The Modified (The Biotics Trilogy, #1) (7 page)

You have to do this, Kenley. You can’t let Dylan down. You can’t let your family down. You can’t let the world down
, I state to myself, trying to muster the courage to proceed.

“Please answer the question: Do you need assistance?”

“No, I’m fine,” I reply as I slowly climb up the steps leading to the opening. Raising one leg into it, I grab hold of the handles on the sides and pull myself in the rest of the way. As I settle in and lean against the back of the tube, the cold glass against my skin makes me tremble. The door slides downward and I hear an electrical locking sound. My heart is pounding so loud that I can hear it echoing within the small confined space. My hands begin to shake and I take a deep breath in an attempt to try and relax. I hear a swooshing sound and feel my feet getting wet. Looking down I see the blue liquid entering the tube through four openings at the bottom. As the liquid creeps up my skin it feels like a million bugs are crawling all over me.

I begin to panic and then I hear the electronic voice again. “Please remain still. Nanobot technology is being administered.” I try not to move, but the sensation is almost too much to bear.

The liquid is at my waist now and I wonder how far up it’s going to go. I take another deep breath as the liquid reaches my chin. Terror overtakes me as it creeps past my mouth and flows over my nose and ears. I scream, which sounds muffled, as I pound in slow motion on the walls of the tube, trying to break out. In my panic I accidentally swallow a mouthful of the liquid and realize that I can still breathe. 
How is this possible? I should be drowning,
I ask myself. A slight calm comes over me as I float there as if in suspended animation. The tingling sensation has stopped and my body almost feels like it’s numb. Suddenly, the liquid begins to drain from the tube.

“Nanobot introduction successful. Cleansing process will commence shortly.”

As I stand there in the empty tube, an immense surge of energy courses through me. Surveying my skin, I see that it’s covered in a blue film. I hear the sound of something rushing through the pipe that’s connected overhead. A strong blast of warm water hits me like a high-powered shower. Staring at my arms I see the blue film peel away, collect at the bottom, and rush down the drain. The water shuts off and a green light appears at the top of the door.

“Cleansing process is complete. You are now free to exit the implant administration conduit.”

The door slides upward and I step out. I shudder in the cold of the room outside. The energetic feeling that I had before disappears and is replaced by nausea. My head begins to pound and my heart feels like it’s about to explode out of my chest. I stumble and drop to my knees as I hear a muffled voice call out to me. The blurry outline of someone rushing over fills my vision. The next thing I feel is a strong pressure rising up into my throat and liquid gushing out of my mouth onto the floor. As I stare down at the puddle of neon blue, the whole room fades to black.

Chapter Three

The Escadrille

I slowly open my eyes and scan my surroundings. A headache begins to invade as the blinding white of the room creeps into my pupils. As my haziness dissipates, and I begin to see more clearly, I notice there’s a clear glass bubble encasing the bed I’m lying in. When I begin to sit up, the glass dome separates into two pieces at the middle and slides down into the metal frame that surrounds the bed. I look around and I seem to be in a hospital room of some sort, but it doesn’t look like any I’ve ever been in before. The entire room retains the slick polish that everything else at this facility has had, and there are shiny metal objects everywhere that are most likely some kind of advanced medical equipment. I see other cadets in the beds that line the perimeter of the room. They must have passed out like I did.

What I assume is a nurse, approaches me dressed all in white. “Hello, I am Ada 21, your nurse here in the med-wing. I hope you do not mind, but I took the liberty of fitting you with a proper Allied Federation hairstyle, and dressed you in a uniform.” Her tone is robotic.

Ada 21? That’s the same name of the lady at the front desk, except with a different number. They even look similar except she has brown hair.

“Thank you,” I say as I begin to examine the clothes I’m wearing.

I hear the door to the med-wing slide open and turn to see my dad hurrying into the room. He rushes up to my bed, “I came the moment I heard you had complications. Are you okay? What happened?” he asks hurriedly while grabbing me in a hug as he speaks.

“I’m so glad to see you Dad. You can’t even begin to know how much,” I answer, returning his hug and getting a little teary eyed. “I’m okay. But that was probably the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced. I don’t think there was any way I could’ve prepared for that.”

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Kenley. The process is very intense, but full immersion into the Nanobot fluid is the only way to introduce the implant,” he explains, pulling back slightly to look me in the eyes.

“Nanobot fluid? There were little robots floating around in that stuff?”

“Correct. The nanobots carried the implant into your body through the pores in your skin.”

“Was that why I was able to breathe?”

“No. Actually the liquid has a high concentration of oxygen in it, which makes it breathable. The liquid has properties of water, but is just like breathing air.”

“Oh, I see…kind of.”

“Listen to me getting all scientific. I’m just so relieved that you’re okay.”

“Me too,” I say, sending him a smile.

“Is there anything that I can be of assistance with?” Ada 21 asks, coming up to the side of my bed.

“I think we’re all set here,” My dad replies.

As Ada 21 walks away, I turn to my dad and ask, “What’s with the nurse having the same name as the lady I met at the front desk at the Hexagon?”

“They’re androids,” he replies nonchalantly.

“Androids? You mean robots that look like humans?”

“Indeed. Just another wonderful innovation brought to you by the Federation,” he jokes. “These are all prototype models though. They’re testing them out here before they can be used in combat.”

“It’s kind of creepy if you ask me.”

He just chuckles at my comment. “Well, at any rate, I’ve got to get back to work. I just wanted to make sure you were all right. I’m glad I got to see you again. I’m sorry I haven’t been there more often for you, or anyone for that matter,” he says, his voice full of sadness.

“It’s okay. We know that you love us, no matter how busy you ever get with work. I’m glad you came by. I definitely feel better now that I’ve gotten to see you again.”

“I love you, Kenley.”

“Love you too, Dad,” I reply as he kisses my forehead.

After he leaves, Ada 21 walks over again. “Grayson, Kenley, you have a visitor. Would you like for me to allow them in?”

“Yeah, it’s okay,” I reply.

Joey strolls through the door and the first thing I notice is that his eyes are shockingly blue, almost as if they’re electrified. The next thing I see is his uniform. It’s a formfitting black-and-red ensemble with white stripes on the sleeves, chest, and legs. Joey’s athletic build wears it very well.

“I heard what happened to you,” Joey states as he grabs for my hand. “Looks like you weren’t the only one that had this reaction though.” We both look around the room at the rest of the cadets who are recovering.

“Yeah, that was quite intense, huh?” I ask.

“You could say that,” he replies with a slight smile.

“Hey, have you seen your eyes lately? They’re like really blue.”

“So are yours,” he states, pointing at me.

“What?”

“Go look in the mirror,” he says, gesturing to the one on the wall opposite my bed.

I stand up, and instantly a wave of dizziness overcomes me. Joey immediately reacts by taking my arm, stabilizing me, and guides me toward to the mirror. My eyes widen as I see that my normal green eyes have turned a shocking blue that match Joey’s. Bringing my face close to the mirror, I pull back my eyelid to see my eye more clearly. There are small periodic electrical pulses that flow through my iris that causes me to flinch slightly and let go of my eyelid.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Joey says.

“Yeah.”

I examine my hair, which has been pulled back into a tight braided ponytail and looks quite beautiful
.
Not too bad for an android
, I think to myself.

The uniform fits snug on me, just like it does Joey, and accents all the right areas of my body. I touch the material and it’s super smooth, and seems very breathable. It feels like spandex, but nowhere near as restrictive. I almost feel like I’m not wearing anything at all.

A pair of dog tags hang from my neck, resting against my chest. I examine them and there’s an engraving on each one:

Kenley Grayson

Magnus Academy Cadet

1696344-0216

A patch on the sleeve of my shirt catches my eye when I look up at the mirror again. It’s a symbol of some sort. A dark grey triangle with light grey points and a light grey infinity triangle in the center of it. There’s a deep red M in the top point of the triangle. I assume the M stands for Magnus.

“These uniforms are really cool. Way better than anything we’d have worn if we were in the regular military,” Joey comments, smiling at me in the mirror.

I look around and notice the rest of the cadets in the med-wing are stirring in their beds. Most of them prop themselves up and begin to stand, regaining their composure.

A voice comes over the intercom. “All draftees report to the main docking bay for transportation to the Magnus Academy. I repeat, all draftees report to the main docking bay for transportation to the Magnus Academy.”

“The Magnus Academy?” I ask, looking questioningly at Joey.

He shrugs his shoulders and replies, “Let’s go find out.”

As we exit the med-wing I see the guy I saw back at the entry platform leaning against a wall down the corridor, talking to a group of cadets. He looks in our direction and his eyes meet mine. He sends me a smirk and I dodge it, turning my head toward Joey.

“Hey, so where do you think this main docking bay is?” I ask.

“Uh, probably that way,” he answers, pointing down the corridor the guy is hanging out in.

I feel a twinge of nervousness come over me. “What makes you say it’s that way?”

“The sign right in front of us that says main docking bay, with an arrow pointing that way,” he says with a chuckle.

“Fair enough,” I reply, staring down the corridor at the guy again.

A voice comes over the intercom once more. “Will all draftees report to the main docking bay for transportation to the Magnus Academy. The boarding process will begin in five minutes.”

I see the guy and the group he’s talking to all begin to head down the hallway away from us. I breathe a sigh of relief and make my way down the hall with Joey in tow.

The hallway opens up at the end into a massive industrialized space that resembles an oversized hanger bay for airplanes. There’s a moving walkway that leads us out into the area. The walkway is raised high above the ground and there seems to be a sizeable drop from the edge.

As we step onto the walkway and move forward, I look over the side and see several spaceships below us being worked on
.
I’ve never seen an entire spaceship this close up before.

“Wow, those things are kick ass. I hope we get to fly in one of them,” Joey states excitedly, peering over the edge with me.

I hear someone call out my last name and I turn to see Sam pushing her way through the people behind us to catch up. Geoffrey and Caleb are right behind her.

“You gave us quite a scare back there, Grayson. I wasn’t sure you’d make it. You had a wicked reaction to that implant. Glad to see you on your feet though soldier,” Sam says after she taps me on the arm.

“Thanks. I’m still a little shook up, but I’ll be fine,” I reply.

“Apparently this academy we’re going to is some kind of training ground. You know, to help us hone our skills as Bio-Mods,” Geoffrey chimes in.

“Bio-Mods?” I ask.

“Oh, that’s just a little something I came up with. Since we were modified on a biological level with those nanobots, I decided to make up a name for us. Bio-Mods,” he replies, seeming proud of himself for coming up with it.

“I like the sound of that,” Joey comments.

“Thanks,” Geoffrey replies with a beaming smile.

The moving walkway leads us into a bright white tunnel that’s lined with large wide windows trimmed in shiny metal. As we reach the first set of windows, I look out into the area beyond, and a massive spaceship is sitting there like some kind of sleeping giant. The size and scope of it is the most impressive sight I’ve ever seen. It shimmers in the lights as we pass by it. I can’t wait for the next set of windows to come so I get one more look at it. We’re all staring at the ship in awe, not saying a word. I notice Joey’s mouth is gaped open slightly. Caleb has a huge smile across his face and I see him mouth the word awesome. The ship’s stark contrast between shiny dark grey and bright silver across its body make it a sight to behold. Printed in large black lettering on the side of the ship is the word “Escadrille
.” Must be its name, I guess
, I comment to myself.