Ivy nodded. "They can't fully control both Pearl and Keith at the same time anymore. Not in their current state."
Her lips curled faintly. "That's why their stories matched… but not completely."
Martha frowned. "What do you mean?"
Ivy looked at her, her gaze piercing.
"They weren't speaking naturally," she said. "It was like… someone was forcing them to recall a memory that had been implanted into them."
A heavy silence followed. Taking a deep breath, Ivy straightened slightly. "At this point, we only have two choices."
Martha stiffened.
"Either we kill Pearl and Keith..." Ivy said calmly, "Or we eliminate Ferrero and Jeff's consciousness from within them."
Martha's face paled.
She looked at Ivy carefully now, noticing the dark circles under her eyes, the faint tremble in her fingers, and the exhaustion she had been hiding all this time.
Ivy had been carrying too much. The rising flood caused by overpopulation… The threat of the superior beings… Her sister's suffering…
