by Toker, Dor
“Too quiet,” said Natalia and at that precise moment, the square began to fill with corporation agents. It seemed as though they were coming from every direction, from inside the tower and its surroundings, perhaps they’d even grown out of the earth. The agents organized themselves in rows, silent and protecting the elevator doors. Adam counted at least fifty agents facing them in a battle formation. He tried to calculate their chances of overcoming their enemies and found that the battle was probably hopeless. But he did not intend to beat them all. He sought the opening through which he would be able to break through the circle and meet the man who had ignited the chase after him, the man responsible for the death of his dear ones and the danger he and his friends were now facing, that man whose commands had overwhelmed his life, the man whose greed had caused him to try and put his hands on the unique patent called ‘Adam First’ in order to stop the development of the entire human race. ‘I won’t give him the pleasure of beating us, I won’t allow him to succeed,’ thought Adam. But in order to reach the elevator door and get inside, he needed the help of his friends. He could not stop thinking about the fact he may be sacrificing them so his mission would succeed. Even though they had freely chosen to join him, the responsibility for their wellbeing burdened his shoulders, and he tried to think of a solution that would ensure both their safety and his own success.
“Stay close to each other until I tell you otherwise,” he instructed his friends.
They advanced toward the first row of agents, and it parted and allowed them to pass through, before closing again. The next rows opened and closed before them the same way. “Set your suits to optimal defensive mode,” commanded Elizabeth, knowing the suits will at least be able to stop the laser guns.
The next row of agents did not allow them passage, and now the agents closed in on them from all directions. They stopped and stood still, back to back. Beyond the rows of agents, Adam noticed the figure of the tall assassin who had chased him from almost the very beginning. Natalia had called him Sato and Adam knew he would need to pass him as well. “Be ready,” Adam hissed, “each of us will jump forward in a different direction, and we’ll try to mislead them.” His friends nodded their heads. “Now,” called Adam and they obeyed him and lunged toward the agents in front of them. To their surprise, but not to Adam’s, the agents had completely ignored them and allowed them passage. Their target was Adam and Adam alone. He guessed this would happen and was happy that his friends were safe for now, outside the circle of the agents. He allowed the agents to grab him and lead him to Sato, who waited patiently for Adam to reach him.
“You never had a chance,” said the assassin and smiled a cruel and narrow smile.
“On the contrary,” Adam hissed. The elevator chimed to indicate it had arrived at the ground floor, and its doors opened, awaiting the passengers. Sato turned to the agents who held Adam, “Take him upstairs to the boss and don’t take your hands and eyes off him. As far as I’m concerned, you can beat him senseless and wake him up when you get there, understood?” The agents nodded and straightened Adam. The elevator doors began to close when one of the agents mistakenly pushed a button that reopened them. At that exact moment, Joseph, Elizabeth, and Natalia jumped on the agents from behind and knocked them down one after the other. “Quickly,” called Sato. This was exactly what Adam had been waiting for. He shook his guards and jumped on Sato. The force of the movement caused the two opponents to fly into the narrow elevator while struggling with each other. Adam sent his hand and released the elevator’s locking mechanism. It quickly took off to the management floor. Just before the door had closed, Adam managed to see Elizabeth being shot in the stomach and Joseph rushing to her aid while Natalia was trapped between three agents. Around them, lay many agents who’d been hit by the fighting team. A strong blow to the head stunned him for a moment. He heard a weak voice in his head, which instructed him: “Do it already…” He shook his head, thinking he’d only imagined the voice. He turned around and faced Sato, who had maintained an indifferent expression and a detached smile that stopped on his lips and didn’t invade the rest of his face. “Do it already, come on, what are you waiting for?” Adam heard again that same unknown, commanding voice. Sato noticed the hesitation in Adam’s movements and quickly attacked his prey. Adam evaded the older and more experienced warrior and sent a blow toward his body. Sato managed to turn his shoulders and absorb the blow so that Adam’s hand merely chafed his back. “Now,” the voice continued, “do it now…” Sato managed to grab Adam and tried to pin him to the floor. Adam held onto the elevator’s wall to somersault back and knock off his rival. They faced each other again and began to exchange a series of kicks and blows, so quick that they seemed more like two fighting machines than human beings. Adam needed everything he had learned since the chase after him had begun, in his training with both Elizabeth and Dmitry the smuggler, who had trained and nurtured him as if he was his own son. But all that wasn’t enough against Sato, who was much more skilled. Adam felt his strength draining, and Sato was about to overcome him. “That’s it,” the voice sounded in his head again. Sato pinned him to the elevator’s floor and turned him on his belly. He tried to resist, but the assassin was stronger and obviously had the upper hand. Sato pulled Adam’s hands back and bound them together with a super-metal restraint (Upprecious Metal ©). He turned Adam on his back and forced the youth to look into his eyes. “Now,” the voice cried in his head, and Adam now obeyed its instruction. A spring had loosened in his mind, and his personality sprang out his body, just like it had in the training complex in England when he had fought the assassins that infiltrated the Freedom Secret Camp. Just like he’d killed the agent next to Ararat Lake. The blinking dots of light, the misty nanoparticles the creator had given him, jumped from his eyes and surrounded the astonished Sato’s head. The dots joined together to create the shape of a human face in the air, Adam’s face. The warrior’s eyes followed the illuminated face, which spun around him, then rushed into his face. He screamed in pain and grabbed his head with his hands, trying to crush the dots of light and extract him from himself, but to no avail. He let go of Adam and felt his way in the elevator, deaf and blind. The dots of light, the advanced nanoparticles, began to do their work, paralyzing the systems that accompanied Sato’s senses one after the other and connected them with Adam’s brain implant. The assassin’s body trembled one last time, then collapsed to the floor and was still. Adam managed to balance himself until he sat with his arms still bound and moved on to the next stage. He sent short commands to the light particles in Sato’s body. At first, it appeared as though nothing was happening. Suddenly, Sato woke to life and stood above Adam in an intimidating posture. Adam was afraid the warrior’s strength had managed to overcome the light particles that had taken over his body. But Sato bent toward Adam, placed his hands around him, turned him around and with the aid of a knife he drew from his belt, cut the super-metal restraint that bound Adam’s wrists with a precise thrust. Then he simply stood, silent and motionless, next to the youth who had become a man, and waited for further commands from his new master.
Adam flexed his fingers into fists, trying to restore the blood flow. He straightened up, pushed the elevator button and sent it downstairs. His meeting with the head of the corporation will have to wait. He hurried to the ground floor, where his friends were fighting the corporation agents. When the elevator doors opened, he quickly jumped outside, leaving the paralyzed Sato behind. He found Joseph and Natalia protecting Elizabeth, who was lying on the ground, injured by a laser beam that had managed to infiltrate her protective suit. Of all the agents that were in the square when he had left them, only seven now remained and they closed on the company from every direction. He jumped on the nearest agent, and the momentum of his movement hurled them both onto another agent. For a moment, the attention of the remaining agents, busy with the task of besieging their prisoners, had become lax. Natalia took advantage of the opportunity. She bent, sent her leg f
orward in a split-like movement, and kicked the feet of the agent in front of her. He fell on his face, bumped his head and lay still on the ground. She hurried to Adam and helped him overcome the two agents who stood in front of him. Then they immediately turned to face the remaining four agents. Joseph still attempted to handle them, but his strength had betrayed him, and he simply embraced and protected Natalia, their four enemies leaning above. Natalia and Adam attacked the agents from behind and brought them down. In the silence that settled after the chaos of the battle, only Elizabeth’s sighs could be heard. Joseph rose up and held her hand. He saw what Adam and Natasha could see as well. Elizabeth’s wounds were mortal. She mumbled something and Joseph stooped until his ear was above her mouth and listened. “Help him,” she mumbled, “he must succeed.”
“Hang in there,” called Joseph, frightened and helpless, “help her, Adam. Please help her,” the elderly scientists begged.
“Come,” Adam instructed Natalia and hurried to Sato. “Tie him up and see that he doesn’t move,” he commanded. She tied the older warrior’s hands and feet, while Adam relayed a message to a single dot of light that erupted from Sato’s body in the form of glowing dust and merged into a sphere of light that floated around him. Sato moved and opened his eyes. Adam’s control of him had eased a bit, and he strained to re-stabilize it. “I gave him back some control over his body,” he said to Natalia, who looked at him with astonishment as if seeing him for the first time. “His brain is still under my control, but his body resists and he may hurt you or himself. Keep him alive, I need him alive.” Adam spat out his commands sharply. He wanted to be softer with Natalia, but time was of the essence, and he was afraid more agents would show up soon. He left Sato under Natalia’s supervision and hurried to get back to Elizabeth. The nanoparticles secreted by her brain implant weren’t able to overcome the laser injury and for the moment, were only able to sustain her life. Adam hinted to Joseph that he should stay clear and directed the sphere of light to the puncture the laser beam had pored in Elizabeth’s stomach. The sphere spun for a brief moment around the edges of the tiny hole, then penetrated it. Elizabeth sighed with pain, then immediately drew silent. Adam covered the wound with his right hand and felt how the nanoparticles the creator had given him were draining his energy. Elizabeth opened her eyes and looked into Adam’s. He smiled at her, and she returned a tired smile.
“The savior,” she mumbled and closed her eyes. Adam waited a moment, then turned to Joseph. “Take her to the nearest hospital. She needs to rest.” The improvetegrated nanoparticles dissolved in Elizabeth’s body while she slept an unconscious sleep.
Natalia turned to Adam and called: “I’m coming with you.” For a moment she eased her hold on the assassin a little. It was enough for Sato. His body curled into a ball, and his foot kicked Natalia, who was thrown from the elevator. The warrior struggled to get up and press the button, which would close the elevator door, but Adam lunged forward and was able, at the last moment, to push his hand between the closing doors. The light sphere squeezed between the doors and penetrated Sato’s body once more. The assassin fell on the elevator’s floor, and the doors slid back and reopened. “No,” said Adam, “from here, I continue by myself. Go with Joseph and Elizabeth,” he added in a softer tone, “I need to concentrate now, without worrying about the lives of the ones I hold dearest. Without being afraid something bad might happen to you.” He took her in his arms and whispered, “I love you.” Natalia hugged him, hiding between his arms, her head buried in his shoulder. “It’s not over yet,” he said after a few seconds, “you need to get them out of here quickly. More agents are already on their way.” Natalia straightened up, rose to the tips of her toes and kissed him. Then she turned around and got back to Joseph. They lifted Elizabeth and carried her to the hovercraft. Adam followed them with his eyes until they reached the aircraft, then pushed the button for the Skil Tower’s uppermost level. While waiting for the elevator door to close and for it to begin its climb toward the management floor, toward the man who had instructed that he and all the people related to him must be hurt, Sato sent his foot with a well aimed kick directed at Adam’s face. Adam was thrown back to the elevator wall, then dropped to the floor and remained there, lying still.
Chapter 36
The elevator doors opened on the upper floor of the Skil Tower, two thousand feet above the ground. In front of the door stood a half circle of agents, guns ready and aimed at whoever will come out. “Hold your fire,” Sato commanded while holding the bound prisoner whose head was covered. The agents were confused, they’d just been informed that Sato had failed, and they need to wait by the elevator in order to trap the intruder. Now, here was Sato, leading the bound and head covered criminal. At that exact moment, the agents at the foot of the tower disappeared from their personal monitors; the only possible explanation was that they were dead. “Move back,” Sato instructed when he saw that the seven kept aiming their weapons at him. He pushed the prisoner’s back and led him on while directing his weapon at him. An involuntary twitch passed on his face. It appeared as though he was struggling with something or someone inside him. Five of the seven agents obeyed his instruction and lowered their weapons while the two remaining ones continued to direct their weapons at him, but with less tension. Hesitation was apparent on their faces, as their eyes moved back and forth from Sato and his prisoner to their remaining friends who had moved back. “I told you to move back and lower your weapons,” Sato barked his commands. The twitch passed on his face once more, but this time the agents assumed it was due to nervousness, pressure and anger about the delay. The two remaining agents finally lowered their weapons, and all seven hurried to step aside, allowed Sato, and the prisoner to pass through. Sato held the bound prisoner and directed him down the long corridor toward a flight of stairs leading to the CEO’s floor. Behind them, at a safe distance, the agents accompanied the assassin and his imprisoned prey with their eyes. Just as Sato’s and Adam’s feet were about to touch the stairs, one of the agents shouted: “Stop,” but Sato didn’t stop and continued to lead his prisoner without turning back. “I told you to stop,” said the agent again and began to run toward them. Sato did not react, but the prisoner rolled forward, jumped to his feet, yanked the head cover from his head and while still moving, released his bound hands. A gun was magically conjured in his hand. He pulled the trigger seven times and seven quick and narrow beams flashed in the air. Seven holes were punctured in the heads of seven stunned agents, who fell dead, one after the other before they were able to react. The prisoner quickly took out the weapon from the hands of his jailor, who offered no resistance and stood still, waiting for the so-called prisoner to command him.
When they’d ascended up the elevator, few minute earlier Adam’s control of Sato had faltered for a moment. The veteran warrior’s willpower was immense, and he’d managed to partially loosen Adam’s grip on him. The assassin was able to hit him again, even though the advanced nanoparticles dominated his brain and external implant. Adam took a blow to the head and fell on the elevator’s floor. Sato was able to direct himself to Adam and lay on his, looking for an instrument he could turn off, an instrument he assumed Adam had used to take over his brain. When he couldn’t find such an instrument, he attempted to release his hands. His head was aching, he felt it was about to split in half. Through dulled senses, Adam watched Sato’s attempts. He felt his consciousness had left his earthly body and was now wandering about the elevator. He was the elevator, the light and air trapped within it. He was Sato and the light and darkness; he was Adam and life and death. He was defined and wasn’t. He discovered he didn’t have a solid opinion about whether the change that had taken place in him was good or evil, but he knew the change had taken place and was continuing to take place this very instant.
Adam curiously regarded Sato’s failed attempts to release himself. He closely inspected the aged warrior, experienced him and got to know him thoroughly. Sato had seen him as well. He allow
ed Sato to see him for what he truly was, without the restraints of the physical body, just as he was now seeing Sato. The assassin understood him. In other circumstances, he might have even helped and supported him. But Adam knew Sato was beyond convincing. The nanoparticles had changed him, had turned him into a different, irreparable version of himself. He sent a quick command and enjoyed seeing both bodies, Sato’s and his, stretch and sit side-by-side.
He forced himself to return to his body and continue with his original plan, until he is able to replace it with a different plan that had already begun to hatch in his brain, or whatever else was doing the thinking when he was devoid of flesh. He now thought he’d realized what the leap awaiting humanity was, and he knew what each and every member of the human race needed to do in order to undergo the leap. He still did not know how he will be able to convince everyone to take the leap, but hoped that the answer will manifest itself in the future. Meanwhile, he stood on his feet, covered his head with the upper part of Sato’s protective suit, leaving the rest of his body exposed. Sato tied Adam’s hands behind his back in a way that would allow him to release himself with ease and quickness and shoved his gun beneath his suit. Adam didn’t want to use it but knew he would probably have no other choice. He voicelessly instructed Sato to take hold of him, just as the elevator had sounded a short chime and its doors opened. Seven agents were facing them, weapons aimed and ready.