Z 2134
evidence had to be airtight, right? They couldn’t throw you out like they did me. No, you were a Watcher. So, what did they have on you, Jonah?”
“My daughter testified against me.”
Egan’s eyes went wide as his mouth split into a giant smile.
“Oh, reeeeeally?”
His cheeks twitched, but Jonah refused to satisfy Egan by revealing his anger.
“Your own daughter testified against you? She must’ve really hated you.”
“No,” Jonah shook his head. “She didn’t.”
“So, what was it then? Why would she help set you up? Was she corrupt like her daddy?”
“I don’t know how they did it,” Jonah said. “I suspect The State planted memories in her mind. A good friend of mine swears there’s a chip inside every citizen living behind the Walls, and that the Cities use these chips to plant false memories at will.”
“A chip?” Egan said, clearly trying to suppress a skeptical laugh as he raised an eyebrow. “And who is this friend?”
“Someone in The Underground. Name’s not important.”
“How could this friend possibly know about such a chip, if it really did exist?”
“I don’t know whether he actually knows or suspects.” Jonah shrugged. “He has plenty of conspiracy theories and no shortage of outlandish ideas, so it’s hard to know what to take seriously. I thought it was far-fetched until I stared at my daughter in the witness box, listening to her swear she saw me murder her mom in cold blood.”
“So you think they somehow corrupted your daughter’s memories?”
“I don’t know,” Jonah said, hoping honest answers would color him as cooperative or at least sympathetic, and that Egan might be more willing to grant leniency. “I can’t see any other reason why she’d testify as she did. She seemed so certain during the trial, so filled with rage — the sort of anger that could never be faked. I don’t think she was intentionally lying. She believed that she saw me murder Molly.”
“Hmmm,” Egan said, stroking his chin as if considering Jonah’s situation. “Why would The State want your wife murdered?”
“I’ve no idea.” Jonah shook his head.
“Did you have any information on The State, or Keller? Did they somehow discover your role in The Underground?”
“They questioned me on The Underground. I don’t know if they knew, someone told them, or perhaps it was just one of Keller’s many witch hunts.”
“Are the tunnels still open?” Egan asked. “Can The Underground still get people in and out of City 6?”
“They were working when I was arrested, but without me there, I don’t see how they could keep them running unless they had someone else — someone I didn’t know about — on the inside. They might be open, might be closed. Your guess is exactly as good as mine.”
“Could you find the tunnels now?”
Why is he asking this?
Egan’s people had to know many, if not most of the end points. There were catacombs and abandoned tunnels running beneath most of the land from The Barrens to The City, a winding maze few people knew well enough to navigate, but if Egan had been living here and receiving new citizens to his underground city, then surely he was aware of at least some of the tunnel locations.
Something wasn’t adding up. But Jonah would hide his suspicions for the moment, in hopes that Egan would spill some information that might shed light on the confusion.
Jonah looked Egan in the eyes. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know about my involvement with The Underground. However, I’m not willing to give away any information that might compromise the organization or put anyone’s lives at risk. I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry,” Egan said, then stared, just long enough for Jonah to start squirming in his seat.
Egan then stood up and looked down at Jonah. “The Underground sounds like quite the noble enterprise, helping people escape the treachery of The City. Yet, when I was forced into The Games, no one thought to help my family, no one came to retrieve my wife or children and usher them to the other side of the Walls. Why do you think that is, Lovecraft? Any theories you’d like to share?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t part of The Underground then. Maybe the tunnels weren’t operational, or maybe used only on rare occasions. All I can do is speculate, and I don’t see how that helps either of us.”
“So, if you had been with The Underground then, you’re saying you would have helped my family
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