Page 165 of Johnny

life-altering way?

People who live in the normal world would say, “Yes, Megan. You’ve gone off your meds. There

is no way that you can change the world. You’re no one. You mean nothing. You have no purpose

other than to follow directions and do as you’re told.”

And honestly—I stifle yet another irrational laugh—that’s probably my best-case scenario.

Believing that line of shit is probably the only thing that saves my dark, filthy soul.

Because OK. Sure. On the outside I am just one woman. Just one, semi-intelligent woman who has

a knack for gene splicing and who more than likely stumbled upon a new protocol that can change the

lifespan of, at the very least, rats—but also possibly humans. But I didn’t mastermind it.

I didn’t come up with the grand plan.

There. That’s what I was searching for. That right there.

This is not my plan. I am just a player in the game. And an unwilling one, at that.

But what kind of player?

I’m not a pawn, that’s for sure. Pawns are the contributors. They pay for everything but have no

real power.

I’m more important than a knight, though. If this was a game of chess Johnny would be a knight. As

a banker he’s not worth much to the king but he has special powers hiding in the background.

Which would make me either a bishop or a rook.

In chess, bishops are very powerful when they come in twos. This makes me pause because I am

part of a bishop pair, aren’t I? My father and I are a very powerful pair.

I will tuck that thought away to think more about later because as alluring as a pair of bishops is, a

pair of rooks is so much better.

The rook is really the piece you need for the endgame and I’d like to be a rook. And if I were

asking myself these questions a few weeks ago, the thought that I am a rook would be very grandiose.

A few weeks ago I was nothing but today…

Everything has changed.

The ladder of power. It’s a deceptive term because it implies you have to climb upward. It’s a

vertical change of position. You start at the bottom and rung by rung you work your way up.

But what if… what if you could skip a few rungs? What if you could pair up with just the right

person—say a banker. A banker who comes off as a knight but is really a rook in disguise. And what