Dr. Ellis sat on the couch. She didn't touch the coffee Rebecca offered.
“I need to test your team,” she said. “See if you're ready for what's coming.”
“What's coming?” Julian asked.
“The fragments are getting smarter. They're learning to hide. To fight back. One of them is different. It thinks.”
“A fragment that thinks?”
“I call it the Strategist. It's been moving from host to host for twenty years. Every time we get close, it jumps to someone new.”
Maya held up her Seeker. “I don't feel it.”
“Because it knows how to hide from Seekers. It learned that from me.”
Dara crossed her arms. “You trained it?”
“I created the fragment. I didn't train it. It trained itself.”
The Test
Dr. Ellis stood. “Line up. I'll touch each of you. I'll see your weaknesses. Then I'll tell you if you can
