Silver Elite: Chapter 12-13

[penwalla]

Wren's bed has been delivered to her barracks. She tells us she's planning to escape, but doesn't have any idea how, and the next morning we go to some kind of geography class. In this world, nuclear bombings destroyed most of the continent during the Last War. We appear to be in the USA, since the places are named things like "New Virginia" and "South Ontario".

Wren is talking to Kaine, the flirty guy, about Carora, another continent that their country hasn't been able to establish outposts in. I think it's meant to be South America.

Unfortunately, we break from mediocre worldbuilding to...more banter. You see, Roe, the General's bastard from last chapter here. So far, Roe sucks, because he is friends with Anson, a recruit whose only on-page trait is being a sexual predator.

“What?” I say when he continues to stare.

“Anson thinks you’re the sexiest woman here.”

“Is that so?”

“Indeed…” He trails off thoughtfully. “I think I disagree with him.”

I step forward as the line moves. “Thanks for letting me know. I was wondering where I stood in the hierarchy of sex appeal among recruits. Now I know.”

He chuckles. “Ah. I see it now.”

“What?”

“What makes you appealing to him.” He leans closer. “Because you’re a complete quat.”

I can’t stop a snort. “Who taught you how to flirt?”

“I’m not flirting. I don’t want to fuck you.”

“Thanks for clarifying that, too. I was in the throes of lust for you until you said that.”

Scintillating dialogue. Truly.

We now move on to Shielding, a class that Wren has been dreading. She touches base with Tana mentally while she waits for class to start, and learns her home ward is under close scrutiny. Then class starts. The instructor starts writing down all the kinds of Aberrants in this world on the board. These include telepaths, projectors, mind readers, healers, empaths, precogs, and inciters.

What is the difference between mind readers and telepaths? And what is the difference between those two and projectors?

The book does not explain any of this. But we do learn there was a former President named Severn who was an inciter, which seems to be the catalyst for the current anti-inciter sentiment.

They start learning to shield. And then, they bring in a Modified woman. Chapter end.

Eh, this is a short one. Let's keep going.

Next chapter opens with Wren telling us about the history of the world again. It seems General Redden took power after something called The Coup, where he executed Severn and then started genociding all the Aberrant. The ones who pledged loyalty were tattooed, and the ones who were enslaved were also tattooed.

The woman they've brought is a slave, and her purpose is to test their shields. But before we get to that, I have a complaint.

She must be a powerful mind reader like Jayde Valence. No other reason the General would allow a Mod on his precious military base. Beneficial Mods are typically used as manpower and sent to labor camps, but not always. It’s no secret Redden is sickened by our blood and would rather all of us be eliminated, especially those with the gift of telepathy, as he believes they can plot against him more easily.

But he’s also not a fool. His strategist’s mind appreciates that some of us can be used as weapons, although I’m sure he much prefers the weapons who are loyal to him, like Jayde. Not that it matters either way. Even the loyalists who are allowed to live in society hold fewer rights than Primes. For a quarter century, unconcealed Mods have been second-class citizens.

It's one thing for Wren to speculate about the state of her society, but it is weird for this person who by her own admission has lived a life in hiding to talk so confidently about Redden's thinking. She talks about Redden as if she personally knows him. And she's almost complimentary of him. I know this is the author trying to give us information about the world, but she's forgotten that the person giving us this info is Wren, a person who would and should hate Redden.

I feel like this is a problem I see often in bad first person novels.

Anyways, one of the recruits tries to refuse having his shield tested, but the instructor tells him it's not optional if he wants to be in Silver Block.

So the recruits go up one by one to be tested. Some of them are obviously terrified, and despite Wren literally being a Modified person herself, oppressed by these very people who killed her uncle like a week ago, she...feels bad for them.

And this is how she responds to Lyddie saying she doesn't want her mind read:

“And what if she touches me by accident?”

I can’t stop the disappointment that tightens my throat. I don’t know why I expected Lyddie to be more accepting. Maybe because I was starting to view her as a friend, and my friends would never worry about the dangers of me touching them.

I have to remind myself that she is a product of her upbringing. Her mother works for the Company. Her father, the Command. She was raised to hate and fear me.

Why is Wren so eager to befriend Lyddie? Or to befriend anyone? This is a huge shift in her character from earlier in the book with no clear catalyst or reasoning. We're not even a third of the way through the book yet. I don't understand it at all. A couple chapters ago, Wren was wracked with grief and guilt over her uncle's death. She tried to make eight soldiers shoot themselves. She's lived her entire life in fear of the military because she knows they would at best kill her if she is caught. So why isn't she mistrustful towards these recruits? Why doesn't she dislike these people trying to become members of the military force hunting her down? 

Oh, right, because the author is bad and this book is bad.

Anyways, Wren accidentally defends the Aberrant to her classmates and has to backpedal, and then she's up. Wren constructs a fake shield and empties her mind so she can fake not being good at shielding; she succeeds. She also really wants to link with her to ask her questions, but narrowly avoids making an obviously stupid decision.

Next scene.

While the rest of the recruits watch a movie, Wren goes to her bunk to brood about how everyone hates her for being an inciter and how sad that it. And like, I get it, but also being able to control people's minds and force them to kill themselves is an objectively bad thing. It would be one thing if Wren were like, I don't deserve to be punished because I don't want to hurt people, and it would be one thing if she were like, I only use my powers against others because I have no choice, but no, she literally says she could accidentally incite and kill someone she cared about.

Okay then.

Wolf links with Wren. I've changed my mind, I actually think Roe (the other Redden son from last chapter) is Wolf. I'm confident it has to be one of the two love interest coded guys.

Wolf tells her he had a long day and then tells Wren a story about herself that she told him, which is very awkward writing but has to be there so that Wren can tell us the real story at the same time. See, she and Jim were in the car having an argument, and she accidentally incited him and almost killed them both in a car accident.

Okay then. Are we supposed to be on Wren's side here?

Wren ends her convo with Wolf, which lasted one page, and runs into Kaine. Kaine takes Wren for a walk, leading her to the base's delivery gates, which are open with a motorcycle sitting beside them. Chapter end.