The Alpha Drive

by Kristen Martin

  Emery spotted a tree about ten feet away, a thick branch that was low enough for her to hop onto jutting from the side. Rasps of hot breath stung the backs of her legs as she continued to run, her calves on fire from the sensation.

  Just a few more steps.

  With a giant leap, Emery catapulted herself onto the protruding branch. She grunted as her stomach rammed into the bark, her body dangling over it in a u-shape. The creatures nipped at her shoes, barely missing her big toe. Emery pulled herself up to a standing position, wiping the debris from her shirt as she began to scale the tree, only stopping when she was far enough away from the beasts. When she reached a steady platform of branches, she gazed down at the creatures, faintly recognizing them from a mythology lesson during one of her Latin classes. They looked like manticores—their bodies half lion, half snake with underdeveloped dragon’s wings and scorpion’s tails. But the most frightening part of all were their heads.

  Human heads. With row after row of sharp, dagger-like teeth.

  The largest manticore of the pack glared at her from the ground, hissing and snarling at her. Emery pressed her back against the tree, fighting to steady her nerves and catch her breath. It’s not real, she reminded herself.

  She racked her brain for more information on manticores. The words leapt across her mind as if the textbook were right there in front of her. Like its cousin the Sphinx, manticores often challenge their prey with riddles before killing.

  Emery took a deep breath before looking back down at the swarm of beasts, then whistled, hoping to catch their attention.

  It worked.

  “Riddle me this,” the lead manticore sang, its voice a melody of pipes and trumpets. “The one who makes it sells it. The one who buys it doesn’t use it. The one who’s using it doesn’t know he’s using it. What is it?”

  I’ve heard that riddle before.

  Emery smiled as she flashed back to when she was a little girl, sitting on her father’s lap. Every night her father would read her stories, ending each one with a riddle. Although she’d been young, she could remember every riddle he’d ever told her. This had been one of them.

  “It’s a coffin,” she called out, her voice raspy from all the running.

  The manticores shrieked as her answer hit their ears.

  Emery’s hands shot up as she tried to block out the shrill noises from below. She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing more than anything that this training would end, when, to her delight, the noises suddenly stopped.

  Her eyes shot open. There was nothing but the tops of city buildings for miles. Skyscrapers surrounded her, and she quickly realized that she was at the top of a tree rooted in the middle of a park.

  Emery slowly began her descent, her shoes scraping the bark from the tree, calves tingling as they regained feeling. The last branch was only a few feet from the ground, so she hopped down with ease, landing with a soft thud on the grass. There was no sign of life anywhere; the city was completely deserted.

  She was alone.

  As she dusted her hands off, a small spherical device rolled toward her feet. Unsure what to make of it, Emery knelt down to get a closer look. The device clicked open, showcasing a green capsule situated in between four prongs. Just as she reached out to touch it, the device closed, the green capsule disappearing from sight. A small button on the side of the device caught her eye. Seeing no other option, she pressed it, taking a few steps backward as a precaution.

  The sphere shot high up into the air, out of eyesight. Emery waited for a moment, expecting to hear some sort of explosion. There was no sound—but there was a blinding white light and a slight tremor in the ground.

  Emery shielded her eyes, falling to her knees as the world around her went white. She blinked a few times, doing everything she could to regain her vision. When she opened them for a third time, a green haze surrounded her.

  A figure appeared in the distance.

  Emery squinted, trying to make out who it was. The mist wafted over her, through her nostrils and into her lungs, the feeling reminiscent of what had happened during her aeris training. A delicate figure with crimson hair walked toward her.

  “Mom?” Emery whispered, barely able to keep her eyes open.

  Her mother nodded. “Exarmet,” she whispered.

  “What?”

  “Exarmet.”

  Emery knew she should try to fight it, to stay awake, but she also knew that there was no coming back from this one. The mist was too enticing. She succumbed and closed her eyes, allowing the green haze to take her away into a heavy sleep.

  27

  “Tell me one more time.”

  Theo tapped his fingers against the phone, calculating his answer before responding. “Something’s not right. With Emery’s trainings.”

  After her last training in terrae, Theo had debriefed her like he always did. Emery had mentioned again that she’d seen her mother during the simulation, although when he’d asked for more information, Emery had frozen up, then stated she couldn’t remember.

  Something was off.

  “Naia’s in charge of her trainings, correct?” President Novak grumbled.

  “That is correct. I’m going to have a word with her, sir.”

  “No,” the President interrupted, “you won’t. The incompetence in your office is truly baffling. I’ll speak to Naia myself.”

  Theo felt a pang of embarrassment at the President’s insult. The last time he’d felt that offended was the first time he and Victor had met which, coincidentally, happened to be during the FCW’s election.

  The election process was overly competitive, and even though they’d only just met, Victor had attacked Theo’s character over and over again, saying that he didn’t have what it took to be a successful President. Theo fought tooth and nail, knowing that, in the end, he’d be the one to wave the white flag. The votes were close, but Victor still came out on top, leaving Theo no choice but to run for a position with less power. Fortunately, the votes were in his favor, and he’d been appointed Head Chairman.

  So far, his time as Head Chairman had been rewarding. But like everyone else, he was looking to move up. Dormance was becoming increasingly disjointed under President Novak’s reign. Their strategy for deployment needed to be finalized and fast.

  Over the years, Theo had learned that the best way to diffuse a tense situation with the President was to extinguish it—to put fire out with water. Unfortunately, President Novak held the opposing view—to fight fire with fire.

  “Just continue to keep an eye on Emery,” Victor commanded. “It’d be a shame to see our plans go to waste. You wouldn’t want to be the one responsible for that, now would you?”

  He rolled his eyes. “No, sir. You have my word.”

  “Good. Now, while we’re on the subject, I’d like to talk about candidate 083. Rhea Alexander.”

  This statement caught Theo by surprise, seeing as it was the first time Victor had mentioned Rhea since she’d agreed to participate in The Alpha Drive. “What about her, sir?”

  “I need you to take Rhea out.”

  Theo felt his jaw drop. “I’m sorry?”

  “Remove her. Disqualify her. Kill her. I don’t care how you do it, just make sure it gets done.”

  Theo hesitated for a moment. “Why?”

  “It doesn’t matter why,” Novak snarled. “Just see to it that it gets done.”

  If there was ever a time to stand up to the President, this was it. Sadly, Theo couldn’t bring himself to do it. “Understood, sir.”

  “Whatever it takes?” Victor pressed, his breath growing louder.

  “Whatever it takes.”

  Before the President could terminate the call, Theo tapped the end button, listening to the sweet silence as the other line went dead.

  28

  Finally. Spring Break, Emery thought. It was hard to believe that she’d managed to keep on with her daily routine and train for The Alpha Drive with little to no hiccups. From an emotional s
tandpoint, her terrae and aeris trainings had been far less damaging than her ignis and aquam sessions. Even so, Emery couldn’t help but feel like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.

  She’d completed each of the landscapes to the best of her abilities and, although Theo hadn’t confirmed when the training would end, she figured she had to be close. It was only a matter of time before she found out whether she’d passed or failed. Unfortunately, uncovering even one piece of the Federal Commonwealth’s strategy seemed like a farfetched dream that would never come to fruition.

  Emery snapped out of her daze and looked over at her roommate, who was busy packing a suitcase for her trip back home.

  “Have you seen my straightener?” Rhea asked.

  “The last time I saw it, it was in the cupboard underneath the sink.”

  Rhea opened the compact door, rifling through the disorderly bins of cleaning items and hair supplies. “Aha,” she announced, pulling the metallic straightener from the jumbled pile. She threw it into her suitcase and zipped her overstuffed luggage closed.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to take you to the airport?” Emery offered for the third time that evening. She wished Rhea would just say yes so that they could move on with their lives.

  “It’s okay. Really,” she insisted.

  “Well, how are you getting there? Are you going to call a cab?”

  Rhea hesitated. “Actually . . . Mason offered to take me.”

  Emery stopped what she was doing. This was the first she was hearing of this arrangement and, to be honest, she wasn’t too happy about it.

  Rhea propped up her suitcase and wheeled it over toward the door.

  “Oh,” Emery said as she stood up from her chair, “you’re leaving now?”

  “Yeah, Mason just texted me and told me he was here. We’re going to grab a bite to eat first and then he’s going to drop me off.” Rhea pulled up the handle from the suitcase. “Have a great break,” she said hurriedly, blowing a kiss as she opened the door.

  Emery waved halfheartedly as Rhea closed the door behind her, the lock turning securely in place.

  For the rest of the day, Emery couldn’t help but wonder how the interaction between Rhea and Mason had gone. Were their feelings simply platonic, or did they have a deeper connection? Were they secretly dating? She felt her cheeks warm as they blushed a bright shade of pink. Why do I even care?

  Emery brushed her thoughts aside as she opened her laptop. She needed to busy herself to keep her thoughts from venturing back to Mason and Rhea. Icons on her computer appeared, and she clicked on the one to open her email. As the messages loaded, her thoughts drifted to Torin. Where was he? Why hadn’t he reached out to her? There was so much new information he needed to know. I can’t wait any longer.

  Now was as good a time as any. She had to find a way to connect to his phone. The only problem was she had zero knowledge about hacking and coding. That was Torin’s territory. He’d always been consistent when it came to reaching out to her, so what had changed?

  It was then that fear struck her. Thoughts of Torin being captured, questioned, and tortured entered her mind. Had something terrible happened to him? Stop thinking like that. He’s fine.

  Emery focused on her phone, opening the same screen Torin had when he’d first coded the device. She scrolled through paragraphs of text until she reached the bottom, where it read: Sender Device Disconnected.

  A lump formed in her throat. Someone had found them out. But who?

  Sighing, Emery dropped the phone into her lap. There’s nothing you can do until he reaches out to you. Focus on something else.

  By ten o’clock that evening, Emery had written down every single conversation with Theo and Torin, and every last detail from her many training sessions. A giant brainstorming plot lay before her, with circle after circle connecting to line after line. There were so many connections, but not enough to make sense of a larger, more complex scheme. Emery tossed her pen down on the paper and threw her head back into her chair. She closed her eyes. I need a break.

  As if her mind had been read, her phone pinged. Much to her surprise, the message was from Mason. She slid her finger eagerly across the screen, the words, Plans tonight? illuminating from her phone like miniature rays of sunshine. She texted him back fervently, asking what he had in mind. He mentioned that he was having a small get-together at his dorm—just a few close friends hanging out.

  His timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

  After she’d changed clothes, Emery decided to take a detour and stroll down Alpha Drive on the way to Mason’s dorm. Her eyes landed on the Sychem building. The door was wide open and, while she couldn’t make sense of it, something told her to go inside. Unable to shake the feeling, she decided to follow her gut.

  Emery made her way inside, passing through the deserted courtyard and into the Sychem common room. Her eyes scanned the area for some kind of sign—something to signal that she was supposed to be there, that it wasn’t all in her head—but there was nothing.

  Feeling foolish, Emery walked around the perimeter of the room, slowly making her way to the center. Her foot caught on a rug as it brushed over a slight bulge. She flipped the rug over to find a trap door staring back at her. With wide eyes, she pulled it open as dust particles swarmed the air around her. Below, propped against the wall, was an iron ladder that was at least twenty feet long.

  Without a second thought, Emery cautiously climbed down the ladder until she was close enough to the ground. Her feet landed with a soft thud as her eyes attempted to focus in the dim lighting. The hallway before her was frighteningly familiar. Her breath caught as the realization hit her.

  It was the same hallway from her dreams.

  Emery crept down the corridor, pinching herself to make sure she was awake. A reflection caught her eye, just like in her dream. It can’t be. But there it was.

  The horseshoe-shaped pendant.

  She hesitated before plucking the pendant from the wall. If things went according to her dream . . . there’d be a scream and then a gunshot. Emery froze, paralyzed with fear. Then waited. And waited. But there was nothing.

  No scream. No gunshot.

  Emery hurried back to the ladder, climbing it as fast as her arms would allow. She ran through the courtyard, looking behind her shoulder every few steps. After what felt like forever, she finally made it outside. She stood in front of Sychem, the pendant dangling from her fingertips.

  Emery had no idea what it was or why she’d dreamt about it, but for some reason, it felt like she’d been meant to find it. With the pendant secured around her neck and tucked underneath the front of her shirt, Emery picked up her pace and jogged the rest of the way to Mason’s dorm, wanting to get as far away from Sychem as possible.

  Scribner Hall appeared to be much newer than Rosemary Hall. The exterior was painted grey and rose to as high as six floors. Four small turrets stood atop each corner and, best of all, there were elevators. Emery couldn’t help but smile to herself as she thought about the secret elevators at Rosemary Hall. Her hand rose to her neck as she checked one more time to make sure the pendant was out of sight, then stepped inside the metal box and rode it to the fifth floor.

  As Emery inched closer to the door, a gold 5B staring her in the face, her nerves heightened. She raised her hand to knock on the door then lowered it, noticing it was slightly ajar. Her hand rested on the knob as she pushed her way through the door.

  A few people in the living room looked up at her from their bean bag chairs, video game controllers in hand. She smiled and gave an awkward wave before introducing herself, then made her way into the bedroom, where most of the noise was coming from. More bean bags sat on the floor in front of a giant, flat screen television. Two guys sat in the chairs, pounding on their controllers, while two more stood in the back, cheering them on.

  Emery glanced to her right, noticing another guy who had his back to her. He was sitting at a desk, messing wi
th the sound system, his shaggy, blonde hair peeking out from underneath his baseball cap. The guys were so focused on their game that they didn’t even notice as Emery walked right in front of the television.

  Mason turned to face her as she patted his shoulder, a big grin spreading across his face. “You made it,” he said as he opened his arms for a hug. “I wasn’t sure you were going to come.”

  “Of course I came,” Emery replied, wishing that their hug had lasted a little while longer.

  “Let me introduce you to everyone.” He grabbed her hand and led her out of the room, giving brief introductions as they made their way to the kitchen. Mason opened a refrigerator chock full of root beer and orange soda. “Pick your poison.”

  “Orange soda,” she said as he tossed her a can. She caught it with ease, then followed him back into the bedroom.

  “Emery and I call next game,” Mason asserted.

  “What are you guys playing?’ Emery asked through an eruption of cheers.

  Mason laughed. “It’s a combat simulation game. We can be on a team. We just need to shoot the players on the other team to win.”

  Emery nodded as she watched the remainder of the battle. She’d played video games as a kid, but it’d been years since she’d picked up a controller.

  “Your turn,” a lanky guy said as he handed her a controller.

  As soon as the landscape loaded, it was complete chaos. It took her a minute to get used to the bulky controller and numerous buttons, but eventually she found herself moving around the horizon with ease. Their audience cheered as they shot members on the enemy team, their scores rising with each kill. They finished the first game, undefeated, then moved on to the next one. It felt like the entire room was on an endless sugar-high and, as nerdy as she felt playing video games, Emery couldn’t deny that she was actually having fun.

  A few hours and couple of orange sodas later, Emery felt a familiar sensation. The screen grew fuzzy as black dots clouded her vision and her hands grew shaky. She quickly excused herself and made her way toward the restroom. Closing the door behind her, she sat down on the lid of the toilet, her head swaying lightly in her hands. It only took a moment for her to ascertain that sitting didn’t make her feel any better—it actually made things worse.