The Genesis Code 1: Lambda (25 page)

On Zack’s end, he quickly set himself up for the Dive to the Network server as Rachiel’s upload rounded the fifteen percent mark. With a few taps on his keyboard as he laid back in his chair, he quickly was reclined and blinded by the white light as his consciousness was processed into the Cyber Network. Zack paid the minor pain of the light little attention as he could only see and anticipate what was to come. It would be his first meeting with Rachiel where he could finally see her in humanoid form. He would be able to touch her, hold her, and interact with her like any other human. For Zack, this was the ultimate achievement—to create the perfect being for him to look up to and trust. He couldn’t ask for any more.

Simple seconds felt like an eternity, but with time, Zack was blessed with the radiating world of the Cyber Network. The server he had uploaded to was hardly occupied, which gave him the advantage to go unseen with Rachiel should anything happen. Even if Probes appeared, he was confident enough he could outwit the Blue Power Rangers quite easily. He also took some extra precautions in altering his Avatar to give him a different appearance. It was a minor hack on his account that would go unnoticed by even the lowest of AI bots roaming the Network, but he felt it would be in his best interest. He truly felt he had all the bases covered. Even if he was seen with Rachiel, no one would know exactly what he looked like and Rachiel’s account would operate like a ghost and disappear once her system left the Network. It was a perfect plan and all that was left to do was wait for Rachiel’s program to finish processing and begin its final upload procedure.

Zack glanced down at his wrist. A small screen appeared over it and displayed a long yellow bar. The bar read: fifty-seven percent complete.

One can’t rush perfection.

The time left for the program to finish was around five minutes before Rachiel would begin uploading to the current server. Given the time left, Zack felt that he might as well move around as to not grow too anxious as the clock ticked on. There was no fear or worry of where Rachiel would upload, as he had arranged her access point to be attached to his account. She would appear wherever he was once she was ready. That being the case, Zack took care to stay off the beaten path, and away from other Account Holders as he rounded the large park area he had been placed in.

The area he was in was known as a Common Zone. The server was a simple rest area used by many people to lounge and free roam, thus allowing a carefree atmosphere and relaxing auras. Many people liked to use these server rooms as a means to escape the world outside and simply enjoy a lush, green world where few problems could reach them. It was the perfect place to hide the upload of an illegal program such as Rachiel.

I must admit, this was a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself,
Zack gloated.

His thoughts were quickly derailed as he was rudely interrupted by the sudden collision of an outside force beyond his vision. The entity charged with this assault barreled over Zack and rolled off the brick road Zack was walking on. Zack was less fortunate as he had been hit to such a degree that he hardly had a spare second to brace for his fall and fell flat on the stone walkway. The pain receptors in his brain alerted him that his face was experiencing great discomfort.

“What in the-”

Zack couldn’t get a sentence through as he was yanked to his feet. When he gazed up at the person holding him up, he quickly noted her intense features and blonde hair.

“Um . . . excu-”

The girl didn’t let him finish as she spun Zack around and pulled his arm behind his back. Zack watched in horror as he saw the girl summon a large blade in a flash of light. The blade was then placed right under his neck and began to pulse like a beating heart at its yellow center.

The girl leaned in close as she whispered into his ear. “If you want to live, you will not struggle . . . am I clear?”

Zack’s body shivered. Her words had such hatred and malice layered on them that he could almost feel the pressure of them. Still, that wasn’t the worst of it. Rachiel was now reaching ninety nine percent in processing her program script. She would begin her upload in just seconds from now, and would materialize right where Zack was in the next few minutes. The procedure couldn’t be aborted at this stage, or he risked harm to Rachiel’s program and Neural Cortex. Zack would never forgive himself if something happened to her just as she first entered the Cyber Network.

Zack’s horrors only continued to grow.

A dark figure burst into existence through a black cut in space. The entity landed with grace and poise while no more than twenty feet from Zack and his captor. The person before them adorn violet armor and a metal mask. The advisory whipped its head to flip its long flowing head of hair behind its back. Zack’s eyes only continued to grow.

No! Not now!

“End of the line. Do be so kind to relinquish your prisoner and we may spare you,” boldly stated the masked entity in violet.

The girl tightened her grip on Zack’s arm. Zack couldn’t believe the strength. He was completely helpless against a girl that had such a slender build. She wasn’t as tall as him, but able to completely keep him from making any movements. The blade across Zack’s neck was just an added measure to ensure her pursuer wouldn’t try anything rash.

“You’re running out of time, Laura Richter. Please don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

Zack winced as the girl’s grip intensified. He could hear the hard breathing of the girl as well as the loud heartbeat at his back.

“If you value the life of this kid, then you won’t try anything!” bellowed Laura.

The violet figure chuckled. “Please, don’t flatter us.”

Zack’s eyes grew with terror.
Us!?

A sudden blast of green light ripped through the tranquil setting and smashed at the feet of Zack. Both Laura and himself were thrown several feet in opposite directions as the walkway bits crumbled around them. Zack’s ears rung uncontrollably as he struggled to find his bearings. He felt so discombobulated to the point where he seemed to think that this was an out-of-body experience.

The pressure around the violet soldier intensified. “You better have a good explanation for taking out
my
target, Foresight.”

Zack turned to see in the direction of the masked warrior. There was now a total of three demons in violet. The two additions looked to be male, sporting much larger frames and broad shoulders. Zack could barely make out anything else from his blurred vision.

“Forgive me, Overseer, but Clairvoyance and I were given explicit orders from our High King. A new variable has appeared.”

“What?! How can that be when the target was within my grasp?!” shot Overseer.

Zack could hear most of the words from the two. The one female in violet sounded livid. This struck Zack as odd. Still, as much as that was intriguing he knew he had to get away from them. However, he couldn’t find the strength in his legs or arms to propel him to standing. He glanced down at his wrist with growing anxiety.

The upload is in its final phase. She will enter in just under four minutes!

Zack turned away from the two masked hostiles and tried to make a full effort to stand. As he did, he noticed the girl that had held him hostage lying all but twenty feet away. Her blonde hair was spread across the grassy gardens that lined the Common Zone. She appeared to be unconscious as she laid motionless on the ground. She seemed so helpless in her state. It was hard to believe that she was the target of these two dark entities.

“What do you mean this server has been removed from the Central Mainframe?!”

Zack heard the heated words of Overseer and froze.

“Dead Eye didn’t give an explanation. We were ordered to make sure that all standard accounts were no longer linked to the server, while the remaining “flagged” accounts-”

“The only time a server is removed from the Central Mainframe is when a Class SS Corruption
is detected. Last I checked, the Null Death Killer had no such capabilities!
”

Zack’s head was spinning.
The Null Deaths? They can’t mean-
Zack looked over to the defenseless girl lying on the ground again.
She is the one who has been killing all those CEO executives?!

“Orders are orders Overseer. Your target has already been dealt with, so for the time-”

“I don’t care! I will not be robbed of my-”

The sky blackened and a sudden rush of wind passed over the area. The trees swayed painfully in the harsh wind as claps of thunder could be heard overhead.

“Wait, so a Class SS Corruption
has
appeared?!” exclaimed Overseer with surprise.

Zack arched his head up as best he could. It took almost his entire strength to look up at the tormented sky. The swirling blackness of the clouds radiated with intense energy and pulsed with life. It was a terrifying display of power.

“What in the world is going on?” he choked out.

Lightning powered its way through the sky and struck the area in which everyone was standing. The massive bolt sent waves of energy all along the ground and devastated the lush and beautiful vegetation by roasting it to dust, but not before exploding in a frightening glare of pure white energy.

Zack could barely comprehend as he felt his whole body thrown through the air. He was so numb from the last time his body was tossed that he barely felt the bone-crushing feeling of his body smashing into raw earth. With endurance he never thought he had, Zack remained conscious, just long enough to see a figure rise in the center of the lightning’s wrath. He couldn’t see his face, but heard the words uttered ominously by the unknown entity.

“The Black God descends.”

[13]

Memory

[January 7th 2025 - (Present Day) - Babel HQ - Holding Facility - Night]

Dead Eye whistled joyfully as he threw another confectionery delicacy into his mouth. The fast bite of his teeth crushed the unsuspecting sugar cube with extreme force and pleasure. He savored the flavor as it rolled around in his mouth, an experience he revered as bliss. It was divine and true in his eye, but so very demonic to the onlooker. He was about to place another piece on the tip of his tongue, but stopped. He then smiled widely and peered down at a tray full of surgical knives. He recalled the urgent call from Simon just moments after Ares’ close encounter with Lambda.

“There has been a leak,” Simon had said darkly.

Dead Eye at the time was too entranced with the game of tag going on with Ares and his Void Reapers to notice Simon’s grave tone.

“A leak? In what?” he laughed.

Simon’s voice grew rigid. “We received reports of a certain individual probing for information regarding the Lambda project.”

Dead Eye didn’t pay it much mind. “So let them dig. There isn’t anything that can find its way back to-”

“They are asking about the boy.” Simon’s words were fierce.

Dead Eye froze. His attention was quickly focused. “What did they find?”

“Enough. Luckily, we were able to cut off the source. We just need you to tie up the loose ends.”

Dead Eye frowned. “I’m a bit busy. Can’t you get one of the
others
?”

“I’m afraid you are the closest High King. One of your tasks as such is to protect the Twelve’s interests. Besides . . .” Dead Eye could hear Simon laugh lightly. “I was under the impression you enjoyed prying information out of people, no?”
      

Now, Dead Eye cogitated while running his finger along one of his knives, reflecting on the words of Simon. He couldn’t help but laugh to himself.

Just like sweet candy, delicious!
He snickered.

He turned to his right. “For shame, I nearly forgot what I was doing. Silly me,” he said recovering from his own twisted thoughts.

Dead Eye placed a bag of candy down on the tray in front of him and picked up the largest surgical knife. His eye widened with madness as he pulled out one of the candies from the bag and pressed the blade on the tiny square. The blade instantly sliced the candy without any effort at all. Smiling fiercely, Dead Eye turned his head ever so slightly behind him.

“Would you like a piece, Marcus Fault?”

The man behind Dead Eye was strapped to a metal table. His arms and legs were bolted down with iron cuffs. The steel stuck to his sweating skin as he stared in terror before the fiend holding his life in a tight grasp.

Dead Eye smiled playfully. “Come now Marcus, we are both men who pride themselves on knowledge and information. This can all be resolved quite easily, that I can assure you.”

Marcus didn’t believe a word. Dead Eye’s tone suggested he was enjoying this far too much. The man’s sickening eye bulged with excitement as he popped another piece of candy into his mouth. He found the entire action revolting. Every fiber of his being wanted to get as far away from this man as possible.

He cursed under his breath.
I should have covered my tracks more!

Dead Eye broke Marcus’ internal dread.

“Not one for conversation, huh?” He shrugged. “The CIA trained you well,” Dead Eye said with a sly grin. He put down the blade he was holding and walked past the tray of torture devices as he came closer alongside Marcus.

“I suppose this method is probably a waste for a veteran like yourself. Perhaps direct threats would prove more effective, wouldn’t you agree?”

Marcus stared hard at Dead Eye. He spoke no words, though he found it difficult to mask the fear he felt swelling up in his chest.

Dead Eye’s expression slacked. His sickly grin was now replaced with a look of boredom.

“You people are always so hard to talk to.” Dead Eye reached up and pressed a button on his wrist. The table in which Marcus was strapped to rose to a standing position, followed by a large light turning on above that illuminated the dark room.

“Babel allows me to take certain liberties here. Given your recent probing, you have been brought here as you have proven to be a high risk factor given the sensitive nature of the information you found,” he cooed fiendishly.