Activate (9 page)

I
got
the rest I needed—I slept for almost twelve hours—and now we’re back in the park. I just convinced a guard to let us climb the fence, and it was easier than I thought it’s be. Now I just need to convince
both
of the ones a few feet away to ignore us as we wade into the pond. Two minds may be better in some cases, but in this one, it just makes things infinitely harder for me.

I can do this
. That’s what I tell myself, over and over, because even though I won’t be able to convince myself of that through mind manipulation, it can’t hurt to try and re-assure myself. I take a deep, calming breath and stand up picturing the pond as it is right now, with nothing breaking the surface. I motion to Lauren, and we both run as I push that image into the guards’ heads, over and over again as we walk into the water. I hold onto my focus, even though my head is starting to hurt a little from keeping two people controlled.

Lauren goes under, and I follow her, letting go of my hold on the guards once we’re in deep enough water to dive down. The pond is only around eight feet deep, but once we swim through the tunnel that we find under one of the statues, we’re in a passageway with ceilings that are at least fifteen feet tall.

“How is all of this under here without anyone knowing?” I ask, thoroughly confused.

“Oh, they probably know about the passageways, and things—I mean, how could they not? The only difference is, they can only see what the humans have built. Once we get closer, we’ll be in an altered ‘state’ I guess you’d call it.”

“Our minds are altering?”

“No. I guess that isn’t what you’d call it,” she says with a laugh. “We’ll be here, but not really here. I don’t know how else to explain it. If someone knows to look, they can find the room, but a normal person walking by won’t ever see it.”

“Basically, we’re hidden in plain sight by some alien magic.”

“Yeah, that.”

I nod like I get it, and I kind of do, but it’s still hard to wrap my head around the fact that we’re not exactly human. I swam from Australia to France, mind-controlled some people, and haven’t eaten a thing in days, and yet, I still just can’t quite believe it all.

If that’s mind-boggling, then looking at all the pieces of metal and computer parts lying around—and knowing exactly what to do with them—is something I don’t have words for. I know I’m some creation of spy, detective, and alien, and I can’t remember knowing anything else, but it still strikes me as weird. Should it? Probably not. It might be a defect, or maybe my mind is stronger than their controls.

“You ready to build this thing and get your memories back?”

Memories? No one mentioned memories. “Huh?”

“Oh yeah, we didn’t tell you. Besides figuring out how to block the Muses, we all worked together to figure out how I could remember and they couldn’t.”

“Really? I can remember?”

“Yes. Once everything’s built, I can assemble the program.”

“How fast can we build it?”

“Faster than a human, but probably not as fast as you’d like.” She tells me with a laugh.

I want to remember. I know instinctively that’s it’s going to hurt, but I also know I don’t want to move forward without having my past with me.

I
went to the party
, and showed off, earning me a little bit of freedom. It’s during the day though, so I’ll have to make do. I take a circuitous route back to the bridge, ducking in and out of shops, museums, and anywhere else I could until I feel confident that I’ve lost my “companions.” I know it’s not for long, so I have to hurry.

I look around, and see no one paying attention to me as I stand in the shadow of the bridge. I wade in a little and hurry underneath, keeping myself in the shadows, while knowing I’m not safe from exposure just yet. I press my hand to the bridge, and nearly scream in surprise when my hand slips inside the solid wall.

Looking around once more, I slip my whole body inside, and stare in wonder at the room I find myself in. It’s full of things I know exactly what to do with, and as far as I can tell, no one else is here, or has been here in a long time. The way I came in tells me there’s no way the humans know it’s here, and I sink to the ground with the realization that I can relax for at least a short time.

I need to build the control center, because it’s the only way to find the Muses, and the others. My mission is still front and center in my mind, and I have no desire to stray from it, even a little. The pressure I’m getting from the Creator is just too much right now, so I’m glad for this time alone, even with the punishment I’m going to receive.

Doing this alone is going to take me at least a few days because sneaking out will be not only dangerous, but it will also be counterproductive. Once she knows why I did it, she might forgive me—or she might punish me harder. It’s a chance I’ll have to take.

I stand up, and start assembling the pieces, not even having to think about it. I don’t think I’ve ever believed in instinct, but I can’t deny it exists when it’s working right now. Piece by piece, I work on this first part of the infrastructure, going hard until I can’t go anymore. I didn’t think we needed sleep, but after working for hours on end, my body simply collapses on me.

I wake up hours later, and begin again. This is the pattern of my life for four days straight—working and sleeping. It’s all worth it when I step back and look at what I’ve built, what I’ve
done
; on my own, with no help. It’s everything I needed, and just like with building it, I know how to use it to find the others. Not the Muses yet, but I can flip a few switches and know exactly where to find my siblings and the others. I’m not ready to go after all of them yet, but I will be soon. I just know it.

“
I
’m ready
,” I tell Jennifer, as she attaches some cords to my head.

I’m a little freaked out when they seem to mold to my skin—right through my hair—but I try not to show it. She showed me how to help her build the device that keeps the Muses from my head, and now she’s about to give me my memories back.

“It’s going to be hard,” she says, and I nod. “It’s going to hurt, too. Our brains are advanced, but shooting all that information in at once is still rough on us.”

“I want to do this,” I assure her.

“Okay. Here we go.”

She steps away and presses some buttons on one of the control panels, but I feel nothing at first. And then…then I feel
everything
. Including a pain so intense I think my head might explode.

I remember my parents, and how they always looked a little nervous and sad. I started doing whatever I could to make them laugh. I became the kid who made everyone laugh—that’s all I was known for. Now I know I’m so much more, but I’m still not complete.

As the memories wash over me, and the pain in my head lessens, I start to feel a little more whole. I’m the boy I now know I was, but I’m also the man I was created to be. I may only be sixteen, but I’ll never be “young” again. My youth has been taken from me, and it’s time for me to move forward, taking both parts of me along for the ride.

“Are you okay?” Jennifer asks once it’s all over with.

“Yeah. I actually feel more okay than I did before I remembered.”

“I think that’s the way it should be.”

“Do you think I’ll ever see my parents again?” Now that I remember them, I miss them.

“I hope you will.”

“I hope you get to see yours, too.”

She gives me a sad smile. “Mine are dead. No loose ends, and all.”

My eyes widen, even though I shouldn’t be shocked. I know how ruthless the Creators are; I mean, you’d have to be, in order to create children just to have them kill each other and their alien DNA donor. Still, knowing that they’ll kill the people who raised me, who
loved
me, even though I’m not their biological child? That stokes an anger in me, making me even more determined to shut this all down and still come out alive. If that’s even possible.

“We have to stay alive.”

“You don’t have to convince me. I don’t want to die.”

“I’m sorry for your parents.”

“Me too, but now we need to save yours. Innocent people shouldn’t be killed because they chose to love a child.”

No, they shouldn’t. I say a prayer, asking the God I’ve prayed to since I was little to spare my parents.

Even if I die, I ask for them to live.

W
e have everything assembled
, including a device that will help others remember, just in case someone else needs it. Alejandra has her memories, and I have mine, so we’re good on that front. Or at least as good as someone like us can be, in a time like this.

“Everyone but Levi is online….and oh, crap! When I said everyone, I meant it; Abigail is online.”

“Can you block her from seeing us?”

“No. It’s too late. She knows where we are.
Exactly
where we all are.”

“Not all—you said Levi and Coalton aren’t on yet.”

“There’s no way to stop them from getting on.”

“You really have no way to contact him? None at all?”

“No. It was smarter to stay completely apart.”

“Only now we’re all going to be under attack.”

“One at a time, yes, but she can’t be in four places at once, and no one but her can find us. We’ll just have to be ready.”

She looks to the corner, and so do I. Part of what we built is lying in a pile there. Weapons. We built weapons—the only ones that can kill us, and our friends. And Abigail.

“I don’t want to kill,” I tell her.

“Neither do I, but if it’s me or her, I’ll take her down without a second thought.”

I realize I will, too. I’ll fight for my life before I worry about mourning Abigail or anyone else who tries to end me.

“Can we communicate with any of the others without her seeing.”

“Yes.”

She reaches for a button, but before she can press it, the screen in front of us comes to life with Sabrina and Lauren on it.

“You saw?” Lauren asks.

“Yes,” Alejandra tells her. “I think you’re closest, but that doesn’t mean she’ll go for you first.”

The screen splits, and then I see Hinton and Jennifer. “Hey, are you all thinking what we’re thinking?” Jennifer asks.

“That we’re all going to have to fight?” I ask. “I’ll fight if I have to.”

“We’re all going to have to,” Sabrina says, and then I see how stressed she looks. “Levi and Coalton still aren’t online…do you think?”

“No,” Alejandra tells her. “We’d feel it if they were gone. We felt it when Clayton died. They’re alive. I don’t know what’s going on with them, but they’re alive.”

“We have to get ready to fight. Go offline for at least part of everyday so it will make it harder for her. She can’t hit us all at once, so the harder we can make it for her, the better. I’m going to work on trying to find a way to block her, but I can’t guarantee anything, so just be prepared,” Jennifer tells us.

The screens go blank as we all make our promises, and say our goodbyes. I walk over and pick up one of the longer knives, turning it over in my hand. “She can’t win.”

“She won’t,” Alejandra promises me. “As long as we work together, she can’t beat us.”

I hope she’s right, but if she’s not, we’ll be ready. Ready and willing to do whatever needs to be done to survive.

F
oolish children
. Their human DNA is too prevalent right now, causing them to make mistakes a pure member of our species wouldn’t. They blocked us on the island, and beneath, but we saw them dive into the ocean and swim. They split up, thinking it would be harder for their enemies to eradicate them—and us—if they weren’t together. The “Creators” will have trouble, but their problems are not ours.

We can find them anywhere, because they are a part of us, and we are the two who will not die. It’s not a human hope, or even a thought, it is simply a fact. No human could contain us, and they certainly can’t kill us, but the nine remaining will do no better, even though they may want to when they find out the whole truth. They’ll want to kill us, or they’ll want to join us. No matter, we only need them for one thing, and then their choice will become moot. To die or not to die is not a question for them—it’s the inevitable future.

As long as they exist, we are in danger of them one day realizing their true potential, and we simply cannot allow that to happen. A human would say we’re heartless, and they would be quite right—we have no heart. No silly emotions cloud our judgements, and no remorse holds us back from doing what we need to in order for our race to survive.

We are the last two who remain. We need to procreate—growing our species until we can take over a part of this planet. We do not wish for all of it; just space enough for us to live and thrive. Australia was a good choice for us, but we are now looking at Alaska. Cold weather is of no concern to us, and we want to be somewhere remote, because in a hundred years—or more like fifty—the people who know of us will be dead, and the new ones will want to try and destroy us once again. We will of course have to remove all of the Alaskans, but we’ll give them the option to leave peacefully…or not.

Is it wrong of us to come to another planet and make these demands? Possibly, but if there were only two Earthlings left, and it was our planet, I think they’d want the same. I’d like to think we’d help them and not hunt them; after all, we were a peaceful society, and once we rebuild, we’ll keep the peace until threatened. That, I can promise.

Until then, we will have to deal with the nine. Eight of them are in pairs as they reach the shores in different parts of Europe. The ninth—the one called Abigail—is with our sworn enemies. She is the last surviving one they added the “extra” in the DNA to. She will not be swayed, of that we are sure, and so she must be dealt with. We cannot kill her because we helped create her, but her siblings and the others can. It is our job to make sure they will.

We made a few of our own modifications to some of the DNA. Our species knows how to manipulate our bodies better than any human ever will, and that’s exactly what we did. We manipulated some of our samples while they were being taken, but left the others as is. Just as interesting as we were to the humans, the new beings they were creating were interesting to us. We wanted to know if they’d survive, and if they did, could they thrive and not be torn apart from the two different species inside.

It was a pleasant surprise to watch them all grow, and change. They were never truly themselves, because of what was being done to them, but we were confident that one day they’d find what we left for them, and learn the secrets of who and what they are. We waited long years, and have lost three of us through those years, but now our time has come. The time for vindication and absolution. We are not enemies of any state, and we should not be treated as such.

* * *

L
evi and Coalton
are not expecting us. “Hello,” my companion says, as we slide through the walls and into the room we left for them.

We stop them just before they go online. Coalton turns to us with a blade in his hand, placing himself between us and Levi. That blade can kill us, so I speak up this time. “We mean you no harm.”

“Why are you here?” Levi asks, motioning to my companion. “When I called out for help, he didn’t listen, and yet you are both here now.”

“You are an insolent boy who needs to learn to respect his elders.”

I place my hand on my companion’s shoulder, giving him a silent reminder that we need both of these boys. “If you go online, she will find you,” I tell them.

“She?” he asks, and then understands. “You mean Abigail.”

“Yes,” I agree. “She has the same knowledge as you, and she now knows where everyone else is.”

“Everyone?” his skin turns white, in the way it does when humans are scared.

“You are concerned for the female. Sabrina, they call her.”

We’ve seen it—the bond they’ve formed. We were not surprised as it was not uncommon among our race to feel strongly for one another upon first meeting. We have both lost our partners, and will only mate to procreate, and not out of any bond—we are what the humans call “friends” and nothing more.

“I am concerned for
all
of my friends,” he says, proving why they all look to him as their leader. His human heart may be hurting for his love, but he will not dismiss the others for her.

“She has not attacked any of them yet.”

“Do you know where she will go first?”

“No.”

We do, but one thing we’ve learned after so many years on this planet, is how to enjoy ourselves. What fun would it be if we gave them a warning? They should be ready to fight.

“I don’t believe you,” he says, turning away from us. “If you aren’t here to help, you should just leave.”

“You do not decide for us,” my companion says.

“I think I do,” he says, turning back around and swinging a blade close enough to prick his throat.

“Stop!” I yell. “Do not kill him.”

“The fact that I came close enough to doing it tells me you need us more than we need you.”

He is too smart for his own good, but when the time comes, he will be taken care of. Right now is not that time, so I concede. “She will go to Paris first. She saw your feelings for Sabrina, and she wants to draw you out.”

“Let’s go,” he says to Coalton. They each grab another knife, sticking them into their clothes as they brush past us.

“You are playing right into her hands—into your Creator’s hands as well. You must know this.”

“They may know I’ll come, but they don’t know the lengths I’ll go to in order to save her.”

“Our bond did not save the ones we were connected to.”

“Our alien bond may be what connects us, but it’s our human love that will save us.”

He has no idea how wrong he is, but I won’t try to argue with him. “We cannot interfere in your fight, but we will be watching.”

“It’s your fight, too, or did you forget we were created to kill you? Maybe we should just do that now, and save ourselves the trouble later.” Coalton says, speaking for the first time. I hadn’t noticed it before, but now I can tell that he got his memories back already. I didn’t expect it since they hadn’t gone online yet, but it’s obvious right now.

He would kill me if he needed to, but right now we’re not the biggest threat. Levi realizes it as well. “We can deal with them later if it comes to that. They’re harmless.” No. We are not that, but I won’t correct him; he’ll find that out soon enough.