Gene. Sys. (10 page)

That night I dream that the outsiders are
attacking us again. I run from room to room to wake up the other Genesys but
none of them will wake up. One by one their bodies get torn apart. After they
tear apart Ev, the outsiders turn their attention to me. I try to scream but I
can’t. It isn’t until just before they get to me that I notice in my reflection
that I don’t have a mouth. As they tear me apart, the screams only echo in my
head.

8

My screams wake me from my sleep and I sit up,
drenched in my sweat. I look around, hoping that the walls to my room are
soundproof. The last
thing
I want to deal with today
are the questions and looks I might get.

I look at the time to see that I still have
nearly an hour before we are all supposed to meet in the simulation room. Grant
left during the night and I’m leading my first training today. I take my time
in the shower and grab a protein pouch as I head out my door. My plan is to be
the first one down there to be able to gather my thoughts and greet the
Genesys.

When I reach the elevator I am surprised to see
someone there. My heart races as excitement and nerves climb up my throat. I
try not to let it show as I reach the elevator.

“Morning, Fe,” I say as nonchalantly as I can.
I’m not sure it worked.

“Good morning, Atom.” She smiles at me. Luckily
the elevator opens, killing any chance of an awkward moment. I break eye
contact and walk in.

“You’re early.” I don’t mean to, but I have a
slight accusatory tone to my voice.

“I’m sorry.” She looks down. “I didn’t want to
be late and I was too excited to sleep any longer, so I came down.”

She was excited? I struggle to hold it in but my
smile wins out. The elevator reaches the bottom and I step out. I would love to
keep talking to her, but seeing the simulation room reminds me of Grant and the
responsibility I have. “Good. You can help me get ready. Please clear anything
that’s in the middle of the room and move it to the sides.

She smiles and begins to move any mats and
blocks from the center. I do my best to pull my focus away from Fe’s presence
and back to the task at hand. In the far corner is the table and chair that Grant
would call his desk. On top of it I can see that he’s left me an envelope with
the instructions and suggestions.

I don’t intend on using them today because I
have my own lesson planned.

On cue, Fe breaks the silence. “What are we
going to do today?”

“We are going to test the limits of your bodies
and show you what you can all do. We are also going to go over the various
weapons we have and hand to hand combat,” I say proudly. I didn’t realize how
excited I would be to share what I’ve learned.

The sound of the elevator door opening draws my
attention and a small group walks out. Thankfully Ev is not among them because
I am suddenly washed over with the guilt of being alone with Fe.

A couple of minutes later the rest of the group
steps out of the elevator, including Ev. She seems to have already made friends
with a few of the Genesys, the dark skinned boy and the redhead girl, Ox and
Mag. They laugh as they join the group that has already congregated in the
middle of the room.

I remember that she had an extra week with all
of them, while I was locked up. Disappointment floods my thoughts for being so
reckless, but I snap out of it when I realize their eyes have fallen upon me.
They stand in a semicircle, silent.

I speak, trying my best to channel Grant.
“Welcome again to the simulation room. Here we will test your physical and
mental limits—”

“—Cut the act, Atom. Just be yourself,” Ev
interrupts me. A few of the Genesys laugh, including Titan. He seems to be
amused by Ev’s lack of respect.

Not me. I’m hurt and angered by her words. I
shoot Ev a look of warning, hoping she understands that I need her to set an
example for the rest. If not, I will make her an example. A small part of me is
happy for
her,
she seems to have become slightly more
free spirited with the other Genesys around.

“As I was saying.” This time I relax when I
speak and I do feel more comfortable. I hate to admit it, but Ev was right. “We
are going to test the limits of your bodies so that you can understand what you
are capable of.”

“Like that flip, twirl thing you did?” Cal
shouts out with excitement in his eyes.

“Exactly.” I smile back. “So let’s start by
having you all jump and touch the ceiling.”

They all look up. K speaks up. “That’s got to be
like twelve feet!”

“Just over fifteen,” I reply.

“You do it,” I hear a voice say. I turn
expecting Titan, but instead I see the redheaded guy, Sil, step forward. “If
you want us to do something, you do it first.”

I realize that I need to seize control of the
room and I can’t let any of them think that it’s okay to question my authority.
I squat down, pulling as much power into my legs as possible, and with a quick
thrust I extend my legs and jump towards the ceiling. I press my palm flat
against the cold surface fifteen feet above and return back to the ground. I
look around to see their astonished faces, including Titan and Sil.

“If any of you questions me again, we are going
to have a problem.” It seems harsh, but they need to know that I am the
authority down here. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a big smile on Ev’s
face. Pride in her eyes. “Now start jumping!”

Instantly, the rest of the group does their best
to imitate me and reach the ceiling.

“Ev, will you help me work with them?” I ask
,
putting the little anger I had towards her behind me. I
realize now that she was only trying to help.

“Of course.” She walks over to me and squeezes
my hand.

Together we walk around, helping all the Genesys
learn how to generate enough power in their legs to make the jump. It brings me
a lot of joy to see that Titan and Sil are in the last three to achieve it.

Over the next hour Ev and I help them learn
their strength, speed and stamina. As a whole, they all seem to be enjoying
themselves and learning quickly. Cal is definitely the most eager. Titan has
moved from being one of the slowest learners to one of the fastest. The same
can’t be said of Sil, who remains near the bottom consistently.

I’m happy that Fe has remained near the top in all
exercises and I try hard to hide my pride.

Seeing that most of them are drenched in sweat,
I decide to give them a break from physical strain and save the hand-to-hand
combat until the end. After a quick water and bathroom break, we begin the
weapons training.

Ev and I start them off small and teach them how
to work with knives. We show them the proper way to hold, attack, counter and
throw.

As I might have expected from his performance in
the simulation, Cal picks it up most naturally and far exceeds everyone else.
Eventually they all take to the knives, but I can tell that I will need to be
patient with the weapons training.

Next, Ev and I teach them how to use the bigger,
hand held weapons, swords, staffs, and axes. It seems as though different
people respond strongly to different weapons. Ox and the double ax seem
destined for each other; the staff is a perfect fit for the
mocha
skinned
girl, Hydro.

Finally, we move to the projectile weapons, bow
and arrows, crossbows and an assortment of guns and rifles. I can tell that
people are getting tired and losing focus, but Grant would not want me to take
it easy on them. As I walk around, assessing each of the Genesys, one thing
stands out to me that
sends
chills up my spine. Titan
is deadly accurate with the guns and rifles. He does not seem to stray more
than a couple of centimeters from the bull’s eye.

After a little bit, when I see that all of the
Genesys have at least a basic handle of the guns and rifles, I let them break
for a late lunch. Everyone heads for the fridge that holds the protein pouches
and they grab a couple each.

It’s not until I see them devour their first
pouches that I realize how hungry I have become. I walk over and grab a couple
of pouches and turn back to the room. The Genesys have split up into three
groups. Titan and Sil sit against the far wall and have been joined by two
girls, K and Sodi. To my left Ev has joined Ox and Mag and they seem to be in
the middle of a funny story.

Neither of those groups seems like a place I
would feel comfortable. Luckily, I see Cal and Al waving me over from the
right.
 
I walk over and as I get
close, Fe and Hydro move to allow me room to sit between them. My nerves have
gotten the better of me again and I look back to Ev’s group before I sit next
to Fe. Ev glances over at
me and smiles
; I smile back
and take a seat.

I don’t know why I feel so nervous around Fe and
why I become so self-conscious when both she and Ev are in the same room with
me. This is definitely something I need to get over. I’m supposed to be the
leader and I don’t need to have anyone second-guessing me because of my nerves.
Especially myself.

I close my eyes and let out a deep breath,
pushing the nerves out. I look at the Genesys around me. “So what do you guys
think so far?”

“This has been awesome!” Cal jumps in. I
wouldn’t expect anything less from him.

“It’s a lot tougher than I thought it would be,”
Hydro adds. “But fun!”

The others agree. This makes me happy. I was
worried that I wouldn’t be able to convey all the information I wanted to, but
it seems like they have all been taking everything in and enjoying themselves
in the process.

“So what’s next?” Al asks.

I look over the group as if I’m about to deliver
some bad news. “Hand to hand combat. Grant always told me that you are more
likely to be faced with a conflict where you don’t have any weapons. Similar to
what Ev and I had when we faced all ten of you.”

“Why do we have to learn how to fight in the
first place?” Fe asks.

My heart reaches out to her. Much like with Ev,
I want to protect her. “Well, since I’ve been here, the compound has been
attacked and the outsiders seem set on trying to get rid of us. Besides, it
seems as though we will be on our own after the scientists end the world.”

This is the first time this thought has even
crossed my mind. We are going to be left alone. As far as I know, there are no
plans for the scientists to survive. This is too much for me to handle right
now so I finish my last protein pouch and stand.

“Alright everyone, break is over. Use the
bathroom if you have to. We start in five minutes.” I walk over to Grant’s desk
as a few of the Genesys head for the bathroom. The others clean up and gather
in the middle of the room.

I stare at the envelope that Grant left me and
I’m startled when Ev steps up next to me.

“Is everything okay?” She puts her hand on mine.

I don’t move mine away. I don’t think I have
felt okay in a long time. “Yeah.”

“What’s in it?” She motions to the envelope.

“I don’t know yet. I’ll read it later.” I turn
and head back to the center of the room. Sodi and K are the last two to return
from the bathroom and I reach the group as they do.

Ev hustles over to catch up. “Sorry.”

I look at the group, knowing that most of them
are probably not ready. “Okay. For the rest of today’s training we are going to
be focusing on hand-to-hand combat. You will learn how to harness your abilities
and—”

“—We already know how to fight. Teach us
something different.” Titan looks directly at me, challenging me.

“Believe me, you don’t.” I try to stay calm.

Titan steps forward.
“I’m pretty sure…”

“Will you stop being an ass and let him teach?”
Cal speaks up. It feels good to know that someone has my back.

“Don’t call me an ass!” Titan screams. Before I
can do anything, he has charged over and pushed Cal to the ground.

Cal gets back to his feet, but Al and Ox hold
him back. They don’t hold back his words. “This isn’t over, you ass!”

Titan steps to push Cal again but before he can
I pull his arms behind his back and pull him away. There is no denying the
strength that he has. Once he knows how to harness it, I will have a difficult
time holding him back.

“Let go of me!” Titan says as he pulls away. As
I let him go, he turns and throws a punch in my direction. I can feel the four
knuckles at the top of his hand as they connect with my jaw. I stumble to the
side and instantly taste the bitter saltiness of blood.

A calm rage builds through my body as I turn to
face him. I see that the rest of the Genesys have all fallen silent. Their eyes
are wide and they stare at me, anticipating my next move. Just like I did with
Sil, I feel like I need to meet this challenge in order to maintain control of
the group.

Titan has taken an
amateur
fighting
stance. His hands are down and he has given away his dominant
hand. I smile as I speak slowly and clearly. “You will not land another punch.”

He furrows his brow and screams as he charges
me. I dodge his attempt to knock me over and turn as he begins to throw
punches. Anticipating his every move, I bob and weave around everything he
throws at me.

I spin away from another one of his punches and
create a little distance between us. “You still have a lot to learn, Titan.”