Gene. Sys. (22 page)

Cal, Sil, and Sodi sprint ahead and take on the
next few drones. They flip them to the ground and add a couple of kicks. That
leaves the last two drones for me. 13
is
right in
front of 80. I sprint and plant my feet on the ground, launching myself into
the air over 13. When I’m above him, I grab his head and use my momentum to
flip him as I fall to the ground.

I fling him at 80 and hear gasps from the crowd
around the field. 80
sidesteps
13 as he lands and
launches the ball towards our pit. When I turn to look, I see that one of the
drones Ox knocked down has gotten back up and is running alone towards our pit.

Mag hobbles away from the pit to try to
challenge the drone and when the ball arrives they both jump. Unfortunately,
Mag has an injured leg, so she can’t jump as high. The drone manages to grab
the ball from a higher point and as he lands he knocks Mag to the ground.

The drone trots to our pit, but just before he
gets there, Fe charges out of the pit and slams her shoulder into his stomach.
The ball falls out of his hands and Fe runs to retrieve it.

She looks around and throws it to Titan, who is
open along the right sideline. A drone charges at him and Titan hands the ball
off to K, who runs past him and towards the middle. Ox, Sodi, Sil, Hydro, and
Cal have created a barricade by linking arms together and are holding a few
drones back.

“Go, Atom!” Ev screams as she approaches from
the left with Al. They knock 80 and 13 to the ground.

I see the opening and peel off around the left
side. K throws the ball in my direction and I catch it in stride. A drone
chases after me, but I stay a couple of steps ahead of him. Suddenly, I see 80
closing in to my right. I look back and don’t see another Genesys open, so I
decide I have to do things on my own.

Before I can make another decision, the drone
who
had been behind me sweeps my legs out from underneath
me. He must have dived at my legs. I slam right on top of the ball and it
knocks the wind out of me. Struggling to breathe, I reach for the ball just as
80 reaches me. In a last ditch effort I push the ball in the direction of the
drones’ pit.

The ball bounces and rolls, slowing
down
as it gets closer to the pit. 80
has
turned and is chasing the ball, gaining quickly. The entire crowd has gone
silent and we all watch as the ball inches closer to the pit.
80 dives for the ball, barely missing it with his fingers.
On its last rotation, the ball falls into the pit.

The Genesys and all the scientists cheer. I get
up and run to the center of the field, where the Genesys have gathered. Ox
carries Mag to the center to join us.

“Genesys! Genesys!” Cal starts chanting. In a
matter of seconds, the rest of us join in. A few moments later, the scientists
are also chanting.

I look back to see the drones leaving the field.
80, however, is walking towards us.

“What does he want?” Titan says, standing next
to me.

“Don’t know.” I step away to meet 80 a few feet
from the group.

“Good game, Atom.” He extends his hand.

I take it and shake his hand. “Yes it was.
Thanks for letting us do this. I think it helped bring us together.”

“You got it.” He smiles. “Listen, do you have
time to talk?”

I look to the sidelines and see that the
majority of the scientists are leaving. I steer my gaze to the Genesys and see
them celebrating amongst themselves.

“Sure. Give me a second.” I jog back to the
group.

“What’s up?” Fe asks.

“Hey, everyone. Great job!” I ignore Fe’s
question. “I will catch up to you guys in a little bit. Take Mag to Dr. Peters to
get checked over and then we can have our celebration in the medical ward.”

I jog back to 80 before any of the Genesys can
say anything.

“Do you mind if we walk?” 80
asks
.

“Sure, where to?” I respond.

He walks towards the outer wall, which is now
made up of piles of rubble. I pick up my pace and walk next to him.

“I’m going to be sore tomorrow,” I say.

“Yes you will be.” He smiles at me.

“So what’s up?” I pry.

“Well, I…” He keeps walking and I can tell by
his face that he is searching for what he wants to say. I choose to remain
quiet until he finds the words.

We reach the edge of the compound pretty quickly
and climb up to the top of one of the rubble piles. When I look out, I see that
there is still a lot of activity going on in the city where the outsiders are.
There are multiple
Flyz
hovering above the city and I
can hear some shots in the distance. Behind everything is the giant structure
that 80 and I once ran to.
The Great Pyramid of Giza.

“Want to run to the pyramid again?” I ask, only
half joking. I actually would love to see it up close again.

80
looks
at me and
smiles. He takes a deep breath. “Is Rene still going through with the
Ragnarok?”

I see the pain in his eyes, but I can’t lie to
him. “Yes. I don’t know when though.”

“Do you think he would reconsider?” he asks.

“No. His mind seems pretty set.” I frown.

“What if you asked him? He’d listen to you,” he
pushes further.

“I’ve tried. Many times. Honestly, I kind of
agree with what he’s doing.” I instantly wish I hadn’t said that.

“That’s what I was afraid of.”
80 looks off towards the pyramid.

“I’m sorry, 80.” A knot tightens in my chest.

“It’s okay. Please understand; I don’t want to
die.” A tear streaks down his cheek. This is not something I would ever have expected
from him when we first met. In fact, I would have never had expected it from
any drone. Now they all seem capable of it.

“I know you don’t.” I try to comfort him. “I
don’t want you to.”

“But if Rene sets off the Ragnarok, it will
happen.” he states.

“Yeah.” I look out towards the pyramid as well.
Tears begin to roll down my face as I realize that one of the first friends I
made won’t survive. It doesn’t make sense, but, as Rene says, it’s for the
greater good.

We sit in silence for a few more minutes. I
smile slightly, recalling the chicken that he had gone back to get us.

“I should probably go back inside.” I stand.

“Alright,” he says without looking at me.

I put my hand on his shoulder. “You are a great
friend, 80.”

He looks up and smiles at me. The tears have
cleaned a path on his dirty face. I climb down the rubble pile.

“Atom!” he yells after me. I stop and look back
up at him. He’s staring towards the pyramid again. “I don’t want to die. Please
understand.”

I bow my head and walk off towards the medical
ward.

17

I reach the exterior wall to the medical ward
and see that the hole that used to be in the wall has been covered by a giant
plastic tarp. I can hear a celebration going on inside, but my mind is still
preoccupied with the conversation I had with 80. I really wish there was a way
that he could survive. Rene, however, said that each bunker could only hold two
people and that they only built enough for the twelve Genesys.

I pull my focus back towards the medical ward
and I do my best to shake off the negative thoughts. My plan to bring the
Genesys closer together seems to have worked and I want to revel in our
triumph. I push the tarp aside and step through.

The Genesys are all gathered in the open space
in the middle and are enjoying a feast of vegetables and fruit. I see Dr.
Cicca
, Dr. Kivuli and Rene off to the
side,
they seem to be enjoying themselves as well. I’m not particularly keen on
seeing Dr. Kivuli here, but if she’s here we can keep an eye on her.

“Atom! You have to try this!” Al throws me what
I have recently learned is a strawberry.

I catch it and toss it into my mouth. It tastes
so much better than the strawberry protein pouches. The rest of the Genesys
open up the group and invite me in.

Hydro steps up to me. “I’ve been filling them in
on what all these fruits and vegetables are. Dr.
Cicca
brought them to us.”

“Awesome!” I put my arm around her shoulder. I
grab the next closest Genesys, which happens to be Sil, and put my other arm
around his shoulder. He flinches at first, but then lets my arm stay.

Fe steps up to me with a big smile. “That game
was so much fun!”

“Yes it was!” I respond and then peel away to
talk to Ev. As I walk towards her I notice that Ox and Mag are missing.

“
How’s
80?” Ev asks.

“He’s good,” I respond.

“Anything important? Did he report any weird
meetings?” She looks at me. I notice that she is probably enjoying this
celebration less than anyone else.

“I forgot to ask.” It actually hadn’t even
crossed my mind. I’m sure if there was something 80 would have told me.

“
Mmhmm
.” She furrows
her brow.

“Where are Mag and Ox?” I change the subject.

Ev points to the room where I had spent my
recovery time. Ox is sitting next to an operating table. On the table, under
the glass cover, I can faintly make out Mag’s red hair. Working on the glass
cover is Dr. Metzger.

“Where is Dr. Peters?” I look at Ev.

“Don’t know,” she says dismissively.

“So Mag and Ox, huh?” I smile and nudge her
playfully with my elbow. I want her to lighten up.

“Yeah,” she says as she turns away and rejoins
the group.

I really don’t know why Ev is so upset with me.
Fe was the one who kissed me. I did like it though and I like Fe, but I also
like Ev. Did Rene tell her that she and I are supposed to be together?

“Hey leader!” I hear Titan’s voice shout. Right
when I turn, a tomato hits me in the chest.

The Genesys all laugh, including Ev, and within
seconds, we are all throwing food at each other. For the next few hours we joke
around and laugh. Dr.
Cicca
has brought some music as
well, so we jump around and dance. I really like Dr.
Cicca
.
I wish I had her as a teacher earlier.

One by one the Genesys get tired and head off to
bed. I can feel the soreness starting to hit my body and my yawns let me know
that I should probably get to bed myself. I decide to head over to the room
where Ox and Mag are before I leave.

I poke my head in. “Hey, Ox, how is she?”

He lifts his head from his hands and I can tell
that sleep is not too far off for him as well. “She fractured her leg, but
she’ll be fine. She has to be in there for a couple of days for it to heal.”

“She’s a tough one.” I smile.

“Yes she is.” He smiles back. “I think I’m going
to stay in here tonight and keep her company.”

“I’m sure she will appreciate that.” I step back
out of the room. The two of them do seem to be a good match.

When I turn back to the open room, I see a couple
of drones cleaning up our mess and I see Fe standing by the exit alone. I walk
up to her.

“You didn’t have to wait,” I say.

“I wanted to,” she responds. “We haven’t spent
much time together since the attack.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve just been busy. There has been
a lot going on.” I push through the exit and walk into the hallway.

She catches up and links her arm with mine.
“Like what?”

“I really can’t talk about it,” I answer.

She stops and crosses her arms. “Why can’t you
tell me?”

I sigh. “Listen. Ev and I have been working on a
project that is very important and I have to spend a lot of time on it.”

“Oh,” she says flatly. I can see that her eyes
are getting watery. She walks down the hallway.

I catch up to her and fall into stride. “I’m
sorry.”

“You already said that.” She stops walking
again. “Do you like me?”

“Yes. I do.” Why do I keep getting asked this? I
look into her eyes and take a deep breath. I know that what I’m about to say
isn’t going to sit well with her. “Now is just not the time for this.”

I reach for her hand but she pulls it away. She
struggles hard to hold the tears back. “Because of what you are doing with Ev?

“Yes.” I bite my inner lip. I didn’t mean to say
that so I try to course correct. “That’s part of it. The Ragnarok is coming
soon and I need to make sure that we are all ready and that everything will go
as planned.”

She stares at me through her water-glazed eyes.
I can see hurt and sadness behind them. This is not at all what I intended. I
do like her but it is not the time for me to be thinking about her or Ev, or
which one I like more. I wish they would both understand that.

“Fine,” she says and walks off down the hallway.

I know better than to go after her. If I do, I
will probably just make things worse. A grunt escapes my mouth out of
frustration. All I want to do now is sleep, so I head down the hallways to my
bedroom.

When I enter my room, I fall right onto my bed.
I know I should shower, but I just don’t feel like it. I’ll do it when I wake
up.
 

Just as my eyes begin to shut, a loud knock at
my door jumps me out of my bed. For a split second I think about ignoring it
and falling back into bed, but I know I should answer it. I open the door and
see Ev standing there, holding a tablet.

“I need to show you something.” She steps in and
sits on my bed. Shock covers her face when she sees the wall of monitors in my
room.

“It’s intense, isn’t it?” I sit next to her on
the bed.

“I had no idea you had all this in here.” She
scans the various screens.

“It gives me a headache looking at them.” I turn
away and face her, crossing my legs on the bed.

She turns to me and shows me the tablet. On it
is Dr. Peters’ profile. “After you asked me where Dr. Peters was, I got
curious. So I looked at his profile and found that he was actually recruited
from the city outside the compound.”

“Really?” I perk up.

“Yeah. He was originally an outsider,” she says
as she messes with the tablet.

“Which means he might sympathize with them,” I
add. This is a big deal. This gives the outsiders an access point to the
scientists.

“That’s not all.” She shows me the tablet again.
This time there is a series of messages.

“What is it?” I try to scan the messages, but Ev
turns it away from me to look at them.

“It’s an exchange between Dr. Peters and Dr.
O’Neal about gathering a small group of doctors to go out into the city and
care for the outsiders,” she states.

I think for a moment. “Maybe they were just
being philanthropic.”

“In here they talk about not telling Rene or
letting anyone see them leave the compound,” she counters.

“Yeah, that’s definitely peculiar. Plus, why
help them if they know that they won’t have much longer to live anyway?” I add.

“Well, I would do it to make their last days a
little easier to bear, but I know what you mean,” she says. “So do you think
Dr. Peters is also a Mutineer?”

I hear her but my attention has been drawn to
the screen. I notice Ev’s head turn to the screens as well and she instantly
sees what I see. Dr. Kivuli is running in one of the screens.

“What’s she doing?” Ev asks.

“I don’t know, but she doesn’t seem like someone
who would run for fun. She’s up to something.” She leaves the frame of one
screen and enters another screen. I can tell by the screen that she is outside
near the library.

I get up and head for my door.

“What are you doing?” Ev stands up behind me.

“I’m going to catch her doing whatever it is she
is doing. She’s probably running to meet with the other Mutineers.” I head out
to the hallway.

“I’m coming with you.” Ev follows.

I stop and look at her. I know she won’t take no
for an answer. “You head around to the front of the library; I will run around
to the back. We can cut her off.”

“Okay.” She takes off in one direction down the
hallway; I head in the opposite direction.

I run through the hallways and through a set of
double doors. I stand briefly in the field that is right behind the scientists’
quarters and look around. There is no activity going on. In fact, I only see a
couple of drones patrolling, an obvious reduction from the last night I was out
here.

As fast as I can, I run to the back of the
library. It only takes me a couple of minutes to get there. I look around, but
I don’t see her. All I see is the back of the building and the various vegetable
and fruit plants. Maybe Ev caught up to her.

I’m about to start running again when I see Ev
come around the corner. She runs up to me and looks around herself.

“You didn’t see her?” I ask.

“No, nothing. In fact, the whole area looked
deserted.” She catches her breath.

“Yeah, something doesn’t seem right.” Chills run
over my body. The air seems colder all of a sudden.

“You think she went inside?” Ev looks around
again.

“I think she went to wherever the Mutineers have
their meetings.” I let out a frustrated groan.

“Should we try to find it?” Ev looks at me.

“Yeah.” I walk towards the building and Ev walks
next to me.

“Atom,” A faint and gargled voice calls out
behind me. I look at Ev and she shakes her head. We look back towards the
plants and listen.

“Atom,” the gargled voice calls out again.

“It’s coming from over there.” Ev points at the
corn stalks.

“Yeah,” I say as we begin to inch forward. I am
a bit on edge because I don’t recognize the voice and whomever it belongs to
can see us, but I can’t see them.

We get to the edge of the corn and listen again.
In the silence, Ev grabs my hand. It startles me at first, but I actually don’t
mind it. It gives me comfort knowing that I’m not out here alone.

“Atom,” the voice says once more. It seems that
whomever it belongs to
is
using every ounce of energy
they have in them to say it.

“Right there!” Ev jumps back.

Less than ten feet in front of us is a body
lying on the ground. As my eyes adjust I see that it is Dr. Kivuli. Ev and I
run to her side. I glance over her body and see that her hands and face are
covered with blood.

Ev kneels down next to her. “What happened?”

Dr. Kivuli reaches for me. “Atom.”

“Who did this?” I kneel next to her. Did someone
else figure out that she was a Mutineer?

“Tomorrow. Tell Rene.” She struggles to get it out.

“What’s tomorrow?” Ev asks, looking around at
Dr.
Kivuli’s
body to see how she can help.

“They attack.” Dr. Kivuli slowly looks at Ev.

Ev spots something and looks up at me. “Atom,
she was shot.”

“Who attacks? Who did this?” I demand. I have no
need to be gentle with this traitor.

Dr. Kivuli grabs my arm with her bloody hand.
“Everyone.”

“Who
?!
” I yank my arm
away.

“Outsiders. Drones. Scientists,” she says.

“Why should I trust you? You were working with
the Mutineers!” I lash back.

“Rene had me infiltrate.” Dr. Kivuli finds some
strength. “I was a mole, gathering information.”

“I believe her,” Ev says.

“Tell Rene he has to start the Ragnarok.” Dr.
Kivuli pushes herself up on her elbows. “Tomorrow!”