The Modified (The Biotics Trilogy, #1)

by Kunz, C. A.

  “It’s pretty cool, huh? I wasn’t really good at it at first, and I’m still practicing,” he replies, holding up the book in his hands. “But we could get in trouble for talking about it until we’re assigned to our divisions.”

  “Yeah, I know. There can’t be any cheating,” I say while rolling my eyes. Joey laughs.

  I get serious. “Hey, how are you doing, really? We haven’t gotten to chat for a while now.”

  He smiles. “Kenley, we see each other and talk all the time.”

  “I know we do, but not like we used to back home.”

  “Well, things haven’t really been conducive to that. It’s been a little crazy around here, you know?”

  “A little? I think this place would qualify as more than that.”

  Joey chuckles. “You know what I mean.”

  “Yeah, I do. I just don’t want things to change between us. You’re my best friend, a brother. We’re in this together, remember?” I pause for a moment and then grin. “I love you, Joey Reilly.”

  “I love you too, Kenley Grayson,” he says seriously, placing his hands on my shoulders and looking directly into my eyes. “I also think you’re being overemotional,” he jokes.

  I give him a light tap on the chest. “Maybe so, but you can’t blame a girl for worrying, can you?”

  I can always count on Joey to make a serious situation into a joke. He’s always been like that. I think it’s kind of a defense mechanism. He’s always trying to avoid serious situations when words are involved, but if those situations call for physical action, he’s right there in the thick of it. Dylan had to save his ass many times growing up. Trouble always seemed to find Joey, and he rarely ever used his words.

  I shoot up in bed, startled and breathing heavily. A loud bang in the distance makes me focus. I go to step out of bed and my whole room shakes, causing me to stumble and fall to the floor. Several louder bangs sound in the distance. I try to stand, but fall to my knees again as it feels like an earthquake just ran through my room.

  “Kenley, your heartbeat is irregularly fast, and your blood pressure is high. Is something wrong?” Galileo asks popping out from my bangle.

  “I’m okay, but something’s happening in the facility Galileo-” I begin to reply and then another loud bang echoes throughout the hall outside, shaking my room and sending me crashing into my door, which doesn’t open when I get close to it. Regaining my composure, I look up above the door and there’s a red light on. “Why didn’t the door open, Galileo?”

  “I am not sure, Kenley. It seems to not be responding to my interface. One moment…I will perform a scan of the facilities’ energy outputs,” he responds and retracts into the band. The band begins to pulse neon blue while he’s performing the scan. “Scan complete…it would appear that the emergency shield generator has been activated. The facility is on reserve energy, which would explain the door’s malfunction. All doors must be opened manually during this time,” Galileo explains.

  Several more loud bangs resonate through the facility, but this time I hit the ground and ride out the tremors that follow.

  “Why would the emergency shield generator be on, Galileo?”

  “The emergency shield generator only activates in the instance of an attack from an outside force on the facility,” he replies.

  I hear scurrying outside. The next thing I know my door is being rolled open. I see Landon and Joey pushing the door aside, together. There’s a group of people behind them, but I can’t make them out in the dark.

  “Kenley?” I hear Landon and Joey call out into the room.

  “Yeah, I’m here.”

  “We need to get to the mess hall,” Landon announces as he pulls me to my feet.

  “What? Why? What’s going on?” I ask, my head still a little dizzy from being tossed around the room like a rag doll.

  “We don’t know what’s going on. Your dad told all of us to head for the mess hall,” Joey pipes in breathlessly.

  I see Sam in the doorway over Landon’s shoulder looking concerned, which is so unlike her. Caleb is standing next to her, looking worried as well, with Geoffrey cowering behind him.

  “Let’s go then,” I say and push out of the room with everyone else, joining the crowd of cadets hurrying through the halls.

  All of the hallways are lit up with red swirling emergency lights. There’s an electronic voice that’s sounding throughout the facility. “Magnus Academy is in emergency lockdown mode. Excess power is being utilized by the emergency shield generator.” The message is on repeat and echoes throughout every area we travel through.

  A couple more loud bangs sound around us as we approach the entrance to the mess hall. The aftershock rocks us off balance, causing me to crash into Landon and Sam. Steadying ourselves, we make our way into the mess hall and find everyone gathered there. My dad and the heads of each division are on the stage, trying their best to calm the crowd. We feel a few more quakes, but they fizzle out before causing any damage.

  We hear a microphone chime on and my dad’s voice follows. “Can I please have your attention?” The crowd quiets and we all look toward the stage. “I know you’re all probably startled and confused by what’s happening. Just know that you’re safe and main power should be returning to the facility shortly.”

  “What’s going on?” I hear someone yell from the crowd, followed by a rumble amongst the gathered group.

  “The emergency shield generator was activated around the facility, which is why we lost centralized power,” he answers.

  “Why?” I hear someone else ask.

  “We were attacked by the Bringers,” my father responds and then unrest rolls throughout the crowd. “I need for everyone to calm down. Our gun turrets have warded off the enemy fleet and the Allied Federation is on their way to assess the damages. We’re in the clear and power should be returning momentarily.” His calming voice seems to put everyone at ease.

  As the lights flicker back on, a female electronic voice chimes in. “Shield integrity at eighty-five percent. Centralized power restored. Threat neutralized. Shield generator repair required.”

  “Now, training sessions will go on as scheduled tomorrow. This attack only serves to prove what we’re doing here has them threatened. I know you all are probably a little shaken, but we must press on,” my dad says into the microphone. “So please return to your rooms, and try to get some rest.”

  When the students begin to filter out of the mess hall, I make my way against the crowd toward the stage where my father is. I tell the rest of my group to stay put and wait for me. I call out to my dad and he smiles, gesturing for me to come closer. He exits off the stage and joins me on the ground.

  “How did the Bringers find us? I thought this facility was cloaked?” I ask in a whisper.

  “I have my suspicions about that,” he replies, placing his hand on my shoulder and guiding me off to the side for more privacy. “I believe the Bringers picked up on the energy you all were producing by activating your implants. You have to realize that you have the essence of this species coursing through your veins. With your implants activated, it must’ve been like a beacon set off for them,” he explains in a whisper.

  “Did you guys expect this attack then?”

  “Sort of, which is why we took such drastic measures to improve the defense capabilities of the Magnus.”

  “Will they be back?”

  “Unlikely. They know we’re heavily fortified now, and besides, the Allied Federation will be patrolling the perimeter of the facility from here on out. So no worries,” he says with a smile.

  I hear Dr. Patel call out to my father and he turns to look at her.

  “I have to go deal with some issues. Sorry we can’t talk more about this right now,” he says looking back at me.

  “It’s okay, you deal with what you got to deal with, and we’ll talk later.”

  “Deal,” he replies and gives me a quick hug.

  As my dad leaves I look over to my group
that’s gathered by the entrance of the mess hall. I try to organize my thoughts as I make my way over to them in order to tell them what my father had said. It’s weird, but even after what my dad told me, I don’t feel any more at ease, or safe for some reason.

  For the first time since our introduction session, I find myself actually sitting down in one of the desks inside a training room. They’re not as comfortable as I remembered them being though. We’ve been waiting here for a little while now, and I’m surprised that Dr. Wilhelm is late to class since I pictured him as the “always on time” type.

  Everyone still seems to be on edge from the attack on the facility yesterday, me included. I’ve begun to notice an increased presence of Federation guards patrolling the facility. My dad continues to tell everyone that it’s routine procedure, and will only last until the shield generators are at full capacity. I’m not so sure though.

  I look around the room and my eyes stop on Landon. He seems to have been staring at me this entire time.

  “What’s up?” I ask, seeming to break into his thoughts.

  He snaps out of his daze. “Just thinking,” he replies.

  “About what?” I inquire, leaning in closer to him, giving him all my attention.

  He leans in too, almost like he’s about to tell me a secret. “About all the Federation guards who have been stationed at the facility. I know that we were attacked, but what good are they going to do from the inside?”

  “I know, right? It’s also weird how they walk around here and seem more like robots than the androids do.”

  I notice everyone’s attention focuses on the door and I turn to see Dr. Wilhelm strolling into the classroom. “Morning, cadets, I hope you weren’t waiting too long,” he announces dryly. He sets his briefcase down on the desk at the front of the room and turns to us. He points at me almost immediately when he faces the class. I look from side to side to make sure that he was pointing at me. His eyes never leave my position. “Ms. Grayson, thanks for volunteering. Please come forward.”

  Standing from my desk, I hesitantly make my way to the front, wondering the entire time what Dr. Wilhelm has in store for me. He takes my hand and spins me around to face everyone.

  “Remember when you asked me in the library how to retrieve the information in your brain after utilizing the perception ability?” he asks and I nod slightly. “Well, I’m about to show you.” Dr. Wilhelm moves to be in front of me. “I want you to close your eyes and clear your mind until all you see is white. Now, try and visualize the cover of the novel The Art of War right in the center of the white space. Grab hold of the book in your mind and begin flipping through the pages.”

  As he talks me through this exercise, I visualize everything he’s saying. I see the cover, myself grabbing the book and flipping through the pages—all of it. My eyes open abruptly and a rush of information floods my head as I remember the entire novel. Dr. Wilhelm asks me to recite a line from page 29 and I do. He doesn’t even have to check the line in the copy of the book he holds in his hand, because he’s memorized it. He nods when I’m correct.

  “Very good, Ms. Grayson,” he comments. “Just remember that when you use perception again, you will erase the previous thing stored in your mind. That is all. You may take your seat.”

  A knock comes from my door, and I spring from my bed to open it. Landon is standing there as it slides open.

  “Hey, what are you doing here? You should be studying for our Tact final tomorrow,” I say, but he doesn’t say anything back, he just stands there grinning at me with his gorgeous lips. The image of Landon shutters and I hear “crap” from down the hall. The image fully disappears as I see Landon approaching from around the corner of the wall in front of me.

  “I can’t believe you just used your decoy ability on me,” I state playfully.

  He laughs. “Well, I had to practice somehow, didn’t I?” Landon jokes while placing his hands about my waist and pulling me close.

  “Landon, I’ve got to-“

  He places his thumb over my mouth and runs it from my upper to lower lip. “I know, I know, you need to study, right?” he says softly, cutting me off.

  I bring my hand up to touch his face and it goes straight through his image. I hear “crap” from around the corner in front of me again and I glare in that direction. I swat through the image of Landon and it dissipates.

  Storming over to the wall that Landon is hiding behind, “I can’t believe you. Seriously? You didn’t have to do that a second time. That wasn’t fair,” I whine and slap his shoulder.

  He just stands there, grinning foolishly. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry I did that,” he chuckles. “But you have to admit that I did pretty well, huh? Huh?”

  “Go study, please,” I reply dryly, not acknowledging the fact that he did do well because he fooled me twice.

  I turn to walk away, but I feel Landon grab me by my waist and pull me toward him. He presses his firm chest against my back and for a moment I forget that I’m annoyed with him. He whispers “okay” closely to my ear and releases me. Landon smiles when I turn to look at him. Blowing me a kiss, he starts to walk away. I hear him say “goodnight” and wave as he continues to move down the hall.

  “Goodnight, Landon,” I call out and hear him laugh. Shaking my head, I return to my room with a huge grin on my face.

  The Tactical final is definitely set up different from our previous ones. Since each ability is pretty much non-combative in nature, none of the tasks involve combat drones.

  The first task has the whole class of cadets using perception. Dr. Wilhelm walks around every desk and places a copy of Generation Kill by Evan Wright in front of us. He then instructs us to “read” it and answer a multiple choice question test. Our success rate is dependent on how fast we’re able to answer the questions.

  I focus on the book in front of me and put my hand on top of it. Visualizing the words from each page sucking up into my hand, I see the cover of the book as it closes in my head, and now have the entire novel stored away in my memory.

  A multiple choice question test projects from my desk and I blow through it quickly. My desk turns green in color instead of the blue it was before, and the word Excellent appears on it. The test kind of reminded me of the ones I used to take in A.P. English class back in high school, except for the whole question-projecting-from-the-desk part.

  The second task begins and a map projects from the desk in front of me. “Use your scan ability to find the most direct route from your current position on the map, indicated by the flashing X, to your enemies’ position, indicated by the flashing O.”

  I focus on the map and feel my eyes begin to pulse with energy. Taking in a full scan of the entire map, I begin to trace my path with my finger, leaving a neon blue line where it travels. My map flashes red when I make a wrong decision in direction and makes me start over.

  “Crap,” I mutter out loud accidentally. I look around and a few people are staring at me, including Dr. Wilhelm. Focusing back on the map, I attempt to trace the path again. Reaching my goal, the map turns yellow and the word Satisfactory shows on my desktop.

  Dr. Wilhelm instructs us to stand from our desks and pushes a button on his touchpad, causing them to suck back into the floor. “Task three is Decoy. I want you to project a copy of yourself and hold it for as long as you can within five minutes.”

  I look over at Landon and he already has his copy projecting in front of him. Of course he already has his, he’s had lots of practice, I joke with myself.

  Concentrating, I project my “twin” in front of me. She looks like an exact copy of me, other than the fact that her image shutters every few seconds. A timer projects from my bangle and I look down at it to see that I’ve held my decoy for just over a minute. Her image begins to shutter more frequently until it becomes too much for me to hold on to. I release the image and it fades away. Letting out a sigh of exhaustion, I look down at my time and it’s just over three minutes.

  Galil
eo projects from the bangle. “You did well, Kenley. That was satisfactory,” he tells me.

  “Thanks, Galileo.”

  “You’ve all done well up to this point,” Dr. Wilhelm states as he moves to the front of the class. “We only have one more task, and that’s Optics.”

  We all file into the test area at the back of the training room and wait for further instruction. Dr. Wilhelm hits a button on his data pad and suddenly the room elongates and stretches about triple its current size. He calls us up one at a time to stand on a bright blue light line that forms on the floor and stare straight ahead. It’s my turn and I toe the line while facing forward.

  “Use your optics ability to properly recognize an enemy from an innocent,” Dr. Wilhelm states, pressing another button on his data pad and starting the timer on the wall next to us.

  Without my optics activated, I can barely see the end of the room. I focus and my eyes begin to pulse. Now everything has a blue tint to it. Images in the distance begin to pop into my field of view and I can clearly make out the far wall of the room.

  After successfully naming all five images either friend or foe, my time turns green and an electronic voice filters into the room. “Excellent.”

  “Good job, Ms. Grayson. You did much better than I was expecting you to,” Dr. Wilhelm states with a smirk.

  “Thanks?” I say, giving him a confused look.

  “That was a compliment, Ms. Grayson. Don’t get used to it though. I’m not usually one for giving them.” He laughs at his own comment.

  Chapter Nine

  Division Assignment

  Finally, the day of the division assignments arrives. After about a month of grueling training, we’re about to find out which division we’re going to be assigned to. Based on our times during finals, most of us already know which one we’ll end up in, but today makes that assumption real.

  As I’m about to leave my room to meet up with everyone, Galileo projects from my bangle, but he doesn’t say anything. “Yes, Galileo?” I ask looking at his hologram.