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

To my right, Fe and Hydro are getting into a heated argument.

“You were supposed to cover me!” Fe gets into Hydro’s face.

“I don’t take orders from you!” Hydro screams back.

I see Cal and Al run over to them, so I pull my attention back to Sil and Ev. I run over and get between them. “Calm down. It was an accident.”

“It was not an accident, and you know it!” Ev directs her screams at me.

Ev pushes against me to get to Sil, and as I hold her back, Sil gets a shove in. I turn to him and push him back. When I do, Titan comes to Sil’s side.

“Let him go!” Titan stares at me, and I pull up.

As Titan pulls Sil away, Sil shouts at me. “Everything is about Atom and Ev. You are the favorites. It doesn’t matter if we live. We are just collateral!”

I’m hurt by his words. We are all in this together. “That is not true!”

Before I can say another word, a fist connects with my jaw. As my head whips to the side, I taste the saltiness of blood. When I look back up at my assailant, I see Sodi staring me down and rubbing her fist.

The entire room goes quiet, and I sense everyone’s eyes on me. I get a quick flash to when I was in the same situation with Titan just weeks ago. They are all anticipating my next move, and I know that what I do next will dictate the kind of leader I will be.

I take a deep breath, and then, as calm and stern as I can, I look at each Genesys. “All of you sit against the wall.”

Shock fills most of their eyes and, without second-guessing, they all move to the wall. The tensions between them make them all keep a healthy distance from each other.

“If we are all going to survive, we have to work together.” I pause. An idea has just filled my head, and I give myself a mental reminder to find 80 after this.

“Not a single one of us is more important than the other,” I continue. “The goal is for each one of us to survive, not just me or Ev. All of us. We are all Genesys. We are all the new beginning. If one of us doesn’t make it, we all fail. We were all created for the same purpose, and once the scientists decide to start the Ragnarok, it will be solely up to us. So we have to be a team, and if you are not okay with that, then we don’t want you.”

I look around at the group sitting on the floor. A few of them have smiles on their faces; Sil has his head to the ground. Fe and Hydro exchange apologies and embrace.

“Tomorrow’s training will be outside by the drones’ quarters.” With that, I turn and head to the elevator. I drop the chain I had wrapped around me on the way. I figure they will tidy up. Besides, I have something important to ask 80.

CHAPTER XV

The part of the compound that houses the drones has a static feeling to it. It doesn’t really appear different from the other areas, but the parts that have been exposed by the explosions are barren. The open rooms I see have beds with gray sheets on them and nothing else. There are no signs that any of the rooms had decorations or any other furniture. A few drones are asleep in some beds, and I realize that they weren’t relocated.

I find myself getting angry with Rene again. How could he so unapologetically mistreat the drones like this? I turn the corner to the open field in the middle of the drone quarters, and I’m blinded by the low sun that is beginning to turn the sky orange.

When my eyes adjust, I see a drone standing right in front of me. The sun reflects off his shaved head, making his scar even more ominous.

“What do you want?” 13 demands. He steps up close enough to block the sun from my face.

“I want to see 80.” I stand my ground. He has obviously been through a lot, but it’s not enough to ease my disdain for him.

13 stares at me, thinking about what he wants to do. He lets out a long huff and turns back toward the field. “80, the chosen one wants to see you.”

His words sting and remind me of what Sil yelled just moments ago. “I’m not the chosen—”

“Save it.” He cuts me off and walks away.

A sour taste has built in my mouth. Why can’t they understand that I didn’t choose to be in this position? If I ran this compound, I would do things differently.

“Hey,” 80 says behind me.

I turn, half startled. “How’s it going?”

“What do you need?” he asks curtly. My facial expression must have surprised him, because he quickly changes his tone. “Sorry. I just have a lot of work to do.”

“No worries,” I say, a smile creeping up on my face because of what I’m going to ask next. “Can we set up a Breekbal game between the Genesys and you guys?”

80 thinks for a moment and then turns toward the field. He walks to the middle, and I hustle to keep up. “Why do you want to play? It’s not really the best of times with all the attacks.”

“I need them to learn to work as a team. I thought this would be a good way to do that,” I answer.

“None of us have played since we were brought back.” 80 stops in the middle of the field. “I suppose it could be good for morale.”

“Awesome!” I can’t hold in my excitement. I have wanted to play since 80 first told me about it. “Would we be able to do teams of twelve instead of ten?”

“Sure. When?” He grabs a couple of smaller pieces of rubble from the ground and