Rebellion (Zero Series) (17 page)

“That
food isn’t going anywhere,” Jet said.

“I
know,” I said with my mouth full of food. I swallowed the granola and said,
“After what we have been through in the past few weeks, you never know what
your last meal could be. You’ve got to enjoy them all.”

“We
are going to have so many more meals. We are going to win this,” said Jet.

“That’s
surprisingly optimistic of you,” I said.

“The
moment you walked through the hatch, I knew we were going to win. We all
thought you died at Tartarus but when you came back, we knew that you can
survive and will help us win,” she said.

“I
almost didn’t make it back, though,” I said.

“You
did, though. That’s all that matters,” she said leaning against me. The
intercom that ran through the entire bunker buzzed and whirred to life.

“If
you guys can hear me, meet in the war room. Pan is back,” said Vine through the
little box.

“We
better not keep them waiting,” Jet said springing to her feet and running out of
the room. I admired her. Before I went to Tartarus, I didn’t know if she would
be alright. After her mom died I knew it would be tough but it would only get
worse if Flint or I died. Now she seemed like she was a new person, like she
was ready to fight the entire Kraken army by herself.

I
walked slowly down the hall to the war room. The door was slightly ajar and I
heard chatter inside. It sounded like everyone was in there already. I wondered
if Pan knew I was alive. “Is everyone here?” Pan said.

I
pushed the door open and said, “Now we’re all here.”

He
looked up in surprise and starting chuckling. “Well, well. The indestructible
man returns. Good to see you my friend.”

“Not
indestructible. Nearly, but not totally,” I joked.

“Well
you being alive definitely helps our efforts,” Pan said, activating his
computer terminal. He activated the holographic panel in the middle of the
desk. A digital 3d model of Poseidon Tower sprouted up and the buildings that
surrounded it followed.

“Synapse
said she had an idea on how to infiltrate the tower,” I said.

“Let’s
hear it then,” Vine said.

Synapse
stood up and walked to the side of the table. She approached a computer
terminal and took control of the map. “Alright, here’s my idea,” she said. A
red square surrounded the lower quadrant of the tower. It enhanced the section
and enlarged the area. The image now was that of a large steel door. “This
seemingly impenetrable wall is not a wall. It is a cargo door. Hades and the
elites haven’t left the tower in a long time. They started running out of
supplies and have initiated secret shipments of food and other things in the
dead of night. All we have to do is find a way through that door and once we
have control of this area, we can move our army in.”

Pan
rubbed his chin, scratching his beard. “How heavy is their security during
these exchanges?” he asked.

“It’s
different every night. Our scouts say that some nights they have some of the
more powerful elites out there overseeing it but some nights it seems that
there is nobody. I can’t imagine that they wouldn’t have anyone out there. I
assume they have snipers or camouflaged soldiers positioned nearby,” Synapse
replied.

“I
like it,” I said.

“As
do I. I think we should discreetly observe the transactions for a few more
nights before we strike. We should try to detect a pattern in their plans. We
don’t want to get caught off guard,” Pan said, “If that’s agreeable to
everyone, say aye.”

“Aye,”
everyone in the room cried out.

“Wonderful.
We’ll organize patrols and get our gear ready for one final assault,” Pan said.
Everyone stood up and started exiting the room.

“Zero,
hold up,” Flint said.

I
turned around and he was holding an electronic tablet of some sort. “What’s
up?” I asked.

“I
recently started using the lab here when I had to work on Flare and Frost. I
wanted to take you there and run some tests. Just to make sure everything is
normal,” he said.

“Yeah,
no problem. Let’s go,” I said. He showed me the way to the lab through the
hallways of the bunker. We entered the lab and he pointed to an examination
bench. I took a seat on the cold metal bench.

“Remove
your shirt please,” he said typing away on the tablet.

“Jeez
Flint, buy me dinner first,” I joked. He chuckled and continued typing. I
pulled my shirt off and threw it onto a nearby chair. He approached me and
placed sticky sensor pads on various places on my body. He moved to stand behind
a computer terminal and punched a series of commands into the system. A large,
transparent, green screen lowered in front of me. “Please stand up. This is
going to give me a thermal reading of your body. Now start to exert some of
your power. Let’s start with a low level,” he said.

I
bent my elbows slightly and clenched my fists. I began to focus and push some
energy out of my body. The familiar feeling of the air around me swelling and
fluctuating as I willed it to.

“That’s
odd,” Flint muttered.

“What
is it?” I asked.

“The
air around you should be manipulated but that stayed the same. Your body spikes
in temperature and is actually creating energy. This goes against the laws of
physics. Energy cannot be created or destroyed but somehow your body is
creating all new energy. It doesn’t seem to be limited to what we thought was
gravitational blasts. If you are creating energy, then you can manipulate it
into any form. This is an unprecedented discovery,” he said.

“How
is this possible? My parents inserted the same type of power that fueled the
machine that ruined the Earth,” I said.

“I
have seen some very old data drives that contained blueprints for the machine.
Your body is emanating a different energy type completely. Do you know for sure
that the operation that you received was for the gravity machine?” Flint asked.

“They
said it happened when I was a baby so I have no memory of it. I had no reason
to think that they would lie about it,” I replied.

“I
doubt that they lied maliciously. I think that if they lied, it was for a good
reason because this energy is very different. This basically means that you are
only at the first level of your power. You could conceivably unlock so many
more stages and advance even further,” he said.

“How
did we not know about this?” I asked.

“I’m
unsure. There are a lot of things we still don’t understand about gene spikes. My
guess is that the combination of the healing serum plus the use of the
gauntlets has allowed your body to handle this power. Try focusing on
generating electricity. I want to test this out,” he said.

I
closed my eyes and cleared my mind. I tried to picture the purest form of
electricity coursing through my mind. I felt the tingle of electricity running
from my shoulders to my fingertips. It started snaking all over the outside of
my body but it didn’t hurt. It felt energizing. “This is incredible,” I said.
My voice was almost digitized due to the electricity.

“I
don’t know what to say. This is maybe the most amazing thing I have ever seen,”
he said.

I
stopped fueling the energy and relaxed my body. “The most troubling aspect of
this whole thing is the source of this power. If my parents didn’t implant this
in me, then I must have been born with it. How is that even possible?” I asked.

“I do
not have the answer. We can hope that the answers will come with some more
research,” he replied.

I was
so disturbed. I had gone through my life thinking that I had been given the
power artificially but finding out that I was born with it turned my whole
world upside down. The reason I felt the drive to join the resistance in the
first place was because I felt like I had been made into a weapon and it was my
duty to help. “Look, I know this is a lot to take in. If there is one place you
will find answers, it is in Poseidon Tower. They have logs of spiker research
and all the information about birthers,” he said. I nodded and put my shirt
back on. We left the lab and I walked quietly back to my room. I crawled into
bed and pulled the blanket over my head. I thought about my parents and how
they told me all through my life that I was a miracle and that I possessed the
power to change the world. I was born with a power that transcends physics and
science and now, I needed answers. I threw the blanket off of me and I sprung
to my feet. I was suddenly enraged that I had been lied to. I was furious that
I didn’t know about this power when I could have been using it to save lives. I
walked into the war room and found Pan still typing away at the computer.
“Zero,” he said looking up, “What can I do for you?”

“I’m
going to Poseidon,” I said.

“What?!
We aren’t even close to being ready,” he said.

“I
have to end this! I need answers!” I yelled.

“Answers
about what?” he asked.

“Flint and I just discovered that I am actually a birther and my spike isn’t what we
thought it was. I can create energy. My whole life is a lie and I need answers
about how I am like this,” I said angrily.

“I
understand that you want answers but marching in there guns blazing is going to
get you killed,” Pan said.

“I
think we should storm the cargo bay tonight and catch them off guard. We will
just blow through them and take the tower,” I said. Pan folded his hands and
sat quietly for a minute.

“I
don’t know about this. The element of surprise would benefit us greatly but I
am afraid we will sustain heavy casualties,” Pan said.

“Worse
than if we wait for days? Innocent citizens will be cruelly killed by Kraken in
an effort to draw us out,” I said.

“Even
so. You and I can’t make this decision by ourselves. We have to talk to
everyone else,” Pan said.

“I’ll
go gather everyone up,” I said. I exited the room angrily. I knew that it was
unfair to be aggressive towards Pan. He had nothing to do with this but I was
just so enraged. I found the nearest intercom box and pressed the call button.
“Can everyone come to the war room again please?” I said trying to calm down.

I
reentered the war room and sat across from Pan. One by one the others took
their seats. “Weren’t we just in here?” Vine asked as he sat down.

“Yes
but we have something important to discuss. I think we should storm Poseidon Tower tonight,” I said. I saw Flint look up at me. The look on his face suggested
he knew exactly why I wanted to act so quickly.

“I
don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Synapse said, “I thought we had agreed on a
plan.”

“Zero,”
Flint said, “Maybe you should tell everyone what this is about.”

I let
out an exasperated sigh. “Fine. It turns out that I am a birther,” I said.

“So
what? So am I,” Vine said.

“This
is a strange case though,” Flint said standing up. He pulled out a data drive
and inserted it into the table’s terminal. A wire frame model of my body
appeared in the holograph generator. “We thought that Zero’s spike was limited
to gravitational energies. It turns out we were wrong,” he said activating the
model. A replay began of the scan that Flint took of me using my power began.
It showed an unnatural creation of energy coming from all over my body. “Zero
somehow can create energy despite what science says. Subsequently, he probably
can also destroy energy. This goes beyond all scientific reason.”

“My
parents told me that I was implanted with my gene spike to try to mimic the
gravity machine that caused the downfall of the world. I know now that they
told me that only to keep me from asking a question they didn’t have an answer
to.” I paused, “but Hades will have the answer. He has hoarded all of the
information he could get his hands on about gene spikes and their origins.”

“So
you want to march into the tower unprepared and undermanned?” Frost asked.

“No.
I want to clear a path by myself and then I want you and our troops to follow
in behind me after I have opened the way. They will not be expecting us in the
middle of the night,” I said.

Everyone
murmured to each other for a minute discussing whether or not we should act.
“You know what? We need to end this. I’m in,” Vine said standing up.

“I
guess we are too,” Frost said pointing his thumb at Flare.

“Kid,
you saved my people from being wiped out and you saved my life. You’ve got my
help on whatever you need,” Pan said reluctantly.

I
looked to Synapse and she shrugged and said, “Sure I guess.”

“Good.
Everyone get your gear. Pan, you radio out to our troops and tell them to
prepare. We will have Flare lead one battalion and Vine lead the other,” I
said.

Everyone
audibly confirmed my order and left the room, except for Jet who remained in
her seat.

“What’s
wrong Jet?” I asked.

“It’s
just…” she stopped.

“What?”
I asked.