by Hanks, Greg
The screen lit up with a vivid image of a familiar skyscraper, towering above a landscape of stone sculptures and beautiful, manmade waterfalls.
GenoTec Headquarters, Jersey City.
“Our goal,” he said, “is this building. GenoTec HQ. It’s where those masked soldiers are bred, where worldwide communications are being tapped, and where all of the scheming takes place. Jonas Repik makes his home here.”
“Who are they using for these soldiers?” I interrupted. “How is anyone agreeing to something like this?”
Vane nodded, understanding my confusion. “From what our intelligence can show, Repik’s soldiers are usually ex-military. Sometimes, though, they recruit vulnerable people looking for rewards. Edge took care of the hard part; GenoTec’s just capitalizing on current morality.”
“That’s awful,” said Tara. “They’re just normal citizens—like us.”
“They chose their path,” Vexin said.
Tara’s expression left her face.
“Let’s move on,” resumed Vane, directing our attention to the screen again. “For the last few years, we’ve been actively—more or less—trying to find a way inside. But it’s been quite the journey. Without the resources we need, it’s like trying to shoot the moon out of the sky. But, today is different. With three new additions to our team, we stand closer than we’ve ever been before.”
His allusion was a little more than direct. They were making it very clear that our purpose in life was to join Genesis. I let it slide, despite feeling my skin tingle.
“So . . . what have you been doing, specifically?” asked Tara.
Bollis spoke up this time. “We’re not exactly walking into a super market. GenoTec has incredible security. We have one computer whiz, they have hundreds. No offense, Celia.”
“I’ll decide if I take offense or not,” came Celia’s voice from speakers above, as if she were right next to us.
“We’ve been gathering codes, information, data—and it hasn’t been easy, I’ll tell you that,” said Dodge. “It’s one thing to be a small, trained group of thieves, but it’s another thing to be stealing from the most powerful force on the planet.”
“We’ve come so far,” began Vane again. “And we’re almost there.”
“And what about Edge?” I asked, adjusting the conversation. “Are you on Vax?”
“I hate to say it,” said Vane, “but Vax is the only thing right now keeping us active. It was hard enough trying to work without it.”
“So, you’re sure it’s safe?”
“’Course it’s safe,” said Vexin. “It’s not like GenoTec wants to keep Edge around.”
“Vax is safe,” repeated Vane. “Each week I replenish our stash.”
Justin slammed his feet upon the table. “What else you guys need to do?” All eyes switched to the small boy. I swear I saw Vexin mouth some expletives.
Vane smiled, taking a moment before saying, “We need you to be a part of this.”
There was a long pause as our thoughts settled.
“The optimal mission would be to infiltrate Jersey City, capture Repik, and make him reveal the truth,” Vane continued, pacing the room. “We’re hopeful, but we’re also realistic. There are a few more things we need to do before we can make our stand, and we just don’t have the manpower to accomplish that right now.” The atmosphere was heavy. “Freedom is something that has always been fought for. We are simply the next generation of rebels.”
The more I recounted his words, the more I came to agree. Freedom wasn’t a leisure acquisition. The problem now was the obscurity. Back then it was easy to identify the oppressors. They would storm your country and seize control. Now, the people administering the independence were just the villains in disguise.
“I don’t mean to cut everyone off,” said Vane, “but now that you know our agenda, why don’t you three explore the Underbed for a while, get to know what we’re about. Use our systems, do some research. Familiarize yourself with Genesis.”
Justin’s head perked up.
Vane asked Dodge and Bollis to be our guides. He then turned to Vexin and asked to have a word with him. Before we parted ways, Vane said one last thing.
“Remember, no matter who you think you are, it’s not up to the world to decide your fate. It would be wise to start believing in yourselves.”
It seemed as if every time Vane spoke, a poison-tipped spear impaled my chest. The toxin coursed through my veins, infiltrating my thoughts and feelings, changing me. And I was beginning to accept it.
As our tour group left Primary and filtered into the central hub, Justin stopped just outside the door. I noticed his dejected attitude, mostly because he wasn’t swearing, jumping, or singing. Fighting every ounce of hatred, I swallowed my pride. I let the group continue as I turned to him.
“You all right?”
His mousy hair and diamond eyes distracted from his personality. “You know, dude. I don’t really belong here, do I?”
“What?”
“You heard ‘ol Vaney,” he presented. “It’s you and Ladynuts over there they really want, not me. I mean—nah! I’m just playin’!” He pulled out his knit cap and stretched it over his ears.
Justin had said an authentic phrase. And of all people to hear it, why’d it have to be me? Even though his pride prevented him from continuing, I could sense how he felt being here. Justin was just a happenstance. GenoTec was never after the boy. I wondered if Vane was annoyed with having an eleven-year-old spaz in the Underbed. I cringed. I was actually feeling sympathetic toward Justin. I wondered back to the entire reason he wanted to come with us. Why was he hiding? Why did he want to kill the . . . Tarmucks?
At any rate, I still wasn’t to the point where I would try and give him some encouraging words. No, I’d leave that to Tara.
Everyone piled onto the large platform, where Celia looked flustered by another interruption. She tried to continue as Bollis spoke.
“This room is called Central,” he gestured to the entire layout. “It is the epicenter of the Underbed.” He started playing around with one of the free computers and behind us; an image appeared on a giant Fuse.
“This is the Underbed,” he said. A skeleton schematic showed an octagon with five smaller buildings, two tunnels, and the elevator, attached to their respective sides. “Right now, we are here—in Central.” He used a laser pointer, hidden inside a module controller, to direct our attention to the largest building.
“Wait a second,” said Tara. “Are we at the bottom of the River?”
“The Underbed sits at the base of Ellis Island, yes.”
“Do I even want to ask?” she asked.
“A long time ago, when the Sterile Communities were being set up, this place was created as a kind of refuge, if Edge ever infiltrated the Fabric Shield. The building above us was the entrance, separate from the Community. It was meant to be a last resort, capable of sustaining a small fraction of the Community’s populous. That is, until we took over. It’s definitely different from what it was intended to be.”
“I thought you said Genesis was created eight years ago?” I asked. “Edge wasn’t even around until another two years later.”
“You’re right,” said Bollis. “There were only three members back then, scattered throughout Manhattan, trying to figure out how to organize. They were meeting out of an apartment. It wasn’t until Celia joined that they got the base.”
I turned to look at Celia, who hadn’t even flinched.
“So you guys were with Vane from the start?” asked Tara.
He turned to Dodge. “No, not exactly. There were two other members with Vane.”
Tara tilted her head. “Where are they?”
He hesitated before continuing. “Why don’t we save that for another time?”
I furrowed my brow, but as he began to speak again, I let my curiosities go.
“Instead of trying to explain everything at once,” he resumed, “we’re going to show you.”
He powered off the screen and we followed him and Dodge down the other side of the pedestal. We came to the doors to the left of the elevator.
“This is the northeastern chamber. We call it ‘The Break.’ This is where all the magic happens.”
Dodge chimed in. “And by ‘magic’, he means learning how to kill people . . .”
“Why is it called ‘The Break’?” I asked.
This time Dodge answered. “Because it will break you.”
Justin grinned devilishly. Tara and I exchanged wary looks.
That didn’t sound like fun.
The doors opened and we were admitted to a large corridor, beautifully structured with sleek walls and metallic flooring. A thin, crimson strip of paint ran along the middle of the walls, directing us to another room.
As we stepped over the threshold, another voice surrounded us.
“Welcome to the Training Chamber,” Aiya melodiously spoke.
“Aiya,” Dodge jokingly scolded, “didn’t we go over this? It’s ‘The Break’ now. You’re saying it wrong.”
“My systems cannot register that request, Dodge.”
The room was the size of a racquetball court. It was blanketed in technology. Two Fuse monitors hung at the back, angled inward, above a circular station covered in buttons, dials, and touch screens. In front of the station was a lone chair, mounted to the floor, like some kind of futuristic barber’s chair. In the corner on our right was an “L” shaped bench nestled behind a small table. To our left was another threshold, leading into a more spacious room with padded flooring.
“I bet you’ve wondered how Vane wanted you to be trained in two months?” asked Bollis, moving toward the chair. “Well, this is it. We call it ‘Simone.’ ”
“Simone is a program designed to help you become the perfect warrior,” Aiya informed, immediately answering our confusion. “Once induced by Simone’s serum, filled with nanomachines, the user will be subject to intense hallucinations, much like dreams, in which he or she will have total control. The skills learned through sessions implanted in the brain will remain upon the user’s final product. Thus giving him or her full access to different scenarios and objectives that can replace the need for years of training and fieldwork.”
“Nanomachines?” I asked, absolutely floored.
“Nanomachines are small computers invisible to the naked eye,” continued Aiya. “The nanomachines in Simone’s serum will dissolve after a session has been completed, restoring the user to his or her former coherent state.”
Tara looked dubious. “How is that even possible?”
“Vane,” answered Bollis, already moving into the other room.
“It might sound a little scary at first,” said Dodge, “but Simone can literally erase your fear of war within a day.”
I stood perplexed as Dodge followed Bollis. A day? I lingered in the Training Chamber, stunned by the advanced technology.
The next room was almost as big as Central in terms of length. Spanning at least thirty yards, with high ceilings, walls lined with all sorts of equipment, and padded floors; the “Sparring Chamber” was a marvel.
“This is where Simone loses her strength,” said Bollis, his voice bouncing off the walls.
“You fight each other?” asked Tara, wandering around.
“Well,” joked Dodge, “some people hardly put up a fight.” Bollis ignored the comment.
I bounced a little upon the beige flooring. It was sectioned off into squares by black tape. The steel racks attached to the walls shelved false weaponry and equipment. The end of the room had a small gym packed with workout equipment. The Sparring Chamber was more of a dojo than a mere adjoining room.
“Just don’t challenge Vane—in anything,” said Bollis, leading us back out of the chamber.
“He’s an old fart!” exclaimed Justin. “How good can he be?”
“You have no idea.”
Our next destination was the north exit, leading to one of the closed tunnels. The blast doors were larger than normal, and didn’t automatically open as we approached.
“When Genesis acquired the Underbed,” began Bollis, “two tunnels were built for specific purposes. This door leads to the northern tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, there’s small room much like Central. We call it the ‘Liberty Vista.’ Essentially, our back door. The elevator there leads to the old railroad station near Liberty State Park on the edge of New Jersey.”
“How were you able to do that?” I asked.
“Vane contracted the agency that built the Underbed to construct these tunnels, under the guise of GenoTec,” said Bollis.
“Luckily for us,” said Dodge, “Edge became global before they had to pay them back.”
“How convenient,” Tara mumbled.
We continued down the wall to the northwestern structure. Behind the cold concrete doors lied what they called “The Safe.” It contained a surplus of food, water, clothing, ammunition, weapon parts, bedding, and a ton of other miscellaneous items.
We already knew what Quarter consisted of, so we moved past it and came to the southwestern side.
“This is the Armory,” said Bollis, as the doors mechanically moved to the side. We entered a small corridor, lined with a wall of cardinal lockers. Each compartment was about six feet tall, labeled with a name. Metallic benches flanked us as we continued down the hallway. I noticed a number of lockers without names. Two of them looked as if the tags had been removed.
The locker room opened to a polished chamber. A cylindrical pillar held strong in the center, adorned with a small, rectangular interface window barely hovering in the middle. Behind the pillar was a barren wall, arrayed with similar interactive glass.
Bollis stepped up to the center pillar and touched the window. It illuminated with a bright yellow glow. Instantly, the pillar shifted and moved, sending four columns of weapons out of its body, two from each side. The right two posts holstered diverse rifles. I spotted the short, stocky clone of Bollis’ from before. Others included sniper, fully automatic, long range and short-range rifles. The left column held pistols of various shapes and sizes, with different clips and accessories.
“Whoa!” said Justin, approaching the rifle rack and admiring the sleek death machines.
Bollis moved behind the pillar and began touching the other glyphs on the back wall. Each section of the wall flipped over, revealing more racks of explosives, launchers, higher caliber machine guns, and a wide array of ammunition.
“Wow,” said Tara, “you guys aren’t messing around.”
“I thought the Underbed itself would’ve given that away already,” joked Dodge.
“You’re trained to use all of these?” I asked. I approached the rifle rack and touched an ergonomic handle.
“Mostly,” said Dodge, admiring the wall of weapons. “But we have a team. Each of us specializes in a certain type of skill.”
“Incredible,” I mouthed. Seeing all of their weaponry sent a bolt of excitement through my spine. Maybe it was just testosterone.
“And through that door is the firing range,” Bollis said, gesturing to a doorway that led to a darkened chamber.
“So, is now a good time to tell us what happened to the other two members?” I asked.
“Let’s finish the tour first,” said Bollis, leading the pack out of the Armory.
I stood there wondering why he wasn’t telling us. It was obvious that the other members had died. Maybe he was too afraid to let us know.
Our last stop was the other tunnel, jutting out into the southern depths of the Hudson’s rocky floor.
“The Corrupt Vista lies at the end of the tunnel,” announced Bollis. “It was the preparation zone for our attempt at Axxiol.”
“Axxi—wha?” Justin asked.
I remembered the large, offshore building.
“It’s their research facility,” said Dodge. “A ton of sketchy stuff goes on in there. The only way in is by helicopter, or a tram that connects to the J
ersey City building. The security system is so far advanced that it would take us years to crack their decryption codes. That’s why we’re so focused on Jersey.”
“Wait a second,” I poked, “you said it ‘was’ the preparation zone? What’s that supposed to mean?”
Bollis sighed and quietly said, “The Vista is inaccessible at the moment. Something happened—”
“Bollis, Dodge,” said the authoritative, raspy voice of Vane, “I need you for a moment.” His voice had come through the speaker system.
“Well, looks like the tour’s over,” said Bollis. “Sorry about that, but please, feel free to make yourselves at home. Aiya can help you if you need anything.”
In a matter of seconds, our two guides had disappeared through Primary’s doors, leaving the three of us standing alone in the cold breadth of Central.
Tara turned to me and said, “My brain is about to explode.”
I agreed with her and looked back up at the giant blast doors to the Corrupt Vista.
“What do you guys think?” I asked.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been so skeptical about something in my life,” said Tara.
“This place is duh-duh-duh—dope!” said the boy. “I’m nuts ‘citey.”
I was lucky if I understood half of what he said.
“You know,” said a gentle female voice from behind, “you guys are too hard on yourselves.”
The three of us whirled around to see Celia facing us from her chair.
“You guys have a lot more to offer than you keep telling yourselves,” she said.
We looked at each other and approached the platform.
“How can you know that?” asked Tara with an innocent, worried tone.
“Because I was in your shoes six years ago.”
I tried to picture what it would be like to join Genesis before Edge had reached its prime. I imagined a younger looking Celia, with more hair beads.
“How did you decide?” I asked. “What made you wanna do this? I mean, this is all pretty overwhelming and ridiculous.”
She thought for a moment. “Honestly, I think it was the money Vane offered me,” she smirked and then became serious again. “But the more I started to understand GenoTec, I began to see how important this was. Trust me, I was just as freaked out as you were. But I didn’t want to go back to my old, directionless life. Doing this brought me a sense of comfort. I felt like I mattered in the world.”
