The Individuality Gene

by G Sauvé

  “Drowned!” muttered Will Jr. He didn’t usually use Atlantean swears, but he had heard his grandfather speak that word enough times—both in-memory and in real life—to know when it was appropriate to use it. And now was such a time.

  Will Jr. bolted up the stairs and burst into his bedroom. A quick scan revealed his uniform had been thrown into a corner of the room and forgotten there. Kara had insisted he wash it, but he’d forgotten all about it in the wake of finding the memory organizer. It would be smelly, but that could work to his advantage. If his stench was powerful enough, it might distract his opponents. But only time would tell.

  Will Jr. slipped out of his clothes and threw on the wrinkly uniform. It felt stiff, but a quick jog should soften it right up. Now dressed, he grabbed his body armour, rushed down the stairs, and flew out the front door. Moments later, he was making his way toward the parkourball stadium.

  Will Jr. spent his entire life at the centre of the Earth, but now that he had relived his father’s memories, he looked at his surroundings in a whole new light. He always knew the city was built by aliens, but now that he had seen the Kra’lors, he understood just how old it truly was. It also explained why so many of the buildings had been stripped of their power supplies. Ros’tal crystals were in high demand, and every last one was precious.

  The skyscrapers that housed the dozens of elevators that lead to the surface had been decommissioned long ago, and reaching the elevated bridges was no longer possible. Will Jr. had always wondered what it would have felt like travelling at such high altitudes. Now that he had experienced his father’s memories, he no longer had to. Speaking of his father, the sight of the sun reminded him of Will Sr.’s sacrifice. But the sun had been rebuilt, leaving no indication its predecessor had been destroyed.

  Will Jr. kept going, noting details he had once taken for granted. Most were minor, but a few were quite major. One such insight related to the glowing trees he had encountered during his trip to Kidd’s workshop. He hadn’t known it at the time, but the trees were, in fact, people. They were the humans who chose to take up residence at the centre of the Earth following their liberation. Will Jr. didn’t know how they went extinct, but it didn’t matter. They lived on as trees, illuminating the city at night and fuelling the imagination of the current generation of humans.

  Will Jr. kept going, refusing to let his discovery distract him. He was out of breath by the time he reached the stadium, but he made it just in time to avoid forcing his teammate to forfeit.

  “Where were you?” hissed JJ as soon as he was within earshot.

  “Sorry,” panted Will Jr. “I got… distracted.”

  “Distracted? By what?”

  Will Jr. sighed. JJ was his best friend. The last thing he wanted to do was lie, but he had promised not to disclose the nature of his recent discoveries. Still, lying to JJ felt wrong.

  “It’s not important,” he said as he put on his body armour. “Are you ready?”

  JJ raised an eyebrow.

  “Are you?”

  Will Jr. nodded, now fully equipped.

  “Let’s do this,” he said, glancing at his surroundings. The stadium was small, but the bleachers were full. Hundreds of people had shown up to watch the Parkourball Tournament semi-finals. Sitting in the front row, waving like a maniac, was Will Jr.’s mother. Will Jr. waved back, his face reddening.

  “What’s the plan?” he asked, turning to his friend.

  “Since you skipped our last practice, we didn’t get a chance to test out our new strategy, so we’ll stick to the basics. You play offence. I’ll play defence.”

  Will Jr. nodded. Moments later, the referee blew his whistle, indicating the match would begin in one minute.

  Parkourball was simple. It was a cross between basketball, dodgeball, and parkour. The game was played in teams of two, and there were two different strategies players could adopt. Strategy one: Score points by sinking shots into the opposing team’s basket. First team to fifty wins. Strategy two: Use your club to take out your opponents’ armour. Each player has five pieces of armour, and if one player loses all five pieces, his team automatically loses.

  “You’ve been acting odd lately,” says JJ as he checks his equipment one final time. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  “Yeah,” lied Will Jr. “I’m fine.” He hated lying to his best friend, but he had no choice. Maybe one day—

  A powerful trill filled the air, indicating the game was beginning. Will Jr. and JJ made their way to the center of the field. After a short introduction and a review of the rules, the referee retreated to the edge of the field and blew his whistle. And, just like that, the match began.

  Will Jr. was a skilled player, but his recent discoveries threw off his concentration. He kept getting distracted. Sometimes he would think of his father and wonder whether or not he survived. Other times, it was his mother’s robotic nature that distracted him. In the end, it mattered little. By mid-game, Will Jr.’s team was losing by nearly twenty points.

  “What’s wrong with you?” asked JJ.

  Will Jr. sighed.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m distracted.”

  “I don’t care,” snapped JJ, something he only rarely did. “I’ve worked too hard to let you ruin everything now. Get your head in the game, or we’re no longer friends.”

  Will Jr. knew JJ would never go through with the threat, but the mere mention of it was enough to force him to focus. The second half of the match was brutal… for the other team. Will Jr. and JJ made a miraculous comeback and ended up winning by three points. It was a close match, but now they were guaranteed a spot in the finals.

  “Let’s celebrate,” said JJ once the roaring of the crowd died down enough for them to speak. “I’ll come to your place. We can spend the night in your room, playing games and talking like we used to when we were young.”

  While tempting, Will Jr. knew it would not be a good idea.

  “Maybe tomorrow. I’m tired. I think I’ll turn in early tonight.”

  “Come on,” said JJ. “We both know you want to.”

  It was true. Hanging out with his best friend was one of Will Jr.’s favourite pastimes, but there was too much going on right now to risk exposing his secret.

  “I can’t,” said Will Jr. “I’m sorry.”

  “Are you sure?”

  It wasn’t like JJ to insist.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah,” said JJ in an attempt at nonchalance. “I’m fine.”

  “Are you sure?” asked Will Jr., knowing the best way to get rid of his friend was to pry into his business.

  “I said I’m fine, okay?”

  Will Jr. chuckled. Manipulating JJ was so easy. He usually refrained from doing it, but this was a special circumstance.

  “I need to go,” he said. “See you.”

  He rushed off before JJ could reciprocate. The journey home took a while as people kept stopping him every few minutes to congratulate him on his win. Normally, he enjoyed the attention, but today he was eager to reach his destination. By the time he got home, his voice was raw from cheering alongside his fans and his hand numb from giving high fives.

  “Mom?” he called as he entered the dwelling. “You here?”

  “I’m in the living room.”

  He found her sitting on the couch.

  “We need to talk,” he said.

  Kara smiled.

  “I know. Have a seat.”

  Will Jr. joined his mother on the sofa. They sat in silence for a while before Will Jr. mustered the courage to ask the question they both knew he’d been repeating over and over in his head ever since he relived his father’s latest set of memories.

  “Is it true?” he asked. “Are you a… a robot?”

  Kara nodded.

  He had secretly been hoping it was some sort of mistake, but he now had confirmation.

  “How can that be?” he asked. “How can a robot give birth to a human? Unless… I am
human, aren’t I?”

  Kara chuckled.

  “Yes. You’re human.”

  “Then how—”

  “This will explain everything,” said Kara, revealing a small silver disc.

  A memory chip.

  Will Jr. hesitated for a moment before taking it. It was identical to the ones that came with the memory organizer but for one small detail. There was no roman numeral carved into it. Instead, it bore the letter “K.”

  “What is this?” asked Will Jr.

  “They’re my memories. They will answer all of your questions.”

  Will Jr.’s heart leapt. He jumped up with the firm intention of rushing to his room, but Kara stopped him.

  “I know you’re eager to learn the truth,” she said, “but I must ask you to wait until you relive the memories contained within the fourth memory disc.”

  “Why?”

  “The events contained within this chip occur during the events of the fourth set of memories and won’t make sense unless you relive them first.”

  Patience wasn’t one of Will Jr.’s strong suits, but a slight delay wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Not to mention the fact that he was looking forward to finding out whether or not his father survived. Still, it was with a slight sense of unease that he promised not to relive his mother’s memories until after he experienced the recollections contained on the fourth disc.

  “Thanks,” said Kara. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.” Will Jr. was a little surprised when he realized he meant it. Kara may not have been human, but she was still his mother, and nothing would ever change that.

  The teenager travelled to this room and retrieved the memory organizer from his discarded clothes. Extracting the third memory chip, he returned it to the wooden chest from whence it came, along with the new one. It wasn’t until the time came to retrieve the fourth chip that Will Jr. noticed it.

  The fourth chip was missing. No. Not missing.

  Stolen.

  To be continued…

  The Journey Continues

  W ill is dead. Kara is a robot. Jonn was fired. Things aren’t looking good for the team. But there’s still hope. Kara is convinced Will is still alive. Is she right? Find out in The Fruit of Good and Evil, the fourth installment in the Will Save series.

  Will Save

  The Nibiru Effect - January 15th 2019

  The Virtuality Theory - February 2nd 2019

  The Individuality Gene - February 20th 2019

  The Fruit of Good and Evil - Coming Soon!

  The Inverted Evolution - Coming Soon!

  The Cerebral Captive - Coming Soon!

  The Games of Destiny: Part 1 - Coming Soon!

  The Games of Destiny: Part 2 - Coming Soon!

  Will Jr.

  The Time Anomaly - Coming Soon!

  The Rule of Three - Coming Soon!

  The Final Passing - Coming Soon!

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  GSauve.ca

  About the Author

  G.

  Sauvé had an unusual childhood. He grew up in a straw bale house. He was homeschooled. And he didn’t have a TV until he was a teenager. No wonder he fell in love with the written word at such a young age. He wrote his first book at fifteen (it sucked), and he now resides in Montréal, where he spends his days writing (much improved) novels and making bad puns.

  Pronunciation: G. So-vey

  He loves to hear from his readers. Contact him at: GSauve.ca