The Genesis Code 1: Lambda

by Robert E. Parkin

  Lambda turned to bore in Zack’s direction as he neared the stage. Her eyes were covered by her visor, the look on her face blank. She almost looked like she didn’t recognize him.

  Zack stopped half way down the stairs leading to the stage Lambda stood on.

  Wait, something doesn’t feel right.

  Zack’s fears were realized as Lambda held out her hand towards him. Without warning, she produced a charged lightning bolt of crimson in his direction. Terrified for his life, Zack sprung to his left to dodge the attack. The followed explosion from the attack sent a tremor through the stadium. Too consumed with rage and confusion, he didn’t notice the black rift that was slowly receding where Lambda’s attacked connected.

  “Lambda! What the hell is wrong with you?!” Zack bellowed now completely enraged.

  Lambda’s visor vanished to reveal her eyes once more. Zack was getting to his feet when he noticed that Lambda’s body was shivering. To his great surprise, he could clearly see the expression of fear on her face.

  Lambda felt a sudden vibration run through her body as she stood frozen. An enemy presence was approaching Zack. Lambda reacted flawlessly. However, the vibrations in her body wouldn’t stop.

  “T-the enemy was there. They would have attacked. Probability of hitting Zack was 0.001 percent. Yet why? Why can’t Lambda stop shaking?”

  Zack wasn’t given any time to answer as a dark figure appeared off to his far right from a black rift. His metal mask and soulless eyes nearly gave him a heart attack.

  “I was careless! Didn’t think it would endanger the boy!” cursed Clairvoyance.

  Zack didn’t have any time to react to the appearance of the Void Reaper as another rift of blackness sprang to life between them. The force of the rift threw them back as the torrent of chaos within sparked widely.

  “Great, now what!?” shouted Clairvoyance as he was pushed away from Zack due to the rift before him.

  Seconds later, the rift exploded with light, blinding everyone in the area. When the light began to fade, Zack felt like his mind would implode. There was far too much going on at once for him to keep up anymore.

  “Seems I’m a bit late. You don’t mind if I step in now, do you?”

  The man before them was none other than Corson. Zack was left with mixed feelings as he gazed upon the dark man. He was frightened, but at the same time he wanted to run a sword through the black knight standing before him. The complexity of his emotions resulted in his face contorting into a half snarl and a nervous twitch of his hand. Despite this torrent of emotion, he did notice one distinct change in Corson’s appearance. His gloves were replaced with a silver, metallic design that was sharp and jagged on all his knuckles. His hands looked dagger-like at the tips, and appeared like claws that glimmered from the stadium lights.

  Amidst all of this, Clairvoyance’s response to Corson’s arrival was on a different level. He opened his palm and materialized a large rifle the color of midnight and the length of his arm. He pointed the weapon at Corson without so much as a word and lit the ground beneath Corson afire.

  Corson chuckled demonically as he waved his hand and created a holographic shield that negated all the bullets fired in his direction. The shards of metal that hit Corson’s shield created a sparkling display of white light that danced with every crash of the speeding bullets. It was almost dazzling, but far more terrifying.

  “Is that all?” Corson’s eyes were lit with the flames of excitement.

  Answering his question, a black slit appeared behind Corson and Foresight dashed from the hollow chaos brandishing a long sword. The sword glowed vermilion as he thrust it at Corson’s back.

  Corson merely chuckled.

  It was all over just seconds later. Zack could barely follow the movements. All he was able to make out was that Corson summoned chains from beneath his feet that bound Foresight and tossed him at Clairvoyance so effortlessly. The two Void Reapers tumbled and crashed into the vast crowd, causing the statues of the people to tumble like dominoes.

  “That was a little too easy-”

  A massive explosion ripped across the area. Corson turned quickly to see, just beyond Lambda, Overseer rise from the rubble of her defeat. Corson’s eyes immediately grew with surprise.

  “How unexpected to see you here, Vera.” His calm tone almost seemed threatening.

  Overseer didn’t reply. Instead, she barreled at Lambda, catching her off guard. With a swift kick to Lambda’s abdomen, she was able to stun her just long enough to smash her scythe weapon from her grasp, and follow through with a devastating slash from her saber to Lambda’s torso. The weapon shattered open Lambda’s chest cavity and bits of red code scattered in all directions. The force of the attack sent Lambda flying into the crowd where she landed only feet away from Zack, creating a tower of rubble and dust from the impact.

  Zack leapt from his position looking alarmed. It appeared to Overseer that he was worried about the Lambda unit’s condition. Overseer didn’t understand. The Lambda unit sustained damage from the attack, but nothing it couldn’t repair over time. It was just enough though to take Lambda out of the equation long enough to retrieve it.

  Her attention shifted. She ceased in her advance as she focused on Corson.

  “You have a lot of gall showing your face before me, Black God. Have you come to settle that debt I owe you?” Overseer said with all the calmness of an active volcano.

  Corson didn’t reply. Instead he looked to Zack, who had now reached Lambda’s side. He eyed Zack intensely.

  How is he able to move? He couldn’t possibly . . .

  Corson continued to stare intently. From a simple glance, he noted Zack pulling up a small terminal around him as he knelt before Lambda. Several screens where appearing all around him as his hands frantically ran across the six holographic keyboards that hovered before him. Corson’s eyes widened.

  It can’t be. Does the boy possess one too-

  “You dare ignore me?!”

  Overseer’s words broke Corson’s focus. He turned to face her, stifling a laugh. She was always easy to rile, even back then.

  “You are outnumbered, Vera. How much longer do you think you can keep this up? This Medusa Field can’t possibly last long with the server nearly maxed, and your Ace Tech no longer maintaining it.”

  Overseer’s fist clenched tightly. She wanted to kill him. His imposing stature and masked face made her crazy. She hated him for all the humiliation he had caused her. On that day those years ago, she was ruined, a laughingstock among Void Moderators under Dead Eye’s command. Had it not been for his interference, she would have succeeded. She wanted Corson to suffer; she wanted him to die.

  Overseer noted Corson glance to the boy once more. Her blood simmered. She hated being belittled.

  “Corson!” she roared.

  Corson ignored her, not even giving her a fleeting look.

  Overseer now leered in Zack’s direction.

  What is so important in what the boy is doing?!

  He seemed to be aiding the Lambda unit with just a quick gander. She looked closer and noticed something far more.

  Is he . . . re-coding her?! Overseer was stunned.

  “Just what is this kid?” she murmured.

  She now was reminded of Dead Eye’s vague words concerning the boy. Her curiosity in the boy was starting to grow now.

  Corson couldn’t hear what Overseer mumbled, but he caught on quick that her attention was more fixed than she realized. Without wasting time, he decided to take advantage of her lowered guard. But he hadn’t counted on Clairvoyance and Foresight recovering so quickly.

  “Moderator Override. Now accessing Colossus Tech!” Foresight’s palm began to glow white, almost like it was on fire.

  Very lightly, Corson could hear him laughing.

  Corson shot into action. He leaped back just as Foresight thrust his hand outward, creating a giant circle of energy just where Corson had been st
anding. A massive burst of white flames erupted from the circle. The engulfing flames burned wildly and sheered the area around it.

  Foresight cursed under his breath. “Slippery little snake.”

  Corson landed several feet away just as the flames began to subside.

  He laughed wickedly. “No, you just don’t know how to wield your power.” He elevated his hand. A strange, black aura began to form around it as his palm began to pulse. Corson’s efforts were short-lived as he suddenly noticed Overseer leaving her stationary position on the stage and running towards Zack and Lambda.

  Damn! I was careless!

  Overseer disregarded the boy as she saw an opportunity. With Corson distracted and Lambda damaged, she could easily make a grab for Lambda and have Foresight force her into Stasis Lock given her weakened state. With this, she could easily win back some of the lost pride Corson had taken from her. She couldn’t help but laugh to herself as she raced toward her prize.

  Flawless execution-

  “So thoughtless of you, Vera.”

  Overseer’s head shot up in surprise. No! When did she-

  Her thoughts were instantly cut short as a metal-plated knee crashed into her head, smashing her into the crowd several yards back. She recovered quickly and rolled out of the hit to land on her feet, but only to see Laura elegantly roll out of her attack and land perfectly. Her freshly brandished Nullifier glimmered in her hand as she stood between Zack and Overseer.

  Laura turned her head slightly to Zack. “That one was free. I trust you to dodge on your own next time,” she uttered coldly.

  Zack couldn’t feel good about her words. Despite his attention to Lambda, he managed a frigid remark. “This coming from the people trying to kidnap my sister? Don’t make me laugh!”

  Laura smiled playfully. “Perhaps you do deserve more credit then I gave you.” She turned her back to him, her tone quickly turning serious.

  “Consider this our gift. Take the Lambda unit and leave the Network. In here, Void Reapers can appear much too easily to hunt you. We can’t have them swarming you and Lambda, nor do we have the time to babysit you two.”

  Zack ceased his work on Lambda as he noted the damage remaining was enough for her to repair on her own. A slight sense of relief enveloped him knowing that she was safe. The feeling was lost and forgotten as he focused on Laura’s back and then glanced to Corson. He was no fool. Zack knew what they were doing.

  “Protecting your investment, huh?” Zack’s words felt jagged.

  Corson laughed lightly. “Whatever do you mean, boy?”

  Zack was about to retort when Lambda’s eyes sprung open. He felt a sudden tug on his coat collar, and before he could even realize, he was flying alongside Lambda. He quickly looked below him and noticed that Lambda, out of pure reflex, had leapt to the other side of the stadium. She touched down seconds later, leaving the Void Reapers, Laura, and Corson to their brawl.

  Lambda released Zack, but when he looked at her, she seemed to be shaking again. The behavior was odd given the current circumstances, but what was more strange was why Lambda was acting like this now.

  Zack looked perplexed. “Lambda? You in there somewhere?”

  Lambda’s thoughts were completely jumbled. Lost in her matrix of data, she continued to analyze what she had experienced up to this point. No conclusive evidence or existing knowledge could bring her a logical answer to what she had felt just moments before the attack of the lone Void Reaper that damaged her.

  What was that vibration?

  She couldn’t understand. All signs and data pointed to the emotion known as “fear”. This wasn’t logical. It didn’t make sense to her. She didn’t fear the Void Reaper, nor did she doubt her ability in executing her attack. Did she fear Zack? Why? Lambda saw Zack as a simple bystander. He wasn’t a threat, but yet, why would the emotion register in her data and associate it to Zack as well? The application to this was lost and couldn’t be put in the right context. Lambda’s mind found its parameters confusing and . . . frustrating.

  Zack was starting to lose his patience now. He reached out and grabbed Lambda by the shoulders. “Look, we don’t have time for this. Lambda! Snap out of it!” Zack yelled trying to get Lambda out of her trance. Even with him shaking her, she wasn’t coming around.

  Damn it! What is wrong?!

  He wasn’t getting through to her and the situation was only going to get worse if he didn’t get Lambda on the same playing field soon. He was left with no other option. He hated himself for what he was about to do.

  “Damn you for making me do this!” With a swift motion of his arm, Zack slapped Lambda across the face. The act pained him more mentally than anything else. He felt like a part of his soul died in the act. However, it quickly got results.

  Lambda shook her head, confused. She turned to Zack with a quizzical look. “Did you strike Lambda?”

  Zack firmly grabbed her by the arms. “Listen to me! I don’t know what is going on in that head of yours, but if you haven’t noticed, we are in the middle of a war zone! We have to get out of here!”

  Lambda found Zack’s tone troubling. The sensation that ran through her as Zack yelled was uncomfortable to say the least. She wanted Zack to release her, but she couldn’t bring herself to force him away. His eyes stared into her like a predator’s. They almost seemed hypnotic as she desperately searched for a logical answer to all that was happening. Nothing was making any sense.

  Zack shook Lambda. “Do you understand me, Lambda?” He was firm. However, it was starting to become increasingly difficult to hold back his rising fear. His thoughts went back to the display of the Void Reapers and Corson. He had never seen such raw ability and manipulation of code before as he had seen in the battle with Corson and the Void Reapers. They had to get out of the Network. On this plain, they were Gods of Destruction. He could never face that head on. He didn’t trust in his own ability enough to even try. His only hope was to regroup outside the Network and get to his sister another way. At that moment, there was just too much to handle.

  Zack released Lambda. “Now, let’s get out of here before something-”

  A burst of lightning cracked between Lambda and Zack, sending them flying back into the stone crowds of people. Zack had barely recovered when a sudden force smashed down on his chest. He gasped from the blow as he felt all the air leave his body. It was a large, silver plated boot that belonged to a tall figure, clad in shining armor of metallic chrome. The figure’s face was hidden by a helmet fit for a knight, with a lightning bolt scar over his armored face shield.

  “W-What?” Zack choked out.

  The figure summoned a sword that sparked with fury. He raised it above his head as it jetted with lightning. The figure said nothing as he pressed harder down on Zack’s chest.

  Zack struggled with all his might, but could do nothing to get his adversary off him. He couldn’t think straight. In a state of panic such as this, he couldn’t find the chance to alter his Avatar as he did against the security guard before. Back then, he was calm and collected. When his mind was clear, he could hack and make his Avatar able to do anything. He could do it, but all he could think of was how he was about to be attacked by the silver figure’s blade.

  I wish this pain was fake, he thought to himself weakly. After all, his consciousness was linked to the Cyber Network. What happened to his body here had a direct effect on his physical body outside the virtual world.

  The silver knight suddenly ceased his assault. Zack then began to hear the sound of static. Despite his state, he heard it coming from his opponent in silver. The figure held a hand to his ear.

  “You lied about the target!” The figure spoke with heated aggravation. His anger gave way to a slight moment of reprieve as the foot clamping down on Zack’s chest eased ever so slightly, allowing Zack to get but a breath. Even with the small mercy, everything was starting to blur as he was still not getting proper flow of oxygen.

  �
��I know what we agreed! However, you left out key pieces of information!”

  Zack could barely comprehend what the silver figure was saying. The figure would speak and then quickly silence. Despite this, Zack began to wonder.

  Where was Lambda?

  He didn’t get much mileage on the thought as all his mind could process was how he was going to die beneath a masked face, unable to do anything about it.

  “Don’t you threaten me! Not telling me the full details falls on you!” howled the knight.

  Zack struggled to listen. Who is he-

  The silver knight ceased his call abruptly. The force on Zack’s chest intensified as the silver figure knelt closer to him. Zack struggled even more to keep his life. The figure then whispered chilling words into Zack’s ear.

  “Take heed, fellow knight.”

  Zack’s mind went white as his vision blurred completely. He lost control of his mind. He thought it was the end. Old memories began to surface like flickering frames of film. In his half awakened state, he uttered out one word. He didn’t realize he was starting to cry.

  “Rachiel.” The words echoed in his mind. Then, all at once, he was pulled from the white void and spiraled back into the dark stadium. When he started coughing and hacking uncontrollably was when he finally realized that he was still among the living. The pressure on his chest was gone and his vision was slowly coming back. The first thing he saw upon looking up though-

  “Rachiel?!” Zack exclaimed in surprise.

  Golden hair swayed in the wind. The girl was adorned with a long, white coat, like robes of a priestess. The gorgeous woman’s image blazed with brilliance, as if a sun in the eyes of Zack. The image was glorious. It overjoyed him to see her, but these joyous feelings didn’t last.

  “Appear, Chaos Weapon 61: Adjudicator.”

  In an instant, the glorious white image of the golden angel vanished and was replaced by the dark aura of Lambda. Above her head, a large hole of darkness expanded outward, like demonic malice. Zack then watched as a giant buster sword cleaved from the blackness and crashed in front of Lambda. The sword looked to be twelve feet in length, and twice as wide as Lambda. With ease, she lifted the weapon out of the cracked surface and pointed it at the silver figure that had attacked Zack. Zack stared at his assailant. The orange lightning bolt on his face pulsed with wrath.