The Modified (The Biotics Trilogy, #1) (20 page)

“As the president said, you all are very special. And I hope to come to know you better in the days to come. Keep up the good work, and I will be watching you. Cadets, dismissed.”

We all stand and hold our salute until he leaves.

“Well, that was a bunch of bull. The only truth that came out of either of their mouths was that our asses are going to be on the line. I hate politics,” Sam murmurs.

As we go to leave the mess hall, I notice most of the cadets seem to be less enthusiastic. There was more of a celebratory mood in the room before the presentation, but now the tension in the area seems almost palpable. You can actually see the pressure of everything that they feel now right there on their faces.

Staring out my window, I see the garden Galileo creates for me every day. I find it strange that I only see the flowers my brother Dylan gave my mother, and not the ones I gave her before I left. If this was created using my memory, shouldn’t my last memory of the garden be after I saw her plant the blue poppies?

“Hey, Galileo?”

“Yes, Kenley?”

“Am I able to go down there?” I ask, looking longingly out at the garden.

“Where would you like to go?”

“The garden outside my window,” I reply.

“Of course you can. I can guide you there, if you like?”

“I’d like that.”

Following Galileo’s directions, I exit the facility through a hatch that leads into the garden below my window. The vision before me immediately brings me back home. It literally feels like I just stepped out into my back yard. I almost expect to see my mom tending to the lavender bushes. A light breeze blows through the garden and everything sways in the wind. I reach out my hand and let it travel over the hedges and then the flowers as I pass by them. My hand stops over the red poppies. I crouch down to touch the flowers, but my hand goes straight through them. The image shutters and I sigh, wishing I were touching the real thing.

“Hope you don’t mind, but I followed you out here.” I hear a low sexy voice behind me. I turn and grin, seeing Landon standing there.

“Of course I don’t mind.”

“So what is this place? There’s nothing like this anywhere else at the facility.”

“Galileo recreated this from my memory. It’s my mom’s garden back home,” I answer.

“Your AI did this?” Landon asks staring intently at his hand passing through a bed of flowers.

“Yeah, doesn’t your AI do things like this for you?”

“Not exactly, no. Mostly it just talks about my vitals,” Landon replies, coming to stand right in front of me. “It’s beautiful,” he continues as he places his hand to my cheek.

“So why did you follow me out here, huh?” I inquire with an impish grin.

He laughs. “I was intrigued. Plus, you looked like you were sneaking around. So naturally I thought I’d see what you were up to.”

“Ahh, I see.”

“When we’re back on Earth I’d like to see this in person. If you’ll have me over, of course,” he says with a slight smile.

“I’d like that,” I reply, gazing into his eyes.

“So, you say your AI created this for you, huh?” Landon asks as he begins to walk around, perusing the garden again.

“Yep, every day when I wake up.”

“It’s kind of cool how it looks like an unfinished painting. Like the artist just gave up or something,” he comments while making his way to the edge of the garden where the green grass stops suddenly. He lets out a little laugh as he reaches out and touches the white interior wall of the structure.

“Funny, I actually thought that same thing after I first saw it,” I reply, joining him by the wall.

“Did you ever think in a million years that you’d be doing this? That the whole world would be depending on you?” he asks suddenly, kind of catching me off guard.

I think for a moment and then respond. “No…to be honest, I wasn’t even supposed to be here.”

“What do you mean by that?” he asks, turning to look at me.

“I’m not really supposed to talk about it. I’m not even sure why I mentioned it in the first place,” I reply sheepishly, looking away from him.

“You can talk to me, Kenley. I won’t tell anyone, I promise,” he says, pulling my chin lightly to face him.

“My dad…kind of pulled some strings to get me in here. I didn’t know about that little fact until I got here, though.” As I continue to speak, surprise registers on Landon’s face. “For a while I felt like a fake and that I didn’t belong here or something. And Strike training didn’t help much in that department either.”

Landon places his hand about my cheek. “Kenley, it doesn’t matter how you got here. You’ve proven yourself time and time again. You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, if you never would’ve come, we wouldn’t be sharing this moment right here,” he says with a grin as he looks deeply into my eyes.

“I know, and believe me I’ve thought a lot about this. After making Fort division, I realized I belonged here. I finally felt a part of this place. And I have you to thank for a good deal of that.”

No more words are spoken as Landon leans in and kisses me. It feels like the area around us disappears and we’re just floating in space. In this moment I feel so much joy. I’m the luckiest girl in the galaxy.

After finishing breakfast in the mess hall, I make my way with Caleb to our very first Fort training session after division assignments. Caleb continues to be a guy of few words as we walk together. He only says like three words the whole time, and they’re all one word answers to questions I ask.

Entering the training room, I take a seat on the mat next to Caleb’s. Dr. Patel is standing at the front of the room with her chest pushed out and face full of pride as she smiles at us. When the last cadet takes his (or her) seat, she clears her throat.

“The Magnus Academy Exit Exam is a true test for you and your implant,” Dr. Patel says seriously as she paces back and forth in front of us, her hands crossed behind her back. “You will be paired up with two other random cadets and made to work together in order to overcome certain obstacles that mimic actual battlefield scenarios.” She stops, looks at us, and then takes in a deep breath, seeming like she’s gathering her thoughts, before continuing. “You all have performed exceptionally well up to this point, so I have no worries about your performance during the exam. I know you will make me proud, but most of all, I know you will prove to yourself that there are no limits to what you can do.” She smiles as she scans the room. “Over the next week, we will train and hone your skills as Fortification division cadets, in order to prepare you for what you’re sure to face within the exam. Any questions?”

 I look around and see no one raising his or her hand. There was this one question bubbling up inside me that I tried fighting to ask. It’s actually been eating away at me ever since I heard about the exam. Giving in, I raise my hand.

“Yes, Ms. Grayson?” Dr. Patel asks.

“Whose idea was it to put us through this exam? It seems like it was added on at the last minute,” I ask.

“You’re right in assuming that, Ms. Grayson. It was actually the brainchild of General Barclay. He requested we train you to participate in this exit exam,” she answers.