Activate

by Crystal Perkins

  “I didn’t ever think I’d have to kill you, or anyone like us. The Creators deserved what they got, but we don’t deserve to die.”

  “The species must live on!”

  “They can do that without killing innocent people. They can choose an island,” Jennifer says. “Think about it—they don’t need food, shelter, or a break from the elements. That means anywhere would work for them. Why are they choosing a place that is populated?”

  “I-I don’t know.”

  “Do not let them sway you,” I yell out. “You know the reasons, and you will do as you’re told.”

  “Why can’t we talk about this? If your reasoning is so sound, why do you think we won’t listen, or help you?” Michaela counters.

  “You are too foolish to listen. Sabrina is the only intelligent one.”

  “Yes. I understand,” she says, raising her weapons and preparing to attack.

  “Wait,” Levi says, only he’s not speaking out loud.

  That’s impossible. He cannot do it. She’s not his to speak to. Neither am I, but I’m hearing him, too, and that thing called fear is coming back.

  Alien Versus Human

  “Don’t do this, Sabrina. Remember who you are. Remember I love you.”

  “We have to die. It’s the only way.”

  “No. It’s their way, and the Creator’s way, but it’s not the only way. We can choose to live.”

  “Stop confusing her,” I tell him, trying to push him out of all of our heads. I don’t know how he figured this out, but it has to stop.

  “I am confused. What do I do?”

  “You know what to do.”

  “Yes, she does. She knows her heart,” Levi says.

  “You’re in no position to fight me, boy,” I remind him, looking to where he’s still lying motionless on the ground.

  Sabrina looks over, too, and she can’t hold back a sob. This is not good. Not good at all.

  “I don’t need my body to convince her,” he tells me. “Think of our love, Sabrina.”

  “I hurt you. How can you love me when I hurt you?”

  “He doesn’t. It’s a trick. He’s trying to trick you into abandoning your destiny. Don’t fall for his lies.”

  “Not a lie. I love you. I know you didn’t want to hurt me. I know you love me back. Fight for our love, Sabrina. Please.”

  “I-I do love you, Levi. I’m trying to fight. It’s so hard.”

  “No!” I yell, both in my head, and out loud.

  “Yes,” he replies. “Fight. It’s hard now, but once you break the hold they have on you, it will be easy. Keep fighting. Fight for both of us.”

  We cannot allow this to happen. She cannot regain her free will. “Sabrina, you don’t want to be free from us. We are the ones who are leading you on the correct path. Only us.”

  I don’t have the strength to fight one of those who are still standing, but I can surely kill an unconscious boy. Picking up one of the abandoned weapons on the ground, I start towards him, and Michaela jumps into my path, leaving Jennifer alone with Sabrina. They’re all playing into our hands once again, and it’s perfect. Now we just need Sabrina to finish this, and our plans will be complete.

  “Take care of Jennifer,” I tell Sabrina, as I stare down the girl in front of me.

  “I don’t want to fight.”

  Because everyone else is occupied, my companion is able to get to her, clamping a hand on her shoulder. It’s not as powerful as both of us having contact with her, but it’s enough to push her to the correct side for now.

  “I have to kill you,” she says, sounding tortured and resolute at the same time.

  Their blades clang as I focus my attentions back on Michaela, who is still standing between me and Levi. “You cannot win. Step aside, and she’ll probably be kind and kill you quickly.”

  “She’s not going to kill me.”

  “So naïve, even after all you’ve seen and learned this past week? Look at her, fighting to the death.”

  “You could have lived here peacefully among the humans like you’ve done all these years, bothering no one.”

  “When our children are born, they will want more, just as we do. This planet is much larger than ours was, so we do not desire to have it all, but we deserve a piece.”

  “Deserve? You escaped death, and took refuge here. This isn’t a planet you conquered.”

  “We were tortured and examined for months before we escaped.”

  “By a few people. You cannot punish all humans for something a few did.”

  “They would choose to punish us if they knew of our existence.”

  “Not all. Never all. The beauty of humanity is that most people embrace compassion and love. Those who don’t get more play in the media, but they do not speak for all.”

  “That is not a chance we can take.”

  “Then, I’m sorry, but we have no choice.”

  “You’re sorry? We are the ones with the advantage right now.”

  I knew having memories would be tricky, but I didn’t think it would make her delusional. What can she possibly be thinking? She and her friends will die today, our plans will commence. We’ve waited too long for this, and we won’t abandon it now.

  “Yes. I am truly sorry, but you’ve given us no other choice.”

  I start to ask what she’s talking about when I feel the blade enter my body from behind. She kept me distracted long enough for Coalton to sneak up on me. My companion screams in horror as he moves towards us, but Alejandra slices through him before he can get very far. Our bodies are dying, but our minds are sharper than ever.

  “You can still do this, Sabrina. Avenge us, and let our deaths mean something.”

  “No,” Levi pleads with her. “Let this end with them. Come back to us. Come back to me.”

  “I don’t know if I can.”

  “You can’t. Even in death, you will belong to us.”

  “She belongs to herself. Look for your humanity. Find it and remember who you really are.”

  “I feel it. It’s so small, and it’s slipping away. I can’t hold onto it.”

  “Because it is the weaker part of you. You don’t need it.”

  “It’s the strongest part of you. You care. Not just for us, but for the human race. Hold on, Sabrina. I believe you can hold on.”

  She closes her eyes once again, and drops her sword as she falls to her knees. “I’m trying,” she says out loud. “I love you.”

  As we lose our hold on her for good, my companion and I drift off into the ether. We are no longer anything; our bodies—both alien and human—are gone, along with our minds. Earth was to be our new home, but now we are nothing.

  Part V

  After

  Hinton

  My arm is still bleeding, but I’m more worried about Levi than myself. I know he got into Sabrina’s head somehow, because she stopped trying to kill us, but he’s still unconscious. Most of us go to him; although, Lauren is trying to comfort Sabrina. I know she didn’t mean to do what she did, but I’m not feeling too comforting right now. I don’t want to kill her, but I don’t want to make her feel better about trying to kill me, either.

  “Levi,” I say, shaking him gently. “Wake up, man.”

  “We need to get him to a hospital,” Michaela says.

  “We can’t,” Coalton reminds her. “They won’t know what to do with him.”

  “I hate to even suggest this, but what about one of the facilities?” Jennifer asks.

  “No. I am not going to risk them doing more to hurt him. Even with these two Creators gone, there are three more who are a threat to us,” I tell them.

  “Actually, they’re not a threat anymore.”

  I look up to see who’s speaking and my eyes widen when I realize it’s the President of the United States. I recognize the other men with him as the Prime Ministers of England and Australia. The leaders of Russia and China aren’t present, but maybe that’s a good thing.

  “Why should
we believe you?” Coalton asks, staring them down.

  “You shouldn’t. There’s absolutely no reason for you to. I can tell you we mean you no harm, but right now those are just words. However, your friend needs help, and we can give it.”

  “He’s sincere. At least about this,” Alejandra says.

  Everyone else looks to me, and I nod without even thinking about it. Levi needs help, and while I don’t trust him, the President has the resources to help him.

  “We’re all going together. You can’t take him alone,” I say.

  “I don’t think Sabrina should go with us,” Jennifer tells me.

  “It’s all or none. Do you want Levi to die because we refused help?”

  “Do you really want to take the girl who almost killed him—intended to kill us all—with us?”

  “What, are we just going to send her out in the world alone?”

  “We could…neutralize her,” one of the Prime Ministers says.

  “No. We could not,” Coalton answers. “She didn’t mean to do it, and she stopped. Look at her.”

  We all turn to where Sabrina’s openly sobbing as Lauren rubs her back. She’s obviously distraught, and while I want her to get help, too, I need to make sure everyone is safe. I’m in no way the new leader of this group, but while Levi’s down, I’ll help out in any way I can.

  “Maybe she could sit away from us, and be kept away from…everyone.”

  “That is doable. Now, we need to go while the cleaners take care of the bodies. It’s a wonder no one heard anything,” the President says.

  “They kept everyone from hearing,” Sabrina says, speaking up for the first time. “I don’t know how, but I know they did it.”

  “I guess we can be lucky for that. One parting gift from our forefathers, or whatever they were,” Michaela says, and we all stand to the side while some scientists I recognize from our facility step out from one of the paths and rush to Levi’s side.

  A couple of military guys are behind them pushing a gurney. They lower it down and lift Levi onto it. Sabrina is sobbing again, but I try to block her out. I’m going to need to stay tough if I have any chance of getting myself—and everyone else—out of this alive.

  Michaela

  This time, they take our weapons before we get on the plane, instead of ignoring them. I understand, but I have to fight the urge to tell them to relinquish their weapons, too. I know that’s not going to happen, but a girl can dream. I have combat skills, but now they have the weapons that can kill me, and that doesn’t feel okay.

  “I don’t like this,” Alejandra tells me, sitting next down next to me as we prepare to take off.

  “Me either. Maybe it’s just me, but I think it’s weird that they didn’t send you back down under.”

  “It’s not just you. The PM’s on here with us, and I don’t sense anything dangerous from any of them, but something’s still not right.”

  “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

  “If it’s bad, we’re going to have to fight.”

  “After what we just went through, do you really think that will be a problem?”

  “No. I just thought I’d remind you.”

  The flight is uneventful. Levi is in the bedroom at the back of the plane with the scientists and Hinton. My brother refused to leave his friend’s side, and they let him in because he’s got the closest DNA to Levi, so they may need him. I sleep, because I don’t want to be social, and I have to admit I wake up feeling a little more refreshed.

  The mood is still somber, and the air laced with tension as we file back into the building none of us thought we’d ever enter again. Levi is immediately whisked into one of the hospital bays we saw, but never used when we were here before. Hinton tries to go with him, but the President asks him to stay with us.

  Sabrina willingly walks to another medical bay, flanked by military men who could do nothing to stop her if she goes into killer mode again. I don’t think she will, but then again, I never expected it the first time. She’s strapped down, and the scientists are already prodding her as the doors close shut, leaving us in the main room once again.

  “This is probably the one room that will fit all of us, so please grab a seat and we’ll get started,” the President tells us.

  We all listen, because while we may not be fully human, he’s still a leader we inherently want to please. I don’t know if that’s something they built into our DNA, too, but does it really matter at this point?

  “Why are we all here, and not split up?” Jennifer asks.

  “Let me start by saying that none of us knew what you were truly created for until it was too late. The groups from China and Russia had fallen already. Those countries aren’t represented here tonight, but we have their full backing in anything and everything you choose to do. No one wants this to become an international media incident.”

  “You didn’t mention London in what you just said,” Coalton tells him.

  The three men look at one another, and the Prime Ministers nod, telling the President to continue. “We knew by then, and we thought we could stop it, but we were too late. In Australia, we helped the five, even though they didn’t know it. With you five here, we…we used you. I’m sorry to admit it, but I can’t apologize. We knew you were the only ones who could put a stop to all of this.”

  “Activating the killers was planned. Great,” Alejandra says sarcastically.

  “We knew there was no other way to eliminate the ‘Creators’ and the aliens at once. While investigating and studying, the conclusion we kept coming to was that both sides were unwilling to live in peace. There was no way we could let a full-blown war commence.”

  “You let a few die to save the many,” Lauren says. “I understand it, but it still sucks.”

  “It does. None of us will deny that, but I can tell you we’d do it again. Knowing there were those with DNA that could be activated a second time, and turn them into soldiers with no conscience…we couldn’t let them go out into the world.

  “All of you can be re-integrated back into your old lives, because we’ve taken care of anyone who might have been a threat to you. The Creators, the scientists, everyone—they’re no longer breathing.”

  “What about Sabrina?” Hinton asks.

  “That remains to be seen. She stopped herself from killing you, but we’re pretty sure the mental output it took Levi to get into her mind is what almost killed him. If he hadn’t been able to reach her, she would’ve killed you all. We can’t just pretend that’s not the case, because we don’t know if she’s really back to who she was before they did whatever they did to her.”

  “You have to give her a chance. It tore her up when she realized what she’d done,” Lauren tells him.

  “We’ll see. Right now we need to talk about the rest of you.”

  Coalton

  I don’t know if I want to go back to my old life, if that’s what they’re offering me. Now that I remember what I was like, I’m not so sure I like that guy. Could I go back and be the “new” me, even though no one would expect it? Does it matter if they expect it, or not? I just don’t know.

  The President seems to know exactly how I’m feeling. “We believe it’s safe to send you back to your parents, if that’s what you want. You are obviously not the same as you were, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. You have never had a chance to choose who you really want to be, and now you can.”

  “What if we don’t want to go back? I’m not saying I don’t; I’d just like to know all my options,” Michaela tells him.

  “Of course. If you choose not to go back, you can work with any of the five governments, or you can just disappear. We’ll help you start a new life, although honestly, I don’t think any of you would need our help with that.”

  “Could we still see our families if we choose to work with you?” I ask. My mother was already taken from me, and I don’t want my father to lose me, too.

  “Of course,” he says, and then looks
at the Australians. “I promise you we tried to save your families. We have families here, and in Australia who are willing to take you in.”

  “England as well,” the Prime Minister of that country tells them.

  “Can we take some time to decide?” Jennifer asks.

  “There’s no rush. We’d like you to stay here until you decide, but you will be made as comfortable as possible while you’re here.”

  “Do you think you can wake Levi up?” I ask, needing to know. We bonded for those few days we were together, and I don’t want him to die.

  “The initial reports are that he seems to be slowly coming back. Rest helps all of you, and being able to rest his brain is apparently repairing it.”

  I breathe a sigh of relief. For me, for him, and yeah, for Sabrina. I don’t think she’s faking how freaked out she is over what happened, and I don’t think she’d survive if he died. I want to ask what’s going to happen to her, but I’m not sure I can handle knowing. Having human emotions is hella hard, but I wouldn’t want to be like the Muses, either.

  “Is there someplace we can go to be alone? I mean, really alone with no cameras or listening devices?” Alejandra asks. “I’d like to talk to everyone about what we’re going to do.”

  “Yes. We can clear a room for you,” the President tells her.

  The three men walk into the Creator’s old office, but none of us speak. They’re saying some nice things, but I don’t think any of us really trusts them completely. We’re just not built that way. Nurture can only go so far when nature is so strong.

  A few minutes later, the men come back out, letting us know we can go into one of the small conference rooms. I can feel their eyes on us as we file in. I know they’re anxious to hear if any of us wants to work with them, but I appreciate them letting us decide for ourselves. Now, we just need to make those decisions.