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His knuckles rapped against the metal. “This is the problem. When we remove this, you will fall under our control just as everyone else has.”

“You remove that, and I die,” said Octavia.

“Then it is a win for us.”

She hissed air through her teeth. “Better that than be a slave to your orders, like those soldiers.” She glared at the two men by the door. “Aren’t you listening to this? He’s tricking you. You’re being fooled.”

Commander West yanked her head back. “Shut your filthy mouth before I do it for you.”

There was a knock at the door. The man who’d been sitting behind the processing desk entered and handed Commander West a port screen. “That’s everything we have on her.” He left the room without glancing at Octavia.

Commander West dropped his hold on Octavia’s head. He spent a few moments scanning through the port screen. His lips pursed as he read the information.

Octavia took several deep breaths to calm her racing heart. There had to be a way out. Even if she died trying, she would not fall prey to these monsters.

“It now makes sense why you could break through our systems. You have an impressive background in undercover work. It took several hours to disable and bring down the agency you were once a part of.”

Octavia didn’t respond.

“It says here you have nobody. Your parents are dead and you are an only child. I imagine that must be lonely. Perhaps this is an excuse you can use as to why you joined the resistance. You were seeking a family.”

Again, she remained silent.

Commander West placed the port screen on the table. “You can be a part of our family if you’d like to be.”

“There’s not a hope in hell of that ever happening.”

“You might think differently once we’ve spent time together.”

She hid her surprise at his sudden change in tone, and stared at the wall.

“I have just the thing for you.” Commander West sat in the seat opposite her. “We require your skills. You will be an asset working for us.”

“I will never work for you.”

“You will,” said Commander West. “Once we’ve removed that metal plate in your head and performed a mind wipe on you. I think you will see things in a very different light.”

Octavia’s head shot up as horror coursed through her veins. “There’s no fucking way you’re mind wiping me.” Mind wipes were brutal and often unsuccessful. You either ended up a basket case or a blank-gazed moron, like the soldiers.

Commander West nodded. “We are not as malicious a species as the Ember brothers and their resistance fighters paint us as. Our medical techniques are advanced. We will remove the metal and replace it with a synthetic material that is not immune to our methods of integration.”

“Mind manipulation, you mean.”

“Call it what you like. Once that is in place, we can conduct a mind wipe. It will remove your memories of your time in the resistance. You will be compliant and willing to all my wishes.” His grin turned feral. “What do you think of that?”

“As I said before, you might as well kill me now.”

He shook his head. “No. Even though you have betrayed us, you can still be of value.” Commander West looked at the soldiers. “Take her to the medical room and have her prepped for a mind wipe.”