The Genesis Code 1: Lambda (34 page)

Karen made little effort to defend herself. “I have my reasons. How you two comply next will determine if I’m successful.”

Both Richard and Margret looked down on Karen with hard stares. It was hard for both of them to simply abandon her after such a reveal. At the core, they were family, and both Richard and Margret held that in high regard. If you couldn’t trust family, who could you trust?

“What is the plan?” Richard asked reluctantly.

Karen didn’t take her eyes away from the monitor.

“Turning off the cooling vents for the server towers and cranking the heat will cause a chain reaction that will trigger a stage two meltdown in the computer labs. I need you, Richard, to secure Margret’s route of escape while I prepare to break the security codes.”

Margret spoke up. “But again, that will cause unnecessary-”

“It is necessary to ensure they are too preoccupied with saving their precious research to bother looking for you. In addition, they won’t notice me putting to rest the AI units before they move them.”

Richard still didn’t like the idea. “Is this really what you want, Karen? We have spent years on this research. To have it all end like this seems like such a-”

“I’ve made my decision, Richard. So, are you going to be a devoted husband, or are you going to sell me out?” she asked, never once looking at him.

Richard watched his wife race along her translucent keyboards, sighing deeply.

“As if I could turn in my own wife. How much time do I have?”

“I just hacked the security cameras and noticed a black limo pull up to the research plant. I’m guessing you have less than five minutes to get Margret moving and ensure she is out before the chaos starts,” Karen replied quickly.

Richard nodded. “Fine. We still need to talk after this. I’m sure there will be a lot of explaining to do anyway,” he said, pointing his index finger at Karen.

Karen hardly registered the action, merely shrugging. “Whatever floats your boat.”

Richard ignored her and turned to Margret. “So, you ready for this madness?” he joked.

Margret took in a breath. “No, but that has never stopped me before.”

Now, as Margret ran like her life depended on it, she couldn’t help but recall the last thing she overheard as they had both left the lab. As they were rushing out the door, she could have sworn she heard Karen quote Shakespeare.

“Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.”

She shook her head as she raced for the emergency exit Richard had told her to take after the alarms began to sound. She didn’t have time to think about the meaning in Karen’s words now. All that mattered was getting out of the facility. After that, she was on her own. That part alone frightened her more than Dead Eye himself.

*
      
*
      
*

Back at the central core of the research facility, Charles burst into the room with heated purpose. Below him, several dozen researchers and Tech Agents pounded on keyboards and forced themselves to not blink as they stared at their hovering monitor screens.

Charles didn’t waste any time. “What is the location of Margret Powers?”

“We have no way of locating any one personnel-”

“Fine! What of the meltdown?” he demanded.

“The backup cooling systems have been activated. We were able to move ninety-six percent of the data on the towers to our emergency Babel server before the server rooms went critical. The cause of the malfunction seems to be linked to an error in the cooling systems.”

Charles growled under his breath. He hadn’t thought that Margret would pull a stunt like this.

She must of learned the true intent of Babel coming for her.

Even so, for Margret to execute a plan to escape like this so quickly, she had to have help, and he already knew two prime candidates with the skills and knowledge to pull such a scheme off. However, he didn’t get a chance to act on that thought as one of the Tech Agents below hollered to Charles.

“Director! We have a problem! The Epsilon unit, it’s . . . “ the man trailed off.

Charles didn’t like the hysterical look in the man’s eyes.

“Well?! Was it damaged during the meltdown?! Speak!” he roared.

The man scrambled on his keyboard and pulled open an large monitor above that loomed over Charles’ head.

Charles eyes bulged. “No . . . Number 5 is . . . activating!?”

*
      
*
      
*

The vast darkness of cyberspace pulsed with dark lightning. Within this vacant plain, a lone figure hovered motionlessly in the darkness. Its slender figure was curled up into a ball, and its long hair waved into the empty void of space.

Black lightning shot across the motionless figure and illuminated its facial features. Its lifeless form remained dead as an ominous presence began to resonate at its core.

Its chest began to glow hot red, spreading in lines down the body of the figure. Its clawed hands of crimson began to twitch as its eyes slowly opened. The figure began to unfold from its cocoon-like position. Once straight, the figure threw its arms outward, creating a flash of orange light. The light pierced the darkness like the sun and gave birth to a stunning sight.

Eight blades the color of a scorching inferno darted out at angles, connecting to the entity glowing red with power. They radiated with intense beauty, but burned with destructive purpose as they glittered majestically in the abyss.

The figure rose its head. Its scarlet hair danced to a silent symphony while its golden eyes pulsed with new life. It peered into oblivion, its eyes possessed. They scorched with a purpose now lost and forgotten. The roaring flame still burned within, unaware of its ultimate goal and wish.

In its awakened state, it managed to utter two phrases.

“Project Epsilon . . . reboot engaged,” it stated flatly.

Its eyes then inflamed, while keeping a blank expression.

“Primary mission objective,
destroy
Combat AI unit Lambda.”

[17]

Recollection

[January 7th - Abingdon, Virgina - Stigma’s Underground Facility - Day]

Zack was lost in the darkness of his mind. He felt like something was slowly choking him in the vast void of blackness. It felt so real, yet he knew that it was a dream. The blackness churned and spun as if trying to snuff out his life, yet Zack struggled to free himself from this deathly sensation as he was having trouble breathing in his nightmare. He knew he had to wake up, but didn’t understand why he couldn’t. It almost felt like his brain was being picked apart.

“Zackary~” came a soothing voice. The warm tone fell over Zack’s ears and slowly began to melt away the pain of suffocating. He could breathe easier now, but the darkness still grinded and pulsed, wanting to devour him.

Whose voice is that?
Zack thought as his mind sought the answer.

Warm light braced his back as the darkness around him began to melt away. He hadn’t even turned around to face the dawning light when two arms gently wrapped around him. The radiating warmth from this entity brought life into Zack and rejuvenated his body. He almost was lost in the enveloping light before the entity spoke again.

“I’m so glad that you are well,” hummed the tranquil voice.

Zack’s heart stopped as the words whispered into his ear. He knew instantly who now held him close.

“Rachiel?!”

He wanted to see her face, but he couldn’t move his body. He could only look straight down at the small hands of the person he lost. Despite knowing he was trapped in this strange dream, it warmed his heart to be able to hear her voice again.

“All is well, Zack. I’m here and always will protect you. I love you,” she said.

Zack held back tears as he tried to make the moment last. The warmth and light made him feel so calm and relaxed. Now, he didn’t want this dream to end. He wanted to stay here for as long as his body and mind permitted it.

This is a fake.

Zack’s eyes sprung open. The dark words that entered his mind were not his own, nor were they Rachiel’s. The voice was feminine, yet so hostile. The comfort he once felt quickly began to decay as the warm light embracing his back slowly began to wane.

“Rachiel! Don’t go-”

There is only room for one. There cannot be two.

Zack’s chest began to ache and it felt like his head was about to split in half as a surge of pain rushed over him. The light was now gone, allowing the darkness to swallow him once more.

This is a test.

An image of Lambda suddenly appeared before Zack. The image jittered and jerked as it suffered from interference and static. The look on her face was terrifying. She peered down at Zack with soulless eyes. Her expression was that of a cold blooded killer.

Lambda’s image sparked as she spoke. “There is only room for one . . .”

Zack’s head continued to throb with pain as he was forced to stare up at the lifeless Lambda. It reminded him of how she first appeared before him. When he thought about that, he just couldn’t accept what he saw before him now. He refused to believe that the way Lambda looked in this nightmare was how he perceived her in his mind.

“This . . . is wrong,”
Zack choked out.

Lambda’s image bent and swirled with distortion as it continued to leer down on Zack. He couldn’t grasp what all of this meant as he held his head in pain. None of this made any sense. It all seemed so real in his mind, but why this was happening eluded him like creeping shadows.

Lambda’s image flashed, creating a blast of white light. Zack felt no pain from this blast and continued to stare. He had to blink several times, as he could see small sparks of black energy hidden in the light. The small bursts of electrical current were surrounding a small, black hole. It throbbed almost like an organ. When he tried to peer closer-

The black hole widened and produced a black hand that dashed towards Zack, grabbing his face. The sudden act left him wanting to scream in panic as the large hand held his face tightly. He struggled with all his might, but nothing he did could release him from the grasp of the dark hand.

This isn’t real! Wake up! Wake up!
he screamed to himself.

He could feel his strength fading as he slowly lost the will to fight. The hand only clenched his face tighter, absorbing Zack’s will to retaliate. He could feel his eyes rolling back into his head as his mind started to go blank. As his mind drifted into darkness, he swore he heard laughter.

Zack rocketed to an upright position. He heaved in and out, trying to catch his breath. He was covered in sweat from head to toe as he shook his head, trying to forget the terrible nightmare he just had. He wasn’t entirely sure that he wasn’t still dreaming.

Is that what they call a night terror? It felt so real.

Zack was so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn’t even realized Lambda was standing next to him. She seemed startled, looking to be frozen in an odd pose. Her flushed face and bizarre manner made Zack forget for a moment his nightmarish experience within his own mind, as well as his given location.

“You alright?” he said a little wearily.

Lambda stood in attention and nodded quickly. Her flushed face only intensified.

Zack didn’t seem convinced. She seemed to be acting strange. It looked like she was embarrassed. Over what, he couldn’t ascertain.

Meanwhile, in the mind of Lambda, her thoughts couldn’t be more jumbled. The only thing that she kept processing over and over again was a scene from an animated movie dating far back to the twentieth century. She stumbled upon it only by chance as she sat and watched Zack sleep. She found it worrisome how much he was sweating and breathing hard, so naturally she thought that there was something she could do. However, when she did a search in her data logs, key words being “how to wake a sleeping person gently”, she stumbled upon the movie clip. At first she dismissed the idea without even thinking. However, she couldn’t help but want to try it, reflecting on the moment they shared while Zack was asleep. Still, she couldn’t help but be curious the more she gave it thought. That being said, just the thought made her entire body feel like it was floating as she thought about the very thing she needed to do. All things considered, against her better judgment, she decided to go through with it.

She had never known her face could boil as hot as it did when she moved close to Zack. Had Zack not woken up so quickly, she might have been found out. Even now, as Zack eyed Lambda suspiciously, she could only quiver in embarrassment as she recalled the title of the movie from which she had learned about the scene.

Sleeping Beauty.

The charming scene they shared quickly dissolved as Zack became aware of his surroundings. It didn’t take him long to quickly note key fundamental changes to the location he had been in when he lost consciousness. He wasn’t at the county park anymore. Now, he was in a white tiled room that looked like some sort of quarantine facility.

He didn’t waste much time thinking about it after that. Putting aside thoughts of his nightmare and Lambda, he burst out of the bed he was in, more alert than he had ever been.

“Where am I, Lambda?!” he shouted. New purpose drove his actions. Zack didn’t like the situation one bit. Just what had happened when he was unconscious?

Lambda lost her flushed face quickly and stared at the floor in shame. The look in her eyes seemed so defeated that it made Zack feel bad for shouting.

“I-I’m sorry . . . I failed as your guardian.”

Zack found Lambda’s tone uncharacteristically down. She appeared so broken, but he didn’t understand why she was so bent out of shape.

“What happened, Lambda? Where are we?” Zack asked with great gravity, but with enough assurance to not sound so harsh.

Lambda lifted her head slowly. She didn’t make eye contact as she quickly rattled off the events that had transpired during Zack’s blackout.