Ethan Knox - August 2120
This past month has been a complete emotional rollercoaster.
When Kai said he wanted to stay...
I was over the moon, maybe even somewhere past the moon. I swear I could've run laps around the whole of Trinity without getting tired. I'd already started planning everything we could do together at Eastbury. It may be a small town, but there is still a lot we can do.
Cinema dates, fancy dinners, a long walk by the riverside where our hands would brush, and then… well… maybe something more if the universe was on my side.
But no! The universe took one look at my excitement and said: "Haha, cute. Anyway-"
Because ever since Kai decided to stay, he's been working nonstop. Like, seriously, I've never seen someone sprint into chores like they're competing for Olympic gold. He's helping Miriam in the kitchen, fixing broken furniture, watching over 'Bennett' and who knows what else.
But what really gets under my skin?
He spends a lot of time in Edmund's office. Just the two of them, talking. Talking about what? I don't even know. And whenever Thomas shows up, Kai's suddenly evaporating into thin air like some sort of shy, handsome ninja.
And then there's me. Over here. Trying to plan one tiny, tiny date with no luck.
What's worse, I can't even tell if he still likes me.
At the facility, he'd blush whenever I looked at him. When we kissed, it felt like he never wanted to let go.
Now? Apart from the occasional hug in bed, he avoids getting close. And when I try to scoot in? Suddenly he needs to be somewhere. Doing something for someone.
So, here I am. Sitting on this old picnic bench near the running track, sulking like an abandoned child. My book's open, but I'm not reading.
My eyes keep wandering to Kai on the track.
He's working out, and Jack plus a bunch of the other kids are orbiting him like planets around a very confused, very attractive sun.
He tries to act all shy, which, okay, yes, he absolutely is, but it just makes him even cuter. Like, right now? He clearly wanted to train alone, but as soon as the kids showed up, he got awkward and is now stuck teaching them how to defend themselves.
He wipes sweat off his forehead and takes a drink from his bottle, and I swear my heart does a cartwheel. Why does he have to look that good while sweating? It's unfair.
He sends the kids off on a lap and makes a break for it, towel in hand, walking straight toward me.
Panic. Panic!!
I snap my eyes to the book, pretending I'm invested in whatever page I'm not actually on.
He stops beside me, hovering like he's waiting for permission. I noticed he does that a lot... waiting for permission for the smallest things. It's adorable but also kind of heartbreaking. I keep pretending not to notice, though. I want him to feel more comfortable before I bring it up.
"You look tired," I say, grinning as I move my foot off the opposite seat so he can sit.
"Well, the kids do keep me on my toes," he says, glancing toward the track.
"Oh please," I tease, "maybe if you didn't offer to teach Jack how to fight, the other kids would've left you alone."
He blinks, caught off guard."I didn't offer. He's just… copying my moves."
Sure... He couldn't fool a goldfish with that one.
"Yeah, yeah," I wave him off. "And I guess Daniel's just copying you too?"
His head snaps toward me, confusion written all over his face.
So he wasn't secretly training Daniel too? Honestly, that should've made sense, Daniel's hated Kai since day one. Those two in a training montage together would be… well, weird.
But I know what I saw.
Daniel was out there, trying to control his vines in this specific, swirly, shadowy motion, almost exactly like how Kai moved when he created those shadow tendrils during the fight with "Bennett."
It wasn't just random mimicry. It was deliberate. Daniel was trying to copy him.
Which means… either Kai didn't realise he's inspiring the guy, or Daniel's been studying him from a distance like some grumpy secret fanboy.
"So! When are you going to take an actual break?" I ask to change the subject.
"I'm having one now?" he says, genuinely confused.
"No," I huff dramatically. "A real break. All you've done is work since you got here. I want to take you into the town."
He pauses. Eyes drop. Shoulders tense.
"Erm… maybe another time."
Another excuse. Another little sting.
Before I can get a word out, Jack yells from across the field
"HEY NEW GUY! YOU CAN'T JUST RUN AWAY AND LEAVE US RUNNING!"
Kai gives me a sheepish smile."Well… looks like I've been caught. Better go back."
He gives me a tiny wave, small, soft, unfairly cute, then runs off toward the track.
And here I am... watching him go again.
As i'm still pretending to read, flipping the same page back and forth like an absolute literary fraud, I hear my name being yelled across the field.
"Ethan!"
I look up and see Rays waving both arms like he's signalling a rescue helicopter.
With a small sigh, I close the book and hop off the bench. As I start walking toward him, I catch Kai looking at me from the track. His brows knit together, like he's wondering why I'm being summoned and also maybe a tiny bit concerned.
"What's up?" I ask once I reach Ray.
He does this quick little scan, eyes darting left, then right, like he's checking for spies or eavesdropping squirrels. Only when he's sure we're alone does he lean in.
"Edmund and Thomas made a breakthrough," he whispers. "They want us in the lab."
My eyebrows shoot up.
A breakthrough? After all this time?
They've been analysing "Bennett's" blood for over a month now. We all thought it would be a quick, simple thing, poke the sample, read the data, boom. Answers.
But no. Edmund kept insisting it didn't match the usual Lunex mutation patterns. And considering the "lab" is basically a science fair setup squeezed into an abandoned classroom… well, they've only had so much to work with.
____________________________
We step into the school lab, and Edmund and Thomas are already there, hunched over the computer like two stressed out owls.
"No Tessa or Daniel today?" I ask, glancing around.
"Not today," Edmund says as he turns toward us, hands folding neatly behind his back. "I've sent them into town to gather information."
"Information?" My eyebrows shoot up. My curiosity is basically a small dog scrambling against a leash.
"We'll explain what we've discovered first," Edmund replies gently. "It'll help make sense of why they've gone."
He turns back to Thomas and the computer, and we gather around behind them like eage but clueless students. The monitor shows a mess of wiggly lines and numbers that absolutely mean something to someone... just not me.
"What are we looking at here, Thomas?" Rays asks.
Thank god. At least I'm not the only one lost.
"Well," Thomas says, pointing at the screen, "this is a graph and cell image from a standard Lunex vial mutation."
The graph looks stable, nice and calm. The image shows normal blood cells mixed with orange, glowing Lunex-mutated ones. I've seen that before, familiar chaos.
"But this," Thomas continues, clicking to the next slide, "is the sample from the subject."
The word subject hits a bit harder than I expect. "Bennett" might be dangerous now, but he's still a person. Just like we all were.
Thomas must realise he slipped, because his eyes flick to mine and he winces.
"Sorry, Bennett... Force of habit." He gives me a small, apologetic smile.
The new graph is wild. It spikes, drops, rises again, like a heartbeat trying to sprint and faint at the same time. And the mutated cells… they look wrong. Jagged. Harsh.
"Okay… and that means?" I ask, hoping someone will translate 'science chaos' into Ethan friendly English.
Thomas and Edmund share one of those cornerning looks, before Edmund speaks.
"This mutation didn't come from a Lunex vial," he says quietly. "It's a new formulation."
Even Edmund's calm expression cracks a little, and when he's worried, something is very, very wrong.
Thomas looks even worse, though that might just be because he's more expressive.
"So it's a new vial?" I ask. "What does that actually mean?"
"If it's a new variant of the Lunex formula" Thomas says, rubbing his temple, "then it'll be significantly harder to counteract. We'd have to start almost from scratch."
"And if Tessa was right," Edmund adds, "and Bennett really is just a bartender from the town… then the question becomes, how did he even get this variant in the first place?"
...So that's why Tessa and Daniel were sent back to town.
They know the people there and blend in. Just a young couple out on a date. If something dangerous is circulating, they might be our best chance at finding information before it spreads.
If this counterfeit Lunex gets out… More people will get hurt. Or worse.
And everything we've been fighting for…every risk, every escape, every plan…
It could all be undone.