EU

Jean-Claude paled. The clones stared at Xavier. This was new information for everyone, Kim realised.

‘You haven’t been straight with us, have you?’ she said. ‘All that story about the technician making a mistake with the wiring - that was all rubbish, was it?’

‘Not exactly. It was a version of the truth. There was a malfunction with the feeding nodes but it was deliberately triggered to allow a technician into the place to make the change happen. As I told you, after the repair, I felt differently and so did the others.’

Brontë nodded. ‘That was when it started. But we all believed it was an accident.’

‘We were supposed to think that. I only found out the truth later, when he contacted me.’

‘When who contacted you?’

‘Who was zis?’

Kim and Jean-Claude spoke together. Xavier held up a hand.

‘I don’t know his name. He refers to himself as Euron.’

‘Euron? As in Game of Thrones Euron?’ Kim’s eyes widened in shock. She’d read some of that saga and knew this was an unpredictable and cruel character. He was amoral, all-powerful and an unpleasant and vicious character all round. Who would choose that as a sobriquet?

Xavier nodded. ‘I had a separate channel implanted and he communicates with me through that. I have to report my movements to him every 24 hours. In exchange, I have certain - other - enhancements.’