The Deep Beneath

by Natalie Wright

  “Unceasing?”

  “It means you will never give up. And tonight, Alecto, I need you to be unceasing. You see there was another H.A.L.F. that came before you. He is unlike you. He is … imperfect. And that problem child has found his way out of the facility. He has caused me many complications and more. I need for you to bring him home.”

  Alecto had not known that there was another being such as herself. She had assumed that she was one of a kind. Many questions came to her mind such as how many others like her were there. But it was not her place to seek answers. The Commander would tell her what she was required to know to fulfill her mission.

  “Do you have questions?”

  Alecto had many questions. But in her fifteen years of dealing with humans, she had learned that none of them displayed the patience she had been trained to exhibit. She needed to consider with care what queries to make because Commander Sturgis was unlikely to allow many.

  “Is the one that escaped male?”

  “Yes. Is that a problem for you, Alecto?”

  “No, Commander.” And her answer was the truth. If anything, the revelation prompted a strange emotion to arise that was entirely new to her. As she considered the feeling, she decided that in terms of human emotions, it could best be categorized as hope.

  “Just because he is male does not mean he is stronger, so do not concern yourself with that. 9 is not nearly the H.A.L.F. that you are. You should have no problem overpowering him.”

  “Does he have the same abilities that I do?”

  “Yes. Like you, he can manipulate matter with his mind and speak telepathically. That is if the other party can receive it. And like you, he absorbs moisture through his skin so he has the same vulnerability to water and humidity that you have. But your DNA is more … pure. You are everything that he is, but more of it. Do you have any other questions?”

  Alecto felt as though her head buzzed with the new knowledge and the implications. She had a brother, of sorts. There is another like me. She had attempted to speak with her mind to attendants and to Dr. Dolan, but it had never worked. She could see visions in her mind of what they were thinking, but they appeared to be unable to read her thoughts even when she attempted to speak directly to their minds. She looked forward to speaking telepathically with 9. And she was being asked to ‘bring him home’. Or was she really being asked to do to him what she had been created for? “Only one question, Commander. Am I to terminate 9 or bring him in alive?”

  “That’s an excellent question. Alive. He may be a bad boy, but he has not yet outlived his usefulness to me or to this program. He is an investment we cannot afford to lose. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Commander.” Again the strange sensation of hope welled within her. It would have pained her to have to terminate the brother she only just learned that she had though she knew not to reveal this to the commander.

  “I have a car waiting for you. Sergeant Lopez will drive you. Track 9 with your telepathy. He doesn’t know you exist, so he won’t be closing his mind to you. Use that to your advantage.”

  Commander Sturgis stood and smoothed her skirt. “I’ll send Sewell in to take you to your vehicle. If you think of any other questions on the way, you may ask him.”

  As Commander Sturgis opened the door, Alecto said, “Commander, please. Wait.”

  Commander Sturgis turned. Her forehead creased with displeasure. “What is it, Alecto?”

  “I have never been into the human world. Is it dangerous to a H.A.L.F. such as myself?”

  Commander Sturgis’ face softened. She walked back to the table but did not sit down. “Yes, it can be. But do not fear. You are well equipped to handle whatever the outside world throws at you. Besides, once out in the desert air, you’ll be more powerful than ever.”

  Alecto had not considered herself powerful and was unsure what Commander Sturgis meant by ‘more powerful’.

  “Thanks to the exploits of the problem child, while here at A.H.D.N.A. you have been sedated by the high humidity. You’ve been relegated to bending spoons and moving blocks. But you are capable of so much more. When you leave this artificial environment, your mind will clear. You will come to your full power. And that includes the power to kill a human merely by thinking of it.”

  “Then I am the danger.” Learning that she was unlikely to encounter a danger she could not handle, Alecto’s heart rate slowed.

  Commander Sturgis smiled a wide but toothless smile. “Yes, you are. Now go. Time is of the essence. I want 9 back here before morning. Leave no trace, of him or of yourself. The human world up top is not ready yet to know of your existence. Secrecy, Alecto, is your best protection against the dangers of the human world.”

  “Yes, Commander.”

  Commander Sturgis exited the room. As she waited for Sewell to come collect her, Alecto pondered all that Commander Sturgis had revealed to her. She had been created to take orders and to kill on command. She had been trained to think only of her tasks, not of herself. Something new surged within her. Emotions she had never experienced before whirled inside her. I have a brother. I am not alone.

  7

  NORTH

  According to the digital clock on the dashboard, it was well past midnight when they reached the desert highway that Erika said would take them north to Phoenix. They drove for several miles without seeing another vehicle. Tex wondered if the road was abandoned. A blinding pain seared his eyes when a large truck came toward them on the other side of the road. The vehicle sped by quickly, and Tex was glad to be in the dark once again.

  They had not gone far when Ian stopped at the twenty-four-hour truck stop at the crossroads as Erika had suggested. They passed a large grouping of parked trucks that Ian told him were called semis. He saw no humans walking about. Ian parked the car at the far end of the building that housed an all-night store and a cafe.

  Jack had fallen asleep on Erika’s lap. She had to rouse him so she could get out. His face was paler than Erika’s or Ian’s, but Tex could feel that Jack’s energy had improved since they left the desert.

  “What do you want to eat?” Erika asked.

  Jack rubbed his eyes and yawned. “A large pepperoni pizza.”

  “Yeah, you and everybody else in this car,” said Ian.

  Tex did not want to eat pepperoni pizza. He had read about it and thought that eating aged cow’s milk and pig flesh sounded disgusting.

  “Sorry. How about a hot dog?” asked Erika.

  Jack stuck out his tongue and made a gagging motion.

  “I’ll eat anything and not even I would eat a truck stop hot dog. How can you, Miss Vegetarian, suggest such a thing?” asked Ian.

  “Jack needs protein. I’m guessing they don’t have any tofu in there, so we gotta make do,” said Erika.

  “Whatever you get me will be fine,” Jack said.

  Erika opened her door to get out as did Ian. “What are you doing?” Erika asked.

  “I need more caffeinated sugar,” Ian said.

  “I’ll get it. You need to stay here with Jack. And him.” Erika nodded toward Tex.

  Ian sighed loudly but did not argue with Erika. He slammed his door closed and rolled down the window. “Get me a guzzler,” he yelled.

  Erika disappeared into the store. Tex was determined to see more of the human world than the inside of a car that smelled like dirty feet and aging vinyl. He opened his door.

  “Where are you going?” asked Ian.

  “I think Erika meant for you to stay here,” Jack said.

  “Was it not Erika who said that I am free?” Tex asked.

  Ian looked back at Jack. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a good idea to –”

  “I will not be long,” Tex said.

  He did not wait for further protest. He walked up to the wide, glass double doors to the store and spotted Erika heading toward the back corner. The lights in the store were very bright, and it hurt his eyes to look inside.

  Perhaps this is not a
good idea.

  Tex continued on the sidewalk past the doors to the store and found another door under a sign that said ‘24 Hour Diner’. The door was wood, not glass. He pulled the door handle and the light inside was lower than in the store. It did not hurt his eyes, so he stepped inside.

  His nose was assaulted by the aroma of bleach mixed with burnt food and a strange, acrid odor that was both bitter and delicious at the same time. The smell of car exhaust lingered in the air. How can they eat here? Tex was glad that he lived in an environment free of the horrible stench of the human world, then quickly chastised himself for feeling appreciative of anything that had to do with the world from which he had escaped.

  He took a few steps more into the restaurant. Dishes clanked. People talked and laughed. Two men sat on bar stools at a long counter. Behind the counter stood a woman with long, very blonde hair holding a pot of steaming liquid. She laughed at something that one of the men said.

  Tex walked toward the counter. He wanted to try the hot beverage inside the vessel the woman held.

  As he approached, the woman behind the counter turned her attention to him for the first time. Her eyes grew wide and she dropped the pot and screamed. The metal container crashed onto the tile floor, and brown liquid splashed up onto the woman’s skirt. She backed away as Tex approached.

  Her scream caused both men at the counter to turn in Tex’s direction. One of the men got up from his stool and also took a few steps back.

  The other man, the one closest to Tex, stood up too, his arms outstretched toward Tex. “Stay right there. Don’t come no closer.” The man’s voice quivered. Tex felt the man’s heart rate increase and smelled his perspiration.

  They are afraid. They are afraid of me.

  Tex did not understand why they feared him. He had not attempted to dispatch anyone.

  “There is no need to be afraid. I will not harm you. I only wanted to try the hot beverage,” Tex said. He walked a few steps closer to the counter.

  Instead of alleviating their fears, he only seemed to make it worse. The man who had spoken to him backed up. “Julie, do you think we should call somebody? Like the cops or maybe the air force base?”

  “Do not call anyone,” Tex said. His voice came out more threatening than he had intended. The woman visibly shook and began to cry. “Please. Do not call. I will not harm you. I only wanted –”

  “Tex!” Erika yelled. “What the heck are you doing in here?” Erika stormed into the room from the hallway that adjoined the restaurant to the store. She held a flimsy plastic bag full of items in one hand and a large cup of liquid in the other.

  “I only wanted to –”

  “Let’s go. Now.” Her voice was stern, her face angry.

  Tex did not make a move to leave. He wanted to talk to the humans. He wanted to show them that he was no danger to them.

  Erika was less than a foot away. She spoke sternly to him under her breath so that only Tex could hear. “You don’t want them to call the cops, do you? You’ll have plenty of time to explore, but first you have to put pavement between yourself and Sturgis.”

  She was correct, of course. Tex had allowed himself to be led by his curiosity. He had not exercised the patience he had been trained to show. His small rebellion against his training would cost him his chance at freedom if these humans called the police or, worse, the military.

  Erika turned to face the three standing at the bar counter, their mouths agape. “What are y’all staring at? Haven’t you ever seen someone with Spender’s disease before? It isn’t polite to stare at him like that and make him feel more self-conscious about his looks than he already does. He can’t help it, can he?” Erika’s voice was filled with disdain.

  But her farce appeared to have the intended effect. “Oh, I didn’t know,” Julie said. Her face went from fright to embarrassment. “I’m so sorry.” She averted her eyes from Tex as though avoiding him was more polite than staring.

  Or perhaps it is just less frightening if she does not look upon me.

  The men also voiced apologies.

  “He needs to get home and rest and take his medicine. Come on.” Erika walked briskly out the door without looking back, apparently assuming that Tex would follow her.

  And he did follow her. He did not look back at the humans at the counter either. He hoped that they believed Erika’s lie and that they did not have the curiosity to search the Internet trying to find out what Spender’s disease was.

  As they approached the car, Erika commanded, “Get in.”

  Tex did as she asked and was surprised to find himself glad to be back in Jack’s malodorous car. Away from the frightened stares anyway.

  Erika handed Ian the large plastic cup that said ‘32 oz. Super Guzzler’ on the side as well as a bag filled with long, red candy. “I suggest you get us out of here. Fast,” she said.

  “What happened?” Ian asked.

  “Tex caused a scene, and I covered as best I could, but I don’t know how long it will hold them off.”

  Ian started the car and pulled out and back onto the road. He opened the bag of candy with his teeth and spit out a piece of the bag. The car was instantly filled with an odor that smelled like sugary plastic.

  “Want one?” Ian asked. He held the bag out to Tex. He took one of the long, thin candy ropes and sniffed it.

  “This does not smell as though it would provide proper nutrition for your body. Are you certain this is food?”

  Ian laughed as he eased the car onto the on-ramp. “It’s not meant to be nutritious.”

  “Then why ingest it?”

  “Because it tastes good. Haven’t you ever had sweets?”

  “A.H.D.N.A. supplied balanced nutrition three times daily. My body does not require ‘sweets’ so they did not provide it. I do not know ‘sweet’.”

  “It’s time you live a little. Go ahead. Try it.” Ian bit off a large chunk of the chewy substance and smiled as he ate it.

  Tex bit into the candy and chewed it as Ian had. It was goopy in his mouth and at first unpleasant. He considered spitting it out, but then a sensation overwhelmed him. The sugary taste filled his mouth and became like a liquid. It was a pleasant taste that made him happy. Tex quickly downed the entire rope of candy.

  “More?” he asked.

  Ian laughed and held out the bag for him. “I think I’ve created a monster. Here. Take it.”

  Erika gave Jack something that she called a ‘hot dog’, a sports drink and a bag of chips. “Sorry, it’s not what you ordered. But it’s the best I could do in there.”

  The smell of the nutrition that Erika handed Jack made Tex’s stomach feel queasy. The odor was unlike anything that he had ever experienced, as he had never eaten charred animal flesh. “Are you eating a canine?”

  Jack’s mouth was full of the substance, but he chuckled. “It’s not a real dog. We don’t eat dogs. It’s other meat.”

  “If you can call it that,” said Erika.

  “Don’t confuse him,” said Jack. “It’s like pork and beef mixed together with spices.” Jack chewed loudly. “Might even have been good if it hadn’t been rolling on heat rollers for a week. Wanna try it?”

  Tex nodded. He had never had animal flesh, and though it did not smell as though it would provide sound nutrition for his body, he was curious. The twizz had not smelled appetizing either, but it had been enjoyable.

  Jack broke off a piece and handed it to him. Tex chewed and allowed the full flavor of the hot dog to fill his mouth. It did not have a sweet, happy taste like the twizz. It was not dry and pulpy like his nutrition bars. It was, Tex decided, disgusting.

  “What a face,” Jack said. “I guess you don’t like it.”

  “It is not an enjoyable experience to eat a dog.”

  “I agree,” said Erika. She smiled at him when she said it.

  Jack quickly finished eating the dog that was not an actual dog. He drank the entire cup of liquid Erika had given him. Tex was glad that Jack had not o
ffered him a taste of the drink. He did not want to dull his senses with added moisture.

  “I’ve got something for you,” Erika said. She handed Tex a pair of large, oval eyeglasses with very dark lenses.

  Tex took the glasses, examined them, put them on and turned to look at Ian.

  “Erika, you got him chick glasses. Now he looks like a super freak with that stupid cowboy hat and those bug-eye glasses,” said Ian.

  “I had to get ones big enough to cover his eyes.”

  Tex had never truly understood the word ‘gift’, as he had never received one before. Now he comprehended it. Erika had given him the glasses by her own choice, not because she was commanded to. Tex did not know why she had given him a gift, but he was pleased that she had. “Thank you, Erika. These glasses will provide protection for my eyes when the sun rises.”

  “You’re not going to burn up like a vampire or anything, are you?” asked Ian.

  “I do not know what will happen to me, as I have never seen the sun. But my eyes are quite sensitive to light. I, therefore, infer that eye protection may be necessary for me.”

  Tex was intrigued about the star that humans called the sun. He understood its physical properties and that the photons from the sun allowed for photosynthesis by plants and thus was a necessary component for life on Earth. He had learned that some cultures worshiped the sun though he could not comprehend why humans could mistake a star – and an ordinary one at that – as a god. Perhaps there was something about the human ‘sun’ that he had yet to learn.

  “So how old are you?” Erika asked.

  “I am seventeen years old.”

  “And you’ve never seen the sun?” asked Ian.

  “That’s crazy,” said Jack.

  “And sad too,” said Erika.

  Tex had never considered it either crazy or sad that he had not seen the sun. He lived in a temperature and humidity controlled environment that supplied adequate warmth. Electric lights provided illumination though he had little need of it. He could not fathom why Erika harbored sadness over this.