by Brian Lewis
“Homo Maximus complete.” A machine voice speaks from inside the room.
Natia and Araba look at each other with smiles on their faces. Natia’s heart races uncontrollably. Years of research and anticipation are finally over. They’re both stressed and weary from recent events, but now it all feels like it was worth it.
“Hello there… boy” Natia speaks softly with no name yet to call him. His chest rises up and down as he breathes his first few breaths without the help of the machines.
His eyes are closed, but Natia sees his eyeballs moving behind his thin lids.
They flash open, revealing two beautiful brown pupils.
The next step of human evolution has arrived.
Chapter 13
Birthed in Chaos
Node One—Manay City, 2082—Isle of Khalil—Ectogenesis Chamber
Subject Alpha sits up, and he uses his dark brown eyes for the first time to begin surveying his surroundings. He looks down at his hands, glowing in the laboratory light. He studies the lines on the palms of his small hands and appears mesmerized by his veins. He follows them like a trail around his hands and arms. He touches everything because he knows nothing. Despite appearing no older than eight or nine, he has the experience of an infant. He finally notices Natia and Araba towering next to him.
“Wh-who-yo-yo-you?” He struggles to speak. He looks up at Natia, who he identifies as the one in charge, though his mind is lost as to how he knows that.
Natia knows these first few moments are critical to his future development. “My name is Natia. This is my best friend, Araba. We’re both scientists.”
“Nat-Nati” He wants so badly to speak her name for the first time. “What my name?”
Natia and Araba squint at each other. “We can talk about that later. We’ve all been worried that you wouldn’t make it, you’ve been sick.” Natia immediately begins feeling uneasy. Stop overreacting Natia. You’ve known for years now that once Subject Alpha was born you’d have to tell him a fabricated, predetermined story to explain all of this away.
He closes his eyes, then re-opens them. Natia can tell that he’s having difficulty processing what and where he is. He looks into her eyes and says, “Mommy?”
Natia and Araba exchange an awkward side glance. Araba begins fiddling with her clothes as if her attire is important to her at this point in time.
“I-I am… yes.” Natia says with a faux sense of confidence. Natia at that moment realizes how little thought she’s given to how to answer this question up to this moment.
Subject Alpha’s eyes thin, and he studies her closely. He scans her statuesque build. Her hand movements, but most importantly he looks into her eyes and smiles. “I—I saw you in my dreams.” He lifts his legs up and begins trying to move out of the ectogenesis capsule.
He motions for the pile of clothes he sees laying on a table nearby.
“Oh yes, you’re naked. Let’s get you dressed before anyone comes in.” Araba says finally.
As Subject Alpha steps into his blue denim pants he begins asking, “where Daddy?”
“Oh uh, he’s working. You’ll see him soon.” Natia says. Blurting out the first thing that came in her head. She isn’t at all that sure who he even thinks ‘daddy’ is.
“When?”
“Your father is a very busy man. You know that child.”
“No I don’t, mom.” He looks up at her and smiles then back down as he buttons up a white shirt. Subject Alpha has a high IQ because Natia’s team gifted him with the generic traits of some of the smartest people in New Manden. He’s practically a genetic prodigy. Natia even hears a new clarity in his voice that wasn’t there moments prior.
Natia doesn’t know how Adan will actually handle this. It’s so sudden and not something they’d ever talked about. She knows that Adan wants children, she doesn’t know if he wants a designer child. There is also still the issue of Khalil. Araba tugs on Natia’s arm and motions towards the C.O.M.M. soldiers. They’re all now speaking into communication channels attached to their forearms. “We’re about to have company any minute now.”
“You mean, Khalil?” Subject Alpha says as his body shivers from the cool temperatures in the room.
“How do you know his name?” Natia asks.
“I heard it in my dreams. Khalil Buhari—Khalil Buhari. I kept hearing it when I saw… bodies. Dead bodies. Many hundreds of them in a ditch. There was blood. A lot of blood everywhere.” Subject Alpha unexpectedly wipes a tear from his eye. “I felt so bad for them. But then, I saw big tall buildings. People laughing. I felt happy, like everything was going to be ok.”
Well, it looks like that rearranged memory is paying off so far. Natia kneels to one knee and comes face-to-face with Subject Alpha. “Listen, there’s a lot I have to tell you.”
“That I’m afraid you don’t have time to get into.” Khalil stands in the doorway with Acacia and the rest of the team. Natia stands and takes an apprehensive stance between Khalil and Subject Alpha as he walks over to the boy.
“Hello there, little boy. Do you know who I am?”
Subject Alpha pauses. “You’re Khalil Buhari. You like killing people.”
Khalil laughs it off. “Only the ones who threaten me.” The smile vanished as he looks up at Natia who gazes down at him. “One day, you will grow up and protect those you love… especially your mother. That’s what we men have to do.”
The young boy doesn’t speak. He sheepishly hides behind Natia.
“He’s afraid of you, Khalil.” The words joyously come out of Natia’s mouth. “That’s what happens when you expose children to warfare at such a young age.” That’s what he deserves for forcing me to upload his memories of the Battle of Charlotte into Subject Alpha’s brain.
Khalil rises to his feet and looks up at Natia defiantly. “Ok you two, Natia and Araba, you’re up next for interrogation.”
Natia stands her ground. “Let me ask you something… has she been interrogated yet?” She points to Acacia, who has made her way to the opposite side of the room by an adjacent door without anyone noticing.
“She will be… when I’m ready.”
“Don’t you find it strange that the person who found Dr. Oba dead hasn’t been questioned yet. I refuse to give in to this! I didn’t kill Oba, and neither did anyone on my team!”
“Fine! Acacia, let’s make this quick.” Khalil waves her over, but she doesn’t budge.
“Um, yea. I will be doing no such thing.” Acacia says now at the opposite end of the room.
“Say that again, because I think you just told me no.”
“You heard right.” Acacia begins laughing. “I have stood by you for a long time now, Khalil, and held your hand like a mother holds a child’s. Now I can finally tell you what I’ve always felt about you.”
“Watch your words carefully.”
“You are lower than dog bile, Khalil. You’re a true piece of trash. All drugged and psyched up off of SAR.”
“Well, she’s finally gone off the deep end too it seems.” Natia chuckles.
“No, that’s where you’re wrong, Natia. Very wrong. You’re on the wrong side.” Acacia presses the large button that unlocks the door she stands next to. It opens with a hiss. In walks the C.O.M.M. soldiers who have made Natia and Araba uneasy this whole time. They stand in formation on both sides of Acacia.
One hands her an energy pistol.
“Acacia. What the hell is this?” Khalil steps forward. “You can’t be this stupid.”
“No, you are, Khalil. I’m amazed you made it this far in life.” Acacia says as the C.O.M.M. soldiers raise their weapons.
“Whoa!” Michael says as he puts his hands up. “I don’t think those guys are ours.”
Natia notices the eye sockets of the helmets the soldiers wore begins turning blue. The helmeted eyes of C.O.M.M. soldiers don’t turn blue. “It was you. You’re the traitor who killed Dr. Oba! Little one, get behind me!”
“Oba got in the way. It wa
sn’t planned for him to get killed… at least not when he did. What happened to him will soon happen to all of you.” A nefarious grin stretches across her face from ear to ear. She looks down and notices Subject Alpha hiding behind Natia. Natia can see the hatred in her eyes for the Homo Maximus, the greatest of humankind.
“You can’t protect the creature, Natia. Behind those innocent brown eyes hides a future mass murderer. An army of which that Khalil will unleash upon the world.”
“He is not a creature! He is a Homo Maximus and mine to protect!” She looks down at Subject Alpha. His eyes twitch and tears run down his face. He’s terrified. What kind of a world have we brought him into?
“It was you who planted that second explosive in Node 2’s ECIC building?” Khalil realizes as he begins to rub his forehead.
“Of course, fool. After you ordered me to detonate the first one in the interrogation room. I figured it might serve our purpose to set off another and actually kill some people instead of some android no one is going to miss.”
Natia looks over at Khalil who can’t bring himself to look her in the eyes. She glares at him, and her nostrils flare. Her tone deepens as she speaks slowly. “Tell me what this traitor says is not true. Tell me now Khalil or I will make you answer for what you’ve done in my name!”
“In our name!” Araba says as the others agree.
“Why are you doing this?” Khalil asks Acacia as his voice cracks.
“Don’t change the subject! Answer the question! Did you or did you not order the first bombing in the Ark of Endonis?” Natia demands answers at the top of her voice.
“I… I did.” He says in a hushed tone. Natia is speechless and stunned. Her mouth is open, but the words can’t escape. She fights back the tears, but a single drop still runs down her face. It’s over. This mad man has ruined us all! Natia can’t hold back the anger. She balls her fist and levels, Khalil, with a solid punch across the face. His body flies back a couple of feet before crashing to the white floor.
Natia looks down at him as she cracks her knuckles. She notices a small device has fallen from his pocket and begins rolling towards Acacia.
Acacia’s eyes enlarge. “His silent alarm!” She screams.
Out of nowhere, a dozen real C.O.M.M. soldiers are standing lined up behind them. In a flash, laser fire splits the air back and forth between the soldiers and the infiltrator androids in C.O.M.M. armor. Natia grabs Subject Alpha and ducks behind cover. Red and green streams of light appear like a ceiling above her. The type of ceiling that you don’t want to be anywhere close to. She looks to her left and sees Khalil crawling under a table. It’s at this moment, as she watches him crawl away in a stupor, that her heart turns cold. She cares nothing for that man anymore and he will pay the same as Acacia. She just doesn’t yet know how that’ll happen.
Dr. Michael Beverly and Araba are able to scramble out of the Ectogenesis Room since they are closest to the door. Natia knows that’s where she needs to be. She looks around on the floor under the laser fire for a path.
Alicia isn’t as lucky. Slow to react and too scared to move, several laser blasts penetrate her body. They bounce off of nearby equipment, shattering whatever they hit to pieces. Her lifeless body collapses between where Natia and Subject Alpha crouch opposite Khalil.
“Nooo!” Michael screams in outrage above the piercing sound of the plasma fire.
Natia can hear his cries above the noise. Her stomach turns to knots as she imagines how he must feel. Everyone knows they were secret lovers. One of those unspoken secrets that’s not a secret at all.
“Get out of here! Go!” Acacia orders the handful of DCI androids that aren’t destroyed out of the room. “We need to initiate the next phase!”
“Next phase?” Natia overhears Acacia’s orders from behind cover.
As she ducks behind a metallic container, Acacia throws a grenade in their direction.
“Flash grenade!” Natia screams.
The light from the explosive is blinding, and the ringing in her ears doesn’t stop. She can hear Subject Alpha squirming on the floor by her side. He’s now screaming and crying and completely out of control as any child would be.
Before they have the chance to come to their senses, the real C.O.M.M. soldiers enter into the room. They begin pulling everyone to their feet and assessing the fallout. Michael runs over to Alicia’s dead body and sobs uncontrollably.
“This is all your fault! You did this, Khalil! You’re responsible for all of this!” Michael says as Alicia’s blood ran over his clothes. “You hired that traitor! You—all you!”
Khalil, now standing again, cracks his neck. “I’m sorry. Sadly, this is the cost of power.”
Michael struggles to his feet and looks at one of the C.O.M.M. soldiers. “Give me the gun! Give it to me, I’m about to blow this psycho’s head off!”
Natia rises. “No, Michael listen. As angry as we all are right now, we have Acacia and over half a dozen androids likely heading to the Shield Room. We need to stop them. I need you to channel that anger towards them first.” She stops and looks at Khalil. His face dark, expressionless, and smug. “We’ll deal with this devil after we’re through with the traitor.”
Michael shakes his head. “Yea, ok I can get with that.” He wipes the tear from his eyes. “For Alicia.”
“Araba, stay here and watch him.” She looks at two of the C.O.M.M. soldiers, one was a Commander. “I’m going to need you two to stay here too… and we’ll need some weapons.
“The armory is down the hall in the opposite direction they just ran.” The Commander states. “I can spare a couple of dozen men, that’s it. Everyone else on the base is on high alert at their stations. For all intents and purposes ma’am, we’ll likely be facing an invasion force very soon. So you, Michael and the twenty-four soldiers I have to spare are the only ones who can stop whatever Acacia has planned.”
The Commander taps his wrist. His Orunmila display ascends into the air; the image of a bearded man in his thirties appears. “Captain Jeska, I need you to assemble two squads of men and meet Dr. Natia and Dr. Beverly outside. They’ll debrief you as quickly as possible.” He looked at Natia. “Oh, by the way, get them their Orunmila’s.”
Khalil looks shocked. “I didn’t give you that command, Commander.”
“And I didn’t know you ordered a bomb to be detonated on the Isle of Manden last week… Founder.” The Commander looks at Natia. “There. That’s the best I can do.”
Natia nods and looks down at Subject Alpha. “I’ll be back. I promise.”
The boy nods his head and hugs her tight.
More tears. This is not how you bring a child into the world. No matter whether the womb is real or artificial. No child deserves to be birthed in chaos and anarchy. She wipes her eyes once more. She isn’t trained for warfare but does know how to shoot a gun from AR simulators. The years of mind and body training are about to bear fruit, she knows.
She thinks back to the night before the Great Forum. The ominous sense of danger, the feeling that kept her up at night. She now knows her intuition was trying to warn her.
Natia kneels and hugs Subject Alpha, “I’ll be back, little one.”
She nods towards Michael and motions for the few soldiers with her to follow her. She doesn’t want to leave Subject Alpha with Khalil and she’s certain she doesn’t want to leave Araba with him, but she has no choice. If she brings him, she’s putting him into danger. If she brings Khalil, she might kill him, or he might kill her. She knows Michael will for sure. So she turns and begins walking out of the Ectogenesis Room.
This is my island now. Acacia, you’re a dead woman. You were dead the moment you threatened my life and the lives of my friends. This is for Alicia and Oba.
Chapter 14
The Battle of Charlotte
Node One—Manay City, 2082—Isle of Khalil—Ectogenesis Chamber
Khalil’s knees ache, but he ignores the pain. The Ectogenesis Room is useless and serve
s no purpose to anyone now without reconstruction. Scorch marks from plasma rifle fire pepper the once pristine walls like black spots on a white leopard. The capsule that once held Subject Alpha is now blown to hell. Shattered glass covers the bright white floor and crunches under Khalil’s boots.
Well, this isn’t going the way I’d hoped, but I still have my trump card. I can’t believe Acacia was playing me! She better hope Natia finds her and not me. I need to keep my wits about me. Subject Alpha is still alive, and that’s all that matters.
He looks at Alicia whose body lies motionless on the floor. Poor woman, I actually liked her.
“Commander,” Khalil calls over the C.O.M.M. officer in charge, “tell your men outside to prepare for the worst. I think I know who is behind this and if I’m correct… we’re in for the fight of our lives. Also, get your man there to go over to that terminal on the far wall, I’m glad no one blew that to pieces too. I fitted this room with emergency shielding. The blast doors are impenetrable. It’ll secure us until Natia eliminates Acacia and we’re clear. Right now everything on this island hinges on the boys survival.”
The Commander says nothing and turns; making a sound with his nose as he moves. The sound of suppressed disgust.
Khalil looks over to his right as Subject Alpha and Araba sit huddled in a corner. She’s whispering something into the child’s ears that he cannot discern.
“I will, Khalil.” The Node Seven Officer walks away and gives the order to the nearby soldier. The Node Seven soldier wore a wide-sleeved, flowing robe rich in an ultramarine dye. He strides into the room and to the console. The AR display manifests, allowing him to activate the emergency room containment mode. Twenty-inch thick blast doors made of Keletronium encases the entire room in mere seconds. They are soon entombed in the Ectogenesis Room with no way in or out. Unless Khalil says so.
