Test Subject: 016 - September 2120
"Yep. Knew it."
I kick my heels against the front of the car as I sit on the bonnet, metal thudding under my boots. Boring. Absolutely bloody boring.
009 sighs beside me, eyes never leaving the warehouse squatting in the distance like a concrete tumour."Knew what?"
"That this mission would be a waste of time," I complain, stretching my arms above my head, sparks flickering lazily across my palms. "Why would anyone important be hiding out here?"
"I'm not sure," 009 replies, voice tight. "But I can sense Christopher. He's sitting in an office… with someone else. I think he's here for an exchange."
An exchange.Out here.
Yeah. That never means anything good.
We've done enough missions to know that if a deal's happening in the middle of nowhere, it's because someone doesn't want witnesses.
"Wait," 009 mutters suddenly. "There are two movements approaching the warehouse."
I hop off the car and stride over, peering into the dark. "What do you mean?"
"I think they're trying to infiltrate," he says, confused.
As if on cue, a security light shatters. Guards drop one by one, bodies hitting the ground in silent heaps.
A grin pulls across my face as I crack my knuckles, electricity snapping between my fingers. "Finally."
I take a step forward but 009 grabs my arm.
"We're here for surveillance only" he reminds me.
I groan. "You're killing me."
So we just sit and watch, in pain.
Lights inside the warehouse flick off one by one. The air hums, sparks of electricity flashing through the windows like lightning trapped in a box. I can feel 009 tense beside me.
"What?" I ask.
"I think…" His jaw tightens. "I think they're kidnapping Oswald."
My stomach drops. "Shit. So what now?"
He glances at me, weighing it up. I know that look. The moment he stops following orders and starts thinking for himself.
"We can't let them take him."
That's all I need.
I launch myself forward, blasting off the ground with a violent burst of violet energy. The world blurs as I close the distance just as a figure steps out of the warehouse.
I aim and flick my hand.
A massive violet explosion roars from my palm and slams straight into a wall of shadow.
It stops dead.
"What?"
Why is he here?
The shadows peel away and there he is.
I feel my blood ignites. A mix of anger and relief. But more anger.
"016?" he says, confused.
Sparks flare brighter around my hands, crackling violently. My jaw locks.
"004," I snarl. "You bastard."
He looks startled, but I don't care.
"What are you doing here?" he asks.
"I should be asking you that," I snap, every word dripping with anger.
He glances to his left. I follow his gaze and see a tall, dark figure gripping Christopher, dragging him back.
When 004 looks at me again, something clicks behind his eyes.
"Get to the car," he shouts to the man. "I'll deal with this."
Oh, no you don't.
I move fast, dropping low and aiming for the man's legs. One blast and it's over but something coils around my wrist, yanking my arm away.
I whirl on 004, fury blazing.
The man uses the chance to run, Christopher over his shoulder.
"What the hell are you doing?" I shout.
"016, I can't let you get in the way" he says quietly. "I'm sorry."
Sorry?
I scoff. "So you really did turn traitor."
He doesn't answer.
When I look at him properly, I hesitate.
He looks… wrong. Not cold or empty. Just sad. Uncertain. I've never seen that on his face before. I've never seen anything other than that dead, detached stare.
"016" he says softly. "Come with us. I know 009 is here too."
"There is no leaving GeneX," I snap. "You know that."
But then I notice his neck. There is no collar.
And suddenly it hits me, he looks lighter. Less broken. Like someone took a weight off his soul.
I feel movement behind me.
"004?" 009 says carefully. "What are you doing here?"
004 looks between us, conflicted.
"Kai! We have to go! Now!" The man shouts in the distance.
Kai.
The name slams into my chest.His real name... He really did get out.
"I have to go," he says. "If you come with me, there's someone who can remove your collars. You'll be safe."
I laugh, sharp and bitter. "You can't be serious. There is no way out. GeneX will hunt you down and tear apart everything you touch."
He looks away.
"004," 009 says, stepping closer. "There's a termination order for you."
Kai stiffens. Shock flashes across his face before he buries it.
"Maybe," 009 continues, "if you come back, Dr Langford might be lenient."
We all know that's a lie. He might not be killed by his father, but he will be punished to the point he wishes he was dead.
Kai murmurs, "I can't go back. I have something to protect now."
"Kai!" the voice yells again.
He looks at us one last time, then turns to leave.
"We have orders, 004," I call after him. "You know we can't let you go."
He stops midstep and turns back.
"Please, 016," he says quietly. "I don't want to fight you."
Sparks dances wildly around my hands, my heart pounding so loud it drowns out reason.
"Orders are orders," I say but for the first time, my hand trembles.
The moment stretches, tight, electric.
Then he moves.
Shadows surge off the ground like living things, snapping toward me. I grin, adrenaline roaring through my veins.
"So you do want to fight," I shout, hurling a blast straight at his chest.
The explosion detonates mid-air, violet fire tearing through the dark but the shadows fold, compressing, swallowing the force like it's nothing. The shockwave rattles my bones anyway, heat ripping past my face.
"Don't," Kai warns.
"Too late!"
I slam both palms forward. The ground erupts.
Concrete fractures violently beneath him, explosions chaining together as I advance, boots pounding, sparks screaming from my hands. Smoke fills the air, debris raining down like shrapnel.
He vanishes within the rising smoke
"Coward!" I yell, spinning.
A shadow lashes around my ankle and yanks. I hit the ground hard, breath punched from my lungs.
I snarl and blast point-blank, the explosion ripping the shadow apart and throwing me backwards. I roll to my feet, laughing wildly despite the pain.
"Is that all you've got?! I know you can do better"
The darkness answers.
Shadows pour in from every direction, wrapping around my arms, my waist, tightening like restraints. I fight back, explosions detonating again and again, violet light tearing holes through the black.
But they keep coming.
Kai steps out of the darkness in front of me, shadows crawling over his hands like armour.
"I don't want to hurt you," he says, voice strained.
"Then you picked the wrong girl," I spit and unleash everything.
One massive blast. All of it. Rage, betrayal, all compressed into a single detonation aimed straight at his heart.
The explosion rocks the night and for a second, I think I've won.
Then the shadows crush inward.
The force slams back into me, hurling me across the concrete. I skid, sparks flickering weakly from my hands as I struggle to breathe.
Kai staggers too, dropping to one knee.
For a heartbeat, we're both wrecked.
Then he stands.
Blood drips from his nose, dark against his skin. He wipes it away with the back of his hand, breathing hard but still standing.
I try to push myself up but shadows snap around my wrists and pin me flat.
"Damn it!" I thrash, explosions sputtering uselessly against the restraints.
Kai steps closer, looking down at me, not cold, not triumphant.
Just sad.
"I'm sorry, 016," he says quietly. "I really mean it."
The shadows tighten once more, and everything goes dark.
____________________________
When I come to, the world is swaying.
I'm slung over 009's back, my cheek pressed against his shoulder as he trudges across the cracked ground towards the car. Every step sends a dull throb through my skull. My hands ache, empty, quiet, like the explosions have gone to sleep without me.
"Where is he?" I croak.
My voice comes out rough, shredded, like I've been screaming for hours.
009 slows.
I feel his shoulders sag, just a fraction, before he lets out a long breath and looks down at the ground.
"He got away."
The words hit harder than any punch.
I let out a sharp, humourless laugh. "Figures."
My fingers twitch. Anger churns in my chest, hot and bitter, tangled up with something worse that I don't want to name.
"He beat me again, didn't he?" I mutter.
009 doesn't answer straight away. That tells me enough.
"You nearly tore the warehouse in half," he finally says.
"And yet it still wasn't enough to take him down" I snap weakly, then bite my tongue as my head pounds.
Silence stretches between us, broken only by his footsteps and the distant hum of the car.
"He was bleeding," I say suddenly. "From his nose."
009 stiffens slightly. "You noticed."
"Yeah," I whisper. "Which means I almost had him if I could have pushed him more."
009 doesn't argue. But deep down, I think he knows neither me or Kai fought to our full potential.
We reach the car and he carefully lowers me onto the passenger seat. The cold metal seeps through my clothes. I stare up at the dark sky, jaw clenched so tight it hurts.
"He wasn't lying," I say after a moment. "About getting the collars off."
009 pauses with the door open. "I sensed it too."
I laugh again, bitter and sharp. "Of course you did."
My hands curl into fists, nails biting into my palms. Explosives were always easy. Anger was easy. Orders were easy.
This wasn't.
"He looked… free," I admit quietly. "Didn't he?"
009 shuts the door gently. Too gently.
"Yes," he says from the other side. "He did."
The engine starts.
As we pull away, I turn my head back towards the warehouse, towards the shadows he disappeared into and my chest tightens.