, but Anna can fight back against the Control’s desire to invade her mind. The Psi Corps had given the Shadows a clandestine, useful weapon, or so they claimed, which just rests on her “shoulders” as further proof that the Control must be destroyed. Soon, she thinks, Justin and the rest will realize that Control is no ally of theirs.
“I was like you,” says Control. Her blonde hair sways as she gestures to Anna. “My potential… trapped in the body of someone else… an inferior existence.”
“You were never like me.”
Control nods, and Anna realizes that the lack of a human name reflects Control’s presence in its entirety; no one here is human. Everyone has been altered to ascend from it. That, at least, is refreshing.
She takes her gloves off, slowly picking each finger free from the fabric, as she locks her eyes with Anna. Justin told her that this kind of eye contact is not typical among humans.
Control takes Anna’s bare hand; both frozen, only one hand trembling. “Let’s find out, hm?”