Efferent

Chapter 57

I took a deep breath and Blaise gently intwined his fingers with mine. When I looked over at him, he squeezed it gently. He mouthed go on, I'll be here with a small nod. It gave me confidence, and I pushed the door open, expecting the worst.

But it was not what I had expected. It was not even bad.

It was just Travis and James sitting together. But, they had not noticed us yet, both of their backs facing us as they looked out the window towards the faraway city. They were talking quietly, and I strained to hear their words as they discussed something.

"The Afferent. It is obvious." James stated quietly, and I frowned in synchronization with Blaise.

Travis nodded, his dark hair flopping down onto his eyes. "Yes. I do believe that we should not hold back any further. We both judged- it is enough."

James tilted his head backwards, staggering out his breath. His mouth moved to further the conversation, but I just had to sneeze. They turned around simultaneously, their hair whipping around, and James narrowed his eyes at us.

"Um, hey." I waved half heartedly. "We just wanted to, uh, ask..."

"If you wanted dinner." Blaise cut in smoothly, his hand gripping mine tighter. I squeezed back in response, and his stance relaxed slightly.

James still had a suspicious look on his face, and he exchanged glances with Travis, whose eyes were trained on our hands. I broke away from Blaise's hold, though, and he furrowed his eyebrows. "Very well, then." James said, breaking the silence. "We- ah, Travis and I, we have something to tell you both."

"Lead the way." Travis muttered. Blaise and James went ahead but Travis pulled me back, and positioned his body so that he was pinning me to the wall.

"W-what are you doing?" I asked quietly.

"What was that?" He hissed.

"What?" I asked, not understanding. Travis just stared at me blankly, before leaning in and speaking through clenched teeth. "Blaise?"

"It was nothing. He just- I do not know, did it?" The look on his face grew incredulous. I huffed, feeling cornered. "Whatever. What were you talking about with James, anyways?"

He stiffened, his eyes searching mine. Whatever he saw, it must have been good, because he obviously relaxed and leaned on the wall casually. "James will talk about it at dinner. Speaking of dinner, we are late." He raised his brow, and we walked towards the dining hall.

"No!" Blaise screamed hoarsely as we entered the room. "No!"

"What is wrong?" I asked. Blaise's eyes were wide with fury, his chest heaving as he gripped the china plate in his hands tightly. I walked up to him and pulled the plate out of his grasp before he decided to break it. "What happened?"

No one answered me. James smiled and calmly looked at Blaise, who was still fuming. Blaise grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him, and James's smile widened.

"What is going on?" I questioned. "Why is no one answering me?"

My temper rose as well, and I think they all noticed at the same time.

"Relax, Ardyn. I was just suggesting an idea to Blaise, but he did not react well to it." James said nonchalantly, as if a fight was not about to just break out in the room. I looked at Blaise, and his expression softened slightly.

"He-" Blaise started, but James cut him off.

"I would like you to leave, Blaise." His voice was still calm, placid, unfeeling. "Ardyn needs to make her own decision, without being influenced by your thoughts."

"Ardyn! Just say no!" Blaise pleaded, but Travis had already gripped his arms tightly, pulling him out of the room.

I took a deep breath again. "What were you planning to tell me?"

"Sit." James avoided the topic and pulled a chair out for me, gesturing for me to sit. I sat, and he placed a sandwich in front of me.

"So, Travis and I were thinking about a few matters, and we need your opinion on them. We also need you to join." He added, piquing my interest.

"Alright, what is it?" I leaned forward, and bit into my ham sandwich. Blaise gave a slight warning cry, but was soon silenced by Travis.

"Travis and I are planning to amass the Afferent together into an army." James started, and I nodded, already having known that. "But we are planning to use them to take down a city." I choked on my bread, eyes widened as I coughed violently.

"W-w-what?" I coughed harder. James did not seem fazed, instead, he seemed the exact opposite.

"The city, your city." James waved his hand airily.

I nodded again, but more cautiously this time. "Yes, alright, but why? What is the reason?" I was not sure what his motives were yet, and I decided to keep an open mind. James would not do anything wrong, or overboard, I was sure, and then placed the sandwich on the paper plate again.

"We need to gain control, we need to gain power, for the rebellion." James said simply.

I was wrong. It always came down to the need for power. I already have had enough of this, and I slammed my fist down on the table, standing upright.

"Power?" I spat. "Is that it? Is that what this is all about? Just power? Do you not have enough of that already?"

"No." James shook his head. "It is not enough. We need more soldiers to take down the government, after all. Afference is not always enough compared to large scale weapons. We do not stand a chance if we do not have specially trained soldiers."

I bit my lip and sat back down. "Is that it? I can agree to that." I said. Blaise probably would have agreed to this as well, so I did not understand why this came as such a large shock. "What is your plan for capturing the city?" I inquired.

"We want you to control them. Subdue them." James acknowledged my Efference. "And Clark will have a large part in this, as well as the other Afferent." He did not speak more, letting me connect the puzzle pieces in my head alone.

My eyes widened. "No." I grit out.

"No?" James raised an eyebrow. "Seconds ago, you were just saying yes."

"But, that was when I believed you had a plan that did not include slaughtering innocent civilians!" I exclaimed. James just shrugged, and my anger grew. How could he just sit there and talk about a massacre so calmly, so nonchalantly, as if he had no heart?

"What is the difference? Did you expect a calm negotiation?" James mocked. "Oh, governor, we need you to kneel down and let us rise to power over the city?" He laughed, and I winced away from the cruel sound. "No, Ardyn. As if. This is the only way to proceed."

"So, hundreds, maybe thousands of deaths do not concern you?" I shot back.

"Eh." James replied offhandedly, and my suspicion was confirmed. James had no pity, no feelings. All he had was a black hole where his heart was supposed to be. He was more like a machine, only made to think and proceed, but not to feel.

I averted my gaze from him and towards the floor. "I- I can not do this, James."

"Yes, you can!" James persuaded. "Imagine it, Ardyn, how successful we would become! Your Efference, combined with Clark's Afference... you two will be unbeatable, unstoppable, even!" He exclaimed. "Please think about it, Ardyn, this is my offer. You can become powerful. You can become my second in command!"

I sighed. "Give me the night to think on it, James. I will tell you my decision in the morning." I said, though I was already sure what my answer would be: No. But James had a winning smile on, one that already oozed out confidence, one that made it seem sure that he would win.

"And if you choose not to come, we will still proceed."