The Modified (The Biotics Trilogy, #1) (17 page)

Looking closer, I spot the title of the book that’s holding his attention.
The Art of War
? Huh? Fitting, I guess.

“Problem?” the man asks, apparently not okay with me staring.

“Oh, no, sorry. I was just curious about the book you were reading. It must be good if it has you that focused,” I reply.

He laughs slightly and returns to reading.

“You’re head of the Tactical division, right?” I ask.

“It would appear so,” he replies, seeming slightly annoyed. I send him a look of confusion as to why he’s acting like this.

He abruptly tucks the book under his arm. “Is there something I can help you with? Because as you can see I’m in relax mode, and so far all you’ve done is cover things that both of us are already aware of.”

“I was just going to say that I start tactical training tomorrow and wanted to introduce myself.”

“Ms. Grayson, I’ve already memorized all two hundred and forty students’ names and pictures. So no introduction necessary. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got some light reading to attend to,” he states, gesturing to the pile of books by the chair.

“Sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to bother you.”

As I turn to leave, his voice stops me. “Oh, Ms. Grayson?”

“Yes, sir?” I reply, facing him.

“Come here,” he says pointing to the floor just before him. I walk over to stand right in front of him. “Lesson one. Here in my hand I hold ‘The Art of War’ by Sun Tzu. A true gem amongst military literature. I’ve read this book a thousand times and was surprised to find this library didn’t have a copy on hand. Good thing I carry my own. It’s kind of a security blanket…don’t ask. But I digress. I’ve read this a thousand times, but never have I read it like you’re about to right now,” he explains and then holds the book out to me. “Go on, take it.”

“What do you mean?” I ask while grabbing for the book.

“Such a loaded question, Ms. Grayson. Let the answer come to you through action,” he replies cryptically with a smirk. “Now, I want you to clear your mind and focus on the book you hold in your hands. Open it up to any page.” I do as he says and I start to see the words move around on the page. “I want you to keep concentrating on the book, not allowing anything else into your mind. Now, place your hand onto the page. I want you to visualize the words becoming liquefied, like they’re floating around in book. Then imagine your hand is a vacuum, sucking up all those words,” he explains.

I feel a sudden surge of power in my hand that runs all the way up to my brain. I see flashes of words, and those words begin to form sentences, and those sentences form paragraphs. I begin to see full pages of writing in my head. The rush is intense. When it’s all finished, the book in my head closes and I can read the title,
The Art of War
by Sun Tzu.

Letting out a gasp, my eyes shoot open and I drop the book onto the floor. A headache begins to invade and I touch just below my nose to find it’s bleeding. “What the hell just happened?”

“You just dropped my one hundred and fifty dollar book on the floor, that’s what just happened,” he replies flippantly, picking up the book and dusting it off.

“I meant with me. What happened to me just now?”

“Good to know where your priorities lie, Ms. Grayson,” he states and I glare at him. “Relax, Ms. Grayson. It’s called perception. Just another one of the wonderful abilities which have been bestowed upon you.”

“Perception?”

“Oh, sorry, explanation, right? Well in short, you just read this whole book in a matter of seconds and stored it away in that little head of yours. You know, in the ninety percent of your brain you don’t use. Congratulations, you’re now using forty percent of your brain,” he states sarcastically.

“Wait you’re telling me that whole book is in my head now?” I ask and he nods. “So how do I access the information?”

“Well that’s lesson two and it’s a little advanced for someone who hasn’t even started the training yet,” he states and then shoos me away. “See you in class tomorrow, Ms. Grayson.”

I turn back to face him just as I step onto the stairs. “Yeah, see you tomorrow, Mr.…?”

“Doctor. The name’s Dr. Harvey Wilhelm.”

As I make my way downstairs I bump into Joey on the second floor. “I just had an interesting experience with Dr. Wilhelm,” I state, walking up to him.

“Oh, that guy. Yeah, he’s a piece of work. I could never tell if he was being serious or sarcastic,” Joey replies.

“He showed me how to use perception,” I whisper so no one else could hear me.

“Wait, he taught you that out of class?” Joey asks.

“Yeah,” I whisper back.

“It’s pretty cool, huh? I wasn’t really good at it at first, and I’m still practicing,” he replies, holding up the book in his hands. “But we could get in trouble for talking about it until we’re assigned to our divisions.”

“Yeah, I know. There can’t be any cheating,” I say while rolling my eyes. Joey laughs.

I get serious. “Hey, how are you doing, really? We haven’t gotten to chat for a while now.”

He smiles. “Kenley, we see each other and talk all the time.”

“I know we do, but not like we used to back home.”

“Well, things haven’t really been conducive to that. It’s been a little crazy around here, you know?”

“A little? I think this place would qualify as more than that.”

Joey chuckles. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I do. I just don’t want things to change between us. You’re my best friend, a brother. We’re in this together, remember?” I pause for a moment and then grin. “I love you, Joey Reilly.”

“I love you too, Kenley Grayson,” he says seriously, placing his hands on my shoulders and looking directly into my eyes. “I also think you’re being overemotional,” he jokes.

I give him a light tap on the chest. “Maybe so, but you can’t blame a girl for worrying, can you?”

I can always count on Joey to make a serious situation into a joke. He’s always been like that. I think it’s kind of a defense mechanism. He’s always trying to avoid serious situations when words are involved, but if those situations call for physical action, he’s right there in the thick of it. Dylan had to save his ass many times growing up. Trouble always seemed to find Joey, and he rarely ever used his words.

I shoot up in bed, startled and breathing heavily. A loud bang in the distance makes me focus. I go to step out of bed and my whole room shakes, causing me to stumble and fall to the floor. Several louder bangs sound in the distance. I try to stand, but fall to my knees again as it feels like an earthquake just ran through my room.

“Kenley, your heartbeat is irregularly fast, and your blood pressure is high. Is something wrong?” Galileo asks popping out from my bangle.

“I’m okay, but something’s happening in the facility Galileo-” I begin to reply and then another loud bang echoes throughout the hall outside, shaking my room and sending me crashing into my door, which doesn’t open when I get close to it. Regaining my composure, I look up above the door and there’s a red light on. “Why didn’t the door open, Galileo?”

“I am not sure, Kenley. It seems to not be responding to my interface. One moment…I will perform a scan of the facilities’ energy outputs,” he responds and retracts into the band. The band begins to pulse neon blue while he’s performing the scan. “Scan complete…it would appear that the emergency shield generator has been activated. The facility is on reserve energy, which would explain the door’s malfunction. All doors must be opened manually during this time,” Galileo explains.

Several more loud bangs resonate through the facility, but this time I hit the ground and ride out the tremors that follow.

“Why would the emergency shield generator be on, Galileo?”

“The emergency shield generator only activates in the instance of an attack from an outside force on the facility,” he replies.

I hear scurrying outside. The next thing I know my door is being rolled open. I see Landon and Joey pushing the door aside, together. There’s a group of people behind them, but I can’t make them out in the dark.

“Kenley?” I hear Landon and Joey call out into the room.

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“We need to get to the mess hall,” Landon announces as he pulls me to my feet.

“What? Why? What’s going on?” I ask, my head still a little dizzy from being tossed around the room like a rag doll.

“We don’t know what’s going on. Your dad told all of us to head for the mess hall,” Joey pipes in breathlessly.

I see Sam in the doorway over Landon’s shoulder looking concerned, which is so unlike her. Caleb is standing next to her, looking worried as well, with Geoffrey cowering behind him.

“Let’s go then,” I say and push out of the room with everyone else, joining the crowd of cadets hurrying through the halls.

All of the hallways are lit up with red swirling emergency lights. There’s an electronic voice that’s sounding throughout the facility. “Magnus Academy is in emergency lockdown mode. Excess power is being utilized by the emergency shield generator.” The message is on repeat and echoes throughout every area we travel through.

A couple more loud bangs sound around us as we approach the entrance to the mess hall. The aftershock rocks us off balance, causing me to crash into Landon and Sam. Steadying ourselves, we make our way into the mess hall and find everyone gathered there. My dad and the heads of each division are on the stage, trying their best to calm the crowd. We feel a few more quakes, but they fizzle out before causing any damage.

We hear a microphone chime on and my dad’s voice follows. “Can I please have your attention?” The crowd quiets and we all look toward the stage. “I know you’re all probably startled and confused by what’s happening. Just know that you’re safe and main power should be returning to the facility shortly.”

“What’s going on?” I hear someone yell from the crowd, followed by a rumble amongst the gathered group.

“The emergency shield generator was activated around the facility, which is why we lost centralized power,” he answers.

“Why?” I hear someone else ask.

“We were attacked by the Bringers,” my father responds and then unrest rolls throughout the crowd. “I need for everyone to calm down. Our gun turrets have warded off the enemy fleet and the Allied Federation is on their way to assess the damages. We’re in the clear and power should be returning momentarily.” His calming voice seems to put everyone at ease.