Gene. Sys. (5 page)

I remember what 80 said about not being allowed
to talk to me first, so I make sure not to mention that. “I was heading back to
my room when one of the outsiders jumped out from a room at the end of the hall
and shot at me. 80 pushed me out of the way and was hit with the bullet
instead.”

The expression on Grant’s face turns hard. He
grabs my arms tightly and looks right through my eyes. “Is he dead? Is the
outsider dead?”

“Yes.” I pull away from him. “Those two other
drones shot him.”

“Good.” He turns to the drones. “You two. Get
every available drone and do a complete sweep of this compound. I want every
room checked. Twice!” The drones run off and he turns back to me. “You come
with me. We need to get Ev.”

I look back towards the operating room where I
can see the doctors hard at work. “What about—”

“—Now, Atom!” He walks through the doors
to the medical ward. I jog to catch up. “When you saw the outsider with the
gun, what did you do?”

“What do you mean?” I don’t know what he is talking
about. Was I supposed to do something?

“What did you do? What were you thinking when
you saw him?” He walks faster and I struggle to keep up.

I think back to what I did, which was nothing.
“I guess I just stood there. I don’t remember what I was thinking.”

We aren’t too far from Ev’s room but he stops
and pushes me against the wall. “Your life is too valuable for you to freeze!
The drills, the training that I put you through are not games, Atom. They are
to help you survive. You run or you fight. That’s how you survive. If you just
freeze up, if you don’t do anything, you will die. Do you understand me?”

I’ve let him down and I know it. I have never
felt so small. “Yes.” Right then I make a promise to myself to never let him
down again.

He lets me go and we make the last few turns to
Ev’s room. He pounds on the door. “It’s Grant.”

A few seconds later she answers the door and
recoils at the bright light hitting her eyes. “What is it?”

“Grab what you need to sleep in the training
room. We’re staying down there tonight.” Grant’s voice is a little gentler when
speaking to her.

She looks at me and her eyes grow wide. “Atom!
What happened? Whose blood is that?”

I look down and realize that I’m covered in 80’s
blood. It’s on my hands and I can feel the sticky substance on my face. Grant
jumps in before I can say anything. “He’ll fill you in downstairs.”

“I’m fine,” I reassure her. She ducks back into
her room and reemerges holding a pillow and a blanket.

We walk to my room. “You can shower downstairs,”
Grant tells me before I walk in. I go into my closet and pull out a clean jump
suit. I look into the bathroom but decide not to go in there because I don’t
want to see what I look like in the mirror. Hopefully there is a towel in the
training room shower. I grab my pillow and blanket and walk out.

      
By the time
we reach the training room I feel as though 80’s blood has penetrated deep into
my own skin and joined my blood stream. My hands have begun to shake. I throw
what I don’t need down and head directly to the shower. I make the water as hot
as I can possibly handle, strip down and step in.

The
water pooling at my feet turns from a clean, clear hue to red. My thoughts
flash back to the scene, all of my senses collectively remembering every
detail.
The sight of the bullet leaving the barrel of the gun
and drilling itself into 80.
The deafening
bang
that caused my ears to ring. The weight that my hands felt as 80 fell into my
arms. The burning odor of the guns fired by the other drones and the salty
taste of 80’s blood hitting my lips. My stomach curls and I can’t hold anything
in. I vomit what seems to be every protein pouch I’ve had in my brief life.

      
I crouch
down and I can’t help but let the tears come. Everything from the last couple
of days has caught up to me. What I thought my life was is nothing more than a
veil to what it really is; lies, fear, pain and death have replaced the false
sense of joy that I once felt. As I watch the water turn from red back to
clear, I suddenly get it. I know why I’m here. I know what my purpose is.
Survive.

      
I stand
with a new sense of understanding and let the hot water hit my face, cleaning
any tears that might have stuck to my cheeks. I shut the water off, dry myself
and change into my clean jump suit. I toss the old one into the trashcan and
walk out to the training room.

      
What I
enter looks nothing like the training room. It is a dense, dark forest with
moss lining the ground. There is a slight, crisp breeze and I can smell the
pine trees. I look up and see a sky filled with stars. I jump when I feel
something grab my hand and I look down to see Ev attached to the other end. “I
asked Grant if he could put on a simulation. I hope you don’t mind. I thought
this would be more relaxing.”

      
“It’s
perfect,” I say.

She leads me to the center of the room where she
has arranged our pillows and blankets next to each other. I spot Grant sitting
in a chair against a far wall. He reads from a tablet in his hands and pays no
attention to us. We lay on the ground, staring at the stars, and I tell her
everything that happened. I don’t miss a single detail, including what 80 told
me about the rules Rene has for the drones. I tell her how the drones nearly
killed one
of their own
because he was injured and
finally I tell her about the revelation I had in the shower. Aside from asking
a few questions, she just listens. When I finish with everything I needed to
say we just lie in silence, holding hands, until we fall asleep.

4

      
It’s still
dark when I wake up. I look to my side but Ev is no longer there. I sit up and
look around the room but see no sign of her or Grant. Just as I get to my feet,
Ev walks out from the bathroom drying her hair.

“Good morning,” she says as she shoots me a
smile.

      
“What time
is it?” The simulation is confusing me.

      
“Eleven.”
She tosses the towel over a rack and walks over to me.

      
“In the
morning?” I ask.

      
Ev begins
to fold her blanket. “Yeah. Grant said to let you sleep.”

      
“
Apokalupto
.” The simulation changes back to the training
room and I run to the elevator, leaving my pillow and blanket behind. “I need
to see if 80 is ok.”

      
“Wait for
me.” Ev drops her half folded blanket and runs into the elevator with me.

      
We jog to
the medical ward. The hallways are teeming with drones patrolling the compound.
The medical ward has but a small fraction of the people who were here
yesterday. It’s mostly just doctors in here. Brianna walks over to us.

      
“Where is
Grant?” Ev asks.

      
“He’s
working,” Brianna answers.

      
“How is
he?” I look towards the operating rooms.

      
“He’s
stable. They put him in a medically induced coma, but Rene should fully recover.”
She responds.

      
“I don’t
care about him.
How’s
80?” I don’t really mean that. I
do care about him but it’s too late, I already said it. I can feel Ev’s
disapproving eyes on me.

      
“The drone
is fine. He’s awake if you would like to see him.” She starts walking towards
the operating room, anticipating my answer.

      
I follow
and answer as a formality. “I would.”

      
Brianna
holds the door open for Ev and I but she doesn’t follow us in. 80 sees us walk
in and places down the tablet he was holding. There is a bandage covering half
his face. He looks at us through his one uncovered eye.

      
“How are
you feeling, 80?” I stand next to the bed and let Ev take the chair on the
other side.

      
“Why did
you do it? Why did you save my life?” His words have fear behind them.

      
I’m
surprised by his question. “Why wouldn’t I? You saved mine.”

      
“That’s my
job,” he says. “As long as I am capable of performing my duties, anyway.
Which I am now no longer capable of doing.
Without both eyes
I can’t shoot a gun. I am useless and should have been put down.”

      
Ev places
her hand on 80’s arm. “But don’t you want to live?”

      
“I want to
protect at any cost. That is my sole purpose.” 80
pulls
his arm away, uncomfortable with Ev’s touch.

      
“Now you
can do other things. You don’t have to be a soldier,” I say. To me this sounds
like great news but I see tears running down the side of his face. I look at Ev
and she’s looking at 80. Her empathy must be stronger than mine because she too
has tears rolling down her face.

      
“Can you
guys just let me be?” 80
shuts
his eye.

      
Ev grabs my
arm and leads me out. Before we make it out the door I turn back to 80. “Thanks
again for saving my life.”

      
“It was my
job.” 80 wipes his face and we leave.

Before
I have time to register what’s happening, Ev drags me into Rene’s room. I don’t
fight it. Instead I just hold her hand as we stand next to his bed. His eyes
are shut and he appears to be sleeping. The glass cover over his body projects
what I can only assume are his heartbeat, blood pressure and other vitals.

      
Ev breaks
the silence. “Why are you so mad at him?”
  

      
I don’t
look at her. “He lied to me.”

      
“He was
just trying to protect you,” she responds.

      
“I find
that hard to believe since he didn’t keep the same things from you that he did
from me.” I don’t feel comfortable holding her hand right now so I let go.
 

      
She looks
at me. “Like what? I don’t know what he has or hasn’t told you.”
     

      
“Did you
know about the others?” I ask.

      
“No.”

      
“Did you
know that the drones are supposed to be killed if they are injured?” I press
on.

      
She shakes
her head. I can tell she is growing uncomfortable with the questions.

      
“Did you
know about the outsiders and that they might attack?” I look her right in the
eye.

      
“I didn’t.
Atom, can we not talk about this right now?” She averts her eyes and I know
that she is trying to avoid my next question.

      
“Did you
know that we are the ones who are destroying Earth?” I want her to be as in the
dark as I am but I can tell by her body language that she knows.

      
She takes a
deep breath and looks at me with resolve in her eyes. “Yes. You have to
understand that he had to tell one of us what our true purpose is.”

      
“Why didn’t
he tell me?” I’m hurt.

      
“I often
wished he did. This is not an easy burden to carry.” She puts her hand on
Rene’s glass case and looks at him.

      
I stare at
her, hoping she will give me more. I grow anxious and I can’t stand in that
room surrounded by secrets anymore so I leave. As I walk out I can see Ev sit
in the chair next to Rene.

      
When I get
out of the medical ward I weigh my options and, instead of heading back to my
room, I decide to explore what I can of the scientists’ wing. I try to avoid
being seen as I walk but after a while I realize that no one is paying
attention to me. The drones and scientists I pass are all going about their
business. Most of the hallways look similar to those in Ev and my part of the
compound. I can only assume that most of the doors I pass are bedrooms. I poke
my head into a couple of rooms that have ‘Lab’ labeled on them, but they are exactly
as advertised. Nothing that I see seems out of the ordinary.

      
I’m about
to head back to my room when I spot Grant at the end of the hallway I am in.
He’s hustling towards a set of doors with a keypad so I decide to follow him. I
make my way as silently as I can down the hallway but Grant seems too
preoccupied with entering his password to notice I’m walking towards him.

      
When I feel
that I’ve gotten as close as I can before he sees me, I duck into one of the
rooms with the ‘Lab’ label and wait. He finishes deactivating the lock and
walks in. I make a quick decision, knowing that if I don’t run now I might not
get another chance. So I run for the door as it starts closing.

      
“Stop!” I
hear someone say behind me. I glance back and notice a drone chasing after me.
There is no turning back now, so I dive for the other side of the door just
before it shuts behind me. I look back through the window of the door and see
the drone run off in the opposite direction. They will know I’m in here soon so
I better find out what I can.

      
I see Grant
turn the corner at the end of the hall. This hall looks the same as all the
others so I have no desire to check in the doors even though I have no idea
what this part of the compound is. I decide to follow Grant as far as I can.

      
After
turning down a couple of hallways Grant walks into one of the rooms. The
hallways in this part of the compound are empty. There are no drones or
scientists walking around. Somehow I get the sense that this is the heart of
the compound. I walk up to the door that Grant walked through and see that it’s
labeled ‘Surveillance Room’. Chills rush up my spine because I just realized
that have probably had cameras on me my entire life watching everything I do.
It doesn’t really surprise me but I guess that’s one secret I preferred to
remain naïve to.

      
I take a
deep breath and slowly push the door open. Luckily there is no one right there
so I am able to slide into the room without being noticed. I keep my back
against the back wall and am very cautious about making any noise.
     

      
What I see
before me nearly makes me scream. The room is enormous. At least twenty
scientists sit at various stations with monitors in front of them. The monitors
are much more advanced than those in the room I was in with Hawk. The
scientists swipe the screens and new images appear. All the images on the
screens seem foreign to me except for a select group on the left that show the
compound.

      
I search
the room for Grant and spot him behind a small group of scientists who are
frantically swiping across their screens.

“Put it up on the wall,” Grant demands. One of
the scientists does a few things on his screen with his hands and suddenly the
wall across from me comes to life and a giant image of Earth appears. I
recognize it from pictures I’ve seen in books and holograms, but those pale in
comparison to what I see before me. It’s so big and blue. It very easily could
be a picture from thousands of years ago because from this distance there is no
indication that life has existed. It’s beautiful.

“Let me see Cairo,” Grant says as he walks to
the wall. The image zooms from that of Earth to a city in ruins. It must be
near the compound because I see the pyramid as the image focuses on the city
center. People run around carrying guns. Others appear to be controlling large
machines. The city is overrun with trash and rubble. It is not the organized
markets and houses that I read about in the books.
   

“Get me closer to the ground.” Grant does not
avert his eyes from the wall. The giant image reduces to half the size in the
middle of the wall. Smaller images frame the center image. These images give
closer shots of what I saw before. I see now that amongst the rubble and trash are
also sick and even dead people. I stifle a gasp as I witness the pain and loss.
“Take them around the city,” Grant tells the scientists.

Almost in unison, about 5 scientists place their
palms on their screens and the images rise up in altitude. Manipulating their
hands in different directions, the scientists fly whatever cameras they are
controlling around the city. By the screens on the wall I can tell that
whatever object they are flying has a camera pointed in four different
directions, covering a complete panoramic view of the streets. As they fly
around, the images show that some of the people are moving in a very organized
manner.
They
 
to
be transporting guns and scrap metal.

Grant puts his hands on the top of his head.
“This isn’t good.”

Suddenly two of the screens project something
very odd. They both have dragonflies hovering in the center of the screen. I
step closer to get a better look and realize that those are the cameras.
      

“Atom!” It’s Grant’s voice. This snaps me out of
my trance and I realize that I have walked right into the center of the room.
Most of the scientists have turned to look at me and Grant’s stare is somehow
inflicting pain.

“What the hell are you doing here?” He storms at
me and leads me out of the room by my arm. His grip will definitely leave a
bruise.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…” I try to plea my
case but I know it won’t matter. I’m definitely going to be in trouble. He
looks up and down the hallway. There are two drones at one end.

“You two. Take Atom directly back to his room.”
He turns his attention to me. “We will talk about this later.”

I don’t object and I just let the drones lead me
back to my room. All I want to do is lay in my bed. I shut the door behind me
and lay my head on my pillow. I stare at the ceiling, my head swirling with
thoughts. The things I saw on the monitors, 80, Rene, the other Genetic
Systems, the outsiders, the end of the world. I find it hard to focus on any
single thing. They all have me so worked up that I haven’t realized that I have
balled up my hands into fists and I am digging my nails into my palms.

I must have been exhausted because before I know
it I’m dreaming. I’m flying above the city like
the dragonfly
cameras and everywhere I look the outsiders are being shot down by drones
.
I fly in for a closer look and see that every face on the drones is my face. I
maneuver closer still to the drones with my likeness and I try hard to stop
them from killing the outsiders, but I can’t. I’m helpless.