More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Almost everybody called her Eve. At first glance, you might’ve mistaken her for human. She wouldn’t have liked that much.
The dead don’t fight another day, she reminded herself. Just because they’re like you, doesn’t make them crew. She missed Evie, she realized. She missed Ezekiel and Cricket and the feeling she was wrapped up in a story much bigger than herself. It was easier back then, just being the sidekick. Dragged along for the ride, expected to contribute nothing more than the occasional quip and maybe a shoulder to cry on. Her shoulders weren’t strong enough for anything else, after all. She wasn’t big enough to do this on her own. Was she?
Be careful what you wish for. Cricket knew this song like he knew his own name.
Of the thirteen lifelikes in the 100-Series, they were the six that remained. Raphael had burned himself alive. Grace had been destroyed in the explosion that had wounded the real Ana and set their maker on his road to ruin. Daniel and Michael had been killed by Myriad during the revolt. Hope had been murdered by the Preacher. Mercy had been burned to death by Silas Carpenter during the brawl in the Myriad chamber. Ezekiel had abandoned them. Six of them left. And no one like them in all the world.
“I live by a code.” Preacher spat again. “Daedalus saved my life. Don’t mistake loyalty for servitude, boy.” “Don’t mistake utility for affection, old man. Take it from someone who used to be a something. You’re useful to Daedalus right now. The minute you stop is the minute they throw you away.”
“Folks always need someone to hate. Usually someone different. If we can’t find an Other, we make one up. It’s just the way people are.” “NOT ALL OF YOU. NOT THE ONES I’VE KNOWN.”
“There’s no one like you in all the world,” he said. “And you’ve been frightened far too long. People fear what’s different. People fear what they can’t control. People fear the future. And that’s what you are, Miss Fresh. The future.” The Major nodded, that pale blue stare boring into her own. “And they should be afraid of you. Because you are not alone.”
Four simple words. Four enormous words. Four words she couldn’t remember ever hearing or thinking or believing before in her entire life. You are not alone.
“So that’s us. We’re the change. The next step in the chain. Homo superior.”
“I learned m-my father wasn’t my father,” she said, voice growing stronger. “My mind wasn’t my mind and my life w-wasn’t my life. I learned … the people I l-loved didn’t love me at all. And everything I believed was a lie.”
“When you’ve lost everything,” she whispered, “you’re free to do anything.”
“WELL, YES, OF COURSE YOU DO,” Solomon sighed. “BUT THERE’S THE LETTER OF THE LAW, AND THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW. AND ALL THE LOVELY GRAY IN BETWEEN.”
“Wouldn’a needed savin’ if not for you, Snowflake,” Preacher said. Ezekiel pressed the shotgun hard into the bounty hunter’s throat. “My name,” he said softly, “is Ezekiel.”
