Chaos Theory (19 page)

Distrust gathered like storm clouds on Kali’s face. “You’re
just saying that because you’re thinking like one of these
Hybrids.” She stepped closer to him. “Please?”

“
He’s not just one of us,” Lara said. “He’s more alien than I
am.”

Kali studied the differences between them carefully. Lara’s
hair was not as white at the roots and held the faintest of yellow
tinges. Her skin was tanner, and her eyes less vivid in contrast to
her skin. Her eyebrows were blonde, as were her eyelashes. Blue’s
colouring was more pronounced; he looked like a fallen
angel.

“
That makes sense,” she conceded after a loaded pause. “The
Novae’s skin is colourless, isn’t it?” She remembered the pale
faces above her as needles descended. “Sometimes their skin looks
silvery with lots of colours at the back of their
heads.”

“
They are completely hairless,” a new voice said softly. A
willowy male with up-tilted eyes joined the group from the corridor
and bowed in greeting. White hair with black ends brushed his
shoulders, and his eyes were an ordinary brown before morphing into
a deep green as he watched her. “No follicles, you see. Their skin
is a different cell composition.” He smiled then, the corners of
his lips turning up in a friendly manner. “I’m Kenshin.”

Standing behind him was another Hybrid with acid blonde hair.
The gentle expression on the giant’s face was at odds with the
intimidating size of him. He waved. “Igor,” he rumbled by way of
introduction.

Kali wasn’t sure how to react. Offering two quick smiles, she
shuffled closer to Max. “If the aliens are so different why are
they acting the way they are? So … gentle about
everything.”

“
Gentle?” Max blurted. “Kali, they’ve invaded our planet and
used bio weaponry that crippled our civilization.”

“
Aside from that.” She repressed a wave of irritation. Max
could be so literal sometimes. “It’s not like the Novae came in
guns blazing screaming demands. They seem extraordinarily
matter-of-fact about it all. As if they have a right to be here.
They don’t care we’re fighting back. They’re not angry. Doesn’t
that alarm anybody but me?”

“
Humans are not a threat to the Novae the LifeStream,” said
Lara. “Females are incubators for Novae foetuses.” Her eyes flicked
up and down Kali’s frame. “Valuable, but not dangerous. The males
are a convenient work force.”

“
Indeed.” Kenshin was thoughtful. “Forgive me, but Human
reasoning is primitive. Linear and underdeveloped in comparison to
a Hybrid, so that going beyond and comparing Human cognitive
function to the Novae is like comparing ... hmm … mud with
gold.”

“
I like mud,” Christabella said in a small voice. “It grows
things.”

Max and Kali grimaced.

That statement was more ironic than Christabella knew. Despite
surviving the invasion, she hadn’t realised the gravity of her
situation as a Human female. Kali had no desire to enlighten
her.

“
It is beneath our Creator to panic,” Igor added. “Humanity is
backed into a corner.” Hulking shoulders shrugged. “To the Creator,
demise of Human life is inevitable, yes?”

“
Then what are we doing here,” Max demanded angrily. “If it’s
so fuxing hopeless why bother hiding? We may as well strip naked
and run out there for them impregnate us.”

Kenshin patted his shoulder. “You’re male. They cannot put a
zygote in you, and the women are artificially inseminated. Are you
comforted?”

Max dragged a hand over his face.

Christabella cringed, huddled deeper into the blanket around
her dainty shoulders.

Lara looked like she was going to say something wicked, but
her lips twisted in sympathy at Christabella’s ashen profile. She
addressed her fellow Hybrids instead. “We’re not all
Human.”

“
They’ll not expect Hybrids to fight.” Relieved, Blue latched
onto Lara’s comment to bring some optimism into the conversation.
“It will confuse them.”

“
We have the chance to catch them off-guard,” Lara mused.
“They’ll have to spend time revising how to manage us.”

Igor crouched to scratch Natalya under her chin with both
hands. “We will make it difficult for them by changing our
tactics.”

“
I was shown how they work,” Blue revealed. “As time passes I’m
able to gain more access to what they put in my head. Everything
they do is planned to the smallest detail. Their brainpower, the
Reckoning, is such they can adapt in seconds if they have a
learning source to hand. They determine their actions on possible
scenarios.”

“
The more unpredictable and random we act the safer we’ll be,”
Lara concluded.

“
That sounds reckless,” Max objected.

“
Reckless isn’t random,” corrected Blue.

“
Right,” Max said dryly. He didn’t care about the distinction.
“How do we come up with a plan they won’t anticipate?”

“
Your ideas wouldn’t work,” Kenshin reminded him. “Humans using
human reasoning will not survive long, I’m sad to say. Our Creators
were certain in their engineering of us. I doubt they factored
Hybrid ability into their calculations. I would think it takes some
time for the Reckoning to reach maximum effectiveness before they
would be able to identify we are against them and puzzle through
it?” Kenshin finished by turning to Blue, addressing his question
to him.

“
Those are my thoughts,” Blue agreed. “They can determine what
our likely moves are on a broader scale, but that does not mean
they can predict what we’ll do in the end, or how we’ll do it.
There are limited options for what we could do as a resistant force
to their plans for domination, and this will help them when they do
Reckon, but any long-term predictions they prepare to encounter
will be impossible.” He looked at each Hybrid in turn. “We’re made
deterministic by probable options, but our emotions allow us to be
behaviourally dynamic.”

“
We have an advantage,” Igor summarized, sounding cheerful as
he rubbed his purring FetchMe.

“
I’m confused,” Christabella muttered, looking around the
circle of faces for an ally who shared her
mystification.

“
Chaos,” Kali murmured.

Blue’s lip twitched, and his eyes twinkled with pride when he
looked at her. She summed up what the Hybrids had been trying to
explain in a word. “Chaos is the theory, yes.”

Max’s face lit as he got it. “Yeah, like the Butterfly
Effect,” he enthused. “Spontaneous changes to our plans to evade
their scenario planning.”

“
So we’re safe?” Christabella pushed. “Is that what you’re
saying? Being scared all the time is exhausting.”

Blue shook his head slowly. “Sorry, but no. It’s not truly
safe anywhere anymore, but we’re good for now.”

“
Shouldn’t we be fighting with the Alliance?” Max asked. “They
could use your help.” He motioned around them. “A secure location
like this would be a useful outpost.”

“
The Creator has the planet in his palm,” Lara said. “This
bunker is secure because Blue has flooded the surface and the rooms
down here in telekinetic barriers of energy. I’ve reinforced them
with telepathic ones of my own.” She gritted her teeth when Max
peered hard at the walls “You can’t see them, but they’re there.
More minds would mean more power to shield. We can’t protect an
army.”

“
But you can help. Your abilities and knowledge would be
invaluable to the Alliance.”

“
I do not mean to be rude, but this conversation must wait.”
Kenshin said. “There are more pressing matters.”

Kali blinked. “Why are you looking at me?”

“
The Creator took you,” explained Igor. “The question we ask is
why?”

“
They abducted Blue and let him go,” Max reminded, drawing Kali
closer to his side.

“
Blue was designed to be the Hybrid Omicron,” Kenshin said.
“The Creator took him to activate his latent abilities, and supply
his orders, like the rest of us. This is logical. Kali is a
Human.”

“
Taking her was illogical,” rumbled Igor.

“
Therefore dangerous,” Lara finished.

Blue stepped in front of Kali. “No.”

“
We need to know,” Kenshin urged. “If there is something they
did to her we must be prepared for it. To protect the
collective.”

“
I said no.” The snappish tone was nearly a shout. Kali shifted
back, shocked by his outburst. Blue’s voice never rose above a
pleasant murmur.

Gaining more confidence, she placed her hand on the small of
his back, fisting it in his top. His protection meant more than she
could say, and she took comfort that though she was acting cooler
towards him that he was still willing to defend her. It gave her
the strength not to be afraid. “It’s standard,” she
assured.

“
No, it’s not. Nothing about the last few days has been
standard.”

“
You acting this way must mean there is something to know.”
Kali worried her lip. She felt like crap. Her head hurt and her
muscles ached, but she had been through a lot. There would be
nothing to find because she felt the same. “If you know something
just tell us.”

He frowned at her over his shoulder. “I don’t know. I
suspect.” Blue’s jaw worked. “I found her naked.”

“
Ah.” Kenshin’s expression was sympathetic. “I see.”

Lara snorted.

Max’s gaze pinged between the Hybrids uneasily.
“So?”

“
We were returned with our clothes,” Blue
replied. “That she didn’t is a break in the pattern. She’d have
been ideal for breeding yet they sent her home.
Home
, not to where she
was abducted. Another break in pattern.”

Max clasped Kali’s hand tightly. “She’s fine. You can see
that. She’s the same.”

But she wasn’t.

Blue could feel she had changed.

“
I won’t hurt her,” Kenshin promised softly, sensing his
Omicron’s conviction falter. “I just want to run a few tests to see
what the Creator might have done.”

“
I need your word.” Blue held his gaze. “Your word that no
matter what you find you’ll not harm her. All of you must
agree.”

“
Blue, you’re scaring me,” Kali whispered. “It’s a blood test.
What could he possibly find?”

Blue didn’t acknowledge her. He kept his eyes on Kenshin.
“Swear it.”

“
I swear,” Kenshin replied sincerely.

He elbowed Lara in the side when she stuck out her chin
mulishly. “I won’t touch her,” she grumbled.

“
We will protect her, yes?” Igor gave a crooked
smile.

Satisfied, Blue relaxed. He didn’t know what was wrong with
Kali, but he sensed a deep change. After the anomalies in her
abduction it was logical to assume
something
had been done to
her.

“
I’m whacked,” Christabella announced. She leaned heavily on
Max, the tension going over her head. Perhaps that was a good
thing, her lack of distrust broke the apprehension and redirected
their thoughts.

Igor rubbed his belly. “I’m tired
and
hungry.”

“
There’s plenty of food.” Blue nodded to the kitchen area.
“There are two spare bedrooms with big beds. I have bedding in
storage.”

“
For someone who didn’t know of the invasion you’re awfully
prepared,” Max observed.

Blue didn’t take offense. He knew it must look circumspect. “I
always knew my behaviour was odd. I wrote a blog hoping someone
would reach out to me.” He chuckled dryly. “No one did.”

“
Not true,” Igor objected to bolster him. “It helped us find
you.”

Max clicked his fingers. “The doomsday feed. That was you?
Huh.” Max lost the edginess and peered around inquiringly. “So how
big is this place?”

“
Six thousand square feet divided across two levels,” Blue
replied. “Four bedrooms, three storage rooms, the kitchen, and this
main living area. There’s only one BatheMe, but the bedrooms have
individual CleanMe units. All rooms come off the same corridor. The
place is shaped like a semi circle, so you can’t get
lost.”

Christabella wandered towards the kitchen. “How did you build
all of this?”

“
I didn’t build it.” Blue smiled, knowing she was used to a
HiEco style of living, and must feel out of her element. “It was an
abandoned Alliance hideout and left unused for nearly a decade
before I found it. Took four years to renovate, and I’m not
finished yet. Downstairs is empty space filled with tools and
supplies.” Blue rubbed a wall fondly. “Thought I was being
paranoid. My time couldn’t have been used in a more beneficial
way.”

“
You did all of this yourself?” Christabella was just amazed.
She could never imagine doing anything this epic alone. “I’ve never
done anything this good in my whole life.”

“
It wasn’t as bad as you think. I rewired, but it was mostly
cleaning and modernization. Like I said, it was an Alliance base
before. The structure was sound.” He turned to Kali. “Come. I’ll
take you to your room.”