Gene. Sys.

by Aaron Denius

  I’m startled by his sudden outburst. He is right. We are pretty much triggering a mass extinction, hoping to start everything over with twelve people. It doesn’t make any sense, but at the same time, it seems like the only option humanity has been left with.

  “I didn’t mean to yell.” 80 takes a deep breath. “It’s been a long and stressful day. I’m sorry.”

  “Yes, it has. Maybe we should call it a night.” I stand and wipe my dusty hands off on my pants.

  80 gets up and heads down the rubble pile. “There is something I want to talk to you about, but we can do it later.”

  “Sounds good.” I join him at the bottom.

  He puts his hand on my shoulder and smiles. I smile back, but I feel uneasiness in my stomach. Things are definitely not the same as they used to be, but neither is the world we knew back then. He turns to walk away, and I head off in the opposite direction.

  I’m not really ready to head back to my room, and the cool air feels great against my skin, so I choose to walk around the compound for a little bit. In the many months that I have been here, I’ve never really taken the time to explore my own home. I was always too focused on what occupied the space beyond the walls.

  A fair amount of drones are patrolling every corner of the compound. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that they never slept. I just know that there are so many of them that they replace each other regularly. I weave around various debris piles as I make my way to the library.

  When I look up at the roof of the library, my heart jumps. I remember the last thing I did up there before the attack. Fe and I kissed. I touch my fingers to my lips, hoping to remember how her lips felt on mine. Whatever my mind tells me, I’m sure it pales in comparison to the actual sensation, and I want to experience it again.

  My cheeks stretch as a smile appears on my face. I continue on my walk and turn the corner to the back of the library. This is an area that I haven’t explored before, so I am surprised at what I find. There are rows and rows of plants, all evenly spaced. There must be twenty or thirty different types of plants, some as tall as me and others barely peeking out of the ground.

  I walk closer to get a better look, but my attention gets diverted to a sound of voices coming from the right. When I turn, I see two people making their way toward me, and I can tell that they aren’t drones. Not wanting to get caught, I jump into the rows of the tall plants to hide.

  The voices grow louder as they approach, and I can tell that it’s a woman and a man. It isn’t until they are a few feet away from me that I can make out some of their features. The man is slightly darker than the woman, but not by much. They are about the same height, and he looks as wide as he is tall. His breathing is slow and heavy, which I am sure is due to his large size.

  The woman has a familiar build. I wipe my eyes, clearing the thin layer of the smoke in the air, and I look again. Instantly, the unique hair pattern stands out. It’s Dr. Kivuli.

  She looks around and then looks directly at the man. “Listen, Joey, I need to know if there are going to be any more attacks before the Ragnarok. We have to make sure that all our efforts are coordinated, especially since Rene is intent on exterminating all the outsiders from the city.”

  A slight gasp rises through my throat, but I catch it before it escapes. I knew I had a bad feeling about Dr. Kivuli, so it really shouldn’t surprise me that she would be one of the Mutineers. I want to charge at her, both of them, but I do my best to keep calm and listen.

  “I really don’t know, ma’am,” the man, Joey, answers with shakiness in his voice. It’s obvious who is in charge between the two.

  “Then you have to take me to the next meeting of the Mutineer council.” Dr. Kivuli raises her voice.

  “I can’t do that, ma’am. The council specifically said that no one outside of the council can ever meet or know who is on it.” Joey looks down, ashamed. “I’m sorry.”

  “But you had to meet with at least one of them. How else could you get them the architectural blueprint of the compound?” She steps closer to him, and he backs away.

  “I never saw them. It was always a double-blind correspondence. We didn’t even speak; it was all written exchanges, so I don’t even know if the person I interacted with was male or female.” He puffs his chest out a bit, not letting Dr. Kivuli intimidate him too much.

  Dr. Kivuli lets out a frustrated huff. “I need you to find out who they—”

  “Shhh,” Joey speaks over her and turns his head in my direction. “There’s someone over there.”

  My heart drops, and my knees get weak. They are looking directly at me. I thought I had been careful in hiding myself. My mind races with excuses, but none come.

  They take a few steps toward me, but a drone appears from my left before I step out to confront them. Dr. Kivuli and Joey stop and smile at one another.

  “It’s just a drone.” Dr. Kivuli laughs.

  “I’m going to bed.” Joey, hurt by the laughter, turns and walks away.

  “I need you to get me a name, Joey!” she yells at him.

  Dr. Kivuli stands still and watches the man and the drone walk away. Once they are out of sight, she whips her neck right back in my direction and scowls. Her stare appears to be shooting straight through me. I do my best to remain as still as possible so as not to reveal myself.

  After a couple of nerve-racking moments, she turns and heads back toward the compound. I wait until I see her disappear into the building before I come out of hiding. Rather than risk getting caught, I head straight for the library and enter through one of the adjacent doors.

  I make my way down the hallways that I used to frequent. The debris has been cleaned up, but the holes in the walls are an eerie reminder of just how close Ev and I were to being casualties.

  To my left is the hole that used to be my room. I step in and don’t recognize any of it. It has been stripped clean. The desk to my right remains intact but is severely charred. A book has been placed on top of the desk. I grab it and see that it is one of the books I previously read on ancient Egypt and the pyramids.

  I tuck it under my arm and walk over to my old closet. When I open it, I am surprised to see that many of my jumpsuits still remain in pretty good shape. I grab a handful and fold them over my arm. After another quick look through the closet, I turn back and see two drones staring at me from the hole that used to be the door.

  Their silhouettes appear ominous, and I feel vulnerable. “Hey, guys.”

  They stand scowling at me for a few more uneasy moments, and then they walk away. I let out a deep breath and suddenly realize how dirty and tired I feel. I proceed toward my new room at a double pace, avoiding eye contact with any of the other drones I pass along the way.

  As soon as I enter Grant’s old room, I throw the book and jumpsuits on the bed and head straight for the bathroom. I turn the shower on and make sure the water is nice and warm. The second I climb into the shower, I sit on the floor and pull my knees to my chest with my arms. I watch the water stream its way toward the drain as the back of my head receives most of the flow coming from the showerhead.

  I think more about Dr. Kivuli and Joey, wondering who else might be involved. How big of a group are these Mutineers? What other plans do they have? Who is on the council? Was Dennis on the council? Either way, I know I have to tell Rene what I saw. I should probably tell Ev too.

  All these questions cause my head to throb and make my eyelids feel twice as heavy. I use all the strength I have left to pull myself out of the shower, dry off and crawl into the bed. The large size allows me to spread my arms and legs as far as I can. I am barely able to acknowledge how great it feels before I fall asleep.

  I dream of the white abyss again. This time I am calm and know my bearings. I don’t feel lost or alone. I walk toward the area where I usually saw the silhouette and, just as always, Fe is standing there.

  She smiles as I reach her, and I take her hand. She leans in and gives me a kiss. I don’t w
ant it to stop, but she starts pulling me by my hand toward a large structure. It doesn’t take long for me to recognize it as the Great Pyramid.

  At the base of the pyramid, I see a large gathering of people and instantly recognize them as outsiders. Their eyes burn with rage and death. They look like they are eager to tear us apart. I try to stop Fe, but her pull is too strong. She’s taking me right to them.

  “Stop!” I yell, but she doesn’t hear me.

  Suddenly, another hand grabs my other arm and begins to pull me in a different direction. I look to see Ev at the end of the hand. She is slightly stronger than Fe, so her pull starts moving us the opposite way. Beyond her, I see another Great Pyramid with outsiders at the base.

  I struggle to pull away from both of them, but before I can gain any traction, I feel myself being pulled in two additional directions. Between Fe and Ev, right in front of me is 80, pulling me from a third arm protruding from my chest.

  When I look behind me, I see Rene yanking me from a fourth arm sticking out of my back. Both of them are also pulling me toward the Great Pyramids with hungry outsiders at the bottom.

  Their combined strength is ripping me apart, but none of them have gained an advantage over the others, so I remain stuck in the same place. A look around reveals that the outsiders have begun closing in on us. They all seem rabid.

  I struggle and scream to get loose, but I can’t. I only have time to look around one more time before the outsiders are on top of us. My body and those of Fe, Ev, 80, and Rene get torn to shreds. As they rip the last parts of my flesh and eyes out, the white abyss that once surrounded me turns pitch black.

  There is nothing there. I can’t feel my body or see anything, but my consciousness just floats in the black. The only thing I feel is fear. Dark, black fear.

  CHAPTER XIV

  My body is drenched in sweat when I wake up. The aches in my body and burning in my eyes tell me that it’s still very early. I know I can’t go back to sleep, so I take my time in the shower and getting ready. I replay what I saw with Joey and Dr. Kivuli in my head.

  After I put on one of the jumpsuits that I retrieved from my old room, I make my way to find Rene. The hallways are relatively empty, except for a few drones. Most of them pay little attention to me, but a couple stare at me intensely, making me uncomfortable.

  I knock on Rene’s door, and just as I am about to turn away, he answers. “Morning, Atom. You’re up early.”

  “I couldn’t go back to sleep.” I walk past him into his room. “I have some information.”

  Rene looks into the hallway and then closes the door. “What is it?”

  “I was walking around the compound last night and overheard something,” I say.

  He sits on his bed and places his breathing mask over his face. He looks weak, and it makes me ill. Even without the Ragnarok, he wouldn’t have much longer anyway. Rene waves his hand, urging me to continue.

  “As I said, I was walking around the compound, and I happened to be in the area behind the library. I saw Dr. Kivuli and a man called Joey talking.” I look at him for a reaction, but the little of his face that I see behind the mask remains unchanged.

  “Dr. Kivuli was talking about a council, and she was trying to find out if there were any more planned attacks. She was very intent on finding things out, but the man, Joey, wasn’t really giving away information.” I feel that pretty much covers what I saw.

  Rene reaches up and removes his mask. “Did Joey give a last name?”

  “I didn’t hear one,” I say.

  He frowns. “I need you to tell Ev about this. She is in Dennis’s old room and has a personnel database in there. You can find out which Joey it was. Also, I need you to promise me that you will be as you were with Dr. Kivuli. We don’t need her to become suspicious that we are on to her.”

  I hadn’t thought about how I would react when I saw her, but Rene is right. If she suspects anything, we might lose any chance we have of finding out who the Mutineers are. “Okay.”

  “Is there anything else?” he asks.

  “I guess not.” I look him in the eyes. His eyes are tired. I can’t imagine the stress he must be under. He puts his mask back on and lies down on his bed with his eyes closed. I take that as my cue and head out of his room.

  I proceed down the hallway, unsure of where I’m going to go. I figure that I will just get to my classroom early and relax for the next hour. After a few more turns, I reach the classroom door and walk in. It’s dark, and I leave the lights off.

  I close the door behind me, head to the back part of the room, and lie on the ground. I stare at the ceiling above me and immediately get the sensation of being trapped. When I used to lie on the library’s roof and stare up at the sky, I felt free. The infinite vastness of space made me feel happy. I had hope.

  Now, staring at a dark ceiling twelve feet above me, I feel constrained and hopeless. I realize how guided my will is. I might have the ability to make my own choices, but the options I have were selected for me. I didn’t choose to be a Genesys. I didn’t decide to have to lead them; Rene and the scientists chose that for me. They sent me on this path.

  I wonder if it’s the same for the outsiders and humanity in general. Did they ever have true free will? Or was it just an illusion put forth by those in power? I guess people need that. Would I know what to do if I wasn’t guided and given parameters? At this point, it doesn’t matter. I have already committed to my role in this. Whether I am right or wrong, I believe that what the scientists are doing is humanity’s best option. Perhaps when we restart humanity, we can do better at letting people have free will.

  The kick to my foot shocks me awake, and I realize that I must have dozed off. My eyes adjust to the bright lights, and after a few blinks, I see Hydro standing above me.

  “Morning, sleepyhead.” She smiles.

  I wipe my eyes and stand as my heart rate settles. I look around and see both K and Dr. Cicca smiling at me as well. My cheeks get warm with embarrassment. “Hey. Sorry.”

  “It’s quite alright,” Dr. Cicca replies as she moves to the center of the room. “Everyone, grab a seat.”

  Hydro and K sit next to me, and I realize that I don’t really know much about either one of them. Even with the amount of time that I’ve spent with Hydro, she and Al are usually in their own world.

  Dr. Cicca jumps right into her first lesson and tells us about the importance of shelter, especially regarding certain elements. She uses a hologram to show us various shelters, from igloos and huts to caves and even holes in the ground.

  We cover the essential structural components needed to build the shelters, things like the importance of weight-bearing support beams, and the need for ventilation shafts. Apparently, the shafts help circulate the air in the shelter and keep it standing in high winds.

  We also cover intangible things like what direction to face the doors and other openings. East to west in cold climates, so the sun shines through, and north to south in warmer regions to avoid the sun.

  For the last part of the lesson, Dr. Cicca has us work with a simulation hologram to build our own shelters. The class has been fun, and I have completely forgotten about everything else that has been going on for the time being. Hydro and K also appear to be having a great time. I wonder if the other Genesys are enjoying their lessons as much as we are.

  After we finish our shelters, Hydro, K, and I head out to the hallway and toward the simulation room.

  “That was better than I expected,” Hydro says.

  “Yeah! I’m so glad you didn’t put me in one of those engineering ones,” K adds.

  “I’m glad I’m not in any of those either.” I laugh, and they join in.

  “Do you really think we might have to use dead bodies and bones to build a shelter?” K asks through her laughs.

  “I hope so! Just to see the faces on the others when we tell them to gather as many bodies as possible,” Hydro answers. K and I both look at her, and then we all burs
t out laughing again.

  Our laughter simmers down as we get to the hallways that used to have the girls’ bedrooms. I saw them last night, but I don’t believe that either Hydro or K have since right after the attacks.

  K looks at me. “Do you mind if…”

  “Go ahead.” I give her a comforting smile and find a sturdy spot on the wall to lean against.

  Both Hydro and K go into their respective rooms. I can hear gasps and some sniffles from both rooms, and I remember all the emotions I dealt with when I stepped back into my room. They hadn’t lived in their rooms as long as I had, but I’m sure they still developed a few memories.

  After a few solitary moments, the two girls walk out and join me back in the hallway. Hydro wipes her cheeks with her hands.

  “Are you two okay?” I ask, trying to be as gentle as I can.

  “Yeah,” Hydro responds. K nods her head in agreement.

  We walk the rest of the way to the simulation room in silence. I figure that they want to be alone with their thoughts to process what they just saw. Besides, I need to think a little more about this Hologram Battle I’m about to put the Genesys through. I really don’t know what to expect.

  When we get out of the elevator at the simulation room, I see that everyone else has already arrived. Their classes must have ended early, but by the looks of it, they all enjoyed them. They are all enthusiastically sharing the information they learned with each other. It’s not until I pass them that they finally quiet down and look at me.

  I take a deep breath and look at all of them. “I hope you all enjoyed your classes.”

  They all mumble affirmatives. I look at Fe and then Ev. Both of them have smiles on their faces. Fe adds a wink when I look back at her, and I try not to let it affect me as I begin to speak. The last thing I need is to be blushing while I introduce the Hologram Battles.

  “Okay, today we are doing something different, and to be perfectly honest, I don’t really know what it is,” I start off.