The Clash (The Permutation Archives Book 5)

by Kindra Sowder

  Ryder shifted in front of the door, so I could barely see the two girls, but I had an inkling that a stare-down was in progress. While Ryder was a strapping and well-disciplined military man, Gaia had been known to stare down the most stubborn of a person. Her icy blues helped immeasurably.

  With a sigh, he said, “Fair enough,” and backed away from the doorway, letting Gaia and Genevieve into the room.

  Gaia came to sit down next to me on the bed, crossing her arms over her chest, while Genevieve remained standing just inside. The girl looked shaken – disturbed beyond all measure by what she had seen outside the walls of the Fallen Paradigm. She was training for this, but she hadn’t been prepared for the reality of it, and it seemed to be hitting her hard.

  “Genevieve, hi,” I said softly, not wanting to startle her. “How are you?”

  She looked up, seemingly stunned that someone was speaking to her, and fidgeted with her fingernails slightly as she stood there. I heard the audible click and snap as she picked at them, much like Gaia had always done. Her gorgeous eyes shone with fresh tears, but her stare never moved away from me. Her eyes were focused, intent, unlike many I had seen suffer traumatic experiences.

  “I’m okay,” she muttered quietly.

  I watched her for a moment, the room silent as Ryder and Gaia took in our interaction. Genevieve was a shadow of the young woman she had been. She had been clever, snarky, and filled with a raging fire that could eclipse even the wildest flames. I knew they lingered somewhere inside, just waiting for a spark to catch and reignite.

  “Good,” I said with a nod, “I’m glad.”

  Another beat of deafening silence. It sent a ripple through my belly that I could only associate with nerves, not my reemerging abilities.

  “So,” Ryder clapped, “what do you guys want?”

  On impulse, I reached out and slapped his hand to hush him. He glanced down at me, smirked, and shrugged in apology. I understood his irritation. Yes, I was supposed to be resting until we were certain the serum wouldn’t manifest anymore unsavory side effects, but my gut also told me that they wouldn’t have shown up and invaded our privacy without being ordered to do so.

  “I’m going to pretend like you weren’t just extremely rude, and answer your question anyway,” Gaia stated. “We were sent to come get you and Mila.”

  “By?” I asked.

  “Doctor Aserov and Fairbanks,” Genevieve replied, out of the blue.

  “We have a solution for your little,” Gaia paused, placing her hand on my leg, “problem.”

  My eyebrows shot up with interest, and my entire body went rigid with the prospect of a miracle to reverse the effects of the serum. I hadn’t expected anything so quickly, but there we were.

  “Oh?” I questioned.

  “Yup. Now,” Gaia started, standing up, leaning forward, and grabbing my hands, “let’s get you dressed and head to the lab.”

  “Now?” Ryder asked, surprised.

  I stood with her and watched as Gaia rolled her eyes and turned to look at him. Ryder looked in utter dismay as if he was hesitant, but over what?

  “Yes, Ryder, right now. Why the hesitation?”

  “As much as I’m ready for this to be over, I’m not exactly ready to watch your sister run off into battle again.”

  And there it was, his fear laid out for everyone to see. I understood it. I felt the same way when I thought about him fighting by my side, especially since he wasn’t a Special. That fact made it even more difficult for me when we would be waging all-out war on the President of the United States and Fuji-O’Hara Industries.

  “I know,” I said, taking one hand from Gaia to reach for him.

  His fingertips brushed mine, and when our eyes met, I felt we had a moment of perfect understanding without having to say a single word. His lips spread in a slow, deliberate smile.

  “All right, let’s go. We have a war to win.”

  Within a few moments, we all stood in the lab with an ecstatic Doctor Aserov. It was small, much smaller than even the ones at the Myrtle Beach satellite, and filled with bare-bones equipment I was surprised she even knew how to use. It was old, almost archaic. Maybe twenty or thirty years old if I had to guess. Fairbanks stood on the other side of the room, leaning against the wall with arms crossed over his chest while Gaia and Genevieve stood next to him with anticipation. Ryder was the silent sentinel, standing beside me as I sat in a chair in front of a lab station. A microscope like I had used in high school sat before me. They were set up at every station like the lab had been crowded on a typical day, but today wasn’t typical. Today was the day I’d hopefully get my power back. Then I could take King and everything he stood for down.

  “So, I was told you had a solution?” I asked, looking from person to person.

  “Yes, we have a solution,” Doctor Aserov said, taking a seat across from me. Placing her elbows on the counter, she leaned forward slightly and continued, “I’d like you to take a look at the slide on that microscope. If you don’t mind.”

  Looking at her suspiciously, I cleared my throat and leaned forward, glancing at Gaia. She nodded enthusiastically, so I did as requested. I wasn’t quite certain what I was looking at through the lenses at first, but as the microscopic realm came into focus, I recognized what was on the slide instantly. Nanos swam across the glass, floating in a sterile liquid that they had been sampled in. Their tiny bodies looked exactly as I remembered from the other Nano-Tech I encountered before. Then all matter of questions flooded my mind, leaving me confused. Why would they want to use those on me? What could they possibly do? And how the Hell had they gotten them to figure this all out?

  When I looked up, everyone waited in silence for my reply.

  “Nanos?” I questioned, pointing at the microscope.

  “Nanos,” Fairbanks replied.

  Ryder’s brow furrowed, his chest pushing out like an angry rooster, and he leaned over in front of me to look in the microscope for himself.

  “What the Hell do you mean Nanos?” he sneered.

  When he stood up, he looked at them in disbelief. I couldn’t say I blamed him. I felt much the same way after seeing the tiny robots suspended on the slide. There wasn’t a single part of me that understood how the technology worked, so I had no idea how it could help. Or where we would even get them for the purpose.

  “There is no way. We are not using that monster’s technology to fix this. We can just let the serum run its course,” Ryder snapped. “It’ll give us time to come up with a plan.”

  “You know we don’t have that kind of time,” Fairbanks responded, not moving from his place on the wall.

  “But we can’t…” Ryder sputtered.

  “Wait,” I interrupted, gripping his arm as I saw the muscles flex with rage, “how would this even work?”

  “You’re not going to go along with this? Are you?” Ryder almost shrieked, staring at me with wide eyes.

  I nodded, looking from him and to Doctor Aserov, and back to him again.

  “They’re right. We don’t have the time. We have to at least hear them out, and see if it is a viable option,” I explained.

  He looked defeated as his eyes fell, sadness and concern overwhelming him. I could see it in the set of his shoulders and how his hand came over my own to grasp it tightly against his skin.

  “Please, Madeline, continue,” I sighed in relief.

  Doctor Aserov’s hand hands fluttered nervously, but her smile spoke of her eagerness. Medicine was her passion. Science was her passion. And she had worked in the government labs, so I could tell she was anxious to get down and dirty in their newer technology, especially if she got to use it against King. Reaching up, she adjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose and opened her mouth to speak.

  “As we all know, Nano-Tech is something
that King has been using to create some rather interesting mechanics as of late. The Nano-soldiers as well as the spiders you saw on Kiawah Island. While I wasn’t able to study any of those myself, I did have one specimen that readily let me take samples so I could experiment.”

  Anxiety formed a solid pit in my stomach, and I had a feeling I knew exactly where this explanation was headed. But I decided I would let her finish before I said anything.

  “These microscopic robots have many capabilities and uses. From what I have been able to gather they can be used for medical purposes, military enhancements, advanced technology. The possibilities truly are endless. When I thought about the serum and the Nanos, it was like a light came on. If we inject these Nanos into your body, Mila, they can metabolize the serum themselves – effectively removing it from your system while repairing any damage that was done and giving you back your ability.”

  “And where do you suggest we get them from? Where did you even get these from?” I asked, pointing at the microscope.

  Doctor Aserov looked at Gaia and nodded. Gaia moved to the door and opened it, looking out past the threshold and waving to someone outside.

  “Come on in,” she said.

  As I watched in stunned silence, Caius walked in, quickly followed by John Baker. Closing the door behind them, Gaia came to stand beside John, taking his hand in hers in a show of support. She knew how I’d react, and she wasn’t wrong.

  “Mr. Baker here has offered to donate some Nanos from his Queen to help,” Doctor Aserov asserted.

  “Just John, Doc,” John Baker stated politely.

  Laughter, hysterical laughter rose up in my throat and spewed out like vomit, echoing off the walls of the lab. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. John Baker, the man made by King to be my undoing, was offering to be helpful? While I had promised Ryder I would be more trustful when it came to the man, an image of what he had done to all of us in Charleston stuck out in my mind. How could anything good come out of the man? How could he possibly help me in this situation? Especially using the same Nanos that were injected into him for the sole purpose of fighting my ability.

  “You have got to be joking,” I forced out past bouts of laughter. “He was made to kill me, or take me in. How could anything from him be helpful here?”

  “Mila, please, just give him a chance,” Gaia persisted.

  “Mila, you said you’d try to trust him,” Ryder whispered.

  “I’ve said a lot of things, Ryder, but it’s easier said than done,” I snapped, my chuckles cut short by the reminder of the promise I had made. Looking at John, my eyes flared with hot hatred. “How can anything from Fuji-O’Hara be anything but evil?”

  Gaia took a defensive step forward while John’s gaze grew heated and determined.

  “Now, Mila, that’s not fair,” Gaia said.

  Standing from my seat, I pointed at my little sister and asked, “Why are you defending him, Gaia? How can you be okay with this?”

  Gaia’s cheeks flushed pink, and I instantly knew why. I shook my head when she made a move to answer, letting her know that a reply wasn’t necessary. I understood a lot more than she was willing to give me credit for. She had feelings for him. That much was obvious, especially when she held his hand upon entering the room.

  “Why don’t we all take a minute, cool down, and let Baker explain himself, huh?” Caius finally spoke up, his slur even more prevalent with his frustration.

  “Yes, Baker, explain, please,” Fairbanks pushed. “Maybe then Miss Hunter will see this is the only way and she’ll finally understand the magnitude of everything you have done for us.”

  The room grew silent, especially Genevieve who hadn’t said a single word since we came into the lab. She was quiet, observing everything around her. Soaking it all in as if to dictate it to memory – storing it for later use.

  “Mila is right. I was created to either take her into King and Fuji-O’Hara, or to kill her and bring her body in for use in the reactor. They created me so that I wouldn’t have a Queen to control the hive inside my body. So they could have complete control over me, but it didn’t work out that way. A Queen formed and controlled the hive from in here,” John explained, pointing at the center of his chest. “When we met in Charleston, I needed your help. I had been trying to fight their control from the start. But, when I saw you, they activated me, and I tried to fight it. I really did, but I couldn’t. Not until it was too late. After I woke up back in their facility in Musgrave, I stole a bunch of their files and escaped, trying to find you,” he pointed at me, “and the Fallen Paradigm. When I got to Kiawah Island, everyone was gone, and the place was destroyed. That was when I found Gaia. She led me here, along with Ruckus, and the rest is history.”

  I blinked, shocked at his explanation. He had fought for control out there. How could I not have seen it when he was asking for help? He had asked for help in the midst of our battle, but I didn’t put two-and-two together. There was so much information to absorb I didn’t know what to say, so I sat back down in the chair and stared at him – completely and utterly bewildered.

  “I sent you the documents about Red, and the videos between King and the scientists at Fuji-O’Hara. I gave the rest of what I had when I arrived here,” John continued.

  “It’s how we found you in D.C.,” Ryder interjected.

  “Without him, you’d be dead, and so would countless others,” Caius said. “You have no idea how helpful he’s been in all this.”

  I nodded, still unable to speak. There was much more to take in than I had anticipated, leaving me to wonder how long I had truly been locked away in King’s lead prison. It couldn’t have been more than a few days. That much I was sure. But so much had happened in such a short span of time. The magnitude of it made my head spin.

  “So, what do you say? Will you at least try the treatment?” Gaia asked, her eyes beseeching.

  Ryder placed his hand on my shoulder, drawing my attention. His green eyes were bright with hope. He had his reservations. I could tell, but he was more hopeful than angry at the idea of injecting me with Nanos on the off-chance it could work to restore my ability. The expression on everyone’s faces spoke of the same optimism.

  With a bow of my head, I conceded, “Okay, I’m in, but I want some insurance. So I need to speak with Julius and Cecilia before the treatment begins.”

  “That’s fine,” Doctor Aserov said. “That will give us time to harvest the Nanos and prepare them for the procedure.”

  “Good,” I stood from the chair, smoothing my shirt down, “great. Let me know when it’s ready.”

  Before I left the room, my eyes met John’s, and I only saw the truth in them. That, and a need for acceptance. He was determined. I could give him that, but even with his story and Gaia’s support, I still wasn’t certain. Which was why I wanted to speak to my friends. They knew me well enough to know that, if I asked them to do something, there was a good reason behind it.

  Chapter

  SEVENTEEN

  When I left the lab, I had no idea where I was going. All I knew was that, if I listened for the sounds of sparring, I would surely find who I was looking for. I had made it all the way down the hall before I came to an intersection, stopping in its very center and listening intently for the grunts and slaps of fighting. It wasn’t long before I detected the strained sounds that echoed down the hallway, leading to a pair of double doors. I had no idea what this place used to be, but from the looks of it, it wasn’t very large. Maybe an old school, but that was my best guess. It seemed mildly institutional aside from the renovations that had been done.

  As soon as the sound of voices met my good ear, I was off, moving at a fast-paced jog toward the double doors that loomed before me. By the time my palms slapped against them, I was winded – so out of shape from what little time I had been immobile. Of course, I was st
ill recovering.

  There was a metal groan from the hinges as the doors swung open, parting to reveal an old gymnasium – like straight out of high school. That helped clue me in as to what the place had been previously. The old basketball hoops were worn and rusted, glass shattered long ago from the backboards. Not like we would use them, anyways, but it made me feel awful about how life used to be. I could imagine the high-pitched shrieks of kids playing on the court and the squeak of tennis shoes on the polished wood.

  All we would hear now are the thuds of combat boots and grunts of combat.

  “Hey, glad to see you up and moving around,” Ajax’s voice moved through the space, covering all other noise.

  “Yeah, thanks,” I replied. “I thought we didn’t have a training area.”

  Ajax blushed sheepishly, running a large hand through his blond hair.

  “About that. Everything got so hectic before. We had converted the old gymnasium, but you were so quick to get anywhere I didn’t get to mention it.”

  “I see.”

  We were silent for a moment before Ajax felt the need to fill it with something.

  “So, you’re walking. Moving around. You feel good?” he asked awkwardly.

  I turned to see everyone staring at me, two people on a blue mat that I had never seen before. Everyone else stood around, arms crossed. They had been watching the two strangers spar, and a few faces stood out perfectly, smiles broad on their faces to see me up and moving. Jameson, Cecilia, Julius, and Ruckus stood out, especially Ruckus. He wasn’t smiling. If anything, he was muttering under his breath – probably about how I had lost my mind. I didn’t care. Ajax stood in front of that mat, halfway turned toward me with his arms crossed over his chest. I grinned and waved, moving closer to him with purpose.

  “I am,” I stated, coming to a stop in front of him. “And I’ll be joining you in here soon enough.”

  “Is that so?” he smirked. “Care for a round of fisticuffs when you’re ready?”