The Genesis Code 1: Lambda (22 page)

Margret dismissed her obnoxious manner once more and tried to remain on task.

“It was you that came to me first, warning me of Project Lambda and informing me of your son’s involvement. There are some things that don’t quite add up,” she noted with a lumbering emphasis.

Karen turned in her chair to face Margret. Her expression was now dim and blank.
      
“And?” she replied numbly.

Margret paused. Karen seemed too blasé given her involvement in the matter.

“Karen, aren’t you concerned for your son?” she asked with a worried suspicion.

Karen’s eyes barely flickered. “He’s a strong kid. I’m sure he will pull through.”

Margret started to feel anger rise in her. She knew Karen had moments where she seemed almost heartless. Even so, Karen just seemed so ruthless in how she spoke.

“Karen, when you brought me into the fold like this, you must have known I would come to you directly. Everything seems to be coming back to your son. Why are-”

“Are you going to get to the point, Margret?” Karen interrupted rudely.

Margret’s eyes grew with irritation. “What aren’t you telling me, Karen?”

Karen stared darkly toward Margret. “Nothing you can’t find out on your own.”

Karen left the edge of her desk and strode with livid steps past Margret. She opened the door to her quarters and stepped out into the brightly lit hallway of white. Margret spun around quickly as she followed her out.

“I’m trying to help, Karen. Why bring me into this only to shut me out?” Her voice was mixed with concern and anger.

Karen ignored the question and walked away, not once turning to Margret.

Margret’s fury peaked as she watched Karen leave.

“Karen!” she yelled. “Why is your son involved with Lambda!? Who is
Rachiel
?!”

Karen stopped. She turned her head slowly and stared back at Margret with cold eyes, replying in a harsh whisper:

“All returns to the Alpha.”

Margret was left a little surprised by Karen’s words. She didn’t get another word out of her as she marched away without a second glance.

Margret clenched her fist.
What is going on?

Suddenly, a firm hand grasped Margret’s shoulder. With the power of a bear, Margret grabbed the hand and flipped the unknown entity behind her over her shoulder. The man came crashing down with the force of a train on the metal tile, knocking the wind right out of him. When Margret’s senses came back to her, she stared in disbelief as she took in the sight of the man she had just laid on the ground.

“Rich?!”

Richard coughed as all the air in this lungs had left him upon impact.

“Glad to see you, too.” He stifled a cough. “Haven’t gotten rusty I see,” he managed.

Margret didn’t waste another second as she brought Richard to standing. The look of embarrassment on her face was the least of her worries.

“I don’t know why I did that, Rich. I’m sorry,” apologized Margret as she held her head in shame.

Richard waved his hand, dismissing the apology. “Don’t be. If anything, I should apologize. I didn’t mean to startle you like that.”

Margret’s thoughts were still jumbled at the moment, but Richard quickly focused them as he revealed that he wasn’t just passing through.

“I see you have seen the
other
Karen as of late.”

Margret stared with tense eyes at Richard.

“What is wrong with her? She seems so focused to the point that nothing fazes her. It’s troubling,” Margret said, almost disturbed.

Richard nodded his head. “Agreed. It has only gotten worse since Lambda’s escape.”

“How long has she been like this?” Margret asked, uncertainty lingering at the end of her sentence.

Richard could hear the distress in Margret’s words. It hurt him deeply to see her in such a state. He knew he owed Margret the knowledge he had of Karen and the change in her behavior. That much she deserved.

“Frankly, signs began after her mother’s death years before. Her mother’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease took a toll on her and our marriage.” Richard’s face grew bleak. “However, it became more frequent with the AI projects, especially after Epsilon. It has caused a lot of turbulence in our relationship, but more notably on our kids.”

Margret peered deep into Richard’s eyes as he spoke. She was looking for that glimmer of a soul that she couldn’t see in Karen’s eyes when she had her last words with her. To her relief, she saw a deep compassion residing in Richard’s pupils, which quivered with worry. That was all Margret needed to see to know that he was being sincere.

Margret spoke once her mind was made up. “She confided in me, asking me for help given your son’s involvement in the Lambda case. However, she is treating me as if I’m pestering. I don’t understand what she is trying to do.”

Richard’s expression turned coarse. “Has she said anything to you?”

Margret was a little taken aback by the sudden question, but answered promptly.

“She left me hanging like she always does, but it seemed far more cryptic and foreboding than usual.”

Richard shook his head in disappointment. “Her behavior leading up to Lambda’s escape didn’t set off any flags. However . . .” Richard trailed off a bit. “She seems even more disconnected with how our children are involved in this. The way she has been downplaying it is just cruel.”

Margret’s eyes were now locked with Richard’s. She was completely drawn in.

“What do you know?” she asked, intrigue riding every word.

Richard didn’t waste a breath. “I know it was Karen who helped Lambda break out. I knew it the moment I saw that my son was with the Lambda unit.”

Margret seemed perplexed. “Does anyone else know?”

Richard shook his head. “I’m sure Karen is aware that I know, but I would wager she has calculated that I wouldn’t give her up so quickly. Before that, I want to know what she is planning.”

“Do you think Epsilon is part of it?” Margret asked in a whisper.

Richard didn’t seem sure. “She seemed rather riled at the news of Epsilon. My guess is that she wasn’t planning on that.” His posture turned firm. “That part worries me.”

“What do you mean?” Margret inquired unsure of Richard’s hard tone.

“She has a rather scary ability to plan several moves ahead.”

Silence hung in the hall with the two of them for a moment. Both seemed to be deep in thought.

“Rich, maybe you could shed some light on Karen’s words for me.”

Richard’s eyes widened with curiosity.

Margret looked up at him intently. “What do you make of, ‘All returns to the Alpha’?” Margret said, her voice barely a murmur.

Richard’s eyes quivered ever so slightly.

Margret pounced on the venerability, forgetting herself as she saw a chance to get more answers. “Do you know what she is talking about?”

Richard averted his gaze from her. “I expected this would come up. It was only a matter of time, I suppose.”

Margret’s expression intensified. “So you do know. Does it have anything to do with someone called Rachiel?” she inquired with a calculating stare.
      

Richard let out a deep sigh. “I really didn’t want to open old wounds, but I guess you leave me no choice.”

Margret’s ears perked in excitement.

Richard cleared his throat. “Rachiel is the original, the Alpha. It has served as the base blueprint for all the AI programs.”

Margret reeled. “Why haven’t I been informed of this?!” interjected Margret heatedly.

Why was I left out of the loop of something so important?

Richard shattered her thoughts.

“Not even the Director knows about the origins of the AI projects. He was presented with a task to gather superior minds here and begin research on new types of AI programs for the Network, to be overseen by Babel. I’m sure he knows nothing more about this than you do.”

Margret was irate. “Then how do you and Karen know about the Alpha and Rachiel?”

Richard’s face almost turned to stone. “Because my son created it.”

*
      
*
      
*

[January 7th - Abingdon, Virginia - County Park - Day]

Zack couldn’t get himself under control. He had been pacing back and forth for nearly an hour since Lambda transported them to the their current location. He had become so restless and cold that he didn’t know what course of action was best as he paced back and forth along the edge of the county park’s lake. The knowledge that the silver assailant from the Network and the Void Reapers were hunting him and Lambda was only making Zack’s ability to make a decision that much harder. The calm water looking back up at him from the lake didn’t do him any justice either. If anything, it only served as a reminder of how far he was from finding his center.

“Might Lambda suggest a course of action?” Lambda openly said.

Zack groaned. “By all means,” he said with his hands in the air. “Tell me, what can we do with the most elite assassins of the Network after us?” His sarcastic tone was reaching critical levels.

Lambda seemed confused. “Was that question rhetorical?”

Zack rolled his eyes, ignoring Lambda. He returned to his thoughts, still without a clue of how to proceed past the current point they were stuck at. No matter what angle he thought of, it all led to him bringing his sister into danger.

Lambda eyed Zack intently. For some reason she found his expression profound and strong. The way he looked when he thought so deeply and intently was mesmerizing. Perhaps it was his eyes, or maybe the way his lips pursed when he didn’t speak for lengthy periods of time. All in all, gazing at him enveloped her with a warmth she couldn’t place. Was it admiration? Idolization? Pride? Frankly, she didn’t know. All she did know was that it was a pleasant notion. That alone put to rest her suspicions and made her smile.

Zack looked to Lambda, but the expression on her face quickly derailed any thought that was collected up to that point.

“How can you smile right now?”

Lambda sensed a prick in her chest. Zack’s tone suddenly made her feel awkward. She was confused, her expression geared toward one of fondness and admiration. Zack twisting her emotions around caused an unrest in her like she had never felt before. It pulled on her chest and made it difficult for her to process words to counter Zack’s misunderstanding.

Zack held a hand to his face. The look on Lambda’s face was full of hurt and confusion. He felt ashamed for lashing out. After all, it was he who brought this upon himself, not Lambda.

“I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that,” Zack uttered softly as he sat down at the bank of the lake. He was unable to look her in the eyes now.

As Zack sulked, Lambda stood grounded in self-turmoil. She had studied and read up on every behavior pattern and rational thought that was related to the current scenario before her over the span of the last ten seconds, but she just couldn’t come up with the right course of action. Given the state of things, logic dictated to simply write this entire engagement off and move Zack and herself to a new location. However, every part of her told her not to harshly dismiss the scene before her. She couldn’t understand her own thoughts around the issue. It appeared that she wanted to make Zack feel better.

Is this what humans refer to as feelings?

Lambda looked to Zack over at the lake’s edge. She didn’t even notice her legs move as she slowly approached him. A strange sensation rushed over her as she walked toward him. She felt almost faint, possibly lightheaded. Her vision, said to be perfect, blurred ever so slightly. She thought it was some sort of system failure, but she already knew what her body was generating. She was comprised of code, digitized to take solid form in the physical world through complex vector and quantum generations of hard light, but her body was also given the unique ability to feel and produce emotional responses. She knew this was part of her programming that had expanded since her release. Why she had expanded this programming parameter she had yet to figure out. Everything in her data and sensors told her that it was a useless piece of code, one that could only hinder performance. Still, Lambda could not bring herself to believe that. These feelings were new to her. She found them troubling, but at the same time, alluring. She wanted to learn more about these feelings that her body experienced.

Zackary Allan Knight . . . he is the source.

Lambda didn’t completely understand, but there was one thing all systems pointed to. Zack was the center of her developing feelings and emotions. Regardless of the outcome that was to happen with her approaching altercation, she wanted to see if she could learn more about these feelings. At the time, it seemed like a good idea.

As she walked slowly toward Zack, Lambda couldn’t help but wonder what she would say to inquire or begin a conversation. She felt that it was crucial for her to start off, as it would help her to understand the flurry of emotions passing through her cerebral mainframe. Even so, as she continued to generate billions of conversation openers most commonly used by humans of the present era, none of them seemed to make sense to her. She decided to settle for something basic to allow quick and easy flow of conversation. It was the most logical course.

“Zackary Allan Knight . . . can Lambda assist you?”

Zack turned to face Lambda with a bewildered look.

What is she trying to do?

Zack took to standing. With a questionable look in his eyes, he simply peered back at Lambda. It was almost hypnotic how her vermilion eyes didn’t so much as shiver.
      

Zack felt awkward by the strange silence between them. “Wait, are you waiting for me to give you some kind of order?”

Lambda noted the confused tone in Zack’s words. She didn’t quite understand, but this made her body increase in temperature.

“Lambda cannot perform appropriately unless parameters are set. Zackary Allan Knight is the sole controller that Lambda recognizes. O-only you can give Lambda orders.” Lambda didn’t notice that she had averted her eyes.

Zack looked upon Lambda with intrigue.
Is she programmed to obey anything I ask?