Modified: Book One in the Manipulated Series

by Harper North

“Glad you’re aware of your snobby stature,” the female guard scoffs.

  Elias shoots her a look over his shoulder before returning his attention to the skies ahead. “So,” he says. “I’ve answered your questions. Why don’t you tell me where you people are really from? You’re not from Reso—or anywhere civilized—to have never heard of the classification levels.”

  “Get us to our destination, then we’ll talk,” I snap back, remembering we are not friends. The promise to talk later is a lie, but I have no intention of letting any of these people in on who we are.

  He nods, but by his pinched expression it wasn’t the answer he’d hoped for.

  Grunts and a scuffling sound come from behind, and I round to the guards suddenly lunging at Lacy.

  Oh crap.

  The entire craft lifts to the right, pulling me forward again and crashing my body into the passenger hatch.

  “Get off!” Lacy barks.

  “All of you need to stay calm!” Elias shouts back.

  A clank followed by a discharge grabs my full attention. My heart leaps into my throat. I spin in my seat, expecting to see Lacy dead, but it’s nearly worse. The female guard has been shot in the head. Red spatters the side window. A partial divider prevents the mess from covering everything. The male guard screams and grapples for Lacy’s wrist in a desperate attempt to prevent himself from being next. Lacy’s like a wild animal that was just uncaged.

  “Lacy, stop!”

  Not even thinking, I fling myself back into the second row, jumping into Sky’s lap to get at her. In a flash, I raise my pistol and bash the man in the back of the head. He slumps over, limp.

  “You killed her!” I scream at Lacy.

  She gasps and stares at the very deceased woman. “I did? I don’t even remember doing it! She was just coming at me.”

  “What did you do?” Elias yells from the front seat. “She’s dead?”

  I hold out my hand to Lacy. “Give me that gun. Now!”

  Lacy’s eyes go large for a moment as she glances at the bloody mess beside her again. She hands me the gun with a shaking hand. I crawl back over Drape and Sky, who don’t say a word, to the front passenger’s seat, both guns in tow. My thoughts race.

  What just happened?

  Elias grips the wheel of the craft so fiercely that his knuckles go white. The craft is descending. I point one of the weapons at his side.

  “No,” I warn him. “Keep flying.”

  Glancing back, Sky and Drape, their eyes wide, seem mortified, but Lacy is quiet. Almost blank. I catch her eye and shake my head, ashamed.

  “I didn’t have a choice,” Lacy pleads. “They went for the gun. Both of them.”

  “I saw that gleam in your eye, Lacy! What was that?”

  “I… I don’t know!” she cries.

  “The modification…” I mumble. “It changed you.”

  “I…I didn't mean to,” she cries and throws her head into her hands.

  “Wha… what do you want me to do?” Elias asks, his voice shaking.

  “We have to get rid of the guards,” Sky says, snapped out of his shock. “Dump the body and drop off the man while he’s knocked out.”

  “Yes,” I say. “In a safe place where we won’t get caught… but also where they’ll be found soon.” I’m not looking for another death on my head. I sit upright in my seat, lungs heaving in shallow breaths. I gag and quickly push back the sensation.

  From the side, Elias stares in my direction.

  “What?” I snap.

  “You didn’t want this,” he whispers, glancing back at Lacy in horror, then flicking his gaze ahead.

  “No,” I say. “No, we didn’t. Now bring us somewhere safe, Elias.”

  “I don’t have a choice, do I?” He’s quiet for a moment. “There’s a Tenant class housing sector just outside of Reso. There’s not a lot of regular monitoring or operative influence out that way compared to the rest of the city.”

  “Fine,” I snap. “Take us there. And you better not be lying to us.” I press the barrel of the gun deeper into his side.

  In about ten minutes, we make our way just outside of the main stretch. It’s completely dark out this far, but with the glow of our craft’s front lights, I can barely see the change in the barren landscape that is this housing district. Elias lands several yards from the group of homes. We exit, and I have him walk ahead of us with his hands on his head as we search around.

  Lacy rushes to my side. “I feel better now. Hand me back my gun so I can keep an eye on our pilot while you ditch the escort guards.”

  I glare at her. “Are you kidding? No way.”

  “You don’t trust me now?” she asks, hurt brewing in her eyes, as if she’s completely forgotten what just happened.

  “Can I?” I hiss, turning my back to her.

  I take a second to breathe in the landscape. Tall poles with lighting atop them brighten homes that are small and made of stone or brick, nothing like the sleek infrastructures of the city, but they’re better than anything I’ve ever seen underground. There’s no vegetation here—mostly red clay and similarly colored sand. I feel as though I’ve stepped into another world, but I guess I actually have.

  “Let’s see if we can find a place to dump them,” I say, moving further from the hover car. I’m ready to be done with the escort guards as soon as possible. If only I could go back and undo this entire day. Surely there’s someone out there who loves and cares about the poor woman. The whole mistake makes me sick.

  Click, click.

  My heart vaults and I snap my attention to a sizable crowd inching out from around the nearby structures. Their weapons are pointed at my friends and me.

  I grit my teeth and glance back at Elias. “Traitor.”

  But it’s not like I can blame him.

  CHAPTER 10

  “Whoa. Easy, everyone. Easy!” Elias says, raising his hands in the air.

  I leave one gun in my hand. The gun I took from Lacy is in my pocket, the handle sticking out slightly. This crowd is impressive. I can’t tell exactly how many there are due to the dark, but I suspect close to two dozen.

  Elias continues to plead our case. “Calm down! No need for anyone to get hurt!”

  A man maybe in his forties or fifties steps apart from the crowd. No doubt he’s related to Elias. There’s a distinct resemblance.

  “Elias!” the man calls out, relief evident in his tone.

  Elias smiles briefly, but he continues to hold up his hands in an attempt to settle the crowd.

  Why is he still helping us?

  The man swings his attention to me, eying the weapon in my hand and the one in my pocket. “Toss your guns aside, so no one gets hurt.”

  This needs to end. I throw the gun in my hand onto the dirt away from us and slowly reach for the other one.

  “Easy, now,” the man says, not taking his attention from me.

  I pinch the handle and fling it away like it burned me.

  Several in the crowd slowly lower their weapons as the older man moves in for a hug from Elias. My heart lifts.

  Suddenly, Lacy darts the way of the crowd. “Come on!” she roars. “Bring it on!”

  What's the matter with her?

  I freeze, not willing to follow her with this many guns pointed my way. Visions of my friend being gunned down in this strange land swirl in my head.

  Zzzzap sounds from the right, and Lacy falls limp with a thump. I flinch as the noise sounds again, twice, and the boys do the same. I move back and a hot jolt of electricity shudders through me. My vision blurs.

  “Zap her again!” a male voice commands as I crumple to my knees. My head spins with pain as I lurch forward into the abyss.

  My head pounds like a hammer whacked me. I try to push myself up, but the world spins, and I collapse onto my back again. I blink to clear the swirling ceiling above me, and it slowly winds to a stop.

  I turn and scan the space. The lamps are out, but there’s a bit of light creeping in from
under the door, outlining Sky, Drape, and Lacy lying on the floor near me. Their wrists are bound. My brain clears somewhat, and I glance down at myself. My hands are secured, too.

  As my vision adjusts, I study the small space. It’s filled with crates and plastic bins; a sort of storage room.

  I sit upright and moan. My body feels like I fell off a cliff. Ignoring the pain, I kick a leg out in front of me and whack Lacy in her shoulder.

  “Get up you piece-of-crap friend,” I growl.

  She groans and rolls to her side, waking Sky and Drape. The three of them all struggle to sit, just as dazed as I was when I came to.

  “What is wrong with you?”

  “What?” she says.

  “Don’t you ‘what’ me. You darted at a bunch of people with guns. You’re lucky they didn’t kill us all. Seriously, what were you thinking?”

  “I’m stronger than I’ve ever been,” she says. “I could’ve pounded them if that one guy didn’t surprise me. Elias conned us into coming here, and look where it got us.”

  “Most of these people are probably stronger too!” I shout.

  “Elias said this was a Tenant class settlement, you know? So they’re not strong like us. Well, if he was telling the truth, that is.” She takes a quick scan around. “Great. Well, we’re in trouble now.”

  “Thanks to you.” If my hands weren’t tied, they’d be squeezing her neck. “None of this would have happened if you had just let us go home after our shift.”

  "I'm tired of being the underdog." she says, shame peppering her words.

  “Guys, shh,” Sky hushes us, but I don’t care who hears what at this point. Lacy shoots me a death glare.

  The door creaks open. My eyes lock on the man who greeted Elias when we landed. He flicks on the lamp, and I squint. He’s a firm-faced man with tender brown eyes, much like Elias, but his paler complexion seems to shine from a slight layer of sweat on his brow. This and his stubbly black and gray beard give him the appearance of a working man. His small but noticeable extra weight doesn’t help change my impression of him.

  “You four sure do know how to make an entrance,” he says. His beautiful white teeth and cynical grin make me cast my gaze down. His expression, though, has that same gentleness I noticed in Elias.

  “Let us go,” Lacy says.

  I throw a kick in her way and bare my teeth to let her know she has lost the privilege to speak or act on our behalf. She relents. Mission accomplished.

  “Who are you?” I ask the man.

  “Mason.” He kneels in front of us, maintaining a safe distance. “I’m a supervisor here at this settlement.”

  “Told you. Nothing but Tenants or whatever here,” Lacy mutters.

  I hear a chuckle coming from the doorway. Elias enters carrying a tray with food and water. “You’d think that, wouldn’t you?”

  Mason shakes his head. “Elias…” he says sternly.

  “What? They won’t say anything. They’re on the run from the EHC. I doubt they’ll tattle on us.” He turns to me. “My Uncle Mason is a Noble like me. He just doesn’t like anyone from here to know.”

  I flick an ‘I told you so’ at Lacy, but she avoids my gaze.

  Elias sets the tray of food on the floor in the middle of us. Lacy doesn’t wait even one minute to snatch up her share, even with both hands bound on her lap.

  “Sorry about lying to you four about why I wanted to come out this way, but you did shoot a woman,” Elias says, his eyes lowered. “You can’t blame me for getting nervous.”

  “No, we can’t. It was a smart move.” I say before Lacy has a chance to swallow her mouthful of food and make a smart-mouthed comment.

  “So, are you EHC defectors from the outer sectors?” Elias asks.

  “Yes,” I say firmly. Mason and Elias exchange glances for a moment as if they’re having a silent conversation.

  Sky, Drape, and even Lacy all seem to have decided to keep their traps shut and allow me to do the talking. Good.

  “Well, this makes more sense now,” Elias says. “I’m sorry.”

  “Why would you be sorry?” I ask. “We’re the ones who kidnapped you.”

  “My uncle and I help defectors,” Elias says. “Though we’re usually much quieter about it. It can’t be easy what you’re going through.”

  “Okay, that’s enough, Elias,” Mason insists.

  But I’m not satisfied with the little information he’s given me. “Why are you here with a group of Tenants if you’re a top level EHC?” I ask Mason.

  Mason scowls slightly and doesn’t answer.

  “My uncle can’t stand working with the EHC elite.”

  “Because they’re a bunch of manipulative swine,” Mason says, crossing his arms and leaning his back against the far wall. He inhales deeply and glances at me “We took care of the dead guard. The other one we have locked up until we can decide what to do with him. You’re lucky Elias is an excellent pilot. Anyone else would have crashed with all the ruckus he tells me went on during your flight.”

  “Why would you dump a body for us?” I ask, shocked. “You don’t owe us anything.”

  “Believe me, I am not thrilled about it,” Mason says. “I’m not a fan of violence, and I’m ashamed a life has been taken, but those guards are a threat to our beliefs. We do our best to stay out of the way of the elite. You gave us no choice.”

  “What does a supervisor do?” I ask Mason curiously.

  He doesn’t answer, and Elias speaks on his behalf again. “My uncle is in charge of this settlement and its people.”

  “Yeah, I get that, but what does that mean?” I ask.

  Elias looks at me like I should know, but he answers me nonetheless. “He receives orders from the EHC—assignments for the settlement. His job is to make sure they’re followed. Now, I’ve been honest and answered your questions. It’s your turn to answer mine. What are your names?”

  I hesitate. I could lie. My heart pounds as I open my mouth. “Fin. This is Drape, Sky, and Lacy.”

  “Ask the real questions, Elias.” Mason locks onto me. “Why in the world would a bunch of defectors try to go to an EHC operative base? Ops are not exactly known to be friendly to your kind.”

  “They have my sister,” Sky says. “Nero Kyoto took her and headed here.”

  “Why would they bring her to Reso?” Elias asks. “It’s not exactly protocol for how they handle combatants.”

  “We were traveling to Reso. We were just outside of the city when they nabbed her,” I say quickly. None of us know the names of many cities on the surface. I don’t want us to talk ourselves into a corner.

  “What did Kyoto want with her?” Mason asks.

  “She stole food,” I lie. “A trivial crime that he seems rather bent on punishing a child for.”

  “That sounds like the EHC,” Elias exclaims. “Heartless.”

  Mason releases a long sigh, and the uncle and nephew exchange glances, seemingly having another one of their silent conversations. Eventually, Mason nods and then turns his attention back to us.

  “What is your sister’s name?” he asks.

  “Cia,” Sky says. “And she’s all I got.”

  “Settle down,” he says. “We’re looking to help you, but you have to promise that we can trust you. No more firearms.” He then points at Lacy. “Especially not for this one.”

  Lacy huffs.

  “You can trust us,” I insist. “And believe me, after today, I wouldn’t allow her near a weapon.”

  “Good. Then we are in agreement,” Mason says and taps his nephew’s shoulder. “Let’s untie them and then get them to the sleeping quarters. Give them back their belongings they came with, too.”

  They untie us and we trail Elias and Mason out of the storage room, but not before we each grab the bread they brought us and scarf it down. With her eyes, Lacy questions whether or not we’re going to attempt to overpower them. I shake my head firmly. I’m starting to wonder if she has completely lost it.


  Elias tosses me the bag of chocolate bars and snacks we took from the transport shuttle. I look inside to see if it’s all still there. It is. He grins almost as if he knows how incredibly rare and special it is for us.

  We exit the small storage area and walk across the way toward a large, lengthy building with a rounded roof. Who knows what time of night it is? No more than the light of a few street lamps brightens the way.

  Inside the building, the quarters are arranged in a barracks-like setting with two rows of bunk beds. I jump as a loud snoring comes from one of the beds beside me. A head peeks out from the upper bunk. I scan the space and find there are several people already asleep in here. Mason and Elias lead us to a corner away from the sleepers.

  “Why are you doing this?” Sky whispers as Mason pulls a couple of spare blankets out of a storage closet.

  “I don’t like the way society is run around here. Or anywhere,” Mason says. “The world post-Flip is not a kind one. The societal classes are cruel, especially for the dwellers—the non-mods. It makes me sick.”

  “And you feel the same way, Elias?” I ask.

  “Yes,” he says. “My dad died when I was young. I was mostly raised by my mom—my Uncle Mason’s sister. She was always kind to defectors when no one else would be, but she was never as strong as Mason. She still lives as a member of the elite. I do too, when I’m with her, but now I’m there just to keep an eye on her, to keep her safe.”

  Mason pats one of the bunks. “All right. Two of you can sleep on this bunk, and then right across the way, those bunks are free too. We’ll regroup in the morning and see what we can do about locating your sister.”

  Sky smiles. “Thank you, sir. You have no idea how much that means to me.”

  Mason gives Sky a subtle grin, then clasps his nephew’s shoulder. “Off to sleep.”

  “Yes, sir.” Elias follows his uncle out.

  When they’re gone, I glance at Sky. A worried expression fills his face.

  “We need to rest,” I say. “We’d be no good to your sister now after the day we’ve had.”

  He agrees, but he doesn’t seem all that satisfied. I guess I wouldn’t be either.

  The boys take the beds across the way.