The Modified (The Biotics Trilogy, #1) (28 page)

“What the hell’s going on?” I murmur with confusion as I stare at the bangle and then at the door.

The ground is freezing cold as my feet touch down on it.
That’s odd, why isn’t the floor heated like usual
? I ask myself. I approach the door and put my hand on it, but it doesn’t open. There’s no chime, or light, or anything. I tap on my band again and look at the door.
Strangely there are no emergency lights on either.

I try knocking on the door, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone outside to hear me. I listen for any sign of movement, but there’s nothing, not even the light sound of shuffling around. “Am I dreaming this?” I ask myself out loud and pinch my arm. As I feel the sting of the pinch on my skin, I know I’m not dreaming.

Nothing in my room works. I try to open the closet door with my bangle, but it doesn’t open. I have to pull on the handle and open it manually. I go into the shower and try to turn it on, but it just sputters out when I press on the manual touch pad just below the showerhead. This can’t be good. Maybe this is what my dad was warning me about.

I start to feel claustrophobic inside the room, and my mind begins to reel with all the possible causes for what’s going on. My thoughts immediately take a turn for the worse as I wonder if everyone else is okay.

A loud prolonged beep echoes in the room and is followed by the crackle of the speaker that’s just above the door.

“Good afternoon, cadets,” a familiar male’s voice comes through. “This is General Roman Barclay speaking. Now, you’re probably all wondering why the electronics have been disabled in the facility, especially your personal AIs. The answer is simple, and will be explained in due time. So, if you would all please report to the mess hall, the Allied Federation has prepared a little presentation for you.” The speaker crackles off and my door slides open.

I begin to hear people moving about in the halls and I decide to peek out to see if everyone is complying with the orders. Joey and the rest of the group are hurrying toward my room, but I don’t see Landon. Once I step outside, the door closes and locks behind me. “Dammit,” I curse under my breath as I kick the door.

“That won’t do any good. They’ve locked us all out of our rooms,” Joey comments as he reaches me.

“Kind of figured that, but thought I’d try anyway,” I reply.

“What the hell’s going on?” Sam asks in a frustrated tone. “Our AIs aren’t working, and this dipshit of a general wants us to go to the mess hall? Something doesn’t seem right about this.”

“Geoffrey, you’re right near Landon’s room. Did you see him?” I ask, concerned.

“He was being corralled toward the mess hall by some Federation guards. We all had to push our way through the crowd to get to your room. He tried, but they overtook him,” he answers.

“Hey you!” We hear in the distance. “Report to the mess hall immediately, or you will be detained!” I look and see a few heavily armed Federation guards approaching us.

As I walk by them toward the mess hall, I notice one of the guard’s helmet shields is pulled back and he glares at me. I send him an equally harsh look. He grabs my arm and pulls me close to him. “You better wipe that smug look off your face, soldier, or I’ll do it for you,” he says forcefully.

“Take your hands off of her, asshole!” Joey interjects. Before I can say anything, the guard standing beside the one who has a grip on me clocks Joey right in the face with the butt of his rifle. As Joey lies on the floor, the guard straddles over him and begins taunting him, adding insult to injury.

“Joey!” I cry out as I see blood running down from his nose. 

Sam shoves the guard off Joey and stands toe to toe with him. I can see her trying to muster some power, but her hands fail to glow and so do her eyes. “What the hell? What’s going on with my implant?”

“Fall back in line!” the guard says to Sam and pushes her back. Her eyes fill with anger, but she’s powerless to fight back, so she just stands there, pissed off. 

I turn back to the guard to tell him to let me go, but he doesn’t. I grab his hand with mine and try to break his grip, but to no avail.

He smirks at me. “Now be a good little girl and report to the mess hall,” he says coldly as he pushes me back. I just glare at him as I walk away and the rest of my group follows behind me.

The mess hall is somber as we enter. The walls are lined with armed guards and the cadets are all sitting quietly around the tables. I gasp when I see all of the androids standing hunched over in front of the stage, seeming to be deactivated. All of the Adas and Adams are lined up and motionless. It’s actually quite sad-looking, especially since I just saw them moving around yesterday.

We’re shoved farther into the room and toward our table by the guards behind us. They close the double doors leading into the mess hall once we’re all in. I see Landon and he sends me a concerned look.

All of the guards suddenly slam down one foot and salute as the general walks onto the stage. He has this air about him, like how someone looks after successfully pulling off a plan. His smug grin sickens me and as he approaches the microphone, I can hear the laugh that he lets out under his breath.

“Well, aren’t you all just a sight for sore eyes,” he begins and then pauses as he scans the crowd. “You’ve all made Earth very proud of you, you know that? Earth and the Allied Federation.” The general snatches the microphone from the stand and proceeds to walk to the front of the stage. “You’ve all done so well with your training. But you see, there’s just one more part that still needs to be addressed. And it involves us controlling every…little…movement…you make.”

The crowd erupts in chatter, and the noise in the mess hall gets to be at deafening level. The general gives a signal and suddenly the guards around the perimeter begin to fire into the air. I clutch my ears trying to block out the sound from the gunfire echoing loudly off the walls. The room goes silent as we hear the last shell hit ground.

“Now that you’ve all got that out of your system, maybe we can continue,” the general says snidely. “So, to explain how all of this is going to work, I’m going to bring out three people you know very well.”

All three of our professors are dragged onto the stage by several guards. Their hands are restrained behind their backs. I quickly scan the stage in search of my dad, but don’t see him. Where’s my dad? Intense worry sets in, and I feel I’m about to burst into a fit of rage at the sight before me.

“As you may have already noticed, your AI bracelets have been deactivated. Actually, to put it more precisely, we’ve made it to where you’re AI bands are restricting your implant’s activity altogether. Just in case any of you tried to do anything you might regret later.”

The moment the general finishes that sentence, a few of the cadets rush the stage. “Like you idiots,” he states while pointing to the group of cadets. Gunfire rings out in the room and I see the small group fly back after being hit by what seem to be electrified bullets. They writhe around on the ground, as a visible electrical current restricts their movements. A few guards collect them from the floor and drag them out of the mess hall.

“I hope we don’t have a repeat performance lined up.” The general pauses while scanning the room with questioning eyes. “Good, then shall I continue?” he asks while looking around the room as if waiting for everyone to nod. “Like I was saying, your implants are useless to you right now, and you have one very important person to thank for that,” the general states and then gestures toward Dr. Wilhelm.

Confusion spreads through me and I can’t believe for a second that Dr. Wilhelm would do something like this. Yeah, he’s a sarcastic jerk, but I wouldn’t take him for a traitor, though.

Dr. Wilhelm wrestles free from the grip of the guard who's holding him. “That’s a lie, you bastard! I had no idea you were going to do something like this. You were supposed to give that information to the Federation and not manipulate it like this. You used me,” he yells out.

The general shakes his head, draws out a gun from underneath his jacket, and points it at Dr. Wilhelm. “And what makes you think this isn’t a direct order from the Allied Federation?” he asks.

“What the hell are you doing, General?” Commander Archer asks forcefully, also breaking free from the grip of the guard who’s holding him. “Have you gone absolutely insane?”

I hear the general laugh slightly as he turns the gun toward Commander Archer. “You know what I’ve always admired about you, Archer? You’re incredibly dimwitted and so by the book that you practically jump at the chance to follow orders, and never see what’s going on right in front of your face.”

“What? Are you going to shoot me?” Commander Archer grounds out through clenched teeth.

“Well, actually, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Sorry, but we can’t have any loose ends, you understand, right?” the general states and pulls the trigger. The shot rings out and screams can be heard throughout the crowd. We all watch as Dr. Wilhelm falls to the ground with a sickening thud after jumping in front of Commander Archer just as the shot was fired. He lies lifeless on the floor, blood trickling from his chest and soaking his white button-down shirt where the bullet entered. Commander Archer stands there looking down sadly at Dr. Wilhelm and then raises his angry eyes to the general.

I cover my mouth and a tear forms in my eye, but just stays there and doesn’t fall. “No,” I whisper and hear it echo in my hand. I begin to hear sobbing around me, but can’t tell who it is. I can’t believe what I just saw. I’ve never seen someone killed in front of me before, especially not someone I know. This image will be forever burned into my memory. As the sadness leaves me, anger fills that void and I glare at the general who’s standing there proud of his cowardly act.

“I guess this is your lucky day, Commander. I only needed one person to take the fall for this, and since Harvey volunteered…” the general explains slyly. Commander Archer makes a move toward the general, who points the gun in Archer's face and waves it from side to side. The general then motions the gun in the direction of Dr. Patel, ushering Commander Archer to join her. The commander glares at him and moves to be next to Dr. Patel, but never takes his eyes off the general. “I’ve got major plans for the two of you. Take them away.” After some struggle and resistance from Commander Archer, he and Dr. Patel are ushered off stage and all we’re left with is the damn general.

I find myself so worked up and filled with anger. I feel I’m going to regret what I’m about to say, but can’t hold my words back any longer. “What the hell have you done with my dad?” I yell at the top of my lungs. Everyone turns to look at me, but I don’t care, I want an answer.

“Ah, Ms. Grayson. Your dad is fine, don’t you worry your pretty little head over that. You won’t remember him shortly anyway, so what’s the point,” he responds smugly.

My face becomes flush with rage and I clench my teeth. I want to punch a hole through his skull, but can’t. I’ve never hated anyone in my whole life like I hate this man standing in front of us right now. I feel a hand on mine and look over to see that it’s Joey. He sends me a calming look and shakes his head.

“Calm down, you don’t think straight when you’re angry,” he whispers. 

I nod and my anger subsides slightly, but only slightly.

“Guards, will you see that all the cadets make it safely back to their quarters?” the general asks and the guards begin filing us out of the mess hall. “Oh, and one more thing.” We all stop and turn to look at the stage. “We’ll be calling you, one by one to implement the final phase of your modification. Do try and be prompt once you’re called.” The general’s face becomes softer and friendlier, as if a second personality has taken over. “And remember, this is all for the common good. The Allied Federation thanks you for your sacrifice,” he finishes with a sinister grin.

As we’re leaving the mess hall, I hear a commotion behind me. Just when I turn to see what’s going on, I come face-to-face with Landon. He immediately kisses me as he grabs hold of me tightly.

He pulls away. “I just clocked two guards to get to you. I had to kiss you once more in hopes that whatever happens, I never forget you,” he says seriously, gazing into my eyes. His eyes, I notice, are full of worry and I almost tear up at the thought of forgetting him. Suddenly he’s ripped away from me. I see two guards dragging him off, with him struggling, trying to reach me again.

I try to push through the crowd that’s being corralled in my direction, but it’s no use. I scream out his name, tears streaking down my cheeks. I hear Landon call out to me and see him pulled around the corner into the hallway in the distance. “Where are you taking him?” I yell down the hall.

I feel someone grab my arm, and I turn to see that it’s Sam. “Do you want to get yourself killed, Grayson?” she asks me.

“I’ve got to get to him. I can’t lose him, I just can’t,” I reply teary eyed.

“We’ll think of a way, okay? But now’s not the time.”

I just nod to her as I wipe away my tears. There are several armed guards making their way toward us and I grab Sam’s hand and join the motion of the crowd heading for the living quarters.

By the time we reach my room, the crowd has thinned out. A guard grabs my arm and forcefully shoves me through my open door and closes it behind me. I throw myself at the door just as it shuts and bang on it in frustration. My head hits the door and rests there as I think about everyone I love who are on the other side of it. I pound on it again as I begin to slide down to my knees, fully giving in to my tears now. Please don’t tell me this is it. Please don’t tell me this is how everything’s going to end? It can’t be.