Shatter Me

It is nighttime when they arrive at their new hideout. Kenji assures them that this place will blow their minds. James is still asleep, and Kenji confesses that he has given him a sleeping pill because he “didn’t want him to be anymore traumatized than he had to be” (287). Although Adam is fighting blood loss and pain, he tells Kenji that he will kill him for this.

Juliette stays with Adam in the car while Kenji rushes inside. Then four people appear, two men and two women, and they lift Adam onto the stretcher and carry him away. Juliette wants to go with him, but they won’t let her. Kenji tries to convince her that these people are going to help him and that she will be able to see him later. But Juliette is so exhausted and frustrated she starts questioning if Kenji really wants to help them. Kenji tries to explain to her that she needs to rest because it has been a very long and hard day when suddenly Juliette reaches out to him and touches him.

When Juliette wakes up, she notices that she is very clean: Her skin is soft, and her hair is brushed. She’s lying in bed, and everything around her is white.

A tall man called Winston walks in and starts asking her questions about how she’s feeling. Juliette only wants to know where Adam is, but the man promises to answer her questions after she gives him the information he needs.

He tells Juliette that when she came there, she was covered in blood and dirt and had many cuts, so they did “a superficial detox” to avoid the risk of infection (292). Since all her clothes have been destroyed to kill all bacteria, Winston promises to give her “a special suit” to wear (292). He tells Juliette that she attacked Kenji, so now they know he is not immune to her touch. Juliette doesn’t have a memory of her touching him, and she feels very guilty. Winston also tells Juliette that they gave her a sedative and she’s been asleep for over 14 hours, so she should be feeling better. When Kenji walks into the room, Juliette apologizes for almost killing him. He tells her that she looks better and that Castle wants to meet her.

Juliette asks who Castle is and Winston is surprised Kenji didn’t tell her anything about where she was. Kenji explains that if he had told her where they were going, she would have never come. Juliette asks Winston again to let her see Adam, but he says that Adam is not ready to see her yet. She demands a set of clothes so that she can get out of bed. Winston says that they don’t have time to get her the suit and orders Kenji to find her some clothes, calling him not by his name but by his nickname—Moto. Kenji in return calls Winston “Blondie” because that’s how Juliette referred to him before she knew his name. She asks Winston what “Moto” means, and he explains that they just took Kenji’s last name, Kishimoto, and cut it in half because it was hard to pronounce. Juliette then reminds him that he got angry when she called him Blondie, but he calls Kenji “Moto” without thinking that it might offend him. He says that it’s not the same thing, but Juliette tells him not to be a hypocrite.

For the lack of other clothes, Juliette is wearing Kenji’s T-shirt and pajama pants. Winston and Kenji prepare her for the meeting with Castle by saying that he is in charge of this whole movement. Kenji then takes her to him, and they walk through “an entire city underground” with lots of people and “rooms filled with nothing but technological machinery” (300, 301). Juliette sees people of all ages and ethnicities, and some of them are dressed in the same uniform as those people who rushed to help Adam when they arrived. Juliette has many questions about this place, but Kenji doesn’t answer any of them and instead tells her to talk to Castle because “he is the one who requested [her]” (302). Kenji explains that it wasn’t an accident that he was a soldier and all events that followed his escape from Warner were all a part of the plan as well.

When Juliette meets Castle, a fit man in his 40s, he, first of all, insists that she needs to see Adam and James to make sure they are okay. He responds that because of her loyalty, she “will do well here” (304). He then asks her to follow him, and they walk through the building. Juliette sees “many rooms [...], each dedicated to different pursuits” (304): bathrooms, dormitories, dining hall. People they meet look at them and smile. Juliette realizes that Castle is the leader of these people and that this building is something much more than just a hideout.