The Freezer (Genesis Endeavor Book 1) (16 page)

“Is there anything else this thing can do?” Jack was almost
afraid to ask.

“Yeah, it can tell you who everyone’s parents are. Mom says
that is so they know who they can have babies with so they don’t inbreed,
whatever that means.” She clicked a couple icons and got to a box. She clicked
a picture of herself then dragged it with the stylus into the box, and a new
display came up:

Jessica Fironia, Age 7, sufficient DNA spread. Warning! Subject
not able to conceive due to age. Approximate time until next ready to conceive,
5 years, 7 months, 13 days, plus or minus 80 days.

Jessica was proud of what she brought up on the screen,
although she didn’t have any real idea what it meant. Jack however, had
answered one of the questions from the list.
I guess that’s how you keep
from sleeping with your cousin or aunt,
he thought.

“Jessica, thank you for teaching me how to use this. I have
to go now.” Jack wanted to get back to his room, freshen up, and then go track
down Teague for some more questions. Also he was thinking about Wendy and
wanted to find her and see if she would have dinner with him.

“Jack, can you come back later to play? I am sure my mommy
would like to meet you, she likes meeting new people, ‘specially men!” It was
innocent but Jack chuckled to himself.

“I would be delighted to see you again Jessica, I am sure we
will see each other again another day.” Jack got up, got the map of the complex
on his pad and saw there was a small arrow representing him and what direction
he was facing. He shook his head in awe. Jessie jumped up and went inside the
apartment, shouting, “Mom! I met a new guy named Jack! He didn’t even know how
to use a pad! Can you believe that?” Jack smiled as he made his way to the
elevator. He thought it best not to meet Jessie’s mom right now... she might
want to take advantage of him.

Jack headed back to his room, washed up and used the
restroom, then settled in at the desk to do some research using the newly
discovered tools in his datapad. He clicked through the menu options attempting
to find the search function Jessica had shown him. He came across a directory
of people in the facility. Curious, he looked for Wendy and found her under
Roberts, Wendy J. He didn’t know her last name, but there wasn’t another ‘Wendy’
in the list, so it had to be her. He pressed the button for video call, hoping
he was doing this right. It took a moment, but her image appeared on the
screen, looking annoyed. On seeing who was calling, her face, smudged with
grease, dirt, and sweat, lit up. She was lying on her back, holding the pad
above her, her other arm reaching up past the view of the screen. “Jack! I didn’t
expect to get a call from you; I guess you figured out how to use your pad?” She
looked away from the screen, focusing wherever her other hand was.

He smiled. “Yeah, a little girl taught me. I hope I’m not
interrupting anything.” She looked back at the screen and appeared perplexed at
the little girl comment, but she didn’t pursue it.

“No, not at all. I’m just in an awkward position under this
heating and cooling unit and a little
frustrated
with the progress of
the repair.” She emphasized the word with a little grunt while she pushed on
whatever she was working on. She relaxed after that and smiled. “So, what’s
up?”

“I was just playing with my pad and figured I would give you
a call and see if you wanted to have dinner with me later.” He didn’t know if
Wendy was feeling the same way about him as he was about her and didn’t want to
take it for granted that she was going to be with him tonight.

“Are you asking me on a date Jack?” She was poking fun at
him and he recognized it, so he just smiled. Seeing her attempt to goad him
didn’t work, answered his question. “I’ll be done here in about two hours. Do
you want to meet me up at my place? It’s a single apartment on the second
level.”

Jack didn’t miss the emphasis on ‘single apartment’, but he
wasn’t sure if it meant she was single and available or just single and not
with child. He decided he would have to wait until the right time to start
asking questions like that. “I can do that. It might be about three hours
though, I have some research to do and I still have to get together with Teague
again to talk about tomorrow. How do I find your place?”

She told him how to locate her apartment, then with a note
of curiosity in her voice she asked, “What is it you’re doing tomorrow that you
have to talk to Teague about?”

“I guess they’re taking me to the Freezer tomorrow. I’m
excited because I want to see if I can find anything about the year leading up
to my death.” What looked like a wave of anxiety passed over her face, and he took
it as concern for him going all the way up to Montana so soon after waking up. “Don’t
worry,” he said reassuringly, “I feel like I could run a hundred miles, and I’m
sure that a quick trip like this will be plenty safe.”

Her brow wrinkled for just a fraction of a second before she
relaxed. With a hint of a grin, she said, “I’ve seen first-hand how good your
health is, Jack, and I’m sure you’ll be fine. We can talk about it tonight.” Jack
nodded. With a distant look on her face she said goodbye and clicked off.

Jack leaned back in the chair.
A date?
He felt a
little flutter in his belly at the thought.
I haven’t been on a date in
seven years!
He turned his attention back to the datapad in an attempt to
take his mind off of Wendy. There were some things he wanted to learn before he
spoke to Teague again.

* * *

He found the search function with little difficulty, getting
the hang of navigating the datapad. He clicked the icon for voice search, and
said, “What is a Mute?” There was a flash and information scrolled onto the
screen. It read:

Mute

Pronunciation
: myüt

Function
: adjective

Definition:

·
        
unable to speak : lacking the power of speech

·
        
characterized by the absence of speech

·
        
remaining silent, undiscovered, or unrecognized

·
        
contributing nothing to the pronunciation of a word or
contributing to the pronunciation but not representing the nucleus of a
syllable (i.e. The ‘e’ in Bike is mute.)

He frowned when he read the information. This wasn’t what he
was after, and he wasn’t sure exactly how to phrase the question to get the
appropriate answer. He tried again, hoping the machine could understand. “Is
there a definition for Mute that is only pertinent to recent history?” This
time the screen came up with a picture of a man that looked to be horribly
burned. Aside from the rough skin and lack of hair, the man’s features were all
slightly out of proportion to one another. He was, in a word,
ugly
. Jack
read the description.

Mute

Definition:

Mute is a slang term for a group of people who
call themselves “The Evolved”.

History:

Approximately thirty five years before the
communities referred to as the ‘Enclaves of Science’ formed, a small trading
outpost in an area formerly known as ‘Oregon’ thrived. Within a decade of its
conception, it had grown to a city of thousands of people. While their
technology was not very advanced, the trading had brought them some pre-war
technology, including a library of medical text books and some very advanced
medical equipment. The local doctors studied the medical texts and publications
as well as computer databases that had been recovered and traded off to the
merchants. Within a few years they were very proficient doctors and some had
picked up research on genetic engineering. Their philosophy was: since the
earth had changed so dramatically, the only way humanity would survive in the
long term was to adjust people to fit the environment. They began experimenting
on “forced evolution”. There were two methods of research. The first was to
create engineered viruses that would bring about massive genetic mutations. This
was not very successful, and resulted in hundreds of deaths and a short but
violent outbreak of plague before it was given up. The second, more successful method
was to modify a strand of complete human DNA by removing various sections and
then inject the modified strand into a clean, fertilized human egg. When the
child was born, the mutations were documented. When a desirable mutation was
discovered, the resulting child’s DNA was used for the next experiment. The
final strain of DNA that was used was a result of over four thousand deaths,
most of which were fetuses or stillborn babies. A process to recreate the
strain of changes in each newborn was repeated over the next ten years, and
resulted in a documented population of over three thousand mutated humans.

Characteristics:

“The Evolved” retained a majority of human DNA,
but the changes gave them traits not commonly found on a normal human. The most
noticeable was the harder skin, about the thickness and density of the hide of
a cow. The texture of the skin resembled that of burned flesh, and the body was
completely without hair. The tougher skin allowed them to withstand harsh weather
conditions substantially more effectively than a normal human, despite the lack
of hair, and also allowed them more tolerance to the type of radiation found
frequently in the post-war world. The organs like the heart and lungs were
larger, which gave them more endurance and stamina. These organs were also far
less susceptible to disease or infection. Musculature was slightly enhanced, as
was the ability to see better in darkness, and the ability to hear.

The downsides to the mutations were a decreased
sense of smell, increased tendency towards violence, and decreased capacity for
intelligence. The reproductive process was changed enough so that mating with a
non-mutated human became impossible.

Current situation:

The “Mutes” as they are referred to by normal
humans, are considered ugly in appearance, and are regarded as undesirables. As
such, no community, including the one that created them, allowed them to live
within their ranks. The Mutes have developed their own culture, and tend to be
somewhat nomadic. The differences in their reproductive capabilities made them
immune to the anti-fertility virus that was released during the infighting
within the EoS. There are currently believed to be between ten and fifteen
thousand Mutes in the continent of North America, with an unknown number living
in Central and South America. It is also unknown if any have made it to other
continents. They usually travel in groups of twenty to one hundred, and are
considered hostile to anyone not of their mutated race. Very little is known of
their culture as they have only been observed from the outside. Attempts to
establish trade or treaty with them have always resulted in failure. When a ‘clan’
of Mutes comes across another community, they will harass that community, steal
from them, kill any patrols they come across, and will not stop until either
they take over the community or are killed off.

A chill ran up his spine. Perhaps this was reason they
needed to build another underground city to live in. He wondered why Teague had
not mentioned this yet. Surely they were a threat, just based on the fact they
warned the children not to go outside alone. It was time to get some more
answers.

* * *

He found Teague in the cloning room, talking with another
man. The man was about six feet tall, medium build, grayish hair, and had very
distinguished looking facial features. He was dressed in an outfit that hinted
at formality, but Jack hadn’t really met anyone dressed in anything but work
clothes or the scrubs he was wearing, so for all he knew, this was standard casual
clothing.

“Oh, hello Jack.” Teague said when he saw him. “I would like
you to meet Marcus. He heads up the council that governs our community, and is,
for all intents and purposes, our leader.”

Jack walked up to them and held out his hand. “Nice to
finally meet the boss, Marcus.” They shook hands. Jack got the feeling Marcus was
examining him as if he were admiring a sculpture or a painting.

“I am pleased to meet you, Jack. Ironically, I was just down
here getting a status update on you. I trust you are learning a lot today?” Jack
wasn’t sure he liked this guy. It was the way he looked at Jack, more like an
object than a person. Something about the man, perhaps the way he talked, suggested
he was cloned like Teague, possessing hundreds of years of memories. Perhaps
having lived that long gave one a sense of superiority. Then again, maybe
Marcus had been leading this community for so long that he couldn’t help but
automatically assess each new member. Jack decided to give him the benefit of
the doubt, and ignore his first impression. This guy, after all, had been
responsible for bringing Jack back, and he
was
grateful for it.

“Probably more than I ever wanted to know.” Jack said it
with a grin on his face, trying to keep the conversation light. “Teague has
been an incredible resource, and a fantastic teacher.”

“Good, good.” Turning to Teague he said, “Why don’t you two
come by my quarters after Jack returns from his reconnaissance tomorrow.” He
turned back to Jack, “Jack, it was a pleasure meeting you, and welcome to New
Hope.” He turned and walked out of the room.

Jack looked at Teague in confusion. “New Hope? What was that
all about?”

“That is the name of our community. I hope you didn’t get
the wrong impression about Marcus. He probably seems a little stuffy to you,
but he is a great leader, and a real visionary.” Teague looked sincere as he
said this.

“You’re right, he kind of gave me the creeps, but I’ll give
him the benefit of the doubt.” Jack didn’t expand on that. “So let’s talk about
the mission tomorrow.” This was one of the reasons he had come looking for Teague,
and he wanted to get on with it.

“Well, it’s less of a ‘mission’ and more of an ‘outing’. You
will be looked after and never in any kind of danger.”

“If there is nothing to fear outside, why are we living
underground?”

Teague didn’t take the bait. “I didn’t say there was nothing
to fear outside, just that you will be safe.”

Jack wasn’t about to let this go, “I will feel a heck of a
lot safer when I know what we might run into. What kind of horrors exist in a
post nuclear wasteland?”

Teague hesitated a moment before shrugging. “I suppose someone
told you about the Mutes?” Jack only nodded, wanting to get as much information
as he could.

Okay, why don’t we head to the armory and we can talk on the
way.” Jack’s eyes lit up at the suggestion and motioned for Teague to lead the
way.

“The Mutes are by far the most dangerous living thing on the
surface, but there are indeed other dangers. There are two larger communities
similar to ours that are not exactly... in line with our philosophies. The
closest is the Calis.” He pronounced it like ‘Kal-eeze’. “They call their
community Cali, after an EoS city that was near the location they currently
reside. As you can probably guess, they are located in what used to be
California. They have many mineral resources available, and that has given them
the luxury to trade heavily with other communities. Their population currently
numbers around three hundred, and like us, only their ruling class are clones
of the original survivors. Relations with Cali have been strained for the past
five years.”

“Strained? Is that a fancy way of saying we are at war with
them?”