Cassius

by Stevens, Madison

  Chapter Twenty-One

  CJ was proving how long a man could stand with his hands clenched. The minutes had ticked by with him near the start of the course in the back of the crowd. He desperately scanned around hoping he was mistaken and Kendra would wander toward him and mention she’d been in the bathroom the whole time. Now there was nothing for him to do but wait for their reinforcements.

  The event had begun, with the first set of contestants trying their hand at the course and ending up in water or on padded mats for their effort, some doing better than others, but no one doing well. Oohs and ahs filled the air, punctuated with clapping and cheers. No one had any reason to suspect an evil organization was there.

  His thoughts drifted, and he barely noticed anyone around him despite being surrounded by hundreds of people. A loud collective roar of excitement snapped him out of his stupor.

  CJ’s head jerked up. He’d hoped Kendra had taken to the course, but it was some other brown-haired woman he didn’t recognize. The tall, pretty woman was bold taking on the course in her full tracksuit, zipped all the way up, including a high collar. Given the summer heat, it must have been unbearable, but she wasn’t giving any sign she noticed. He wondered if it was part of her superstitions.

  She zoomed through obstacles like she’d been born for the course, including charging across a climbing wall with all but non-existent handholds so fast it was like she could hover. The uneven pyramid climbing challenge and rope swing obstacle was difficult enough it might have even given CJ pause, but this woman who wasn’t much bigger than Kendra passed through it so quickly she might as well have been sprinting down a flat, well-prepared stadium race lane.

  CJ narrowed his eyes. The crowd was going wild, but something was wrong. He spent most of his time around genetically engineered soldiers who constantly trained in painful ways that pushed them to their limits. He was used to seeing people operate at or near superhuman levels all the time, and it was hard for him not to question if he wasn’t seeing that now.

  He sent a text to Julius.

  Some impressive running on the course, almost too impressive. I think I know why our friends came here.

  Julius texted him.

  Just make sure you don’t do anything stupid.

  The athlete continued demolishing the course until a chance slip on unevenly spaced poles sent her into a pool below. She swam hard for the edge of the pool and hopped out, her blank expression clear on one of the jumbo screens transmitting from a cameraman closer to the obstacle. At least the pool would help her cool down.

  CJ frowned. He pushed into the crowd, his size making people naturally step away. He started making his way toward the front, but the woman grabbed a towel from a staffer and disappeared back into the crowd.

  What was she? Some sort of hybrid?

  He could have been wrong. The people around him were excited, but not stunned. She might have been a naturally talented athlete who had gotten lucky or had the run of her life.

  “Get ready for contestant number nine,” shouted an announcer. “A fixture in the obstacle scene, the one, the only, Roving Champion!”

  CJ froze, gaping as Kendra bounded onto the first obstacle in the distance. He looked up at the screen.

  There was no joy, no emotion, nothing on her face. Somebody else might mistake it for pure concentration, but he knew that wasn’t the same Kendra Champion he’d talked to earlier, complete with some weird thin metal collar that would have looked more appropriate on some Goth singer. She wasn’t the only person who ran with a weird accessory, and no one else was commenting on it, but he still questioned it.

  He ground his teeth. The bastards had done something to her.

  A horn blast signaled the start of her run. Kendra exploded off the start line. Her movement, both the sheer speed along with the intensity and the tightness of her muscles, captivated CJ. He shook his head, remembering he wasn’t there to be impressed by her body. Obstacle after obstacle fell to her, and she was doing even better than the woman who had run right before her.

  “She’s usually a little more cautious in her runs,” a woman in the crowd mentioned to her friend. “If this is the Roving Champion when she’s going all out, then wow. She’s been holding back for years! She could dominate some of the men on ASTC.”

  “Some of the men?” her friend replied. “She could win the whole thing.”

  Kendra all but glided over the balance obstacle that had taken out the woman before her. The deafening roar of the crowd faded away to CJ as he focused on her, watching her every movement.

  CJ blinked and shoved his way forward, trying to follow along. He hopped over a stanchion, but none of the security guards placed throughout the course paid him any attention.

  Everyone was focused on Kendra’s incredible run. In any other circumstance, he also would be.

  He sprinted along, the outer edge of the rope separating off the crowd. He kept his speed fast, but not showing off his full hybrid potential.

  Kendra hit a spinning wheel bar obstacle. It involved her grabbing one of the many exposed bars on the edge of a wheel that spun down toward other similar wheels. The obstacle required perfect timing.

  She launched onto the outer wheel, but instead of waiting for it to spin down, she scrambled up the top, using the bars as footholds. The crowd gasped in disappointment as Kendra leapt from the top of one wheel to another.

  “They’re going to disqualify her for that,” the earlier woman moaned. “And such a good run. Darn.”

  CJ growled. Since when did Kendra take mindless risk and ignore race rules?

  Kendra continued her movement, but her foot snagged a handhold. Fearful cries went out from the crowd as she pitched forward, slamming into the top of the wheel. It rotated forward and launched her off headfirst.

  Someone in the crowd screamed. Under normal circumstances, obstacle failure meant a one-way trip to the pool or mats and nothing more than getting some bruises or soaked, but being flung from the top of the wheel arced her well past the safety zone.

  CJ charged toward the obstacle, not caring about anything or anyone but saving Kendra. Panicked staff and guards watched wide-eyed as the Vestal plummeted toward the ground. There was no sign of fear on her face.

  He jumped on top of a long, closed equipment case and into the air, grabbing the falling Kendra and twisting his body. The crowd fell silent as he hit the ground hard and slid, tearing his shirt, Kendra clutched in his arms.

  CJ sat up, still holding Kendra. She stared out, her eyes glazed over, but all the crowd saw was a man who’d saved a woman from serious injury. The entire area shook with their cheers.

  “Kendra, are you okay?” he asked.

  She stared straight ahead, not reacting to him at all. There were no lacerations or contusions on her head or body.

  “Talk to me,” CJ said. “Are you okay?”

  Two white-uniformed men wearing arm bands reading FIRST AID ran toward CJ. They extracted the silent Kendra from CJ’s arms and started pulling her off the course. She didn’t resist them.

  “I think she might have hit her head,” CJ said. He stood to follow.

  One of the men put up a hand. “Thank you for your assistance, sir, but you don’t look hurt. We need to check her out inside, and it’d help if you backed off.”

  “I’m her boyfriend,” CJ replied.

  “Go back to the crowd, and we’ll let everyone know in a few minutes how she’s doing.”

  CJ jogged over to the crowd, hopping back over a rope. A couple of men gave him backslaps and thumbs up. He ignored them as he walked along the edge of the crowd. The medics had disappeared, people parting to let them and Kendra through, but their direction was unmistakable, the main building.

  He texted Julius.

  Found Kendra, but something’s wrong with her. Some guys are taking her inside, and I’m in danger of losing sight of her. There’s no way I can wait for everyone else.

  Julius’s response was instant and surpr
ising.

  Do what you need to do, and I’ll back you up. I already saw you on the big screen anyway. They know you’re here. I saw one vehicle leave, but she wasn’t inside. Some other woman.

  CJ headed toward the building, having long since lost sight of Kendra and the medics. Excited murmurs from the crowd discussed everything from Kendra’s spectacular but doomed run to the last-minute save. Most people were so focused on talking about what they’d just seen, they didn’t pay much attention to one of the key participants in those events other than glancing his way briefly as he passed by them.

  He reached the edge of the crowd area and hopped the stanchions again before jogging behind some parked trucks and following a sweeping arc back toward the building.

  His heart pounded. He wanted to roar and sprint right through the front doors.

  Seeing Kendra move like that only confused him. The earlier woman he might have been able to explain away as a hybrid, but Kendra wasn’t a hybrid, and it wasn’t like Ouroboros could just dose someone with a drug and give them hybrid-like abilities.

  Or could they? It was like Julius said. The evidence was right there in front of his face. Ouroboros was there, and they’d done something to her.

  CJ arrived at the building, this time approaching from an open side door. There weren’t any guards around. He sniffed at the air, finding both Kendra’s scent and the awful smell from before.

  He took a deep breath and jogged toward the door. The entire crowd, along with any security working for Ouroboros had spotted a huge man sprinting as fast as an Olympian to catch Kendra. He’d lost the element of total surprise, so there was no reason to use maximum stealth.

  The whole thing might even be a trap to lure him out. He didn’t care. At this point, sneaking around wasn’t much of an option. If he ran into anyone, he’d demand Kendra’s location and punch them until they gave it to him.

  CJ entered the building, finding himself in a lobby connecting to a narrow hallway. Faint voices sounded in the distance, but nothing that sounded all that harried or worried. He continued down the hallway, his stomach knotting with worry over Kendra.

  Her scent grew stronger, as did the other one. He slowed after turning and walking down another long hallway. He was approaching a gymnasium according to a sign on the door.

  “The other one is unaccounted for,” a woman said. CJ didn’t recognize her voice.

  “Does it matter?” replied a man. “We have what we came for. I thought this whole plan was idiotic to begin with.”

  “Was it? We have two test trials now, including one with a new Vestal, and it’s also obvious that our equipment can’t be easily detected. That’s good to know.”

  The man scoffed. “This whole project is a waste of time. It’ll never be useful.”

  “Really?” The woman laughed. “If anything, the fact that we were able to identify one potential Vestal from secondary medical records shows the usefulness of at least the initial planning stages of this project. And even if they can’t be enhanced, they can still be used.”

  “And what about the second Vestal?” the man asked. “We somehow missed her. Your plans won’t always go the way you think, Helen.”

  A name was useful. It was actionable intelligence.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Helen said. “We have her now. And the first has already been removed from the area. Just in case.”

  CJ furrowed his brow. Another Vestal?

  Whatever they were doing might require a woman to be a Vestal. That might explain the earlier unusual run. He hadn’t been as focused on the woman as Kendra, but she displayed similar capabilities.

  He squeezed his hands into fists. They’d screwed up. Kendra might have been an accident, but Ouroboros had come to target a Vestal. Julius wasn’t looking for anyone but Kendra leaving. They had no chance of rescuing the other woman now.

  “We won’t be able to get the second one out of here without the hybrid interfering,” the man inside the gym continued. “We should just leave.”

  “Such impatience, Michael,” the woman replied with a faint chuckle. “I’ve already solved the problem.” She raised her voice. “If you don’t come in here, hybrid, we’ll kill your Vestal.”

  CJ gritted his teeth. He’d not cared about being stealthy before, but at least Kendra was still alive, and as long as he was near her, he could save her.

  He threw open the door and growled. “You picked the wrong Vestal to mess with.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Kendra blinked several times. Her blurry vision sharpened into clarity. CJ stood at the entrance to the room, glaring at Helen and Michael. Both of them wore sunglasses.

  “Don’t do anything, foolish, hybrid,” Helen said with a sneer. “Or I suppose I should say don’t do anything more foolish than you already have. It’s like you and your Vestal were trying to deliver yourself to us.”

  “You people all but signed your death warrants when you took her,” CJ replied, baring his teeth.

  “Oh, do calm down. Don’t be such a stereotype.”

  “Why are we talking?” Michael asked. “Let me finish him off, and we can get out of here with the Vestal.”

  “When opportunity presents itself,” Helen replied with a shake of her head, “you don’t go running away. We already have the Vestal. Why not have the hybrid?”

  CJ smirked. “You actually think you’ve got the upper-hand here?”

  “I know I have the upper-hand. What was it that she said your name was… CJ?” Helen laughed. “How pointlessly human. Disappointing. You should be trying to be less like them, not more.”

  “You’re really starting to piss me off.” CJ glanced over at Kendra. “And I’ll gladly kill every last person in this room to save her.”

  Kendra continued looking straight ahead, too afraid to move and give any indication she was fully conscious again. She was inside an indoor gym with a fancy, well-maintained basketball court. Uniformed men pointed stun guns at CJ, though they all had holstered pistols at their sides, too.

  Everything was hazy, and her head hurt. It was like she was dreaming. She remembered running the course, but it was almost like someone else was running it in her body. Helen had told her to run the course and do her best. It was still hard to concentrate.

  “There’s that pointless obsession that’s always disgusting,” Helen said, wrinkling her nose. “She’s just a woman. We could free you of your focus.”

  “Like Quinen tried to by messing with our noses?”

  “I can assure you Dr. Quinen cared only about himself.” Helen shrugged. “The rest of us have loftier goals.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “That doesn’t make it any less true. Are we so evil?”

  “You’re a secret group that experiments on people and tries to kill anyone who might find out.” CJ snorted. “Yeah, you’re pretty damned evil.”

  Kendra risked moving her eyes back and forth. From what she could see in her peripheral vision, the guards were all in front of her. Everyone was watching CJ, with no one paying her any attention.

  With everyone focused on CJ, it was time to make her move. Kendra reached up and felt around her collar. She found a latch and undid it, pulling the collar off her throat but not dropping it to the floor and risking making noise. The residual haziness in her head vanished, though she still had a throbbing headache.

  Kendra now stared straight ahead, keeping her expression blank. As long as Helen and Michael didn’t know their strange mind control had worn off, she might be able to surprise them and help CJ.

  It was just like running a course with a new obstacle. She had to trust in her body and the presented opportunity.

  Helen clapped. “I appreciate you saving our specimen, CJ. She wouldn’t have been useful with severe brain damage. It was really quite touching, but I can assure you it wasn’t our intent for her to hurt herself, and we don’t intend to cause her any sort of lasting physical harm.”

  “Bullshit.” CJ g
rowled. “But forget about that. A hybrid strike team is mixed in with the crowd. You’ve got one choice. You can surrender to me, or you can see what a group of angry hybrids can do. Quinen thought he was ready for us, too. Now he’s dead.”

  Michael snickered. “You think you can bluff your way into victory.” He reached up and pulled off his glasses. “I’d love to take you on, hybrid.”

  “Is that your stench I smell?” CJ scoffed. “You must not have our sense of smell. Otherwise you wouldn’t be able to stand yourself.”

  “I’m not a glorified dog,” Michael replied with a sneer. “I don’t need to follow trails. I only need my power.”

  “Quinen was bragging about being a badass too until Maximus killed him.” CJ shot a grin at Michael. “You guys must be asking yourself, ‘What the hell happened? All those special powers, and he died? What don’t we know?’”

  “The doctor was… unstable. As were his modifications.” Helen shook her head. “He wasn’t careful. I wouldn’t be surprised if he blew himself up battling you. We’re hardly in the same situation.”

  CJ looked over at Kendra with a pained expression. “And what the hell did you do to her? She ran the course, but it was like there was nothing there.”

  Helen offered a smug smile. “A simple test of an experimental technology, one that will allow the preservation of complex skills. It has limitations, as you can see, but it’s only a prototype.”

  “You can only use it on Vestals, can’t you?” CJ asked.

  “For now.” Helen shrugged. “But we’ve come far closer to isolating the necessary genetic information to create new Vestals than the Group ever did, and then we won’t have to worry about disrupting anyone’s life.”

  “You’re talking about taking freedom from more people,” CJ replied. “Just like was done to us.”

  “I’m talking about progress. That’s what science is, iterative building upon previous advances with the occasional sacrifice.” Helen pulled her glasses off to reveal her own bright purple eyes and smiled. “We NextGens will take the best of humanity and the best of your kind to make something better.”