It felt like everyone in the room turned to look at Chal who nonchalantly examined his nails. He glanced up at the screen with a raised eyebrow before looking back down again dismissively.

If I didn’t know him so well, I would have assumed that he didn’t care about what was about to happen but I could tell that he was anxious. He picked compulsively at a loose bit of skin next to his thumbnail.

“I suppose I should start at the beginning but my story isn’t that simple,” Chal drawled on the screen. “I have been rebelling against the Council since I was a child but I have been actively working to bring them down for slightly less time. For a long time, my mother was the Chief Medical Officer for the Council. She was in charge of their health as well as the fitting and maintenance of their modifications.”

Tension crept around the room as he paused, waiting for his words to sink in.

It made sense but still, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“Yes, the Councillors all have mods, despite how harshly they’ve tried to crack down on them over the years. I believe in their last bulletin referred to mods as a ‘silent evil’. Well, obviously they don’t care too much about that. I understand their concerns, of course. With mods, it’s easier to communicate without your words being monitored or recorded by the listening devices that the Council hide in the wrist monitors which, of course, is something that a tyrannical, dictatorial society doesn’t freely like to encourage.”

A flicker of a smile crossed his face at his dig at the Council and I couldn’t stop myself from looking back at him.

He met my gaze, his lips ticking up in recognition of what he had done.

“Of course, people still get mods, as many of you know. It’s a necessary step in the training for a lot of people. Crew Seven Six One, for example, received their mods at a relatively early age whereas a lot of the other military personnel wait until they are older because they don’t have the skills, knowledge or ability to receive them sooner but I believe that the majority of the military population currently have mods. It makes them better soldiers, a more cohesive team, able to make and communicate their decisions quicker so the Council tends to look the other way,” he explained.

My leg started bobbing under the table.

I understood why Aquila had chosen Chal’s story to play just after the ID briefing. I wasn’t sure how she managed to pull it off, if she had hacked something or bribed someone, but this was a huge blow to people’s trust in the Council. Of course, most of the draftees and people in the military knew that others had mods but those who didn’t know… this was going to hit the Council hard and I couldn’t wait.

“Sorry,” Chal said on the screen, an apologetic smile coming over his face. “I’ve been specifically asked to make sure that my words aren’t inciting and are strictly factual. Ignore that line about the Council being nothing more than an authoritative dictatorship.”

Chal paused to smirk at the camera and I had to admire his courage. It was a ballsy move and a dangerous one too but he clearly didn’t care.

I glanced around the room to try and gauge their reactions. Most people looked awestruck, some entirely intimidated and I got it. What Chal was saying and doing was… impressive. Terrifyingly so. If the Council hadn't already wanted him dead at that point, I knew they would by the end of what he had to say.

“Throughout my childhood, I was trained predominantly by my parents and a few of their trusted friends. My father was also a doctor but he was much lower on the pecking order than my mother. He mostly treated the people who were being held hostage by the Council. You know, the ones they tortured for fun or information. It was his, and by extension, my job to help bring them back to health once the Council were finished with them for the day. And then, obviously, heal them back up the next day once the Council had finished with them again. It was a… eye-opening experience.”

He stopped again and I could tell he was reliving some of his memories.

I hadn’t known that about him. I hadn’t known he was so close to the Council. I mean, he’d mentioned something briefly years ago about how he was called Chal by his parents but once they moved closer to the Council Headquarters his name was changed to William to better fit in. Cas and he had shared a look at that time but I didn’t think anything of it. I didn’t see the understanding that passed between them.

“Things got a little harder once my father died. At least with him alive, we were able to sneak things to the prisoners. Food, analgesics, even information sometimes. But after they had him killed, the new doctor in charge of the prisoner’s care was… different. He quickly banned me from having contact with the prisoners and I was assigned to work with my mother full time. It was an easy job, our mods weren’t terrible and the upkeep was basically nonexistent but it allowed me some more freedom and I seized that and plotted my escape.”

I was rapt, unable to look away but painfully aware of Chal sitting a few seats away from me.

I wanted to say something to him. I wasn’t sure what but I wanted to say something.

“It wasn’t particularly hard. My mother had been teaching me how to create mods myself so that I could take over her role once I was old enough. They’re easy enough to do with the right equipment and, of course, easier to mess up. I’m not proud of my actions. I knew that the only way I would be allowed out of the Council building was if there was some kind of emergency evacuation. In the chaos, I would be able to slip free of my mother and the people she’d tasked to keep an eye on me so that’s what I orchestrated. All it took was a seemingly faulty mod which exploded at just the right time.”

Beside me, Peggy sucked in a gasp.

What? I thought, the hint of a memory tickling the back of my mind.

Something about his story was familiar but I wasn’t sure what.

Councillor Jacob, was all she said.

“Councillor Jacob. Perhaps the cruellest and most sadistic Councillor of my time, although Harvey would give him a run for his money. I’m not ashamed to say that my actions killed him but I am sorry that I caused Councillor Harvey to come into power and for that, I apologise to every single person living under his rule or suffering because of it,” Chal said gravely.

I turned to look at him that time but he didn’t meet my gaze. He was staring down at his hands, picking viciously at the skin around his nails again.

“Clearly,” Chal continued, “I was able to get away. I’d heard rumours of a fighters recruitment event not too far from the headquarters and once I got there and showed them what I had done, they took me in. I was trained on one of their ships, finally able to go to school and, once I graduated, I was able to purchase my own ship. The fighters asked me to cruise in the airspace around Nova, helping other kids who were in need of a doctor or who were looking for mods and I was happy to do so. I was able to provide them with the medical care that, under the Council rule, they would have never been allowed and I provided safe access to mods, preventing the deaths of thousands of children. And occasionally, when I wasn’t able to provide the care they needed or if they were unsafe returning to Nova, I transported them to safety.”

Aries, I need your screen, Peggy thought suddenly.

I turned to look at her. Her face was scrunched up, her eyes darting around wildly.

Is everything okay? I shot back, pushing it towards her.

No, I’ve just worked something out.

I looked past her, my eyes meeting Aquila’s.

She had been watching Peggy, a look of concern on her face, but her screen beeped softly and she looked down.

My skin started to prickle with fearful anticipation. Something was happening. Something bad.

“Oh no.”