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

its head. The man I’ve called my dad has become a stranger to me. Right now, the only person I feel I can trust is standing by my side, holding my hand.

Rene guides us down the path between the tubes. It just doesn’t feel right to call him Dad anymore, especially since I now know where I was created.

“Yes, Ev. They will be occupying those rooms.” He turns to smile at us, but his expression quickly turns south as alarms deafen our ears. I look around to see red lights flashing throughout the room and all the scientists running amok.

“What’s happening?” I ask. It’s as if everyone else has gone through this before, because they are all running with purpose. Some are hitting shut-off valves; others are locking down equipment. Ev grips my hand tighter; I don’t object.

Rene ignores us and turns toward the scientists. “Hawk! Watch over these two!”

Then he yells at Ev and me, “Stay here!” As soon as he says it, he’s gone. He bolts up the stairs and into the elevator.

“Come with me, you two.” We both startle at the voice and turn. In front of us is a man about a foot shorter and fifty pounds lighter than me. I feel I would be able to lift him up with one hand. Hardly the type of guy you would expect with the name Hawk. A pair of glasses nearly an inch thick covers his face.

He runs off, but I don’t move until I feel Ev tugging on me. I stumble as I catch up, and Hawk leads us into a back room adjacent to the monitors. He shuts the door behind us.

“Help me with this, Atom.” Hawk runs to the other side of a filing cabinet and starts to push. It doesn’t move until I run beside him to help. We carry it directly in front of the door.

“What is going on?” Ev shouts. She’s found a place against the opposite wall. Next to her is a desk with a few old computers.

Hawk sits at the chair at the desk and turns on the monitors. “We’re under attack.”

“By who?” I ask as I walk up behind him. Ev stands next to me, and this time, I reach for her hand.

Hawk smacks the monitors a couple of times, and they come to life. “The outsiders.”

It’s hard to take in everything I see. The monitors all show different parts of the compound. About fifty drones are shooting at wave after wave of people scaling over the exterior walls. All of the outsiders look filthy. Their clothes are tattered, and many appear to be in terrible health. Scars and sores cover their exposed skin. The ones who make it over the wall open fire on the drones. Their firepower is inferior, but their numbers level the field. There are hundreds of them.

It’s a never-ending stream flowing over the walls. Bodies fall lifeless to the ground. The drones appear to be overpowered, but instead of retreating, they push forward into the mass of outsiders. It’s as if they have no concern for self-preservation. Just as the original fifty drones are torn apart by the mob of people, fifty more march out in unison from their barracks. I’ve been able to see the barracks from atop the library roof, but I’ve never ventured over there. However, the shot of the barracks that I see on the screen shows a group of buildings much more extensive than I anticipated. Thousands of drones could be housed there.

Behind the newest wave of drones, the ground opens up, and dozens of rolling machines pour out. I have never seen these before. A drone sits in a clear case on top of a spherical wheel. The wheel allows the device to move in any direction, and the case can spin around completely. Each clear case is equipped with two guns.

“What are those?” I ask Hawk.

“Rollpods,” he says without looking up. The rollpods speed into the crowd of outsiders and shoot recklessly at anyone within, including other drones.

I’m so mesmerized by everything that I haven’t realized that Ev is no longer holding my hand. She’s sitting on the floor against the side wall, visibly upset by this violence. I’m about to go to comfort her when an image draws my attention to the screen. Stepping out of the hole where the rollpods came from is Rene.

“What’s he doing?” I lean closer to the screen.

Hawk seems as confused by it as I am. “He’s just watching.”

“But it’s not safe!” I yell.

Ev quickly gets to her feet and looks at the screen. “Get him to go back in!”

“I can’t do anything from here!” Hawk’s energy has matched ours. He’s on edge.

We watch the screens more closely. The rollpods have seized control of the battle, and many of the outsiders are retreating.

Two outsiders break free and run toward Rene. He turns to run back into the hole as a rollpod turns its aim at the two outsiders. One of the outsiders gets a shot off before he’s gunned down, and we all watch Rene fall to the ground and into the hole.

“Dad!” I scream. I run to the door and push on the filing cabinet. “Let me out of here!”

Ev falls to her knees, crying. Hawk runs to me and tries to pull me away from the filing cabinet. “Atom, stop. Stop! You can’t help him. You need to stay here.”

I shake him off and continue pushing on the filing cabinet. It starts to move. A rage has built up inside me. “I need to get to him.”

“You can’t,” Hawk yells back as he puts his hands on my shoulders and pulls me back. Before I realize what I’m doing, I punch Hawk square in the jaw. He falls hard to the ground. I’m sorry that I did that, but I have no time for remorse. I have to get to my dad.

I push hard on the filing cabinet and move it out of the way of the door.