Silver Elite

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes mentions of death and suicide.

Wren’s life is governed by secrets. Her very identity must remain hidden to ensure her survival. This secrecy breeds profound isolation, even among her closest friends. Her mental link with Wolf provides some solace, but it remains partial: “I adore Wolf, but what I share with him will always be partially redacted” (123). Her refusal to divulge her true self to even her closest friend and family, like Jim and Tana, creates emotional distance and a persistent undercurrent of guilt and loneliness. Though Wren suffers the emotional effects of having no one with whom she can discuss her most traumatic experiences, she understands that it’s “standard procedure when you’re Modified. There’s no such thing as absolute trust” (22). This lack of trust means that she can never entirely let her guard down. Always on edge, she experiences cumulative stresses with little relief.

The emotional cost of these secrets is revealed in moments of quiet reflection:

I curl up on my bed […] It occurs to me, as I lie there numb and exhausted, that there’s nobody left. Jim. Tana. Griff. Even Betima, the only person on this base I could have conceivably revealed myself to, is gone.