Gene. Sys. (16 page)

“Can we get out of here? I need fresh air.”
Titan works hard to keep his composure and I am right there with him.

“Yes.” Rene turns towards the elevator. “Stay
close and don’t be distracted by what you see. Once we get to the medical ward
you can ask questions.”

We follow behind Rene without any protest. The
drones that accompanied him downstairs surround us in a circle as we walk, their
weapons raised and ready.

“Half of you come up with me, the other half
take the next ride,” Rene says as he enters the elevator. I follow in behind
him along with half the Genesys and half the drones.

The doors close and the ride up feels bumpier
than usual. I’m not sure if it’s because of the weight from the crowded
elevator or because of the attack. As the elevator doors open, the first thing
I notice is the crisp air that sweeps in. My mind jumps to the blast in the
wall that happened as Ev and I were running past and I immediately know that
it’s the source of the breeze.

A brightness
blinds me as the doors
open completely and I instinctively cover my eyes with my hands. As I pull them
away and my eyes clear the red haze from their view, I see that the source of
the light is the sun. Not only is it morning, there is a giant hole in what
used to be the hallway. More than one missile hit this area.

As I step out of the elevator I look around at
the piles of rubble; I take a deep breath and the sting of smoke fills my
lungs. My ears are filled with an abundance of sound, drones shouting at each
other, machines moving into position around the perimeter of the compound, the
gasps of the Genesys around me. I know that the second the others join us they
will be experiencing the same sensory overload that we are having right now.

The instant I hear the elevator doors open
behind me, a cluster of the flying crafts streak overhead. They whoosh past and
a sudden clarity invades my head. Even though I have already experienced some
of what the world has become outside of the compound, I have been naïve to the
extent and the desperation that exists. The world is at war with itself.

The Ragnarok that the scientists are planning is
only expediting the inevitable because this current version of humans is doomed
to extinction. We Genesys are the next step in human evolution and we were created
in a lab.

“What are those?” Al says, snapping me out of my
trance.

“
Flyz
,” Rene responds
curtly. He looks at the group. “Everyone’s here. Let’s go.”

Rene walks us down the destroyed hallway. Aside
from the sporadic gasps of shock and surprise, everyone remains quiet. We pass
the area of the hallway that used to be the other boys’ rooms and mine. If it
weren’t for the fact that I have been down the hallway hundreds of times and
that I can see some of the beds under the rubble, I would have no clue that
people used to sleep here.

As we step over fallen pieces of the walls and
roof, I take a look at what used to be my room. Right between the bathroom and
the closet is a giant hole. Even the ground has been destroyed. It looks as
though a missile hit my room directly. The charred remains of my bed lie in the
small hole in the ground. I realize just how close we all were to being killed.
If I had not gotten everyone into the simulation room we might not have
survived. The mumbles I hear behind me tell me that the other guys are realizing
how close they were to death.

The second we reach the end of this hallway and
turn the corner, the compound looks completely unscathed. Aside from the thin
layer of dust from the rubble that has settled on the floor, this hallway looks
as it always has. As we continue towards the medical ward, I feel a sense of
calm creep in since it seems as though no other parts of the main compound were
damaged.

That calm rushes away the second we turn the
corner to the hallway with the girls’ rooms. It too has been destroyed. I hear
a couple of sobs behind me as the girls take in the destruction. I look over at
Ev, who is checking out her room behind me. Her stare is stiff but the second
her focus changes to make eye contact with me she looks away. She seems to be
mad at me about something and I don’t like it.

As we carefully step over the rubble and head
for the door that leads us to the scientists’ quarters and the medical ward, a
thought crosses my mind. This was not a random attack; this was targeted. They
knew where they were launching.

We pass through the doors and wind our way to
the medical ward. Up until now, the hallways have been pretty calm. The medical
ward, however, is a mess of activity. There are at least one hundred people
running around, some are doctors, others are injured scientists and drones
seeking medical attention. The giant room has a perimeter of drones ready for
action.

The wall opposite to where we enter has a giant
hole in it and I can only assume that it’s where Dennis lost his life. A lump
forms in my throat and I try hard to hold back my emotions. Through the hole I
see more drones patrolling. Another group of
Flyz
passes
overhead. I’m so focused on the activity going on outside that only now I
notice that the entire medical ward has stopped and is now looking at us.

“I would like to speak with Bruce and
Ivana
. Everyone else can return to what they were doing,”
Rene shouts over the crowd. His voice is authoritative and it’s the first time
I realize how much power he has over the people at this compound.

Two people in medical scrubs appear from the sea
of people and they make their way towards us. The man is about my height with a
sharp jawline and a well-groomed head of hair that juxtapose his bloodied
attire. The woman is fit with short, black hair and her petite frame gives her
a cute, spunky appearance. Both seem to be relieved at being pulled away from
their previous task.

Rene turns to us. “Everyone listen up. Dr. Bruce
Peters and Dr.
Ivana
Metzger will look you all over.
Do as they say. When they are done with you, come find me and we will assign
you new rooms.”

Rene walks away as Dr. Peters and Dr. Metzger
arrive. They walk around us and scan our bodies for any surface injuries. Dr.
Peters spots my bandage.

“What happened to your leg?” he asks.

“I was hit during one of the explosions. Mag
took the pieces out of my leg.” I glance at Mag and she gives me a small smile.

“We’ll do a scan,” he says as he walks back
around to the front of the group.

“Ladies, come with me.” Dr. Metzger walks off
and the girls follow. Dr. Peters heads off in the opposite direction and I walk
after him. The other boys come along as well. The
ocean of
people seem
to part as we walk through.

Cal catches up to me. “I can’t believe they
destroyed our rooms.”

I look at him. “I’m glad we weren’t in them.”

“Yeah, thank you for that. My pillow was saved
too!” Cal smiles.

I can’t help but smile. I had forgotten that I
told them to take their pillows to the simulation room. It seems so trivial
now.

“So where do you think we will be sleeping now?”
Al jumps in as he steps forward.

“I really have no clue. Hopefully a room with a
roof.” I smirk; Cal and Al laugh but I notice a few looks of disgust from some
of the people we pass. The joke was certainly in poor taste.

We reach one of the larger rooms in the medical
ward and Dr. Peters walks through the door. The room has three operating tables
with glass lids.
 
As I walk in I
bump my bandaged leg into the first operating table and a searing pain rushes
through my body. I wince as I gently rub my leg.

“Atom. Lay in that first bed. I’ll be there in a
second. Titan and Ox, lay in the next two,” Dr. Peters orders. We all do as we
are told and he closes us in with the glass tops.

As he secures the glass top over my body, I
can’t help but realize how confined I feel. He presses a button on the side of
the table and the glass comes to life. A series of different colored scans pass
over my body. I turn my head and see that Titan and Ox are going through the
same set of scans.

Dr. Peters walks back over to my table and reads
some information that has appeared on his side of the glass top. He frowns and
walks back to the other two, opening their lids and having Sil and Al switch
places with Titan and Ox. He runs them through the scans and it isn’t until he
lets them out and puts Cal in one of their tables that I begin to panic.

Why isn’t he letting me out? What happened to
me? As tight as I had felt a moment ago in this confined space, I now feel as
if the space has gotten smaller. The glass seems to be moving in closer
to me and wrapping itself around my body
.

I feel around with my hands, looking for a way
to open the top, but I can’t. I watch as Cal gets released and he joins the
other guys by the door. Dr. Peters speaks to them and the boys all walk away.
The glass is soundproof so I don’t know what he is saying to them. He turns his
attention back to me and walks over to my operating table.

“Let me out!” I pound on the glass.

Dr. Peters looks at me and raises a finger,
telling me to hold on. After reading some more information on the glass, he
finally opens the lid.

“What are you doing? Let me out of here!” I sit
up but he pushes me back down with surprising strength.

“You have a hairline fracture in your leg and
you have lost a good amount of blood.” He looks at me.

“Oh.” I settle down.

“This should only take a couple of days.” He
enters some information into a pad next to the table.

“What will?” I ask, but before I get my answer,
the glass closes back over me. “Hey!”

I pound hard on the glass and as I do it turns
into a light blue crystal color. I can no longer see through it. My eyes begin
to get heavy and just before they close I see a white gas cover my body.

The dream comes right away. I’m standing in the
middle of the same white abyss as before but this time I hit a wall or a force
field when I try to walk forward.
 
I
put my left hand on the invisible wall and I walk along, making sure to keep
the wall to my left. After hitting my nose on a wall in front of me a couple of
times, I learn to have my right hand up in front of me. I’m in a labyrinth.

Far ahead of me I see the same blonde figure as
before. I can only assume is Fe. When the next wall forces me to turn right, I
see a different figure far ahead and this one resembles Ev. Another right turn
and I am staring down the massive Pyramid of Giza. I pick up my pace, wanting
desperately to get out of this maze.

Just as I feel like I am making progress, the
floor gives way from underneath me. I fall, or so it feels. My heart jumps and
I struggle to grab at something to stop my fall. My hands swing around but
aren’t making contact with anything. As I begin to hyperventilate, I look
around and see that even though I feel like I am falling, everything remains in
the same location. I’m still on the same plane as I was before.

I need to regain control of the situation, so I
close my eyes and focus on my breathing. Slow and steady. When I open my eyes I
am no longer in my dream. I am lying on the operating table and the glass lid
is opening up. Dr. Peters stands above me.

“What happened?” I ask.

“You are done,” he responds.

“I thought you said it would be a couple of
days?” I’m confused. I can’t have been in there for more than five minutes.

“It was,” he says as he walks away.

“Trippy, isn’t it? Almost like time doesn’t
exist in there,” a familiar voice says to my right.

I roll my head to the side and see him sitting
in a chair. He winks at me from the one eye without the patch. “80!”

“Hey Atom.” 80 smiles.

12

80 and I walk through the hole in the wall of
the medical ward and out to the open area of the compound. I hadn’t spent too
much time out here before, but looking around now it looks unrecognizable. What
was once grass is now a mix of dirt and rubble. Drones have overrun the
compound. Hundreds of them are patrolling while others work on cleaning and
fixing the walls.

“This is crazy,”
80
says as he leads me next to a pile of rubble with blood stains on parts of it.

“Yes it is.” I look around and see that the wall
that used to be in front of the Drones’ quarters is gone. “I’m guessing this is
why they brought you back.”

“Yeah. We were pretty much done building the
bunkers and they said that they needed reinforcements here. They left a few of them
back to finish up the work.” He climbs atop one of the larger piles of rubble
and sits.

I climb up and sit next to him. “Where did they
send you?”

“A place called Kenya,” 80 says nonchalantly as
he points towards the wall.

I look and beyond the large opening in the wall,
rising above the rubble of the city, is the Great Pyramid. It has never
appeared as imposing as it does right now. The shadow looming over the city,
swallowing blocks into darkness.

“It was even worse down there,” 80
adds
.

“What was?” I ask as I adjust myself on the pile
of rubble. The shift has somehow made my vision clearer because I spot about a
dozen
Flyz
hovering above the city.

“The people, the outsiders. They were all living
in filth and days from death. Most of them were either covered in sores or nothing
but bones.” 80’s eyes have glossed over. There is a hurt deep within him that I
hadn’t seen before.

“Did the outsiders attack down there as well?”
I’m curious because I haven’t heard much about what the humans are like in
different parts of the world.

“They couldn’t. They were way too weak. Most of
them wouldn’t even move when we walked by. Some would try to attack us
individually, but it was more because they had lost their mind from
malnourishment.”
80 stares at the pyramid beyond the wall.
I can tell he doesn’t want to talk about it anymore, which makes me realize
that things really were worse out there.

After a few moments of silence, I decide that I
should probably go back inside and find the other Genesys. I stand and he looks
up at me. “I’m glad you’re back, 80.”

“Me too.” He smiles. “I’ll catch up with you
later. You
gonna
be up on the roof?”

“I’m not even sure if the roof is still there.”
I force a smile. “How about I meet you back over here?”

“Sounds like a plan,” he says as he jumps off
the pile and jogs over to a group of drones working on the wall.

I watch him as I climb down and see him barking
orders at the other drones. He must have been given a promotion while he was in
Kenya. I’m glad to see that he has done well and more importantly I’m glad that
Rene made sure 80 was taken care of.

A crisp breeze has started up, blowing in from
the city and causing me to shiver. The breeze carries with it a hint of smoke,
so I look back towards the city and see that the
Flyz
are actually firing into the fallen city.

I turn and walk back towards the compound. I
know I should be mad about the fact that we are attacking the outsiders, but I
just don’t know what to think anymore. There are many innocent people out there
who have done nothing more than try to survive. They care for one another and
struggle together, but at this point they are only buying themselves a couple
of months.

I’m numb and I realize that what I saw in 80’s
eyes wasn’t hurt but numbness. It’s hard to care anymore when you know the
outcome is dire. I think that, with the recent events, I have switched my focus
to the survival of the Genesys.

The second I climb back through the hole into
the medical ward I am greeted by Rene. “Did you two have a good chat?”

“You were watching us?” I snap at him.

“I had told him he could be there when you woke
up. I knew you’d be happy to see each other.” Rene smiles as he walks towards
the doors leading out of the medical ward.

“Thank you.” I jog to catch up. “So where are
our new rooms?”

“We’ve placed you all in some of the old scientists’
rooms,” he says as he heads down a separate hallway that I have not been down
before.

“Where is everyone else?” I look around at the
new hallway. It’s in very good shape and looks like it has been recently
cleaned.

“The other Genesys are meeting with Dr. Kivuli
right now for a group session. You can meet up with them later. I want to talk
to you.” He stops at a door at the end of the hallway, right where it
intersects with another hallway. “This is your new room.”

He opens the door and I walk in. The room is
twice the size as the one I was in before. Monitors cover the left wall as they
did in Rene’s room and on the opposite wall is a bookshelf with a mixture of
books, journals, trinkets and pictures. I take a closer look at one of the
pictures and a rush of excitement runs through my body. “This is Grant’s room!”

“Yes it is.” Rene takes a seat in the desk chair
by the bookshelf. “Have a seat, Atom.”

I take Rene’s serious tone as a hint and I take
a seat on the bed. The bed is twice the size as the one I had and the second I
sit down I realize just how tired I am. Even though I was unconscious for a few
days, my body and mind need a conscious rest.

“Do you think the others are ready?” Rene asks.

“For what?” I think I know what he means, but I
want to make sure.

“For the end, the Ragnarok. For survival.” He
looks at me with care. Throughout everything, he has always loved me as his
son.

“I’m not even ready,” I say, prompting him to
frown. “But we will do everything we can to survive. What’s going to happen
when it starts?”

Rene takes a deep breath. “Within an hour of
pressing the button, all the nuclear weapons around the world will detonate.
The one here in Cairo should be last and, hopefully, by then we will have flown
all of you to your bunkers around Africa.”

“What about Grant?” I look around the room. I
know that he left to make sure that all those nuclear weapons were ready to be
detonated.

“The last I heard from him, he had just finished
arming the weapons in Russia and China. He will be heading to Australia and the
Americas next.” Rene shifts in the chair.

“You’ve been talking with him?” I thought that
we would never hear from him again; his goodbye seemed so final. “Do you think…
”

“Perhaps. Listen Atom, there is something that we
need to talk about with regards to these attacks and I feel you already know
more than you think.” He leans closer to me.

“What do you mean?” I’m nervous. I don’t know
what he thinks I know.

“I believe these attacks were aided by some
internal information and I believe that you might know something about that.”
Rene stares at me. I know that he is alluding to the information that Grant
told me about the group of scientists. Grant also said to keep the information
to myself, so I don’t know what to do.

I look at Rene and study his eyes. Grant had
been worried that Rene might try to go public with the information to try to
out the scientists, but Rene seems more candid now. “Grant told me that he had
been hearing of a group of scientists who were looking to disrupt the plan. He
didn’t know who was part of it but he wanted me to keep an eye open.”

“Why wouldn’t he tell me?” Rene says to himself
more than he does to me. He seems hurt by the fact that Grant wouldn’t confide
in him.

“He was afraid that you would have tried to call
them out before he had figured out who they were. He didn’t want accusations
flying around.” I try my best to justify Grant’s actions to Rene.

“Have you seen anything or anyone do anything
suspicious?” he asks.

I think about the first time I saw Dr. Kivuli. I
was with Titan in the medical ward and Hawk was arguing with Brianna. It seemed
odd and I remember not liking Dr. Kivuli from the instant I saw her, but
nothing about that moment raised any alarms. It just felt odd.

“Nothing yet,” I say.

“Okay. Well, I put you in Grant’s room because I
want you to look through all his work, see if he has any information lying
around. Also, watch the monitors. Take note of any suspicious activity.” Rene
grabs a tablet from the desk and with a swipe he turns on all of the monitors.
Images from around the compound appear. One of the
monitors
shows the other Genesys gathered in a semi-circle, listening to Dr. Kivuli.

My eyes are transfixed on the monitors, so I
don’t notice Rene stand. When he drops the tablet on my lap, I look up.

“One more thing,” he adds as he steps to the
door. “There is a list of four valuable skills that you all need to learn. I
don’t think we have the time to have you all in each class, so split the
Genesys into groups of three and have each group learn one specific skill. Your
teachers will be waiting for you tomorrow. You all can teach each other what
you’ve learned.”

“Okay.” I barely hear him because my focus wants
to return to the monitors.

“Atom, if you see anything, you tell me. Don’t
do anything on your own. We need to make sure we catch those who want to stop
this.” Rene gives me a hard look. He wants to make sure I understand. I nod and
he walks out, closing the door behind him.

My eyes return to the screen for a few more
moments and then they wander back to the tablet. I’m curious about what these
classes are that Rene wants us to take. I turn it on and call up the list:

Languages – Learn
the 25 most popular languages in the world.

Survival skills –
Learn how to make weapons and traps to gather food. Also, learn farming and
cultivating crops.
 
 

Mechanical Engineering –
Learn how to take apart and put together vehicles and other mechanical systems.

Computer/Electrical
Engineering – Learn how to take apart and put together computers, radios
and other electrical components.

I read the list over a couple of times and realize
that I’m going to have a tough time choosing the right combination of people. Some
seem like obvious choices. Ev and Cal would be great with Languages and their
personalities would be welcome to anyone we might come across; Ox and Titan
seem right for the Mechanical Engineering; Mag and Sil are both fairly quiet
and would probably be good with the detailed work of Electrical Engineering.

K and Hydro are a perfect match for Survival,
but I don’t know where everyone else should go, including myself. I feel that I
would be good for all of them. Survival seems more interesting, so I will
probably do that. Fe’s instincts would make her good for either Survival or
Mechanical, but since there are already three of us in Survival, I will have to
place her in Mechanical. I really don’t want to put her in the group with Titan
though.

As I look over the list to see if I can place
her anywhere else, I hear Grant’s voice in my head. “Emotions are the fog that
clouds your instincts.”

He’s right. I have to make the right choices for
the group. As much as I don’t like it, Fe is a good fit for Mechanical. Al is a
better fit for Electrical than Sodi, so I place Sodi in Languages with Ev and
Cal.

After figuring that out, I decide to lie in the
bed and watch more of the monitors. The Genesys are still with Dr. Kivuli, so I
look at the other monitors to gather more information. Most of the monitors
show different hallways and rooms around the compound. Two monitors show the
medical ward and I can see Dr. Peters and Dr. Metzger working on patients.
Another monitor shows the empty simulation room. About four of them show the exterior
parts of the compound.

I spot 80 in one of them talking in a shadowy
corner to a small group of Drones. He seems very aggravated. I’m glad that he’s
back and I can’t wait to introduce him to the other Genesys.

Movement in the monitor with Dr. Kivuli pulls my
attention. The Genesys are standing up, so I decide I should probably get down
there while they are still together. I stand and head out the door with the
tablet in my hand.

As I walk down the maze of hallways, I pass more
scientists than I’m used to seeing. It would make sense since I am now living
in the same area as they are. I never realized how segregated we were before.

“Hey Atom. How are you feeling?” I look up to
see Brianna walking towards me. She’s accompanied by another young female scientist
who is slightly taller than she is and has hair blacker than shadows.

“I’m a little tired, but the leg feels good,” I
say, slightly nervous to be talking to the two attractive superiors.