Modified: Book One in the Manipulated Series

by Harper North

  The four of us crouch in the scrub and watch. The ship lands right outside the station on the pavement. I’ve heard the EHC ops, that grace us with their presence below, talk about these machines that glide through the air. A hatch opens, and people unload and load various crates of whatever the miners have gathered for the EHCs for the day.

  “We need to go to that station,” Sky says. “That’s where Nero took Cia, right?”

  “No way, not now,” I say. “We’ll be spotted.”

  Sky tenses and rakes away a sweaty clump of blond hair from his forehead. “Then when?”

  I rack my brain for the information. The sun rises and falls. It’s low in the sky now. Eventually, it will vanish.

  “In a few hours, I think the sun will set, making it dark. Plus, we’re all weak and need rest before we try some crazy rescue attempt. Sure, we’re enhanced now, but I assume everyone else we’ll be dealing with up here is, too.”

  Sky scoffs, but relents. He knows I’m right. We sit in silence under the shadow of the vegetation. A considerable amount of time passes, then Lacy stands up and stretches.

  “I’ve got to say, I love how quickly I’m bouncing back. If I had tried a climb like that yesterday, I would be flat on my back for days. Even you were pretty impressive, Sky. I bet you haven’t scaled a rock wall in your life, right?”

  “Never,” he says.

  “Ok, I’m curious now. What’s it like, Sky?” Lacy asks.

  “What’s what like?” he replies.

  “Your life. I mean, almost every dweller works the mines. We were taught that we’re the lucky ones, you know? But you… you’re different. What’s it like?”

  I turn my attention to Sky, quite curious myself. He raises his arms above his head, stretching out his shoulders. In the light, this is probably the best view I’ve gotten of him all day. I try not to bother myself with boys, nothing but trouble, but his clear blue eyes fascinate me. Or it could be delirium from the heat.

  “To me, you three are just slaves to the people who live on the surface. I may be poor and occasionally steal for supplies, but at least I’m free.”

  Lacy frowns, but doesn’t take the bait. “How did this even happen for you anyways? Were your parents homeless too, so they just kept you there?”

  “No,” Sky says. “My mom was an infant caregiver in the orphanage. She was tiny and kept her pregnancies a secret. She had help from a few of the workers. She’d always wear baggy clothes to hide her pregnancy with Cia, and did the same with me. They kept me smuggled in the staff quarters at the orphanage.”

  “So you were at the Oven?” Drape asks.

  “For a while. But I never left my mother’s quarters. Not once. When I was seven, right after Cia was born, my mother came in one night, shoved her in my arms, and a man who was her brother ushered us to the Slack. Pretty sure she realized she couldn’t hide us forever.” Sadness washes over his face. “That was the last time I saw my mother.”

  My chest tightens, aching for him. I didn’t know my mother, but it doesn’t mean I never had dreams. “Your sister didn’t know her?”

  “No,” Sky says. “But that doesn’t stop her from making up silly stories. Cia has… an impressive imagination. I try not to talk about our mother to her, but she’s… insistent.”

  “How come you didn’t search for your mom?” Drape asks, throwing pebbles at nearby vegetation.

  “Before my uncle died, he would warn us of the EHC and how horrible life was as a miner. I guess I just accepted my existence.”

  He’s right. Being free for your entire life just to be tossed into the mining labor force would be a death sentence. I turn to him and watch him tug on his shaggy bangs. There’s an innocence to him, but I bet it’s been buried by the years of being a father figure to Cia.

  “I’m so sorry we got you into this,” I say. “We’ll find her.”

  “I have hope. I do,” he says, resting his head back. “I just don’t know what life will be like after we do.”

  “It’s going to be amazing,” Lacy blurts out. “We’re modified now, and we’ll modify Cia too. No more mines or hiding in dingy tunnels.”

  “You’re not touching my sister,” Sky insists. “I’ll decide what’s right for my family.”

  “I didn't mean anything by it,” Lacy huffs. “We're not dwellers anymore… more like gods now.”

  “You’re kidding right?” I ask.

  Lacy let’s out a nervous laugh. “Oh, sure. But I kinda do feel like one. She sits back down, a satisfied smile stretching her lips and stares out at the horizon. She’s different since the modification. It’s like her sense of reality is slightly altered, as if the enhancement has affected her thoughts.

  The sun settles further into the horizon and casts streaks of dark pink and purple across the sky. It’s lovely, but I try not to let myself get distracted. That’s not why we’re here. Apparently I’ve started to get used to the radiation; my skin no longer burns or tickles from the exposure.

  “It’s time,” I say. “We can try to sneak into the transport hub. Maybe we’ll see Cia there, or at least we can figure out what Nero did with her.”

  An alarm blares from the hub, making me jump.

  “What’s that for?” Drape asks, his voice squeaking slightly.

  “I don’t know. Let’s get closer,” I say.

  We dart to the outer wall of the station and squat down to stay out of sight. I inch up and peer around the corner. It’s chaos, and the air is thick with stress. The EHC operatives scatter in all directions.

  “No one goes in or out, you understand?” a distant voice calls to the panicky operatives.

  I duck back behind the wall to my patiently waiting friends. “They’re restricting access to the underground.”

  No one says anything. The weight of the device in my pocket presses on my leg. It doesn’t require a modified mind to figure out what it is they’re looking for, especially after my enhanced encounter with Nero.

  “If they’re sniffing for us, there’s no way we can sneak into the station and just go walking around,” Drape says.

  Sky scoffs. Drape’s right, but I suspect Sky has likely cast all concerns for safety aside.

  I creep up to get a view as a long, sleek shuttle train pulls into the hub, but it can’t descend, as the underground is blocked off. A handful of passengers exit, and a slender man with dark hair and a black uniform is among them,

  “Nero,” I say, and in a flash Sky practically climbs up me trying to get a peek.

  “Where’s Cia?” Sky whispers, peeking over the edge of the wall.

  I scan the passengers again, but don’t find a child. “She’s not with him. He must have left her wherever he came from.”

  “Then we need to board that shuttle,” Sky growls between gritted teeth.

  CHAPTER 7

  I wait for the passengers to clear and then wave my friends forward. We bolt to the shuttle at the far side of the station. One of its ends is still opened to the station itself while the other looks out to the seemingly endless desert terrain. Our only hope is that there’s a way on board through that side.

  We zigzag between railways and the pearly white, blue striped shuttle glides into view. The sleek, clean exterior isn’t like anything I’ve ever seen down below. Ahead lays our salvation. A doorway on the desert side. Unfortunately, the smooth door has no apparent manual handle.

  “How do we open it?” Lacy asks.

  Just as she says it, the door whooshes back. A railway worker steps out and throws something to the earth. We duck out of his sight, and my breath hitches as he moves to close it, but Sky sneaks up behind the man, wraps his arm around his throat, and yanks the man back. The worker struggles for a moment, but quickly goes limp in Sky’s arms. Sky drops him.

  “You killed him,” Drape shrieks, coming out from our hiding spot.

  I grab for Drape and snap my hand over his mouth. His eyes go wide. I shush him, then release him.

  “No, I only
made him pass out. I've done it before,” Sky says.

  Drape bends down and checks. He sighs with relief. “He’s breathing.”

  “I told you. Now let’s get moving,” Sky says.

  “Hold on,” I whisper. “People are bound to see this guy.” I search the terrain and find what I’m looking for. “We’ll hide him in the brush across the way.”

  Sky and I seize the worker and drag him to the brush. I feel sorry for the guy. He’s just some poor sap who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. We dump him and rush back to the shuttle.

  “Last minute boarding,” sounds an unseen voice in the air.

  We race up the four tiny stairs into the shuttle, and once we’re all inside, Lacy quickly shuts the door. The space is packed with small crates, and a door separates this car from the rest of the shuttle.

  I dash to the little glass window just taller than eye height on the door. The car is filled with puffy red seats and wooden tables just beyond our reach. Four passengers sit eating massive plates of food. Just the sight causes my stomach to rumble. I haven’t eaten since earlier today. I shake my head at the thought that the EHC can’t even get from one location to the other without expecting to be treated like royalty.

  “It’s a passenger shuttle,” I say. “Only a couple of people in there.” I don’t tell them about the food.

  “I doubt there are too many passengers on board then,” Lacy says. “This station is in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Probably ops,” I say. “Otherwise they wouldn’t have much business coming out this way to the underground entrance to our sector.”

  I stretch up to the window again, and a muffled voice from the intercom sounds through the glass. No clue what it’s saying though.

  “Check it out!” Lacy says.

  I turn. She’s digging in one of the small crates.

  “No way, Lacy,” I snap. “If they notice stuff missing, we’ll get caught!”

  She ignores me and keeps digging. “Look at all the goodies! Oh, no way!” A huge grin lights up her face, and she produces a box. “Candy? It’s chocolate!”

  “What’s chocolate?” I ask. The boys seem just as confused as me.

  “I’ve had this once,” she says. “One of the headmasters gave me a bite of his stash. He said he got it from an op who owed him a favor.”

  “What is it?” I ask again.

  “What is it?” she asks. “Only the most amazing food that has ever touched my lips!”

  Lacy tears into the box and pulls out a handful of wrapped packages. She tosses each of us one and we rip open the wrappers to reveal a lumpy brown bar.

  I frown. “Lacy, it seems like something you’d find in the men’s latrine. I’m not eating this.”

  “Try it, trust me. And besides, we haven’t eaten in hours, and we need to refuel after—”

  The shuttle jolts, nearly knocking Lacy off her feet, but she’s all smiles as she bites the brown bar.

  “We need to refuel from that climb,” she mumbles, her mouth full.

  The boys exchange tentative glances, and Drape raises it up to his nose and sniffs. He smiles and practically shoves the whole bar in his mouth. Sky apparently confirms that as a good sign and does the same.

  After all we’ve experienced today, it’s silly to worry about this, so I sniff the bar. A rich, sweet aroma fills my nose, and I nibble the end. Creamy sweetness and a hint of rich bitterness flood my taste buds. The flavor reminds me of coffee, which I’ve had a few times, but overly sweet coffee.

  “So, this is what leeches eat, huh?”

  I gulp down the rest of the bar just as Lacy is opening another one for herself. She tosses me a second.

  “It’s so sweet. I can feel the sugar rotting my teeth as we speak,” I say. Going down, the candy turns my stomach slightly, but even so, I stuff the second chocolate bar in one of my pockets for safe keeping.

  “What else is in there?” I ask, joining Lacy at the crate.

  “I just want these,” Drape mumbles, his mouth full of chocolate.

  We dig in several of the crates. Half the food we find I’ve never even heard of, but I don’t really care because everything I try is the most amazing thing I’ve ever tasted. I especially like the Turner’s Turkey Jerky. Sweet and savory all at once. But I’m incredibility thankful for the boxes of juice that fill one of the containers.

  I practically lose myself in the cuisine of the surface world when another jolt of the train sends me back into reality. I rise and take a peek out the window. Down the center of the aisle, a uniformed worker walks straight for us. Luckily, he’s not paying me any attention.

  “Someone’s coming! Hide!” I gasp.

  “What?” Drape leaps up in a panic. “There’s nowhere to hide!”

  He’s right. The crates are far too small to use for cover.

  I whip around. My brain assesses the problem in lightning speed. “Can you three hold on tight?”

  “What? What do you mean?” Lacy asks, her voice tense.

  I don’t answer and race to the exit door, throwing it open. “Hold. On. Tight.”

  Lacy gives me an unsure expression, but the three of them flood out of the shuttle, gripping the ledge surrounding the window outside. The wind roars. Who knows how fast we’re going. It’s not a safe speed for that kind of risk.

  I close the door on their horrified faces, trying not to envision what could happen if they fall. Inside, I scale the interior wall, gripping the side of the doorway with a hand and foot and stretching my opposing limbs against the opposite wall. The door slides back, and I’m out of sight just in time as the railway worker enters.

  “Roger!” he calls. The door shuts behind him. “Idiot…” He glances around the shuttle, a sour expression pinching his lips.

  My arms and legs singe with pain as I push tighter into the corner.

  “I swear, if that moron got left at the station…” He twists, and his eyes grow wide. He sees me. Not the best hiding spot, I know, but one of us had to stay inside the shuttle to reopen the door.

  “Hey,” I say and drop down.

  “You’re that missing dweller!” he gasps.

  I drop and dart the way of the exit door, knocking the man back with my shoulder as I pass him. Kicking the lock, it rattles open. The door flies back, and wind gushes in. My group stumbles back into the car, each with a thunk.

  “What the…?” The man regains his footing as he darts for Sky, who easily side-steps. Both Lacy and I charge the man and knock him clear out the door. The man rolls uncontrollably, dust billowing around him. A wash of guilt floods my mind at what we just did to him, but the wind whips my hair in my face and refocuses me. I step back and slam the door shut.

  I hurry back to the window, peering into the next car over. “People are leaving this shuttle and heading forward.”

  On the opposite end of the passenger car, I spot a touch panel. Maybe I can access information we can use.

  I wait for the passengers to clear, then throw back the door. We race into the empty car. Ours was for storage, but this one is meant to be a luxury experience for its passengers. Large windows line either side of the car. A beautiful view of the dimly lit desert terrain slides past as we pass open land. Above me, I search for the source of the illumination. A small, but bright white circle rests high in the dark sky; the moon. I’ve read about it, but seeing it in person is different. It’s amazing how it seems to move with us, almost watching us.

  “Wow!” Lacy plops down in one of the red, velvety chairs and leans back. “Ooh, it even reclines.”

  I shake my head at her childishness. But he never got a childhood. So why not let her have one for a minute.

  “What’s in the next one?” Sky gestures to the door that leads into the next car up.

  I hurry over and peer in. “That one’s empty, too. We must be getting close to the tram’s destination since all the passenger’s decided to move up.”

  “What is its destination?” Drape asks.
/>   I go to the touch panel. “I don’t know, but let’s see if we can find out.”

  I tap on the screen and it lights up. I play with the options for a bit and locate the schedule.

  “Seems like we’re heading to a city called Reso… it’s an outpost in the New Delta Sector.”

  “Reso? I heard a leech mention that once,” Lacy says.

  The display panel has a search option, so I decide to do a little digging on the location we’re about to enter. I frown at the information. “Great. It’s an EHC Training Academy City.”

  “What’s that mean?” Sky asks.

  “It means they send the rich kids to be brainwashed into making sure they know their position,” Lacy says. “The leeches constantly talk this place up, like it’s an exclusive boys’ club.”

  “Sounds great,” Sky says. “But what about my sister? That computer say anything about her?”

  “Let me see what I can find.”

  My fingers effortlessly navigate the display as if I’ve done this a thousand times. It’s all just logic, though. Directory structures and search commands. I’m able to predict how these systems function.

  “Ah, there she is!” I say. “There’s a transport manifest. She was on this train on its last trip back to the underground station. Her final destination is marked as classified, though.”

  A low hum vibrates the panel, snapping me out of my lock on the system.

  “Passengers, please prepare for entry into Reso,” an unseen voice echoes through the intercoms over our heads.

  From out the window, a metropolis rapidly approaches in the distance. Even though it seems fairly small, it gives off a lot of brightness. The EHC would brag about their massive, wondrous cities on the surface; huge standing structures called buildings that would block out the sun. I’m pretty sure this isn’t one of those cities. I guess the EHC could’ve exaggerated.

  We pass an entire field of dark panels that reflect the moonlight. I can’t recall what they are, but there’s a lot of them. Beyond this, the full scope of the city reveals itself. Tethered, giant, hovering disks pour light down onto every inch of it. I’ve gotten so used to living in near darkness that the brightness amazes me. Tan and off-white buildings fill the skyline. Only sporadic trees and shrubbery provide any contrasting color.