Intended Extinction (17 page)

The look
of bewilderment on Tara’s face was photo worthy. Bollis had just finished telling the three of us about the dark and dirty side of GenoTec. It was the same story he told me. Only this time, I backed him up.

“It makes sense . . .” said Tara under her breath.

Justin didn’t look affected as he sat cross-legged. The only look he wore was one of contemplation.

Bollis sighed, “I wish it were different. It’s completely screwed up.”

“Well, now we know who’s behind all this!” shouted Justin with a lustful grin. He started mumbling to himself.

“What else have they done, Bollis?” I asked sordidly.

He shook his head. “More than I can say,” he said. “And a lot more that we don’t know.”

I paused for moment.

We?

Justin caught it too and asked, “Who’s ‘we?’ You holdin’ out on us, Balls?”

After a moment of silence, Bollis nodded, ready to unleash a pocket of information. “Genesis. I work with an organization called Genesis.”

“Organization?” asked Tara, dubiously.

Bollis maintained eye contact and said, “We aren’t exactly . . . public.”

“
Sick!
” exclaimed Justin, running around Bollis for no reason. “That means more guns n’ ‘splosives n’ stuff! Ha! GenoTec don’t even stand a chance!” He donned his blue goggles this time and gave us all a huge mischievous grin.

“Well . . .” began Bollis.

I narrowed my eyes. It made sense. Bollis’ outfit. His skill with explosives and weapons.

But what did Tara and I have to do with any of it?
That
was the number one question of the week. I think I would have given my legs for the answer.

A noise from outside interrupted our discussion. Bollis quickly rounded our huddled mass and stood a few feet away from the giant door. He waited.

“Is it—” said Tara, before being silenced by Bollis’ hand.

The three of us got to our feet.

Another noise penetrated the steel door. Bollis whipped around and said, “Listen, I’m sorry it has to be like this, but right now, you three have to make a choice.”

We were glued to his face.

“I wish I had time to explain everything,” he said promptly, “but there are people outside who want nothing more than to kill you. They won’t stop until you’re dead. I’m here to offer you a way out of this mess. I won’t force you, but if you come with me, you can have a chance to make a difference. You have to decide
now
.”

Tara gave me a look of astonishment. I stepped closer to Bollis, feeling reluctant about taking the next road.

“Bollis,” I said, “why did you come for us?”

“Mark, please, we don’t have—”

“Tell us why we’re here!”

He looked at me, sighed, and said, “I don’t know.”

Voices could be heard inside the commons.

“GenoTec obviously wants something from you two. We needed to figure out why.”

Did he actually know
anything?

“What happens if we come with you?” said Tara. There was a tone of submission in her voice. I already knew she had decided.

“All I know is you’ll be safe,” he said. He readied his weapon. “It’s now or never.”

The tension was supreme. I couldn’t think straight. The recent attack on my body had drained all of my strength. I was surprised to have been standing for this long.

“Mark,” said Tara, breaking me from my spell, “all this time we’ve been running from our problems. This is our chance to figure everything out. This is our only way to fight back. I hate how things have turned out, but I’m
not
going to die knowing I could have found the answer.” Her blue eyes were dark and serious.

Maybe it was the tired, broken soul inside of me that agreed with her. Or maybe it was the fact that if I didn’t go with Bollis, I’d die. Honestly, I don’t think that either of those things were the case. It was the surging rage inside of me that wanted nothing more than to get even with GenoTec. That was the one truth that I could agree on.

“How are we supposed to go anywhere with them out there?” I said, sparking a rather vulgar, but happy response from Justin and an appreciative look from Tara.

Bollis smiled and said, “I’m not all out of surprises yet.”

He threw his rifle around his back and went to open the small box on the adjacent wall. As soon as he pressed a few holographic glyphs, the room shook, making me fall into Tara. She caught me just as the room started to move—diagonally.

“Whoooo!” exclaimed Justin. He proceeded to bend over, showing his butt to the door and said, “Y’see this, GenoTec?!”

As the room lurched away from the commons, a thick piece of metal slid down from the ceiling, covering the door. If the metal-heads opened it up, they would only see a wall.

“Where are we going?” I asked, beginning to feel drowsy again.

Bollis took in the moment before he said, “To the Underbed.”

THE PROTOTYPES

Erin Hansen
tapped across the cold marble in her three-inch pumps. They were cherry red, matching her black pencil skirt and pink blouse. She wore thick black glasses that seemed almost too big for her, but accentuated her bright blue eyes. Attached to her bosom was a clearance card, showing a picture of her smiling face.

She ignored the groups of people lingering in the lobby and pressed on to the information desk.

“Hello,” she said with a wispy voice, “my name is Erin Hansen, I’m the Volunteer replacement for Geno Security.”

The woman at the desk peered up at Erin with a confused look. “I didn’t know we had a replacement scheduled for GS—”

“If you could check, I’m sure you’ll find me,” said Erin, with a broad smile.

The dark-haired Volunteer searched her computer’s interface, a bright orange, see-through touch screen. After flipping through a few yellow squares, the Volunteer pulled up a big window plastered with Erin’s face.

The woman made a soft noise and said, “All right, I guess you’re good to go. Just step through security and find Aural by the elevators. He’ll tell you where you need to go.”

“Thank you,” said Erin, stepping through the security machine and passing her first obstacle without a flinch.

Two giant staircases rose on either side of her and four elevators lined the back wall. In the middle of the elevators, a strange looking person stood on a small pedestal awaiting her arrival. As Erin approached, she noticed that it wasn’t a person at all. It was a shiny, faceless statue, completely covered in chrome. A bluish hologram materialized over the face, coming together like sand particles. The blue element formed into a handsome male and smiled.

“Hello, I am Aural, how may I help you?” he said.

“I’m looking for Geno Security.”

“Ah,” said Aural, “level four. Your elevator awaits.”

“Thank you, Aural.”

“Enjoy your stay at GenoTec’s Manahattan Branch,” he said, as the elevator closed.

Erin exited onto the fourth floor; her heart didn’t skip a beat. She was calm, determined, and stoic. This was her chance to prove herself to everyone.

She walked to another kiosk with the words “Geno Security” hanging above.

“You must be the new one,” said a thin man with receding hair. He sprang from behind the desk and rushed to greet her. “Are you ready to jump into things?”

“Absolutely,” said Erin.

“My name’s Harvey,” he said, handing her a portfolio filled with papers. They exchanged greetings and he led Erin to the very end of a row of cubicles, packed with busily working Volunteers.

Geno Security maintained Manhattan’s waivering safety and order, often referred to as ‘GenoSEC.’ They monitored surveillance, authorized ID cards, rooted out disturbances, found those tampering with the monthly distribution system, and did anything else pertaining to Manhattan’s uncertain security. Even though there were no “official” enforcement officers, people knew that there were consequences for taking advantage of the system. The men and women were innocent, hardworking people, intent on helping the world get back on its feet.

There was only one person in the entire building who knew anything about things like armored soldiers. That’s why Erin was there.

“We didn’t exactly get a chance to clear out your space yet,” said Harvey, showing Erin her new cubicle. It was chock-full of miscellaneous personal items, as if the previous owner had just left yesterday—which wasn’t far from the truth.

“That’s fine, I’d just like to get to work,” she said, sitting gingerly upon the chair.

After Harvey finished explaining what needed to be done for today’s work, he leaned up against Erin’s cubicle partition and said, “Thanks for coming in so quickly. To be honest, we’re losing a lot of potential Volunteers. Ever since Vax released, people have suddenly lost interest in Volunteer work. It’s like they think we’re done fighting Edge. I dunno . . . anyways, I don’t mean to keep you. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Thanks, Harvey.”

Once he disappeared, she swiveled around and took a deep breath. She glanced at one of the pictures on the desk. It depicted a small family, two parents and a child. They looked extremely happy. Erin picked up the frame and stared at the couple for a few minutes.

“You know, that’s nice and all, but we’ve got work to do,” said a crystal clear voice inside of her ear. Her eyes shifted and she set the picture down.

She touched a tiny button on the side of her glasses, issuing a command to the microprocessor inside. In her vision, a window popped up, detailing schematics to the current floor. Satisfied, she clicked the button again, revealing another window, displaying an eight-digit code.
45887890.
She ran the code through her head multiple times. Finally, she clicked the button a third time, sending an electronic message to the kiosk up front. That was the cue. It was about to start.

“All that memorizing and you’re
still
reviewing,” said the voice inside her ear. “I guess that’s why you’re there and I’m not.”

Erin ignored him and tried to stay focused.

Harvey came hustling back to her cubicle with a slim tablet in hand.

“I know you just got here, but the head of security has requested to see you. He wanted you to bring some charts, too.” He handed her the glass tablet.

“I don’t understand,” Erin lied, “why would he want to see me?”

“I’ve heard he’s trying this new thing where he wants to meet all the new Volunteers. It’s just part of the process, no worries. His name’s Elias Ames. He’s a good guy.” He smiled at Erin and the two walked to the front of the room together.

They made a left turn at the end of the cubicles and came to another door.

“Just head through here, it’s the door at the end.”

“Thanks,” said Erin, disappearing into the next corridor.

The unimpressive hallway passed by as she tapped all the way to the end, finding the last door. “Elias Ames” was spelled out upon the entry. The door rose up automatically as Erin approached.

“Can I help you?” asked Ames, lifting his head from his work.

He sat at a large table, filled with papers, posterboards, and glowing screens. A massive window behind him allowed a superb view of the city. It was a fancy room, furnished with plush seating, packed bookcases, and expensive looking interface units.

“Oh,” said Erin, stepping closer, undeterred, “I was sent to give you these data charts.”

“What?” he said, getting up from his desk. He was a tall man, in his mid-fifties, with graying hair. He wore a buttondown shirt and slacks, with a black tie hanging loosely from his neck.

As soon as the two were close enough, Erin kicked her foot at his right leg, spreading him apart. She grabbed his neck and brought his head down upon the edge of the table, knocking him unconscious. As his body slumped to the ground, Erin made no hesitation and moved behind his desk. Below the widow, inserted in the wall, was a small safe.

She replayed the combination in her mind and punched in the numbers on the small keypad. There was a tiny beep as the safe unlocked.

“Is it there?” asked the voice from her ear.

Erin again ignored the annoyance and ruffled through papers, envelopes, and electronic storage devices.

Nothing. It’s not here . . .

Erin sighed and twisted her head. She was going to have to wake him up.

The voice inside her ear cursed.

Erin sighed and rushed over to Ames, dragging him to one of the white armchairs. She went back to his desk and rummaged through the drawers until she came across a sleek pistol, fully loaded and ready to go. She stepped back to Ames’ crumpled body and slapped his face a few times. He eventually woke up, groaning. Erin placed the barrel of the pistol into his mouth and prepared herself for an interrogation.

“Where are the security files for Jersey City?” she demanded, wasting no time. “Point to it!”

He mumbled and moaned, regaining coherence. Erin pressed the gun harder into his mouth. She repeated herself angrily.

Ames started to chortle with a scratchy undulation. Anger flushed her system, and she brought her foot upon his groin, pressing hard. His eyes shot open and he squirmed in his chair.

“Where are they?” she demanded. She knew the interrogation was extremely risky, but there was no other option. There was no way she could have smuggled anything else in with her. She only had one shot at this before he made a move and ruined the whole operation.

In a fearful bout, she smashed his groin, causing him to writhe in pain. He struggled and whimpered, but managed to lift a hand. Erin recoiled a little, but then realized his hand was pointing at the bookcase. She slammed his skull with the butt of the pistol and resumed her search.

“I felt that all the way from here,” retorted the voice inside her ear.

Erin didn’t respond, ruffling through books and small statues. After completely emptying one shelf, she noticed a small crease in the wood. She fondled it and pressed the small square. It clicked and opened back up, revealing a compartment. Inside, a rectangular data drive was sitting quietly, ready to be retrieved.

In five seconds, Erin discarded the weapon, left the room, and went down the hallway to the stairs. It was a good thing all of the cameras had been tampered with, or GenoTec would have seen the whole mess.

“I can’t believe it,” said the voice in her ear. “I guess you two
can
be ready in that short amount of time.”

Finally, Erin replied sarcastically, “Lucky us.”

She exited the building and waltzed across the street, blending into the crowd and letting her dark hair down.

“You did fantastic, Tara.”