Gene. Sys. (19 page)

“Got him!” Titan stands in triumph. He steps out
from the cover of the boulder and throws his arms up in celebration. Just as
soon as his hands go up, he flies back and has been knocked out.

“Titan!” Sodi yells after him.

I look around the boulder and my jaw drops in
shock. The one red light has been replaced with what seems to be hundreds of
red lights. Within a blink, the red lights begin marching towards us. Once
clear of the darkness from the forest, I can tell that the lights are laser
sights attached to guns that are being carried by outsiders.

At the next boulder, Ev and Sil are both looking
around their boulder. Ev looks at me and communicates, as quietly as she can,
“What do we do?”

I shrug. It’s probably not the answer she wanted
from me, but I am not prepared for this type of simulation. That’s when I
remember that it is a simulation so I can take some risks. It doesn’t seem like
we have much of a chance against the sheer number of outsiders coming at us.
Then again, 80 and I were outnumbered and we survived.

I scan my surroundings and notice that there are
two more boulders in our immediate vicinity. I wave to get Ev’s attention.

“How many?” I ask, pointing to the boulder
behind them.

She checks and looks back at me. “Two.”

That means that Fe, Mag or Hydro have been taken
out. I figure that our best plan of attack will be to have two people per
boulder shooting on either side. Hopefully the cover will protect us as long as
possible.

I turn back to Sodi and K. “You two stay here.
Each of you take a side of the boulder and shoot as many as you can.”

“Gotcha,” K obliges. Sodi just stares defiantly
at me and picks up Titan’s old gun.

I look back at Ev and point to her and then a
boulder that is about twenty-five feet in front and between our two boulders.
She nods her head and I count down from three with my fingers.

The second I reach zero, I run. When I look over
towards Ev, I see Sil push her out of the way and run up to the boulder with
me. I reach the boulder and look back just as Ev is getting to her feet. She’s
immediately hit with a bullet and is taken out.

I push Sil against the boulder. “What the hell
did you do that for?”

“I … I…” Sil stumbles over his words. Fear
glazes his eyes.

“You cost us a life!” I scream.

“What about Titan?” he shouts back.

I grit my teeth. He’s right, I did hang him out
to dry, but he also got cocky. I take a deep breath. “Just take that side and
start shooting.”

He lies on the ground to the right of the
boulder and I lay on the ground to the left. I steady my rifle and look down
the crosshairs. There are easily a hundred outsiders marching towards the seven
of us who remain.

“Fire!” I yell. I pull my trigger and the
Genesys around me follow suit. Bullets fly past my head in both directions as
the outsiders return fire.

I hear a couple of grunts and screams behind me
that tell me that a couple more of the Genesys have been taken out, but we are
definitely causing a dent in the outsiders. About half of the outsiders have
been taken out.

“
Ow
,” Sil says next to
me and when I look, I see that he has been taken out.

I roll off the ground and sit with my back to
the boulder. This seems like an insurmountable challenge. I look at the other
boulders and see that there are only three of us left, Sodi behind my original
boulder and, surprisingly, Mag behind the farthest boulder. She may be quiet but
she never fails to surprise me.

Just before I am able to get back into position to
resume shooting, two outsiders pop around
Sil’s
side
of the boulder and shoot me. The shock spreads from my chest to the rest of my
body. I really hate this feeling. Not only is the pain uncomfortable,
but
I will always associate this shock with failure.

As I lay on the ground, with the faint sound of
Mag and
Sodi’s
bullets flying by, I think about what
I could have done differently in this simulation. I wasn’t ready, and if I am
supposed to lead them, I need to be ready for all situations that might come
up. Everyone is most likely going to be taken out in this simulation, but when
it comes to dealing with something like this for real, we can’t afford to lose
a single one of us.

One stream of bullets remains and, based on the
direction they are coming from, Sodi is the only one left. Perhaps I should
have let her take the shot with the sniper rifle. She has certainly proven
herself capable with a gun otherwise.

The simulation room goes black and I know that
we failed. I failed. A loss to any of the Genesys is a failure on my part. I
realize that now. Though the pressure I was already under seems multiplied now,
I also feel a sense of pride. We will succeed. I will make sure of it.

When the lights come back on, everyone gets up,
rubbing their aching bodies. I walk to the control panel to be able to see them
all and address the defeat. Right before I get there, chaos erupts.

Ev runs up to Sil and pushes him. “Why did you
do that?”

“Don’t push me, favorite!” Sil yells and pushes
her back.

To my right, Fe and Hydro are getting into a
heated argument.

“You were supposed to cover me!” Fe gets into
Hydro’s face.

“I don’t take orders from you!” Hydro screams
back.

I see Cal and Al run over to them, so I pull my
attention back to Sil and Ev. I run over and get between them. “Calm down. It
was an accident.”

“It was not an accident and you know it!” Ev
directs her screams at me.

Ev pushes against me to get to Sil and as I hold
her back Sil gets a shove in. I turn to him and push him back. When I do, Titan
comes to
Sil’s
side.

“Let him go!” Titan stares at me and I pull up.

As Titan pulls Sil away, Sil shouts at me.
“Everything is about Atom and Ev. You are the favorites. It doesn’t matter if
we live. We are just collateral!”

I’m hurt by his words. We are all in this
together. “That is not true!”

Before I can say another word, a fist connects
with my jaw. The second my head whips to the side; I taste the saltiness of
blood. When I look back up at my assailant, I see Sodi staring me down and
rubbing her fist.

The entire room goes quiet and I sense
everyone’s eyes on me. I get a quick flash to when I was in the same situation
with Titan just weeks ago. They are all anticipating my next move and I know
that what I do next will dictate the kind of leader I am going to be.

I take a deep breath and then, as calm and stern
as I can, I look at each Genesys. “All of you sit against the wall.”

Shock fills most of their eyes and, without
second-guessing, they all move to the wall. The
tensions
between them makes
them all keep a healthy distance from each other.

“If we are all going to survive, we have to work
together.” I pause. An idea has just filled my head and I give myself a mental
reminder to find 80 after this.

“Not a single one of us is more important than
the other,” I continue. “The goal is for each one of us to survive, not just
me, or Ev.
All of us.
We are all Genesys. We are all
the new beginning. If one of us doesn’t make it, we all fail. We were all
created for the same purpose and once the scientists decide to start the
Ragnarok it will be solely up to us. So we have to be a team, and if you are
not okay with that, then we don’t want you.”

I look around at the group sitting on the floor.
A few of them have smiles on their faces; Sil has his head to the ground. Fe
and Hydro exchange apologies and embrace.

“Tomorrow’s training will be outside by the
Drones’ quarters.” With that, I turn and head to the elevator. I drop the chain
I had wrapped around me on the way. I figure they will tidy up. Besides, I have
something important to ask 80.

15

The part of the compound that houses the drones
has a static feeling to it. It doesn’t really appear different from the other
parts of the compound, but the areas that have been exposed by the explosions
are very plain. The open rooms I see have beds with grey sheets on them and
nothing else. There are no signs that any of the rooms had decorations or any
other furniture. A few drones are asleep in some of the beds and I realize that
they weren’t relocated.

I find myself getting angry with Rene again. How
could he so unapologetically mistreat the drones like this? I turn the corner
to the open field in the middle of the drone quarters and
I’m
blinded by the low sun that is beginning to turn the sky orange
.

When my eyes adjust, I see a drone standing
right in front of me. The sun reflects off his shaved head, making his scar
even more ominous.

“What do you want?” 13 demands. He steps up
close enough to block the sun from my face.

“I want to see 80.” I stand my ground. He has
obviously been through a lot, but it’s not enough to ease my disdain for him.

13 stares at me, thinking about what he wants to
do. He lets out a long huff and turns back towards the field. “80, the chosen
one wants to see you.”

His words sting and remind me of what Sil yelled
just moments ago. “I’m not the chosen—”

“—Save it.” He cuts me off and walks away.

A sour taste has built in my mouth. Why can’t
they understand that I didn’t choose to be in this position? If I ran this
compound I would do things completely different.

“Hey,” 80
says
behind
me.

I turn, half startled. “How’s it going?”

“What do you need?” he asks curtly. My facial
expression must have surprised him because he quickly changes his tone. “Sorry.
I just have a lot of work to do.”

“No worries,” I say, a smile creeping up on my
face because of what I’m going to ask next. “Can we set up a Breekbal game
between the Genesys and you guys?”

80
thinks
for a moment
and then turns towards the field. He walks to the middle and I hustle to keep
up. “Why do you want to play? It’s not really the best of times with all the
attacks.”

“I need them to learn to work as a team. I
thought this would be a good way to do that,” I answer.

“None of us have played since we were brought
back.”
80 stops in the middle of the field.
“I suppose
it could be good for moral.”

“Awesome!” I can’t hold in my excitement. I have
wanted to play since 80 first told me about it. “Would we be able to do teams
of twelve instead of ten?”

“Sure. When?” He grabs a couple of smaller
pieces of rubble from the ground and tosses them off the field.

“After our classes tomorrow,” I say.

“Fine.” He walks towards the far end of the
field and looks into a hole. I had previously thought that this hole was from
the attacks, but now I realize that they are actually part of the playing field.
He looks at me. “Anything else?”

I look around to make sure no one is close by.
“Actually, yes. I was hoping you could help me with something more important,
but you have to promise to keep this to yourself.”

He turns to face me and raises an eyebrow.
“Yeah?”

“So there is a group of scientists who are
planning to sabotage Rene’s plans,” I begin.

“Really?” 80
asks
,
surprised. He looks around to see if anyone is watching.

I continue. “Last night I saw two of the
scientists meeting outside, on the opposite end of the compound, by the
library. I was hoping you could maybe have the drones—”

“—Don’t call us that,” 80 cuts me off
sharply.

“What?” I’m caught off guard.

“We are Integers. Drones makes us sound like we
are incapable of our own thoughts,” 80 states definitively.

“Ok, sorry.” I agree with him, but the education
came out of nowhere and seemed aggressive. “Well, I was hoping the other
Integers could let you know which scientists have been meeting and then you
could tell me. Don’t tell them why they are gathering this information though.”

80
looks
into my eyes
as he thinks. A slight hint of compassion graces his face, but it quickly
disappears as he makes a decision in his head. “Yeah, that’s fine. I’m afraid
many of us don’t know the scientists by name though.”

“That’s okay. A description will be enough. We
have a database of pictures that we can reference.” I’m excited to have 80
helping me out. I feel we have lost a connection since he’s been back and this will
be a great way to get it back.

80
puts
his hand on my
shoulder and smiles. “I’ll see you tomorrow, buddy.”

 
“Yes
you will.” I smile back. He runs off and I head back towards my part of the
compound.

As I walk back, I decide to cut through the hole
in the wall of the medical ward. When I step through, I spot Dr. Peters working
in one of the rooms. We wave at each other, but just before I get to the exit
of the medical ward, I realize that it would probably be best to have a doctor
at the Breekbal game. 80 mentioned before that the games could get extremely
physical.

I turn back towards the room with Dr. Peters. He
spots me, turns off what he was working on and meets me outside of the room.

“Can I help you, Atom?” he asks.

“Actually, I was hoping that you could oversee a
game of Breekbal that myself and the Genesys are having against the drones.” I
instantly apologize to 80 in my head for using that term.

“I would strongly advise against doing such a
thing. Most of the games cause multiple injuries and some of them severe,” he
warns me.

“I understand that, but I need to do something
to get all the Genesys working as a team. I feel this would be a great
opportunity to do that,” I plead.

“Did you ask Rene?” he presses.

“I’m not going to,” I say defiantly. “He’s put
me in charge of the others and this is my decision.”

“Very well,” he says as he walks past me.

“The game is after our classes,” I shout after
him.

He walks out of the medical ward and leaves me
alone in the giant space. When I look around, I realize that the majority of
the time I have spent here has been during utter mayhem. Chills creep over my
body and I take that as my cue to leave. I jog out of the medical ward and
through the hallways to Ev’s room.
 

Just before I reach her door I see Dr. Kivuli
turn the corner. Her hair is a little more unkempt than usual and she seems
flustered.

“Atom. What are you doing?” She adjusts herself.
Her demeanor is certainly peculiar.

“I was just taking a walk.” I’m lying, but she
doesn’t need to know what I’m up to.

She raises her eyebrow at me. “Of course. You
haven’t stopped by to see me recently.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” I’m not really sorry,
I don’t like being around her. Especially now that I know she’s planning
against Rene. I do my best to hide my disdain from her.

“Well, why don’t we have a session now?” she
asks.

“Really?” I’m caught off guard by the question.

“Sure. I don’t have anything else going on, and
you must certainly be under a lot of stress,” she insists.

She is right about being under a lot of stress,
but the last thing I want to do right now is talk to her. I realize, however,
that by talking to her I might be able to figure out more of her motive. I
clench my teeth at what I’m about to say. “Okay.”

Dr. Kivuli turns and we walk silently to her
office. She closes the door behind me after we enter. I take a seat and she
sits directly across from me.

“What’s on your mind, Atom?” she pries.

I shift in my seat, not wanting to answer, but I
know I have to play the game. I exhale and decide to actually tell her what’s
on my mind. “I’m having trouble getting the Genesys to work together. So many
of them tend to act on their own when we should be working as a team and there
is always some pushback when I tell them what to do.”

“Do you ever listen to what they have to say or
do you just tell them what to do?” She leans in.

“I guess I just tell them.” I hadn’t really
thought of that before.

“Great leaders listen to those they lead.
Everyone must know that
their
opinions and ideas are
valid,” she says, leaning back in her chair. I recall Ev saying something
similar to me not too long ago.

I process what she’s said. I really haven’t
given anyone else a chance to speak their thoughts. Maybe one of them could
have had a better idea that would have helped us succeed in the Hologram
Battle.

“How are you feeling about the Ragnarok coming
soon?” she presses.

“I’m scared.” I stop myself before I say
anything else. She caught me off guard. I furrow my brow in disappointment with
myself.

“It’s okay to be scared, Atom. I am too. We
really don’t know what is going to happen,” she tries to comfort me.

Something she said peaks my interest. “What do
you mean we don’t know what’s going to happen? Nuclear weapons will be
detonated all over the world, killing pretty much everyone but us twelve
Genesys and then we have to start it all over.”

“Right.” She thinks about how to proceed. “I
mean we don’t know what is going to happen with you after it’s all done. We
will be gone and will have no idea as to whether you were successful or not.”

I stare at her for a few moments, trying to read
her. “Why are you scared?”

Dr. Kivuli looks down at her hands. “I don’t
want to die, Atom. I never was given a choice in the matter, but I guess we all
have to die sometime.”

“Do you wish Rene wasn’t going to set off the
Ragnarok?” I push. I feel that I’ve hit a chord.

She looks hard at me; her expression turns sour.
“It doesn’t really matter, does it?”

I don’t answer. Instead I keep my eyes glued to
hers. She seems to be reading me as much as I am reading her. Eventually she
looks away and stands.

“I think that’s enough for today.” She walks
towards the door.

I stand, a small smile on my face. I walk past her
and through the door. “Have a good night.”

“You as well.” She closes the door behind me.

Adrenaline shoots through my body because I
can’t wait to tell Ev what just happened. I sprint back through the hallways to
her room. She opens her door a few seconds after I knock and I barge in, taking
a seat on her bed.

“What’s going on?” she asks as she closes her
door.

“So last night I was walking around the compound
and I overheard Dr. Kivuli and a scientist named Joey talking about the attacks
and maybe organizing more. They are definitely both part of the Mutineers,” I
say in one breath.

“Dr. Kivuli? Really?” She takes a seat next to
me on the bed.

“Yes!” I nearly shout. “Plus, I just had a
session with her and she admitted that she wasn’t a fan of Rene’s plan and
didn’t want to die.”

“No one wants to die, Atom,” she responds
condescendingly.

I look at her, not appreciating her tone. “I
know that, but this is different.”

“I suppose. I’m just surprised, that’s all.” She
stands and pulls up the personnel database on the wall. “We should probably go
through all the scientists and see who we think might be involved.”

“Yeah. Plus Rene said that there is more than
one Joey, so we need to see which one it was,” I add.

“So I have already looked through the database
once. There are nearly one hundred scientists here.” Ev calls up the file to
every scientist on the wall.

“Is there really?” I’m surprised. “I thought
that maybe there were only about thirty or so.”

“I did too. I guess most of them work in
different parts of the compound. Remember, we didn’t even know that the Center
for G.O.D. existed until Rene took us down there,” she says.

“There were at least a dozen scientists down
there,” I think out loud.

“Exactly! So there very easily could be other
parts of the compound that we don’t know about,” she adds.

“Like the monitor room that I saw Grant go into,”
I say.

She stares at me with accusing eyes. I guess I
forgot to mention that to her. She opens her mouth to say something, but then
thinks twice about it and turns her attention to the wall.

“So what should we do?” I ask, realizing after
the fact that it’s what Dr. Kivuli suggested I start doing.

“We make piles of the scientists. One pile for
the people we know or suspect of being a part of the Mutineers and another pile
for those we don’t,” she says to the wall.