The Genesis Code 1: Lambda (32 page)

“You aren’t very strong outside the Network,” Lambda taunted as she slowly advanced toward Overseer. “On this plain of existence, killing you will be simple.”

Overseer’s pain seemed to vanish as the feelings of fear quickly swept over her. Something was wrong. The Lambda unit was behaving in a way that went beyond anything she had ever seen. Its brutal nature displayed in the Network was more calculating and destructive, rather than malicious and dark. It almost seemed that it was enjoying the slaughter.

Th-this isn’t right! It is supposed to be confused and conflicted! Why is it focused now!?

Lambda broke her thoughts with a freezing tone of death. “You wear armor, but I can see your face. I know that expression, and that feeling.” Lambda stopped about fifteen feet away from Overseer. “It’s the feeling of fear.” She threw her hand out towards the saw blade spinning above. “So tell me, human . . . how does it feel, knowing you are about to die?”

“Stand down now!” bellowed Clairvoyance from behind Lambda.

Lambda turned to face her new target, but upon locking eyes, she saw what he held in his arms.

Zack!

“Cease your attack at once! Make one wrong move and the kid dies!” Clairvoyance materialized a small pistol to his hand and held the barrel against Zack’s head. His limp body remained unchanged as he still looked feverish and sickly.

Lambda stared, completely dumbstruck. She could only rethink what she had just done and hardly could grasp her own actions. Why did she so carelessly forget about him? More to the point, why did she feel so scared by her own actions?

“Are you deaf, or just as thoughtless as any other piece of hardware!? Get rid of your weapon or I will kill this little brat!” Clairvoyance’s hand clutching the weapon was trembling. He had forgotten what it was like to truly feel fear, now that they were no longer on the digital haven the Network provided.

“Clairvoyance! Don’t be stupid!” shouted Overseer.

Lambda broke from her shock as she came to a realization.

He can’t kill Zack. He’s the only thing keeping him alive.

Clairvoyance didn’t take long to grasp that Lambda had deduced his bluff. However, keeping Zack close was his best chance to stay alive.

Lambda raised her hand and slowly, the black saw above vanished into negative space. She now stared hard at Clairvoyance, clutching the unconscious Zack tightly to his chest.

“Release Zack now. This will be your only warning,” Lambda spoke with a harsh undertone that left Clairvoyance weak in the knees. He could sense the malice in her words. Even so, he tried to remedy the situation to his favor. All he had to do was give Overseer one clean shot.

“Perhaps you don’t understand the situation. I’m prepared to die, while you aren’t prepared for this boy’s life to end. Thanatos is calling!” managed Clairvoyance as confidently as he could. He was sweating inside his armor like it was a sauna as he waited for his plan to be put in motion.

Lambda’s gaze didn’t waver. She now was in complete control of herself. Before, she was overwhelmed with intense emotions, blinding her of the situation before her. It was like she was completely taken over by another force, allowing the emotions driving her to control her every action. It was frightening. Only the sight of Zack in danger brought her back. She shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if she didn’t come to her senses and allowed the rage inside her to continue to ravage. Would she have stopped then? Would she risk Zack’s life to eliminate the target threatening him? She had to keep her emotions in check, for fear of what she might do if she were to lose control again.

“Your bluff is obvious. Everything fears death. You are no exception,” spoke Lambda in a firm tone of voice. She had to stay focused. She knew what the enemy could do.

Clairvoyance’s body began to shudder. He was starting to run out of options.

“W-well . . . if death is my only option, I suppose I might as well as take the boy with me!”

Lambda’s body suddenly felt like it was on fire as she immediately dashed forward. Her feet lightly touched the ground as she raced toward Zack. She could sense the irregularity in the man holding Zack and saw his brainwaves were reaching critical levels of stress. He wasn’t thinking straight anymore. He could very well kill Zack right now.

She wasn’t going to let that happen.

I’m coming, Zack-

Lambda’s vision suddenly went critical as she was swatted like a fly to the right by a tremendous explosion. The attack left a massive crater where it struck and rained down debris from above. Lambda quickly noticed that her right arm was mangled and nearly torn clean off. It laid at her side, twisted and sparking like a live wire as she screeched to a halt upon recovering from the shock of the attack. Hundreds of warning signs hung in her vision as her repair systems tried to engage to assess the damage, and begin necessary revitalization. She was barely able to stand given the damage she sustained went beyond just her arm. Still, her injury didn’t stop her from hearing the demonic laughter of Overseer. Her shrill laughs boiled her insides to a point she never thought was possible.

“Unbelievable! You fell for it! To think that we had such a problem with you before is laughable now!” Overseer wailed triumphantly. Her arm was steaming, radiating so intensely with heat that her whole arm boiled red. Attached to her arm was a large cannon. Its barrel was bigger than a basketball and the weapon was the length of Overseer’s arm.

Overseer sneered while holding her giant weapon up with pride. “Thanatos Tech. Who would’ve thought you’d ignore me long enough to use it? For some elite program, you are quite stupid.”

She began to march toward Lambda as she struggled to get to her feet. The blast had also damaged her right leg, making it difficult to reengage.

“With this, I will be able to erase my previous failures and take back the shame I have had to deal with. With you under my belt, all that will remain is that fool Corson.” She snickered under her breath as her weapon began to flicker with purple light. She raised the weapon and pointed it at Lambda. “We were ordered to bring you in undamaged, however . . . I’m sure they can put you back together.”

Lambda’s body suddenly felt like ice. It didn’t take long for her to realize what sensation was coming over her. It was worse than she originally had imagined.

This is . . . fear.

Overseer cackled as she readied her stance for the kickback of the weapon. She was so focused on her victory that she didn’t notice the small dagger breaking the night air like a comet.

“Now . . . I erase my-”

Overseer’s weapon suddenly ruptured at the barrel and caused a catastrophic meltdown, resulting in the weapon to overheat beyond her control. The heat from the weapon was so intense that Overseer’s armor began to melt away. The terrifying screams echoing from her scared every living creature out of the area. It was the cry of agony . . . and despair. All the images of her past rushed her as her vision began to go white. All her triumphs and all her failures. In the end, it was her pride that doomed her. She could only scream in pain as her weapon went berserk. She didn’t even realize her body was melting.

“No! I’m so close! No-”

“Overseer!” bellowed Clairvoyance as he discarded Zack’s limp body to the ground, rushing towards his partner. He was upon her in seconds, though it was too late. The weapon went critical and exploded. The massive heat wave from such a close proximity vaporized half of Clairvoyance’s body, tossing the remains of his charred corpse into the lake. Lambda was blown backwards, but didn’t suffer any additional injuries as she manage to place a small electron field up in front of her to block the blast.

What just happened?

Lambda wasn’t given a chance to think as a silver foot slammed down next to her. She gazed up at the new adversary that towered over her.

The masked figure said nothing as he peered down at her. All she could see on his face was her reflection and an orange lightning bolt.

The figure spoke in a hushed tone. “Flawless.”

[16]

Sabotage

[January 7th - Abingdon, Virginia - County Park - Day]

Lambda gazed at the faceless figure. With one glance she instantly recognized the silver knight from earlier. Her body boiled.

“How spineless to appear only after the battle,” Lambda shot in an effort to sound aggressive.

The man in the slick, silver armor stood firm. He moved his gaze to the limp body of Clairvoyance now floating in the lake, and to the smoldering crater left by Overseer.

“Hardly words to be spoken from the mouth of the one that lays in ruin, no?” spoke the silver knight in a condescending manner.

Lambda’s eye twitched. If it weren’t for her mangled state, she would have ended the giant then and there.

The silver warrior’s gaze now fell on the limp Zack. Lambda followed his stare and immediately acted, despite her extensive damage.

“Don’t you even think about it!” she howled as she swiped her good leg at the warrior in an effort to kick his legs out from under him. Effortlessly, he sprung his legs up and delivered a kick right to Lambda’s face, cracking her visor and sending her in a full backflip up into the air. She barely had recovered from the impact when the silver knight made his next move.

“Know your place.” Mercilessly, he threw his fist forward and crashed the metal knuckles of his gauntlet into Lambda’s back, shooting her twenty feet out before crashing to the ground. The attack left no extensive damage, but the force behind the blows far exceeded Lambda’s expectations.

“Now then, where was I?” he taunted.

Lambda struggled to rise. She eyed the silver warrior closely. His broad shoulders and large physique made him appear to be an intimidating adversary. His agility displayed was enhanced, but Lambda knew this was added by the spring and veracity of youth. He sported an impressive frame that most would envy. She knew she couldn’t take this foe lightly.

“I will be relieving the boy from you,” he said as he began walking over toward Zack, never once turning to face Lambda. “You have caused him enough trouble.”

Lambda forced herself to stand. She barely was finished with her repairs, but all she wanted was to protect Zack. Everything came second, even her own self.

“S-stay away from him!” she yelled

The knight didn’t even bother to stop as he spoke. “I’m shaking,” he said flatly.

You little . . .

Lambda stopped her fuming as her wounded arm sparked. She could now move her fingers, but full functions were still offline. Regardless, it was now or never. She had to stop this person before he took Zack away. If anything else, she couldn’t let that happen.

The knight of silver noticed Lambda taking her stance. He couldn’t help but snicker arrogantly. “Still got some fight in you? Very well. I will entertain-”

A red laser flashed by his head, cracking the helmet he wore. He quickly sprung back with tremendous force to the edge of the lake. His helmet smoldered from the attack as it hissed wildly with steam.

“That was a warning shot. The next one will be lethal,” echoed the cold words of a woman atop a hill, a hundred feet out. Her golden hair swayed gracefully in the churning wind.

The silver warrior clenched his fists. “Wonderful.” He stood up and peered at the lone woman. “Stay out of this, girl. I don’t have time to play with you,” he spat with vile intent.

The woman leapt forward, closing the distance between them alarmingly quick.

“Sorry, but these two belong to Stigma,” she said with a smirk.

The knight’s knuckles screeched as they grinded from his clenched fists.

“Don’t try my patience, fool. Handling one lone Stigma member will be plenty easy for me.”

The woman’s smirk remained. “I highly doubt that.”

Suddenly, twelve black holes opened up around the area, all spewing out several men and woman clad in military armor and weapons. They all took their stances, locking their sights on the lone warrior. One large man at the center appeared out of the crowd and stood on the woman’s right, holding a custom RPG.

“Laura, I believe you teased the poor soul long enough.”

Laura shrugged. “Always raining on my parade, Peter.”

Peter pursed his lips, letting out a quick laugh. “Hardly.” He then turned his gaze to the silver knight, now looking a bit less at ease.

“Do you understand your position now?” Peter thundered.

The silver knight clenched fist sparked from the metal grinding. This was the worst possible outcome.

“He won’t like this,” he muttered under his breath. The knight then flung his arm out and split a hole in the scenery. As he approached the black distortion, he turned to Lambda.

“Enjoy your time with the boy.” He stopped just before he entered the cold void. “Know this, Lambda . . . your existence will only bring pain.”

Without another word, he vanished in a flash of black lightning. His words still hung heavy in Lambda’s mind.

What does he mean by that?

Her thoughts were quickly ruptured as another slit in the scenery appeared right in front of her. Upon the person who exited the black hole, her red eyes flamed with a heated passion. It took everything she had to not just thrust her fist through his white mask.

“It has been some time since I’ve seen eyes like those. You have grown faster than anyone could have predicted, Lambda,” Corson said in a soft yet threatening voice.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t put a hole through your chest!” Lambda shot hotly, never breaking her flaming eyes from Corson’s empty ones.

Corson chuckled. “Your emotions have made you weak.” He motioned with his hand and several men brought a young girl forward. Lambda’s eyes quickly lost all their bite as shock and surprise rushed over her.

“Please play nice, and Luna Nova won’t be harmed.”

Lambda turned back to Corson, aggression rising in her voice. “You wouldn’t dare!”

Corson’s eyes perked with intrigue. “The intensity of your emotions are unforeseen. The rate of development . . .”
He turned his head towards the girl standing next to Cecilia. His tone sounded oddly cold.