“Chris, my feet hurt,”10-year-old Tim says quietly, stopping.
14-year-old Chris looked back at Tim’s small form and he walked over a few paces back, kneeling in front of him, back turned. “Here,” Chris says. “Get on my back.”
Tim barely weighed anything. He clambered on Chris’s back and Chris held him, walking forward towards home. With the sun setting, Chris walked faster.
“You okay, little bird?” Chris asked.
“I’m okay,” Came Tim’s small reply.
Chris didn’t reply at Tim’s tired and dejected voice. Coming up with an idea, Chris grins and he swings Tim into his arms and while Tim was squealing in surprise, it soon turned into squeals of pleasant surprise as Chris held him high and twirled around and around. Tim giggled loudly, the first reaction.
“Chris!” Tim screamed and Chris was laughing. Laughing because it was moments like these that made him glad to have little Timmy at his side, no matter how young he was.
“Little bird, hang in there,” Chris said, finally gathering Tim into his arms as they walked home. Tim pressed his cheek against Chris’s dirty one. “We’ve got each other, yeah?”
Tim nodded and the smile on his face made Chris lose his exhaustion as they laughed, finally talking about their day without any dejectedness.
Chris blinks open his eyes, staring up at a wide hologram extending across his full range of vision. He can see his health stats on the hologram. Chris wants to go back to sleep, make himself warmer but as he closes his eyes, it all comes back.
The Watchtower exploding, Tim emerging out from the dust that clouded a whole block, the Fighter with auburn hair challenging Tim. Tim. That gets Chris opening his eyes and he sits up, the IV drip pulling as he stares at it, and somehow realizing, his neck feels lighter. Wildly looking around, Chris’s hand flies to the back of his neck and he doesn’t feel the tracker. The tracker embedded into every human slave’ in Genecis. All he feels are bumpy scars that are still tender.
“Awake?”
Chris looks up to see someone enter the room he had been sleeping in. The holograms showing his health stats disappears as the light in the room brightens a little, showing the face of his newcomer, and a possible enemy. The newcomer is tall, slightly broad-shouldered, with a handsome long face. His eyes are green and when he comes in, he leans against the wall, away from Chris.
“Those are some nasty scars,” The newcomer comments.
Chris recognizes him. The Fighter who chased after Tim for the damned USB that would’ve gotten Tim killed. He gives him a level look of wariness. “Where’s Tim?” Chris demands in a low voice.
“In a separate room,” The Fighter’s voice is surprisingly light and almost friendly. “He’s safe, I swear,” He puts his hands up in assurance. “Like you, he just woke up a few hours ago. He had a meeting with the Commander before he collapsed from exhaustion.”
Chris holds his head, feeling a light throbbing in his head. Yeah, Chris understands that. “You’re the one that knocked us out in the alleyways?”
The Fighter nods. “I’m Stryker,” He introduces. “An Elite Corps member and an agent,” He says easily. “Not that you would know what they are.”
Chris shakes his head. “I don’t and really, all I want is an explanation,” He says. “Where am I, why did you bring us here? What was up with Tim and his crazy hacking nerd skills, where’s the tracker embedded in our necks,” Chris pauses, catches his breath, looks at Stryker who nods slowly.
“Yeah, that’s not gonna be my job,” Stryker says with a small apologetic grin. “My twin will explain everything to you, I promise,” He adds before Chris can say anything. "I'm not in charge of you for now."
Chris just stares at him, unsure whether to trust him. He’s confused, very vexed, and he wants answers but out of everything so far, knowing that Tim is safe was the only thing that mattered to Chris.
There’s a knock on the door which Stryker chirps a “Come in” and the door opens. A Stryker lookalike--Stryker’s twin--comes in with a broad smile and he puts a hand on his hip. “Hello, hello, Christian, heard lots about you from Timmy,” He says and his voice is deeper than Stryker’s, his hair wilder. “I’m Ignyter, an Elite Corps member, and scouter.”
Chris almost laughs at their names. Their names sound like codenames. But he’s got names and he knows people who can answer his question so Chris doesn’t take it into deep thought. He’ll ask about these “Elite Corps” and “scouter” and “agent” later.
“So I’ve got twins here, one saying he’ll let the other explain, the other introducing himself as something I don’t know,” Chris says, letting his legs dangle from the chair. “So what do you both have planned for me?”
The twins share a brief glance before Stryker raises his eyebrow at Ignyter. Ignyter raises his own before sighing. Chris just figures he’ll wait. A moment later, Stryker pats Ignyter on the shoulder and leaves with a nod and a salute before walking out the door. Ignyter looks at Chris before shrugging. “Alright, Christian, let me explain the situation and your position to you.”
“Chris will do,” Chris says, folding his legs into a criss-cross sitting position.
“Chris it is then,” Ignyter sits down on the chair, pulls it closer across from Chris and taps on his gauntlet, maximizing the size of the hologram so it becomes a translucent screen. “So, to answer all your questions, let me explain where you’re are and what we did to you.
“You’re at R30 Main Headquarters under Storia City,” He shows Storia City, the next biggest Nova city with Genecis first. It’s just a outline of the large city, nothing detailed, but then with a swipe of his gloved finger, shows underground where Chris can see an entire blueprint of the headquarters. “The tracker that Genecis has on you and Timothy was surgically removed by us. You were knocked out by a taser which temporarily disabled the trackers giving Stryker enough time to haul you guys out and get you here.”
“And I just woke up from surgery,” Chris says, getting the gist of his position.
“Yes, after three days of coma. Timothy woke up yesterday and he’s been asleep ever since. Stryker’s in charge of him for now and I’m in charge of you,” Ignyter says and the hologram clicks off. He grows serious. “The Commander, head of the Resistance, heard out Timothy; about living in Genecis and your living state, your families being killed and taken as slaves, as well as information Timothy carried.”
“Information?” Chris can’t help but feel a rush of anger. All those life-risking chances Tim's taken to gather information just in case... "You guys asked for his information?” Chris's voice comes out hard.
Ignyter gives him a stern look. “No, he said he had it but he wouldn’t give it.” Ignyter shakes his head, smiling. “Smart kid.”
“Yeah,” Chris agrees quietly, flashbacks from that alleyway in Genecis streaking through his mind. He saw how skilled and precise Tim’s fingers were across two keyboards. How easily Tim broke the lock on that USB. Tim wasn’t lying when he said he could hack through the lock better than a Nova alien. Sometimes, Chris didn’t know how smart Tim was. How fast his mind could work like a reflex. He wasn’t a Nova technician for nothing, after all, spending overtime on fixing those Nova ships.
Which made Tim useful and dangerous. And for the first time, Chris connects the dots clear as crystal. He suddenly begins to laugh, startling Ignyter, as Chris presses his hand over his eyes. The Resistance were like moths to a flame, taking any chance they could get to be able to scout someone like Tim. With his brains, with his hacking skills, his information, the Resistance would be able to gain more power. And to do that, by making Tim a Fighter, they would gain a large, unrivaled advantage.
“You guys aren’t the Resistance for nothing,” Chris says and Ignyter just stares at him. “You guys are pretty damn smart too,” He says, taking a breath. “Let me see Tim. I don’t care if he’s asleep or awake. He’s my little brother and I need time to think about all this too.”
“Sure thing.”
Comments (0)
See all