赤裸裸的滑稽故事

Now, from Alice’s perspective, Ashleigh had broken their agreement.

She had kept secrets, asked Maeve to work for her, and encouraged her to lie to Alice to conceal the truth about what Ashleigh was doing here.

Alice had every right to come in with anger and aggression. She had every right to question both Maeve and Ashleigh.

Even during this conversation, as Alice gave Ashleigh another chance for honesty, she kept quiet.

And Maeve chose to stand between them in defense of Ashleigh. This only confirmed Alice’s original concerns about Maeve’s loyalty to Ashleigh becoming an issue.

Alice had no reason to give Ashleigh any more leeway.

But Alice had waited. She had come here quietly to find out the truth. Giving Ashleigh a chance to explain before she took any kind of action.

“Well, Ashleigh?” Alice called to her with a heavy sigh as she crossed her arms.

Ashleigh saw it again at that moment, the disappointment in Alice’s expression, in her tone. Alice didn’t enjoy being lied to but expected it from everyone. That was how she had always been. So, it shocked Ashleigh to realize that Alice had honestly been surprised by the lies she had told her.

For the past year, Ashleigh had genuinely worked on the relationship. She had been as upfront as she could with Alice and gone out of her way to push aside her past prejudices.

In fact, as far as she could remember, she had not lied to Alice once since they had come to their agreement. Only when Caleb returned.

She never intended to break Alice’s trust. She didn’t think keeping the truth about Caleb quiet for a little while would be a big deal. Just as having Maeve attend the meeting in her place was no big deal.

‘It’s never an intention,’ Ashleigh heard Alice say in her memory, ‘Not with you or anyone else who wields that loyalty and power.’

Ashleigh took a deep breath and swallowed. She looked away. Alice was right. All the past mistakes she had made, each time she hurt the people she loved, it had always started with the best of intentions.

“Nothing to say?” Alice asked.

Ashleigh closed her eyes.

“The simulation ended,” she said softly.

“What?” Alice asked.

Ashleigh took another deep breath and sighed.

“Three years ago,” she began. “When I returned home for the first time and tried to visit the treehouse…”

Ashleigh paused. She licked her lips and continued.

“I couldn’t go in. It was too much,” she said. “I struggled for a few days. I thought no one saw, but one of the Summer wolves did.”

Alice was listening, as was Maeve.

“Raj, a good friend to Caleb,” Ashleigh continued. “He had been working on a special project for Caleb around the time we met… one that had been put on hold after the first fae attacks.”

Ashleigh crossed her arms over her chest as she continued.

“It was intended to help with PTSD through simulations and immersive therapy, a way to slowly process whatever held the patient back.”

Ashleigh leaned back against the wall.

“When Raj saw that I was still struggling without Caleb, he approached me. He told me about the project. Afterward, he and I worked together to match me to the device. He continued to work on it while I got back to controlling the fae worldwide. After a few months, Raj called me back to Summer, and I was fitted for the device.”

“Fitted how?” Maeve asked.

Ashleigh looked up and gave a gentle smile.

“An upgrade and a minor procedure,” she replied, looking down at her hand resting on her forearm.

Alice narrowed her eyes. She looked down at Ashleigh’s hand.

Ashleigh felt the gaze. She uncrossed her arms and turned her wrist so her palms faced up. She gently touched a spot at the base of her thumb. When Alice looked closely, she could see the faint line of a scar.

Alice raised her eyes to meet Ashleigh’s.

“I thought only Galen and Caleb ever had them implanted?” she asked.

Ashleigh nodded.

“The wolves of Summer all still use temporary neural links, a small device placed against the temple while in use. Caleb had planned to eventually have the implant rolled out to everyone for more efficient communication between pack members during emergencies. But there was still a lot more he wanted to be tested before that could happen. Including things like the program that Raj created.”

“Why hasn’t it been rolled out in the past five years?” Maeve asked. “Seems like a decent amount of time to work out the kinks.”

“The priority for the past five years has been controlling the spread of the fae and restructuring the packs in our territories. Many Summer projects have been put on hold if they are not directly related to those goals,” Ashleigh replied.

“But they made an exception for you three years ago?” Alice asked.

Ashleigh looked at Alice and then lowered her eyes.

Alice clenched her jaw.

“Did Fiona and Galen even know about this?” Alice asked.

Ashleigh shook her head.

Alice sighed and looked away.

She knew that revealing this to Alice would make it harder for her to believe that Ashleigh had no intention of breaking their agreement. Still, she needed to understand the reason for Ashleigh's behavior in the days leading to Caleb’s reappearance and since.

Maeve looked between the two women she profoundly respected and cared for. She could see that the rift between them was growing. She needed to try and bring them back into focus.

“You said something about a simulation ending,” Maeve said. “What’s that mean?”

Ashleigh took a breath.

“Raj adapted the guided imagery and immersive therapy protocols to my needs,” she said. “They pulled from memories, moments that I could replay as if it were happening in real-time.”

She paused, looking at Maeve.

“He made it so I could see Caleb again,” she said. “So, I could feel him with me. I could see him beside me even if no one else could. I could talk to him, share my thoughts, fears, concerns.”

Ashleigh closed her eyes and smiled.

“I couldn’t touch him or make new memories… It wasn’t really him. I knew that. But he was created from all our shared moments, so talking to him was like the real thing.”

Maeve gently touched Ashleigh’s arm, giving her a soft and comforting smile.

“That’s beautiful,” she whispered.

“He made you a doll,” Alice said.

Ashleigh turned to Alice with furrowed brows.

“That’s not—” Ashleigh began to say.

“He wasn’t real,” Alice interrupted. “No thoughts of his own. No existence or purpose away from what you programmed him to be. He was made to your specifications. To be exactly what you needed and wanted.”

Ashleigh swallowed.

"He was a doll," Alice stated. "Specially made just for you."