I awoke to find myself in an awkward pose. A hard metal chair with arm and leg cuffs wasn’t exactly my ideal bed. I blinked twice to clear my vision before looking up. I was in a dark and damp room, and I believed myself to be alone. That was, until a single lightbulb was turned on by a thin string with a knot at the end of it. The shadow from the swinging string made it look like it was a dancing fire

I gulped. So this was the Boss’s interrogation room. I mean, it did look like an interrogation room.

The walls were all cement. There were no windows whatsoever. The only other furniture in the room was a steel table, and a chair, which sat a man.

Well, if the room looked like an interrogation room, the man did not. He looked like a tired businessman who needed some coffee or something. His brown hair had streaks of grey running through it, and his tan coat was unbuttoned, lying loosely on his shoulders. His white collared shirt was wrinkled, and his grey bowler hat was lying on the table.

I stared at him. He definitely was not what I expected from the image I had received by the fierceness of the guards when they said his name.

He looked back at me, his grey eyes unmoving and showing no emotion.

I heard footsteps behind me. I cranked my neck to the left to see a guard holding a folder step up to the desk, give a slight bow, and lay the manilla pad on the desk. “His portfolio, Mr. Remington.”

“Thank you.” His voice was deep and stern. That at least matched the forlorn and dooming look of the room. He slid the folder over to the middle of the desk, and flipped it open. “Ainslyn Tadashi Paine,” he said in a monotone voice, and I glared at him.

It wasn’t my fault my name was so horrible. It wasn’t my parents’ either. In Kachino, the government always chose the names of the children who were born. But really, who had a name like Ainslyn? And Paine just made it ten times worse.

“You are thirteen, correct?” He looked at me again, and spoke in that same firm monotone that was beginning to get on my nerves.

“Yes sir,” I answered bitterly. Why did he want me to answer? He had all my info right in front of him!

He then read, “The only son and firstborn of Alder Stone Dorian and Bellamy Rowan Kingsley.” He said it as a fact, but looked up at me to reply an affirmative.

I nodded, trying to get my last memory of my parents out of my head. Every time I thought of it, I recoiled with everything in me, a sick, horrid sensation filling my stomach. I had— my thoughts were broken as I was being confronted with yet another question. This time, I was half glad for the interruption.

“You came here almost a year ago — when you were twelve, correct?”

I narrowed my eyes. What was with this man’s tone?! His calmness was grating. “Would you stop talking like that?!” I finally snapped in answer to his question. “It’s really getting on my nerves!”

There was silence for a minute. I expected a slap to the face, or maybe some type of torture mechanism to be brought out, but no one moved. I shifted uncomfortably as Remington continued to stare at me. .

He spoke again, in the same tone.“You came here almost a year ago — when you were twelve, correct?”

I was taken aback. He didn’t even seem fazed that I was being rude to him. His lack of emotion — any emotion — was starting to frustrate me. “Yes.” I managed to choke down an angry insult and answer him instead. He’d probably respond the same way anyway.

“You are here for breaking code 378, are you not?”

So, that was the code one broke when they invented something from their own creativity. I had made myself a new type of pocket knife! What on earth was so wrong with that?! I choked out another affirmative reply.

“And you have a sister named Mai Maritza Saki?”

My eyes flashed, and my fists tightened. He wouldn’t bring my sister into this! I leaned forward, straining to break the cuffs which held my arms. “I’ll tell you nothing about my sister!”

For the first time, the man sighed. He shut my folder, and put his arms on the table, leaning slightly forward. “Well, let me tell you this about your sister, Ainslyn Paine.”

My heart rate flew up, and I could finally see some type of emotion in the man’s eyes. Triumph. Bitter triumph.

“I know you — inventor types—” he said in a tone that was close to his usual, but which I could tell had a bit of a sneer in it. “Think you know it all. But let me tell you this — your sister will be terminated!”

I fell back in the chair shocked. What would make someone want to kill an innocent eleven year old girl?! And I had promised her — I couldn’t let them kill her! “No,” I moaned, the shock of the knowledge rendering me almost helpless. “You… you can’t.”

“Of course, there is always something we could do… like make a trade.” He paused, and a small smile curled at his lips.

I found myself leaning forward again, grasping the cold arms of the chair. It felt good on my sweaty hands. “W-what trade?”

“You agree to help me out, willingly, and of your own free will. I have a… special project which I need help on.”

“What… what do I have to do?!” I asked almost breathlessly. I would do anything for my sister. “And… and what will you do for my sister?!”

“If you agree to work for me, then by the time you accomplish this first special project of mine, then your pretty little sister will be freed. Until then, she shall be kept by the government. And if you don’t accept my terms—” He folded his hands on the table. “—I’m afraid you both shall be terminated.”

Terminated?! I couldn’t let that happen — I couldn’t! “What do I do?” I asked then. Surely… surely it wouldn’t be too hard.

“Is it a deal, then?” Remington leaned forward as he awaited my response. Something told me that I wasn’t going to get any more information unless I gave a reply.

I bit down on my lip, and looked around. Two guards stood a little ways back on either side of my chair. Neither of them seemed to care what I said, only that they did their jobs. I looked back at the man in front of me, eagerly leaning forward, with his hands clasped. I looked at my curled fists. No matter what it was… it couldn’t be as bad as watching my sister die. I would do this… This was for my sister. “Yes.”