Silver Elite

“The sad part is, the Coup wouldn’t have been successful if there weren’t hordes of people who agreed with him. That we’re aberrant. That we’re abominations and our gifts are not natural, even though the things I can do with my mind are as natural to me as breathing.”

This passage illustrates the widespread prejudice and societal disdain against the Modified. The use of the dehumanizing label “aberrant” reveals a deliberate rhetorical strategy used by the Command to vilify Mods and rationalize their oppression.

“She’s much prettier in person. But her symmetrical features and heart-shaped mouth aren’t enough to distract me from what she is. A traitor. A sympathizer. She oppresses and kills other Mods. People like her make me sick.”

This passage reveals how prejudice can be internalized and redirected, even by those who are victims of it. The oppressive system the General perpetuates is ingenious in this way. Mods who become loyalists to survive become hated even by their own kind, Perpetuating Cycles of Oppression.

“Some people find power addictive, but I want nothing to do with the one I’ve been cursed with. I don’t want the ability to incite. I don’t fucking want it. I can’t erase the looks on their faces when they realized their own weapons were out of their control. The idea of interfering with someone’s autonomy, the thought of someone ever doing that to me, makes me want to vomit. Yet at the same time, I wish I’d succeeded in killing every member of that firing squad, because then Jim might still be alive. But he’s dead, and now I want nothing more than to see them dead. The need for vengeance is so strong, I can taste it. They’ll pay. Every last one of them. I don’t know how, and I don’t know when, but even if I have to use incitement again to do it, I’ll make them pay.”

This quote encapsulates Wren’s internal conflict between ethical restraint and violent retribution, highlighting the theme The Moral Ambiguity of Survival. Her revulsion at the power of incitement suggests that Wren values autonomy even as her gifts directly work against this value.