CHAPTER TEN

        I watch him as he falls. Down, down, down. Through air, thick and foul. Arms flailing. Eyes bulging. Headed towards a fate he knows he cannot escape.

        “I don’t understand. Why him? Adrian, I mean,” I say, whispering the words as I take in the sky. Dark and brooding. “He didn’t do anything to deserve this.”

        “Really? Are you sure about that, Commander?” asks Mr. Hopper, quietly, as he stands off to the side. Watching from a distance. “You and I both know Adrian doesn’t fit in with our way of life, and therefore needs to be eradicated now. Before it is too late.”

         “Seriously? Before it’s too late?” I ask, completely aghast. “Honestly, Mr. Hopper. Do you hear yourself right now? You’re acting as if Adrian is some societal menace hell-bent on our immediate demise when, in reality, he’s nothing more than a young man trying to live his life.”

        “Yes…, a young man trying to live his life in the pursuit of other men – a capital offense as far as the Council is concerned,” says Mr. Hopper, rather stoically, as he maintains his position off to the side. “Now hush, and return your gaze to the monitors. We can have ourselves a little debate later, once this is all over, if you still wish to.”

        “Hmph,” I say. Then I do as I’m told; returning my gaze to the monitors just in time to scour the landscape. All checkered and bruised. “Either way, if he manages to survive this, you know he won’t be able to remember any of the events leading up to this moment, right?”

        “Yeah, and that’s kind of the point,” says Mr. Hopper as the feed changes on the monitors. The cameras panning around to give us a better angle on Adrian. “Now hush!”

        “Okay, okay,” I say, raising my hands in defeat; nearly missing the moment the landscape morphs into an ever-expanding sea of blood and decay.

        It shouldn’t be too much longer now. In a few moments, Adrian will collide with the sea. At that point, he’ll either breach the surface, and live to see another day; or be splattered across it like a bug on a windshield, and suffer a terrible death.

        When the times comes, I can’t stop myself from instinctively wincing; and then releasing a big sigh of relief when I see Adrian plummet beneath the surface. The strength of his own momentum forcing him further and further down into the depths.

         As he starts gasping for breath, the monitors start fading to black. One by one until Adrian gasps his last breath, and succumbs to the will of the sea.

        Once he does, I turn to Mr. Hopper. “There. Happy now?”

        “No, but that doesn’t matter,” says Mr. Hopper as he pulls out a smart device; and furrows his brow. “What does matter is that Adrian was able to pass the initiation phase of Project Eden; and that the project, in and of itself, is once again a go. The Council ought to be very pleased when they receive the news. Now come.”

        “Where to?” I ask, a little confused.

        “The Old Atrium,” says Mr. Hopper as he puts the device away, and looks up at me. “In the wake of our now growing threat, the Council has chosen to assemble there for an emergency session. I think they wish to activate the Guard, but they need your authorization codes to do so; and have requested your immediate presence. If you’re ready, we can go ahead and leave now.”

        “Of course, I’m ready,” I say, trying not to sound too sarcastic.

        “Good!” says Mr. Hopper as he eliminates the distance between us with a few short strides, and grabs my arm. His grip firm, and unyielding. “Let’s get going then, shall we?”

        “Sure thing,” I say right before he whisks me away on a journey that I can only hope will be short and sweet, and danger-free. Famous last words, I know.