Fractured Read Online Free PDF

laughing! Celebrating.’ And because his smile is so infectious, so alive, mine follows. ‘You have to tell me: what finally released your memories?’
    And I shrink away from thinking of it. If he knows about Wayne, he’ll deal with him, like any other threat to one of his own. His own. I hug the belonging inside.
    ‘You were close a few times before, I could see it. I thought that whole thing with Ben would have done it.’
    Ben . His name brings a twist of agony. The hurt must be on my face.
    ‘Lose the pain: it makes you weak. Do you remember how, Rain? You march it to the door in your mind, and lock it up.’
    I shake my head. I don’t want to forget Ben. Do I? And some glimmer of my thoughts last night comes back to me: Nico and his ways are dangerous.
    I say out loud the thing that was there all along, hidden in plain sight in my mind, yet unrecognised. ‘You’re with the AGT, the Anti Government Terrorists. Aren’t you?’
    He raises an eyebrow. ‘You have been forgetting!’ He takes my hands in his. ‘Don’t use the Lorder name for us that way, Rain: we are Free UK. The teeth that Freedom UK was supposed to have in the Central Coalition, but never did. We are the splinter that hurts: I am, and so are you. The Lorders fear us. They’ll be on their way out, soon, and this great country will be free again. We will win!’
    A chant from the past echoes in my mind: Free UK today! Free UK today!
    And I remember Nico filling in what history lessons left out. After the UK pulled out of the EU and closed borders, and all the student riots and destruction of the 2020s, the Lorders dealt harshly with rioters, gangs and terrorists the same way, no matter their age: imprisonment, or death. But then as things settled down, they were forced to accept compromise with Freedom UK in the Central Coalition, and harsh penalties were banned for under-16s. Slating was brought in to give them a second chance, a new life. But Freedom UK became a puppet of the Lorders, who abused their power more and more. Free UK rose up in response, wanting rid of Lorder oppression by whatever means.
    Whatever means .
    The teeth are the terror. I shake my head, part of me rejecting what I know to be true. ‘I’m not a terrorist. Am I?’
    He shakes his head. ‘None of us are. But you were with us in our fight for freedom, and you would be now, if Lorders hadn’t snatched you and Slated you, stole your mind away. Or so they thought.’
    ‘Yet, here I am. And I know you. I remember some things. But I—’
    ‘This is too much at once, isn’t it? Listen to me, Rain. There is nothing you have to do if you don’t want to. We’re not like the Lorders. We don’t make anybody do anything.’
    ‘Really?’
    ‘Really. I’m just so happy you’re all right. You’re you, again.’ And he smiles, and I’m back in another hug.
    More memory traces surface. Nico isn’t known for his hugs, or smiles. They are so rare they are like a gift when you have shone enough in his eyes to get that much approval. We’d fight for his approval. We’d kill for it. All of us. We’d do anything to get half a smile.
    ‘Listen. There is just one thing. I need to talk to you some more. I need to know how things have worked with you, so we know how we can help others survive Slating. You want that, don’t you?’
    ‘Of course.’
    ‘I’ve got something for you,’ he says, and reaches into a desk drawer. The back is false, and hidden behind is a small metal device, thin and flexible. He shows me. ‘Look. It’s a communicator: a com. See, you press this button here, and wait for me to answer. Then we can speak. You can call if you need me.’
    Just as I’m wondering where I’m going to hide this highly illegal piece of kit, he shows me. It slips underneath my Levo, and clasps to it. The thin controls are not visible; they are barely there by feel.
    ‘It is undetectable here. Even if you go through a metal scan, they’ll just see it as picking up your