Induction (The Age of Man Book 1)

by David Brush

  INDUCTION

  David Brush

  Revised: June 2016

  Copyright © 2016 by David Brush

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 0692636269

  ISBN-13: 9780692636268

  To those I’ve loved and those I’ve hated, in equal parts.

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  CHAPTER ONE

  The young man floated through the void, surrounded by darkness. Off in the distance, he could just make out a tiny speck of light, nearly buried in the thick, black sea. He swam towards it with all his might, longing for its warmth, longing for its energy. As he neared the whipping flames, he finally realized their source.

  “Haley,” called the boy through the blank space.

  No response. The girl’s hair continued to swirl up into a blinding inferno.

  “Haley,” he said again, reaching for her shoulder. As he touched her, she turned to face him at last, her emerald eyes flickering beneath the dancing fire.

  “Never again,” said the girl, reaching out and tapping him on the forehead. “Never again.”

  He closed his eyes as he felt the chemicals begin to warp his perception. He screamed out, but the emptiness swallowed it whole. When at last he opened his eyes again, the girl’s face had already begun to disintegrate. Her skin slopped off, melting her features together into one long river of flesh. Horrified, the boy turned away from her, toward the mirror suspended behind him. He looked into the reflection at his hazel eyes, covered in a thick layer of glaze. This time he didn’t scream, he just closed his eyes again and fell…

  James Mercer shot upright in his bed sometime around four a.m. His eyes jolted around his room until he realized that he had been dreaming again, the same dream for nearly twelve months now. He lay back down against the sweat-soaked pillow and stared up at the ceiling until dawn broke. Giving up on anymore sleep, he rolled out of bed to start the new day. The haze of exhaustion plagued his every action as he showered quickly, dressed himself, and poured a mug full of coffee down his throat to help pull his mind back into something resembling human cognition. It helped, but the fog lingered, resting just below the surface of the caffeine high. James scooped his backpack up off of the kitchen floor and made his way out of the small apartment he shared with his father.

  The sun had risen well above the horizon by the time he made it to the lab he worked in. The facility was one of a dozen situated in the big, bland building that sat inconspicuously in the center of Dunton. While it wasn’t as grand as some of the major Neuro Corporation complexes, the smaller offshoot was as well-equipped as any other. Walking down the wide hall towards his office, the boy noticed one of the new “unity” posters projected across the wall. On it, a chemist stood proudly against the rising sun, holding a flask out towards the new day, with the inscription NEURO CORPORATION: THROUGH CHEMISTRY, PEACE plastered around the centered art. He shook his head as he continued on down the hall.

  James keyed his way into the lab and greeted Dr. Omar Karich with a nod. The older chemist was already hovering near the lone solvent sink in the room, pouring acetone into the glassware that they would be using shortly. Nearby, hands fidgeting under the downturned panel of the old fume hood that adorned the lab, stood Haley Hall, preparing a variety of stock solutions for the coming day. She brushed a strand of her auburn hair out of her face and smiled at James as he walked in.

  “You’re late,” said Dr. Karich, drawing him back to reality.

  “Sorry,” mumbled James as he tossed his backpack down at his work bench. “I lost track of time again.”

  “You’re lucky you’re not easily replaced,” said the doctor with a smile. “If I hadn’t spent the last four years turning you into an actual chemist, I’d just go grab someone new off the street and be done with it. You’re not so young anymore after all.”

  James grinned. “What can I say, old age has left me jaded.”

  “Well jaded or not, I need you at your best today. We have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time left to do it. The Committee on the Progression of Scientific Inquiry wants a full report on our work by next Tuesday. Apparently they’re getting antsy waiting for us to finish up.”

  “We’ve created the first synthetic human cell capable of utilizing photosynthesis. It’s one of the big milestones of the IMMORTAL Initiative. I’m surprised they’re trying to rush us. We’re way ahead of schedule.”

  “The government needs their victories where they can get them. Our work will be a welcome distraction for them to parade around. Besides, the IMMORTAL Initiative is Dr. Nightrick’s own pet project. I’m not surprised that they’re trying to turn up some good news for him. After that disaster at the Valker Plant, he’ll need all the good news he can get. Anyway, whenever you have a minute, I’d like a quick word with you in private.”

  “Now is fine,” said James, walking into the office that sat adjacent to the lab without waiting for a response. He looked around the small room, littered with old books and scraps of paper with all manner of notes scribbled onto them. A small desk lamp cast a dull yellow light into the otherwise dark space. Dr. Karich walked in behind him and circled the cluttered desk.

  “Don’t you think you deserve better than a broom closet?” said James. “You’re one of the best chemists in the entire country. Why do you let Neuro Corporation treat you like a pauper?”

  Dr. Karich shrugged. “As long as they keep financing our work, I couldn’t care less what kind of office they give me. Government funds are a little scarce right now. We’re lucky we have what we have. I didn’t ask you to join me in here to discuss the size of my office. I wanted to talk to you about the next few weeks,” said the doctor, signaling for the boy to take a seat. “Your birthday is approaching.”

  James nodded, easing himself into one of the patchy, leather chairs that sat adjacent to the wide desk. “I won’t be the same after the procedure. I’ll just be another mindless cog in the slave machine Nightrick is building.”

  “Induction isn’t so bad,” said Dr. Karich, sitting down across from him. “You don’t lose as much of your personality as some of the dissidents like to drone on about. From what I understand of it, it’s as simple as falling in love.”

  “Oh, it’s not so bad? That’s easy for you to say though, isn’t it? After all, your generation got a pass on it.”

  “Well it’d be wasteful to Induct people who have left behind their reproductive years. Listen, don’t misunderstand what I’m saying here, James. I agree with you. The procedure shouldn’t be mandatory. However, with Dr. Nightrick as this country’s de facto ruler now, you have to understand that a lot of things are going to change. The Raynon Uprising burned the old world to the ground and left a new one resting in its ashes.”

  James frowned. “Last time I checked, we still vote for our leaders.”

  “Sure, and every cycle they slither off to the capital to act like they have any power left, but everyone knows that they signed it away to bring peace back to the Earth a decade ago. We nearly entered the Stone Age again, James. You’re too young to remember what it was like. Every day we’d wake up and wonder when the next atomic weapon would detonate or whe
n the next band of rebels would ride into the city to slaughter whomever they deemed to be their enemies on that given day. Neighbors turned against neighbors, brothers killed brothers, and all in the name of survival. As a species, we fully reverted back into our primal form. Sacrifices had to be made.”

  “Don’t lecture me on sacrifice,” said James, subconsciously tearing at the frayed leather with his fingers. “I lost as much as everyone else did. And why? Because our ape species couldn’t stand the idea that we weren’t alone in the universe. One arrogant worldview traded for another, I suppose.”

  Dr. Karich leaned back in his chair ever so slightly. “While the discovery of alien life was in fact what triggered the panic, it wasn’t the reason that the world burned. Hell, all we found were single-celled organisms. It wasn’t that earth-shattering, really. Almost everyone had expected it to come at some point or another. The reason we nearly lost everything is because humans, in general, are easy to scare. Fear is the lord of all violence, and its dominion knows no bounds among men. Once you work an idiot up to a fever pitch, the only way to stop them is with force. You can’t reason with a fool, that’s the unfortunate symptom of being one. The riots started because of the discovery, sure, but it was the unfounded fear of a pandemic that triggered the war. Though I think his methods were barbaric, Nightrick quelled the Uprising and returned us to peace. He saved humanity from itself, and if I had to guess, that’s why Induction exists in the first place. He means to breed the stupid out of people.”

  “I think I’m going be sick. You’re obviously blinded by your friendship with him. Look around you for a minute. Turn on the news and tell me what you see. This is peace? That’s odd, because I could swear there was a war going on right now. I guess as long as we refrain from calling it that, it doesn’t exist.”

  “It’s not nearly the same scale as it was,” replied the doctor, meeting the young man’s gaze.

  “Nightrick has lost damn near half the country. What do you think will happen when the rebels finally get a foothold on the capital? They’ll probably start to purge everyone who’s remained loyal to the regime, and that obviously includes the Inducted. One way or another, after those chemicals enter my brain, my life is over.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic, James. Your life is just beginning. I called you in here because I want to talk to you about your future, not just the next few weeks. Your life will change after the procedure, but it won’t be as bad as you think it will be. We’re finally in range of succeeding. Soon, hunger will be a thing of the past, and no man, woman, or child will be left groveling for sustenance. We’re going to give humanity a great gift. You and Haley have surpassed my wildest expectations, and I can safely say that without you two, this work would never have come to fruition. That’s why I’ve put in to have both of you promoted. You’ll be made doctors of science and given your own labs to run here at Neuro Corporation. There’s not much else I can teach you. It’s time you venture out on your own.”

  James felt the blood rush out of his head. “I… I don’t know what to say.”

  “Just promise me that you’ll avoid doing anything stupid before your birthday. You’ll do great things in your life, James. Don’t let a moment of impulsiveness cost you your future.”

  As the sun began its slow retreat into the west, James and Haley made their way to one of the small restaurants that sat in the middle of downtown Dunton, just down the street from their laboratory. Tubes of neon light snaked all across the walls of the eatery in wild patterns, projecting their carefully choreographed displays out to the patrons enjoying their meals. The young couple sat in their usual booth against the wall, the one underneath the glowing guitar, and ate dinner as they always did, side by side, with the same light-hearted playfulness that had catalyzed their love in the first place.

  “Not a lot of cars out tonight,” said Haley, looking through the large window at the abandoned street. “I wonder what the hell is going on.”

  “It’s the rally,” replied James. “They’ve been plastering those propaganda posters all over the place. Nightrick is in town to commemorate the end of the Raynon Uprising.”

  “But why here? Dunton is a hole in the wall. He should’ve stayed in Dovaruss. Whenever he leaves the capital it means something is up.”

  James nodded. “Yup. We’ll probably be under siege before the end of the month. His morale trips are having the opposite effect anymore. Whenever he shows up, it’s like the kiss of death. If the rebels are trying to take Dunton, it’d be the closest the insurgency has gotten to Dovaruss in years.”

  She smiled at him. “Well maybe we should skip town.”

  “I wish,” he said with a small frown.

  “What’s wrong?”

  James sighed, avoiding eye contact with her as best he could. “We need to talk. My birthday is in six days. You know what they say, no drinks before eighteen and no dating past it.”

  “Before you say anything else, you know that I love you.”

  “I know…but we don’t have a choice.”

  “You always have a choice. There’s always an option. We could leave, like we talked about.”

  “To where?” he responded, still uncertain of how to proceed. “The Martian colonies? The Lunar? Unless you have a ship that we can use to break orbit, they’ll find us. There’s no place we could go that they wouldn’t find us.”

  They sat in silence, neither meeting the other’s gaze.

  “I’ll be right back. I’m going to take a leak,” said James as he got up to leave. He made a beeline for the front register. After quickly paying, he walked towards the exit, causing the doors to slide away before him. As he stood there outside the restaurant in the cool air of fall at dusk, he felt a nagging guilt ensnare him.

  “God dammit,” he murmured, turning around and walking back into the restaurant. When he got to the table, he took Haley by the hand, and without another word they left.

  The pair wandered aimlessly through the city as twilight burst forth in the sky above them. The glowing teal, blue, and purple coalesced so perfectly that for a moment, just a moment, the young couple forgot about the worries that plagued them. There was some comfort to be found in knowing that no matter what happened there on Earth, the entire universe that lay beyond it would carry on as if nothing had happened at all.

  They walked along until a large, concrete barricade blocked them from continuing forward. Down the street, a large swarm of people had gathered around the amphitheater sitting in the middle of Kingswood Park.

  “The rally,” said Haley with a small scowl. “Guess we’ll have to take the long way home.”

  “Or we could stay and watch,” replied James, pointing towards the large building next to him. “I bet we could get a pretty good view of the stage from up there. I’d like to hear the sweet promises he makes us before we all get hammered for his fucking eugenics program.”

  “I don’t know,” she replied, eyeing the high-rise. “His security is probably crawling all over the place.”

  “Oh come on,” he said, taking her by the hand. “What’s life without a little adventure?”

  She walked along beside him, winding her fingers through his. “Fine, but let’s try to avoid being detained.”

  He smiled at her. “In and out, I swear. Think you can reach that fire escape if I boost you up?”

  “Let’s find out.”

  With a heave, James raised her up, and she reached out, wrapping her hand around the metal grating of the staircase. She climbed onto the stairs, winding her leg through one of the steel bars and leaning back to help James up. He jumped, grabbing onto her extended arms. Straining, he pulled himself up. Once they were both firmly on the platform, they climbed along the building’s exterior, stopping on the sixth floor.

  Haley looked over the guardrail into the park below. The stage opened up directly in front of them. “I hate to admit it, but you were right. This is a hell of a view.”

  James nodded, pointing towards
the podium. “And there’s the man of the hour, Dr. Johnathan Nightrick, the great savior of Coren!”

  Haley laughed, watching the procession below. All along the stage, large, glass shields rose up. Six black armored figures flanked their leader as he walked across the platform, fanning out behind the podium. The man who approached the microphone was tall, with a slim silhouette. His coat sat tight to his body, revealing an athletic physique. He cleared his throat, looking around at the crowd. “Citizens of Coren, my people, we gather here today in remembrance of the Raynon Uprising, and those who gave their lives that we might survive to honor theirs. Eleven years ago we faced our darkest hour. Our country withered in the face of a ruthless insurgency, our army stood tattered from years of endless war, and it looked as though the dawn we sought so desperately might never come. Well I’m here to tell you, today, despite what you’ve been told in the past, that dawn is still something we only dream towards. It’s buried deep beneath the hour of the wolf, or wolves in our case. And make no mistake, those wolves are coming. They’re coming to Dunton, they’re coming to Northgate, and they’re coming to Dovaruss. Their hunger knows no bounds. They seek blood, and they’ll devour us all, if we let them. To what end? What grand objective can they hope to accomplish by slaughtering their countrymen and burning their own cities? They believe that Induction is slavery. They believe that blood will break your chains. They cannot see the truth because they’re blinded by self-righteousness. There are no chains. Induction is love, not bondage. It’s chemistry, uniting well-paired couples in a perpetual state of adoration. It’s progress, and it scares them because they know that they have no place in the coming world. Through eugenics, we’ll create a better breed of person. We’ll engineer and produce the specialists we need to finish ascending from this prison of rock that we’ve been confined to since time immemorial. This city will stand, as will all the others, because there’s a truth that these terrorists do not understand. Bombs and bullets can never change the hearts and minds of the people. Only Induction can do that. Remember the words spoken…”