by L. C. Mawson
“That’s the point, isn’t it? That we’re not normal Humans. That we can go beyond their limits.”
Gus glared at her response. “Alex, do you not understand how badly we failed here? If I hadn’t gotten you out as quickly as I had, you could have died. Your armour stopped the bullet from doing any more than badly bruising you, but I don’t think it would have taken many more hits. Not to mention, that blow to the head could have been much worse.” His gaze softened as he added, “I could have lost you.”
The stinging in Alex’s throat worsened, and she felt tears behind her eyes.
“Why didn’t you?” she asked in an effort to change the subject. “How did you manage to get me out of there?”
He tensed up, causing Alex to frown.
What had happened?
Gus shook his head. “I gave as good as they did. I hurt Effie enough for them to flee. I guess they thought killing you would be sufficient. And I have no doubt they think you’re dead after that. I’m not exaggerating when I say I could have lost you...”
Alex looked away, turning to the monitors she was strapped to and tugging them off her skin.
“You’re right,” she spat. “I should have done better. I should have been better. You were right to say that I let myself become weak while I was on the run. I had Freya with me, and I relied too much on her, as well as indulging in my newfound freedom, instead of taking care of myself and making sure that I was in the best condition I could be. Literally, the first lesson we were ever taught was that our genes are only the beginning. They lay the ground work, but we have to do the rest ourselves. I let myself forget that. I was designed to be the perfect sword, and I have let myself grow dull.”
Gus stopped her hand still by putting his own over hers. “This wasn’t about you,” he assured her softly. “There is nothing you could have done to beat them. Even if you had been in peak physical condition, they simply have more experience than us. We won’t win in a fair fight against them. We need to outnumber them. We need help.”
Alex looked away. “I won’t bring on other Enhanced. We can’t trust them.”
Gus sighed. “Then who should we turn to? I’m not against other suggestions for allies, but we cannot ignore the fact that we need more than two of us to succeed.” He cocked his head in thought for a moment, before asking, “What about magical beings? Just because you can’t be near Freya anymore, doesn’t mean that we can’t use her contacts to our advantage. Surely they have to want the Enhanced dealt with as much as we do.”
Alex ran her hand through what remained of her ponytail before shaking her head. “Even when I was with Freya, the other magical beings weren’t exactly happy talking to me. You remember what those Slayers were like. The only reason they didn’t kill the two of us was that they were afraid that Freya was going to destroy their town and they figured we were the only ones who could stop her. Hell, the only reason why Freya lost it in the first place was that they threatened to kill me once they realised what I was. No, the only reason I was never killed by any of the magical beings we encountered together was that Angels are so revered by most magical beings that they can get away with anything. Even dating and protecting an Enhanced. Without Freya with us, trying to approach any of the magical beings would be suicide.”
“Then who else would you suggest? Regular Humans won’t be able to deal with Enhanced so that just leaves other Enhanced.”
Alex responded by glaring down at her hands in her lap.
“If you have another suggestion, I would gladly hear it out,” Gus told her gently.
Alex groaned, shaking her head. “Fine,” she agreed. “We’ll try to approach the other Enhanced. I assume you have a list of people out in the field right now that we would have a chance of convincing?”
Gus nodded. “I have five people we can approach. They should all be safe enough to talk to, and even if only one of them agrees to join us, that’s still one more than we currently have.”
“Okay, who do we talk to first?”
CHAPTER NINE
Gus
They made their way to a small town in northern Germany to meet their first potential recruit.
His serial number was B-08, but he went by Bob.
None of the Enhanced used their serial numbers, despite the fact that they were the only names the scientists had given them. When Gus was feeling cynical, he assumed it was so they didn’t get too attached to the human subjects. Despite that, however, it had become regular practice for the Enhanced to give each other names, usually inspired by their serial numbers. It was a practice that had initially raised concern with the scientists, but they had quickly decided that it was a useful bonding strategy, and so had allowed it to continue.
Gus had never really known Bob during their training, and he was sure that Alex hadn’t either. All of the Enhanced had been divided by the batch they had grown up in for general socialising and living arrangements, and then by their skill when it had come to individual aspects of their training.
Alex had been at the top of her cohort of nearly every aspect of training, with the exception of battlefield medicine and hacking, which Gus had narrowly bested her in.
Before they had defected, the two of them had been considered to be examples of the potential of the Enhanced. Of the potential of genetic engineering to create perfect humans.
And now they had turned their back on that ideal, and in Alex’s case, she had done so because she had fallen in love with someone of an entirely different species.
If their situation hadn’t been so dire, Gus might have found the irony amusing, but as it was, he was struggling to find anything amusing about their current state of affairs.
Bob, in contrast to Alex and Gus, had always been firmly in the middle of their cohort. Still stronger and faster and smarter than any regular human, but nothing exceptional by any means.
He certainly wouldn’t have been able to hold his own in their fight against Effie and Jay, but any addition to their number would be welcome.
Alex had never socialised with the others, and Gus had to admit that, while he did, Bob was never at the top of his list of friends. But if he was friends with Sam and Jan, Gus figured he must be all right. Jan, much like Alex, didn’t suffer fools lightly.
They found him exiting a coffee shop, and he frowned as he saw them approaching.
“I see the rumours are true,” he said to Gus. “You have joined your sister against the rest of us.”
Gus shook his head, hoping that this wasn’t a bad start. What had he expected? For Bob to greet them with open arms? After months of being told how vile Alex was? No, it wouldn’t be so easy.
“We aren’t against the rest of you,” Gus explained, doing his best to keep his voice calm and reasonable. “We are against those who would seek to use us as weapons.”
Bob frowned. “We are weapons,” he said frankly. “That was exactly what we were designed to be. If you are rebelling against that, you are rebelling against all of the Enhanced.”
“It’s not that simple,” Gus said, trying not to get frustrated. He had hoped this angle would work. As much as Gus had teamed up with Alex because she was his sister, and because of what her monitor had done to her, he had his own reasons for fighting as well. After he had returned, it had become clear that they were nothing more than weapons. Those who had created them didn’t even consider them to be people, not really. Just tools to be used and discarded as they saw fit. If he could just get Bob to see... “We were created to be weapons, sure, but for a war that no longer exists.”
“And what about when that war starts back up again? The last time magic was exposed, technology hadn’t come nearly as far as it has now. If it was exposed today, our abilities would be more needed than ever. Not to mention, they won’t have the time to develop the same genetic technology that led to us in this timeline. It was pure luck that one of the magical beings decided to stop the war for as long as they did last time, do you honestly think that will
happen again? And for a long enough time for humanity to develop their weapons anew?”
Alex cut in at that. “You’re right, the magical beings don’t know how to recreate the spell that stopped the war last time. Relying on them to do so again would be too much, but I don’t think such a spell has to be necessary. I don’t think peace between humanity and magic is completely unattainable if the truth were to be known again. The problem is, many of those who remember the war don’t want to give peace a chance. They would much rather strike the first blow while the magical beings don’t know we still exist. I don’t know about you, but after hearing about how devastating the war was last time, I am in no hurry for it to start again.”
Bob just shook his head. “The war is inevitable,” he told her without doubt. “If striking the first blow is what we have to do to gain the upper hand, then I am more than happy to do so. And I’m going to trust the tactical opinions of people who have lived through that kind of war, rather than yours. What kind of experience do you have that they don’t? Rather than deciding to fuck a magical being, I mean.”
Alex glared at him.
Gus stepped in before she could open her mouth, however, seeing where her reaction was headed. “This isn’t about that,” Gus told him firmly. “I didn’t even like the magical being Alex was dating when I first met her. And while things are certainly no longer antagonistic between the two of us, I wouldn’t be especially quick to call her a friend. But I don’t have to like her to know that Alex’s monitor using Alex’s affection for her to kidnap her, so that he could learn more about Angels, is not acceptable. Even if you feel war is inevitable in the future, that is not the situation now.”
“They are still the enemy. Anything we have to do against the enemy-”
“And is Alex your enemy?” Gus demanded. “I didn’t join Alex to defend some Angel. I did it to defend her. When Alex’s monitor realised that the angel had affection for Alex, he decided to use that against her. He didn’t just use Alex to kidnap the Angel, he wanted to use her as a tool of torture as well. He hurt Alex to strike emotional damage to the Angel. If the older Enhanced can so quickly turn on their own like that...”
Bob shook his head. “That was an unusual circumstance,” he said, though his voice lacked conviction. “Alex was supposed to be avoiding contact with magical beings on that mission. She certainly wasn’t supposed to be sleeping with them.” He turned Alex. “I am sorry about what happened to you, but you cannot deny that your situation didn’t exactly look innocent. You went against orders and were fraternising with the enemy. While your monitor may have gone too far in trying to contain the situation, you can easily see how he got there.”
Alex glared at him. “No, I really can’t. I’m not turning my back on the other Enhanced, they turned their back on me. And in doing so, they showed me that their way won’t work. We cannot keep living as weapons for a war that we should instead be trying to prevent. You say that we were built as weapons of war, but that wasn’t what they fed us when we were small. They told us that we were instruments of peace, designed to bring about the end of the war. It may not have been our side that finally ended it, but it has been ended all the same. Now they turn around and call us weapons because they realise that they can no longer abide peace that we were originally supposed to bring.
“As far as I’m concerned, we have a choice. We can still be the instruments of peace that we were originally imagined as, but we cannot do so as weapons of war. Please, help us be something better.”
Bob wavered for a moment, before looking away. “I can’t, Alex, I’m sorry. I can’t just turn my back on the only home I’ve ever known. Not for magic. It’s an abomination, Alex. I don’t care if you fell for one of them, magical beings are our predators. You have to see that. They’re monsters.”
Gus found himself having to suppress a flinch at that.
He’s not talking about you, he told himself. You don’t have magic.
The charm was magic. It had been Freya’s, so he must have just tapped into the magic that was there in the heat of battle. It wasn’t anything to do with him really.
But then, he had to wonder, why hadn’t Alex tapped into it? She’d been wearing the damn thing around her neck for days, and she’d produced nothing. Not even a spark.
Gus had unleashed a torrent of flame when he had just brushed it with his fingertips...
Was Bob right? Was he a monster?
Bob continued on, seemingly oblivious to Gus’ inner turmoil. “I... I won’t turn you over to them, or tell them that we spoke,” he promised. “And if they figure it out on their own, I won’t tell them what you’re planning. But I cannot join you.”
He walked away, and Alex and Gus didn’t follow. It was clear that they weren’t going to change his mind.
Gus sighed, turning back to Alex as he ran his hand through his hair.
He had hoped that the first Enhanced they approached wouldn’t be so antagonistic. If only one of their siblings had been out of the base as well...
But just because Bob had ignored them didn’t mean that they couldn’t try again. And he had promised not to tell the others about them, so there was that.
Maybe there was hope that he could be persuaded in the future...
“Come on,” Gus said to Alex. “I still have four more names on that list.”
Alex didn’t respond, instead, folding her arms tight across her chest.
“What is it?” Gus asked.
“We can’t just let him go,” Alex eventually said. “For all we know, he could be calling his monitor right now to have them come and deal with us.”
“He said he wouldn’t.”
“And you trust him? After he refused to join us?” Alex shook her head. “We can’t afford to be so generous right now.”
Gus sighed. “Then what would you suggest we do? Put a bullet between his eyes so that he doesn’t talk?”
Alex gritted her teeth. “If necessary.”
“Jesus Christ, Alex,” he exclaimed, unable to recognise the woman in front of him, her face all hard edges that didn’t belong to his sister. At least, not like this. Even when she was holding herself to impossible standards and furious at herself for not meeting them, there had always been something he could recognise. Some thread he could pull on and bring her back. Now she was a stranger to him, and that scared him more than he would ever admit. “I was kidding.”
Alex just gave him a hardened look. “I know, Gus, but I also know that you haven’t seen how the Enhanced treat their prisoners first-hand. If they capture us... We need to take every precaution to make sure that they don’t. Otherwise, it won’t just be our mission that’s over.”
Gus’ heart broke a little as he saw the pain beneath her hard edges. He had wanted a thread to pull her back with, but this one wouldn’t lead to anything good, he knew.
He didn’t know how to fix this. How could he soothe such a hurt?
Not knowing what else to do, Gus put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “I know that I can’t even begin to conceive of what happened to you and Freya when your monitor turned on you. But I do know that that kind of betrayal leaves scars that won’t heal easily. But Alex, what you said about us no longer being weapons of war, did you really mean it?”
“No. They were just pretty words. I don’t care about anything but stopping the Enhanced. Making sure that they can never track me down and hurt me again. If I have to play up some idea of a romantic rebellion designed to spread peace to do that, then I will. But this is nothing more than survival for me, Gus.”
She stormed off before he had a chance to respond.
CHAPTER TEN
Alex
Alex and Gus made their way to northern China to meet the second potential recruit.
They hadn’t spoken much since they had left Germany, with Alex still stewing in her anger over how things had gone down with Bob.
And if she was honest with herself, terror at the possibility of the Enhanced catchin
g up with them.
But the further they got out of Germany, the more her anxiety faded. They hadn’t told Bob where they were headed next, so the further they got away, the less chance there was the Enhanced catching up with them.
Unless they were silently tracking them, waiting for the right moment to attack...
While that thought never completely left Alex’s head, she still found herself calming with distance.
They took a train south, and Alex had expected Gus to leave her alone.
Instead, he made his way over to the cabin she had chosen.
He closed the door gently behind him but didn’t move from in front of it.
He just stood there silently, while Alex looked out of the window, refusing to turn to face him.
Eventually, he asked, “Alex, have you actually ever killed anyone?”
Alex sighed, still keeping her gaze out of the window. “Why are you asking?”
“I don’t know, I just... I hadn’t really thought about it before. I mean, it was expected that we would one day become soldiers, and killing was just kind of expected. But that was always some far-off future, that I never really believed would happen. Even the time I have spent away from home- I mean, away from the Enhanced base, I haven’t really come across any real enemies. But I know that before you met Freya, you had run-ins with a few Demons. And then with everything that happened with your monitor... I know Freya said that she had been the one to kill him, but...”
Alex found herself not wanting to admit the truth. Maybe because she didn’t want it to seem as if she was deliberately avoiding the possibility. After all, there was only so much longer she could go without having to strike the final blow against someone, and she didn’t want Gus to think that she wouldn’t do it when the moment came.
But the way he was talking about it... The way he stopped and started, his voice wavering...
Why did it seem as if the truth might be exactly what he wanted to hear?
