Gene. Sys.

by Garcia, Aaron Denius

We pick him up and carry him to the Fly where K is waiting.

  “The rest of you get into your Flyz!” Rene shouts.

  I look and see Hawk helping Sil into his Fly. I’m surprised to see him. I could have sworn he would be on the other side. Al and Hydro run to their Fly, just as the ceiling above us begins to open and the Fly carrying Ox and Mag takes off.

  I run with Ev to ours as two more Flyz take off. Rene stands waiting outside our Fly. There is a pilot that I don’t recognize.

  “Where is Fe?” I ask Rene as Ev climbs in.

  “She hasn’t come,” he says bluntly.

  I turn back towards the door and see that all of the Flyz with the exception of mine and Fe’s have taken off.

  “We have to go, Atom!” Ev yells from inside.

  I look back at Ev and Rene grabs my arm. He looks me in the eye. “Don’t.”

  I pull my arm away from him, reach into the Fly and pull Ev out. With all my strength I carry her to Fe’s Fly, where Sil and Hawk sit, waiting.

  “Put me down!” Ev kicks. “What are you doing?”

  I put her in Sil’s Fly, right next to Sil. I grab his hand and put it on her arm. “Sil, don’t let her off. Go Hawk!”

  “Atom!” Ev screams, tears running down her face. “It’s supposed to be you and me!”

  Hawk lifts the Fly into the air, pulling Ev away from me. She needs to be safe. She needs to be away from here. I look at her, tears in my own eyes. “I’m sorry!”

  The last look I see on her face is worse than pain, it’s betrayal. The Fly leaves the compound.

  19

  “We have to go, Atom!” Rene yells at me.

  I look back at him as I run back to the doors leading to the rollpods hangar. “I have to find Fe!”

  I pull the doors open and run out before he can say anything else. When I get out I see that the scientists and drones on our side have regained control of the hangar, mostly because the majority of the outsiders and the other attackers have retreated back outside. I’m guessing it’s due to the fact that the Flyz have already taken off.

  “What are you doing?” A hand grabs me. I turn to see Dr. Cicca standing before me.

  “Fe is missing. I’m not leaving without her!” I pull away from her and run to the opposite side of the hangar. A few shots fly by me, but none close enough to stop my momentum.

  I reach the hallway that leads to the weapons cache and I stop right at the corner. I can hear a couple of voices. When I peek around, I see a couple of outsiders and a Mutineer. Carefully, I steady my rifle and shoot each one before they have time to react.

  After waiting a couple of seconds to make sure that no one else comes out of the weapons cache, I run down the hallway.

  “Fe!” I yell as I turn the corner. I continue to yell her name as I run down the hallways.

  I get to the hallway with the surveillance room and am met by gunfire. The bullets hit the wall to my right and I back up around the corner. I aim my gun down the hallway and see a barrel of a rifle poking out of the surveillance room.

  “Atom!” the voice in the surveillance room calls out.

  “Who’s there?” I yell back.

  “It’s 80. I’m stepping out,” 80 shouts as he steps out.

  “Are you alone?” I call back.

  “Yes,” he says, placing his rifle on the ground and holding his hands up.

  I walk down the hall with my gun pointed right at his head. “If you move, I’ll shoot.”

  “Got it,” he says.

  So many questions run through my head, anger is behind every one of them. I step closer to him. “Why? Why did you do this?”

  He takes a deep breath. “You taught me what it was like to live. You taught me the value of life, and I didn’t want to lose it. I told every drone I could what I had learned and one by one we came to realize how wrong this extermination by the scientists is. It’s not their place to decide the fate of others.”

  My mind spins in circles. I’m to blame for this betrayal. I planted the seeds and now I have to reap what I sowed. The anger I have towards 80 right now should be equally directed at myself. The worst part is that he is right. It’s just too late.

  I reach him and in an instant my right fist connects with his jaw. He stumbles against the wall.

  “I guess I deserve that.” He wipes the blood from his lip.

  “I was your friend!” I yell in his face.

  “And you were going to let me die!” He pushes me back. A new found fire in his eyes.

  His words make me sick. I was going to let him die. He and others I cared about. How could I be so selfish? I step back up to him. “I didn’t have a choice!”

  “Well you do now,” he pleads. “End this.”

  “It’s too late,” I respond. “There’s nothing I can do. Rene already started the sequence and it can’t be stopped.”

  80 lowers his head. Tears run down his face and the fear behind them make him more human than I have ever seen. It’s a far cry from the drone that expected to be shot right away after taking a bullet for me.

  “Have you seen Fe?” I ask. I wish I could comfort him, but that is not my objective, and I don’t have time.

  He looks up at me with some clarity in his eyes. He obviously knows something. “She’s in the city.”

  I push him against the wall. “What did you do with her?”

  “I didn’t do anything!” He brushes me back. “She was wandering around the city last night and a few outsiders took her captive. They are holding her in one of the buildings by the pyramid.”

  I grab him and look directly into his eye. “If she’s hurt…”

  “I had nothing to do with it!” he asserts.

  I push him to the ground and run back down the hallway.

  “What are you doing?” he yells after me.

  “I have to find her!” I keep running.

  “You’ll get killed!” I hear him say as I turn the corner.

  I run past the weapons cache and into the hangar. There is a small battle between the two sides on the ramp, but I know I have to go up there and get outside. I have to get to the city.

  “Atom!” Dr. Cicca yells at me. She runs over.

  “Fe is in the city. I have to get up there.” I look at her. “You aren’t going to change my mind.”

  “I’m coming with you,” she states.

  I don’t object. I might need the extra fire power. I motion towards the battle on the ramp. “How do we get through there?”

  “Follow me.” She runs to the door that leads to the Flyz hangar. Right next to the door are three rollpods. “We use these.”

  “Do you know how to drive them?” I ask.

  “About as much as you do.” She smiles.

  Her smile is refreshing amidst the chaos; I can’t help but smile back. I climb into one of the rollpods. “I guess we’ll figure it out.”

  She climbs into the rollpod next to mine. I look down at the controls and see they are fairly basic, two handles with triggers attached to them. I look for a button or something to start the rollpod but don’t see anything. Suddenly, Dr. Cicca’s rollpod moves forward.

  “Push the handles forward,” she tells me.

  I do as she says and my rollpod rolls ahead. When I turn the handles to the left, the rollpod rotates left and then I move in that direction. Soon after, we are both rolling towards the ramp. I pull on the triggers as we reach the battle and the guns fire, clearing a path ahead of us.

  We roll through the hole at the top of the ramp and come out on the field. A larger battle is being fought out here and the attackers seem to be having more success against those defending the compound. A steady stream of outsiders and drones continues to run into the compound. It will only be a matter of time before the outsiders, drones and Mutineers have seized control of the compound.

  We blast our way through the battle fairly easily as it seems as though the attackers are less concerned over anyone leaving the compound. They don’t realize that it�
��s too late. That even when they do gain control of the compound, they can’t reverse what Rene has already set in motion. They are fighting for nothing.

  Once past the chaos around the compound, the amount of activity we encounter is barely noteworthy, an outsider or two who take a few shots at the rollpods, but we dispose of those threats with ease.

  Dr. Cicca rolls up next to me. “How far do we have to go?”

  “All the way to the pyramid,” I answer, pushing forward.

  We roll past a dozen more blocks, the pyramid growing bigger before us, until we reach a pile of debris that we can’t go over or around. We dismount our rollpods and head up the pile of debris. When we get to the top we crouch down to assess what is before us.

  There are a few outsiders and drones patrolling the streets. This seems to be the center of their operation.

  “Any ideas?” Dr. Cicca asks me.

  I look around and see some metal steps on the side of our nearest building. They lead to a balcony about thirty feet up. I could then jump from balcony to balcony and stay above the activity and unnoticed. Dr. Cicca, however, would not be able to make those jumps.

  “I’m thinking,” I say.

  “Atom?” a soft voice calls out behind me. I turn and see Brianna standing next to the rollpods.

  “Brianna?” Dr. Cicca turns. “What are you doing out here?”

  “Janice! You’re alive!” Brianna smiles. “When the attacks started I got scared and I ran away from the compound. I’ve been hiding out here.”

  Dr. Cicca and I slide down the debris pile. I check around and look at Brianna. “Have you seen Fe? She’s being held out here.”

  Dr. Cicca runs over to Brianna and gives her a hug. Brianna returns the hug and instantly spins Dr. Cicca around and holds a knife to her throat.

  “What are you doing?” Dr. Cicca screams.

  “Let her go!” I shout, raising my gun.

  “Put it down, Atom.” Brianna brings the knife closer to Dr. Cicca’s neck.

  I can tell that she isn’t bluffing, so I lower my gun. “Why are you doing this?”

  “To survive,” she responds. “That’s why I started the Mutineers. We needed to stop Rene’s plans.

  “It’s too late,” I say.

  “Maybe to stop it, but it’s not too late to ruin it.” She smiles. Dr. Cicca’s eyes grow wide with shock. Blood starts to trickle from her neck.

  “Where is Fe?!” I demand.

  Brianna looks right at me. “I know where Fe is. I took her there, but you won’t find her”

  I slowly bend towards my gun. “If anything has happened to her…”

  Brianna’s eyes grow fierce. She pulls Dr. Cicca in closer. “Sorry Janice.”

  “No! Don’t!” I scream.

  In one quick motion, Brianna slits Dr. Cicca’s throat and takes hold of the rifle that Dr. Cicca was carrying. Dr. Cicca falls to the ground and Brianna shoots at me.

  I jump to the side, avoiding all the bullets. I continue running, just barely in front of the stream of bullets. When I get to one of the rollpods, I kick off the front with a back flip. While in the air, I unwind the chain from my body.

  The second I land; I spin and whip the chain at Brianna. It connects hard with the side of her head and she screams as she falls to the ground. The impact has caused her to drop the rifle. I use the opportunity to run at her and wrap the chain around her neck.

  I pull hard and bring her to her feet. She gasps for air and, when I raise her off the ground, she gurgles and kicks.

  “Where is Fe?” I demand.

  I set Brianna down to give her a moment of reprieve. When she doesn’t answer, I lift her off the ground again. She struggles to breathe once more.

  “If you want to live, you tell me where she is!” I shout.

  This time when I set her down she speaks and points to the last building on the right. It’s right before the pyramid. “She’s in there.”

  I loosen up the chain and she falls to the ground, grasping for all the oxygen around her. I walk over to pick up the two guns, and as I pick up the second, I hear Brianna scream. When I turn I see her charging at me with the knife she used to kill Dr. Cicca. I forgot she had it.

  I set the guns on the ground, plant hard with my feet, and just before she reaches me I jump and spin in the air. As I fly above her, I twist the chain around her neck. I use the momentum as I fall to the ground to fling her over my head and at one of the rollpods. Brianna flies through the air and her head connects with the side of the rollpod. The crack of her neck as it breaks against the rollpod nearly causes me to throw up.

  I wrap the chain around me and then I pick up one of the rifles and fling it over my shoulder. Now that I have to finish this on my own, I can jump from balcony to balcony. I look over at Dr. Cicca, a pool of blood surrounds her. It is not lost on me, the sheer number of people who have sacrificed themselves to ensure our success. I am resolved to make sure that I don’t fail them.

  I run up the right side of the debris pile and when I get to the top, I jump and grab hold of the metal steps. A couple of moments later I am standing in the balcony, thirty feet up. As I look down at the ten or so balconies that I need to progress down, I see that most are in worse shape than the one I am standing on right now.

  The first couple of leaps from one balcony to the next are actually pretty easy. It isn’t until I reach the gap between buildings that the space between them seems further than I can jump. I take a deep breath, back up, and then run as hard as I can down the length of my current balcony and jump off the ledge.

  I land hard against the side of the balcony on the new building. My feet dangle off the edge, but I have enough of a grip to pull myself up. Still, my heart stops and then kicks into high gear at the prospect of falling. I make it to the last balcony of this building without incident. The outsiders and drones roaming the streets beneath haven’t noticed me and my target building is three away.

  I take another running start to jump to the balcony of the next building and I land the same way as I did before. This time, my stomach takes the brunt of the impact and I have the wind knocked out of me. Before I have time to react, the concrete gives way and I fall.

  The sensation of falling stops and I look to see that the strap of the rifle has caught on a large metal wire. It’s the only thing holding me up from a thirty-foot drop.

  “Up there!” I hear someone shout from beneath me. I look down and see a few outsiders and drones run up and aim their guns.

  I return my attention to the balcony I am hanging from and instantly hear the snap of the strap from the rifle. My hands shoot up and, luckily, my left hand grabs a hold of the floor of the balcony as the rifle falls to the ground. Shots fire up at me from below and the bullets spray around me. I use the strength that I have to get my right hand secured on the floor and lift myself into the cover of the balcony. Bits of concrete fall on me as the bullets hit the building around me.

  They aren’t going to stop shooting and I need to get to Fe. Plus, we are running out of time, and we have to get back to Rene and the Fly before the Ragnarok starts.

  I stand and run without thinking twice. As I jump from one balcony to the next, I unwrap my chain. When I get to the gap between buildings, I fling the chain as I jump, hooking it to the balcony above my target balcony. The spray of bullets continues to be shot at me and a couple actually hit the chain as I land safely on the balcony. I whip the chain to unhook it and it lands in a pile next to me.

  One building left. My legs are starting to burn, something I’m sure the game of Breekbal yesterday contributed to. I jump from balcony to balcony, but when I get to the last one, I stop. The final building in front of me has a void where a balcony used to be. When I look down, I see that the majority of the rubble from that balcony lies on top of the balcony ten feet below.

  I can make this jump, but with the added drop, it’s going to hurt. I look back and see the outsiders and drones running towards the building. They are runni
ng in. They must know what I’m after.

  I scream as I jump off the ledge of my current balcony and fall down to my target balcony. Shocks shoot up my legs when I land. I feel the pain instantly and a cracking sound scares me into thinking I broke a bone. When I stand without any further pain, I realize that the cracking sound is coming from the balcony.

  A fissure spiders out from the corner that connects the balcony to the building and before I know it, the balcony gives way and I fall. Ten feet below, the balcony and I slam hard into another balcony. The familiar cracking sound lets me know that if I don’t react quickly I will fall again.

  I whip my chain at the glass door, shattering it. I jump through just as the balcony falls away below me. My back stings with a sharp pain and when I reach back I feel a shard of glass sticking out. Breaking the skin on my hand, I pull the piece of glass out and get to my feet.

  The sound of movement outside gets me moving to the doorway and I stand, hidden next to the door. An outsider steps in with her gun up. She spots the fresh blood on the ground, but before she can yell anything, I’m on top of her and am covering her mouth with my hand. My other hand is digging the shard of glass into her side.

  “Where is the Genesys?” I apply more pressure with the shard of glass.

  The outsider’s body shakes and I can sense the fear she is going through. Her voice pleads for mercy. “On the ninth floor with the doctor.”

  I throw the shard away and with a right hook I knock her unconscious. She doesn’t need to follow me. I take her gun and head out the door to the hallway. As I get to the stairwell, I can hear a massive amount of activity. The outsiders and drones from the streets must be making their way up.

  Next to the stairs is the indistinguishable door of an elevator. I use the barrel of gun to wedge the door enough to be able to put my hands between the gap and pull the doors open. Two chains hang in the middle of the dark shaft. I look up and only see darkness.

  “You can do this.” I try to motivate myself. I need to climb seven floors.

  I wrap my chain around me but when I pick up the rifle, I notice that it doesn’t have a strap. I’ll need both hands to climb, so I decide to leave the gun behind. With a powerful jump, I fly into the shaft and grab a hold of the chains in the middle. Hand over hand I climb.