Contents
Chapter 28
Overview
Cross reveals that the hospital wards hold corrupted Primes, including children, and confirms Adrienne corrupted his mother. He urges Wren to abandon the war and flee with him. Wren, torn but resolute, refuses and commits to the Uprising. Their mutual love collides with opposing loyalties, ending in a painful separation.
Summary
Cross explains that many patients Wren saw at the hospital were not Mods but Primes, their minds failing like his mother’s. He cites confirmations from former loyalist Mods and Catherine De Velde of Biotech, claiming children’s wards are filled with corrupted Primes across the Continent. Wren denies mass corruption, invoking Adrienne’s assurances and the Authority’s constraints.
Pressed, Wren admits Adrienne corrupted Cross’s mother. Cross, devastated yet controlled, contrasts his mother’s gradual decline with his father Merrick Redden’s rapid collapse, and concludes the system is rotting. He rejects both sides and urges Wren to disappear with him that night.
Wren hesitates, weighing her ties to the Uprising, the rescued Mods, and ongoing Company atrocities. Cross insists escape is their only salvation, declaring his love and proposing they start anew. Wren reciprocates but challenges abandoning corrupted victims, including children, and Xavier, who remains tracked and imprisoned.
Cross argues the Continent may be beyond saving; Wren counters that she must fight after the executions and her family’s legacy of harm. When she refuses to flee, Cross, exhausted and disillusioned, questions their future. Rain falls as they acknowledge their love but choose different paths, ending with a fragile, unresolved parting.
Who Appears
- WrenProtagonist; admits Adrienne corrupted Cross’s mother, refuses to flee, chooses the Uprising over love.
- CrossReveals widespread Prime corruption and children’s wards; begs Wren to run; professes love; parts, broken.
- AdrienneUprising corrupter; confirmed by Wren to have corrupted Cross’s mother; accused of wider abuses.
- Catherine De VeldeHead of Biotech; guided Cross through wards, corroborating Prime corruption, including children.
- Merrick ReddenCross’s father; rapidly rendered catatonic after corruption; emblem of systemic brutality.
- Lyddie De VeldeCatherine’s daughter; earlier turned Wren in; her mention rekindles Wren’s anger.
- Travis ReddenCross’s brother; cited as valuing Prime lives but responsible for executions.
- XavierCross’s best friend inside the Uprising; tracked prisoner Wren refuses to abandon.