Gene. Sys. by Aaron Denius (best ereader for comics txt) 📕

but I guess that’s why I spend most of my life thinking on a smaller scale. Ignorance is bliss.

“Is this why it’s hard for you to want to live?” I ask.

The slight smile he had on his face is now replaced with a frown. “There is no reason to live. Right now, I feel like I’m just occupying space.”

“I guess I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to survive.” I’m frustrated that I can’t figure him out.

“It’s never crossed my mind. Until today, all that was ever on my mind was to protect you and Ev at all costs. I didn’t care about myself or what might happen to me. I just followed my orders. Then, as I lay in that bed, I started thinking about stuff.” He looks as though he is processing as he speaks. He reminds me a little of the first day after I was born. I was so curious.

“What were you thinking?” I pry.

“Why am I here? When I was part of the drones, we were never taught to ask why. We just accepted everything as it was. We protect, and we die. Those are our only two functions.” He lies back on the blanket. “It all seems absurd. We should want more.”

That was a lot more than I thought would come from him. It is absurd that protect and die are all they care about. Were they programmed to be that way? I never really thought about the capacity of what the scientists in this compound can do, but it doesn’t seem so far-fetched. I learned about the mapping of the human genome in one of my classes, so it would be safe to assume that they could isolate specific genes and manipulate them. More questions clutter my head, but one thing is sure—there are too many secrets in this compound, and I am tired of being in the dark. I don’t care how much trouble I get into; I will find out everything I can about what they are doing here and, more importantly, why I was created.

80 turns to me. “What do you think they are going to do with me?”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Well, they can’t use me for protection anymore, and I’m clearly not a scientist.” He smiles at me, and I chuckle. His little joke is the most human thing I have seen him do. It almost looks like he is evolving as we speak.

“I really don’t know. There are a lot of things I don’t know about here, but I am hoping to change that.” I really am.

“I’m going to head back to the medical bay. My head is starting to hurt again. Thanks for talking with me.” He stands and walks over to the ladder.

“I’m here almost every night. Come up any time you like.” I smile at him, and he smiles back as he climbs down.

It’s relatively warm tonight, so I curl up with my blanket and sleep up here. I would rather not be disturbed right now, and a large part of me is afraid to face Grant. I know he won’t find me up here. I look up at the vast, dark night sky above me and, though there are so many things that could be occupying my mind, I fall asleep thinking how small and insignificant I am.

CHAPTER V

Over the next three days, I try to stay under the radar. My classes with Ev resume. We learn about art and music. Some of it doesn’t make sense, and I just don’t understand. Brianna says that everything artistic is subjective, but that’s not the case with Ev. She loves everything. It even brings her to tears a few times. Our training sessions with Grant are postponed because of all the work he’s doing in that surveillance room. In fact, I haven’t seen him since the incident in the surveillance room. I’m hoping that he’s forgotten that he is mad at me.

80 came to visit me on the roof once. He asked me about all the things Ev and I had been learning, and I happily shared. He had a genuine interest in biology and chemistry. I asked him about Breekbal. He explained that it’s a game where two teams of ten players attempt to get balls into the other team’s pit, a four-foot hole in the ground at the opposite end of the field. He said that there are no rules about how a team gets a ball into the pit and that the games would get so physical that drones would get injured and have to be put down. The game sounds very dangerous, which may be why I’m dying to play it.

When I woke up today, something felt off. People were more on edge, and there was more activity in the hallways than usual. Ev must have picked up on it as well because, after our morning class, she walks with me back to my room.

“Have people been a little weird to you today?” she asks.

“Yes. They all look tense. What do you think is going on?” I open the door to my room. She walks in, and I follow. Before I can close the door, I hear someone call out my name. The deep and slightly threatening tone can only belong to one person. Grant. I sit on my bed next to Ev and wait. “He’s a little angry with me. You may not want to be around for this.”

“What did you do?” She looks at me, concerned. I haven’t told her about my expedition to the surveillance room; if she sticks around, I won’t have to.

Grant appears in the doorway, and Ev stands. “Actually, Ev, you should stay.”

She sits back down, and I can tell she’s a bit scared because she grabs my hand. We haven’t really touched each other for days, and I forgot how it felt. I’m surprised by how fast my heart is beating and how nervous I get.

I know he