The Lab (Agent Six of Hearts) Page 21

  “You see, Agent Six, you are going to be of immense value to our project. From the original Project Falcon, you are one of three offspring. There’s yourself, Sevadonn here, and the creature known as Kyntak. You all have identical DNA, and you had identical gestation periods in identical synthetic environments. Until the gestation laboratory was destroyed, you three were carbon copies of the same perfect being.”

  “Nobody’s perfect,” Six said automatically.

  “Ah, and modest, too. But though it’s taken more than twenty years of hard work, we’ve finally managed to reach our goal. Unfortunately, Kyntak is worthless. He’s unpredictable, emotional, and dangerous, and therefore he’s of no use to anyone. We plan to have him terminated as soon as we can. Sevadonn here is suitably clever, resourceful, and unsympathetic, but, unfortunately, he has the will to lead inside him. He is devious and ambitious, therefore useless for a soldier, despite being a truly excellent agent for us.”

  Sevadonn’s face remained expressionless.

  “But you!” Crexe continued. “You are exactly what the project was supposed to achieve. You value logic and reason instead of sentimentality and morals. You are prodigiously intelligent, and well trained for any challenge you may face. But you are neither greedy nor ambitious. You follow orders without question, and even when they ask the impossible of you, you somehow succeed. You are the perfect soldier. You are everything we hoped for, and more.

  “As you may know, personality can’t be programmed into genes. A personality is something that a creature earns through its experiences, through its triumphs and losses, through its mistakes and successes. And you have the perfect personality, in genes and in mind.”

  “You want my life story,” Six realized. “You want me to tell you everything that has happened to me, and everything I believe, so you can duplicate it with…with the next batch.”

  Methryn Crexe’s sinister grin blazed. “Exactly! The genome of the new model is very different from the one we used for you—new and improved, you might say—but we still want it to have your personality.”

  Something else clicked in Six’s mind.

  “The fire sixteen years ago wasn’t an accident, was it?” he said. “You arranged it yourself, to send me, Kyntak, and Sevadonn our separate ways.”

  “Right again,” Crexe said. “That was your first test—can he make it out of a burning building, having never walked before?” He smiled. “As with all your tests so far, you scored a hundred percent.”

  All my tests? Six thought. That feeling of being watched—it was starting to make chilling sense.

  “Kligos Stadil said you wouldn’t make it,” Crexe said. “He said I was pushing you too far when I sent all those men after you in the Lab headquarters. He said that no one could escape his prized security there. And he wasn’t expecting you to survive that car chase with Sevadonn, that’s for sure.

  “But now who’s laughing? He’s still in the cell you put him in, and you survived a free fall!” Crexe chuckled delightedly.

  “You arranged all this,” Six realized. “No one was ever trying to kill me at all. You were just testing my abilities!”

  “No, we were trying to kill you,” Crexe admitted. “At least, the orders we gave to the troops were to kill you. We only gave you favors from time to time—letting you and Kyntak escape, for example, and not sounding the alarm today until after you’d found the other Deck agents, even though we already knew you were here. It was a win-win situation. If you died somehow, the greatest threat to our operation was eliminated. If you survived, we had created the perfect soldier.”

  “That’s why the facility was so badly made,” Six said. “With thin walls, cheap metal framework, few digi-cams…”

  “Yes, the digi-cams were just for show,” Crexe said. “We made the walls thin so that we could watch your movements with an infrared thermal camera and a noise detection unit from outside—the digi-cams were just there so we could see how you would avoid them.”

  “I admire your commitment to the customer,” Six said. “Clearly you are keen to provide Ungrelor Ludden with very high-quality products.”

  Crexe coughed. “Actually, Ludden’s dead. Lerke tried to make a private deal with him behind my back. Lerke wanted to sell a sample of your DNA to him before he got the soldiers. This would have been proof of quality, but the money went straight into Lerke’s pocket, and we couldn’t allow that. Unfortunately, Ludden had already examined the cells, so Sevadonn had to terminate him. I know where Lerke is hiding, so I’ll send Sevadonn after him soon. But you know as well as I do that in ChaoSonic, there is always someone waiting in the wings, ready to take over.”

  Six kept his face expressionless as he nodded. His knuckles whitened around the magnets.

  “So Ludden’s death doesn’t mean that the assault on the other continents has been called off?” he asked.

  Crexe raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry?”

  “Will you still grow the army of supersoldiers, and send them to attack the other continents beyond the Seawall?”

  Crexe laughed. “Oh, I see. Yes, that’s an easy mistake to make.” He put a hand on Six’s shoulder. Six tensed, trying not to recoil from his touch.

  “Six,” Methryn Crexe said, “there are no other continents. There is nothing beyond the Seawall.”

  Six gasped. “What?”

  “The City is the only continent left in the world. When the fog descended, it changed the climate and melted the ice, so the whole world became flooded—except for the City, because we put up the Seawall. The City is only about seven and a half million square kilometers in area, but it supports more than nine billion people, and that’s the population of the whole world. All the continents from pre-Takeover times are now completely underwater, except for this one.”

  “Then why trick people?” Six demanded. “Why the captive market? Why did you shoot down the planes that tried to leave? Why didn’t ChaoSonic tell the public there was nowhere else to go?”

  Crexe sighed. “If we’d left the ocean open to the public, and people kept trying to leave, then sooner or later they would’ve realized that there was nothing out there. Once it became accepted that there was nowhere else to go, the public would want to fix things up here. They’d want to overthrow ChaoSonic, break free—and no one wanted that.

  “Even if they didn’t try to bring down ChaoSonic, they might actually manage to fix things up in the City. And people buy fewer things when they’re happy.

  “So, it’s easier this way—everyone believes that there’s something better out beyond the wall, and no one protests. A few people try to escape, but no one ever succeeds. A whole world of empty ocean is the perfect security system.”

  “Then why build the army?” Six asked. “Who is left to attack?”

  Crexe grinned. “You know who. The only threat left to ChaoSonic.”

  “The vigilantes,” Six said. “The Deck.”

  “Bingo,” Crexe said. “Once they’re gone, the company can do whatever it wants—and an army of cloned superhuman assassins is definitely the best way to do it. In just one night, very soon, hundreds of supersoldiers will storm the headquarters of each and every vigilante group in the City, and kill everyone on sight. Then ChaoSonic will have ultimate control.” He paused. “But not the Deck. Not this way.”

  Six raised an eyebrow. “Why not?” he asked.

  “They already know too much,” Crexe said. “Your first assignment will be to terminate all of the Hearts and Diamonds, and both the Jokers, to prevent them from revealing information about us. Sevadonn can assist you with that.”

  Sevadonn nodded solemnly.

  “Actually,” Crexe went on, “I’m mystified as to why you didn’t do that when you found them here. The whole point of kidnapping them was so you would come to terminate them in case they spilled any of your secrets to the torturers. A rescue mission, though impressive, was not what I was expecting. Why not kill them?”

  “I was keeping my options op
en,” Six said. “Without them alive, I’d have to rely on your generosity for employment, which I couldn’t guarantee. Provided they escaped, I would still have income, and be able to join your side at a later date if the option so arose.”

  Crexe nodded. “I see. No matter, I trust you can dispose of the problem. You will still be paid handsomely, despite your partial responsibility for the difficulty.” He grinned. “I can hardly blame you—you did what I would have done under the circumstances.”

  Six shivered involuntarily. Sevadonn was watching him suspiciously.

  Crexe clapped his hands together. “Well, I’d love to show you around—I’m very proud of everything I’ve achieved—but your first assignment is rather urgent. The Deck agents have been back at their headquarters for nearly forty-eight hours now, and they’re bringing in reinforcements from the other suits for an assault on this facility. We don’t want a full-scale battle on our hands, Six. Even though we’ll win, my forces may still sustain casualties, and afterward the survivors could scatter in any direction, and it would take months to find and terminate them all. So, are you ready to go?”

  “No,” Six replied.

  “No?” Methryn Crexe appeared puzzled. “Why not?”

  “Grateful though I am for your offer, and for saving my life, I’m refusing the job,” Six said. Crexe’s jaw dropped. “What?”

  “I can’t endanger the men and women who work at the Deck. I am obliged to protect them.” He paused. “They are my friends,” he said finally.

  Crexe’s eyes narrowed. “Then you’re not the perfect weapon we hoped for.”

  Six laughed. “No, that’s right. I’m better.” And with that, he flicked the magnets backward out of his hands—and they stuck to the computer console behind him.

  No one ever expects the magnet, Six thought.

  The machinery squealed like wounded cats as the circuitry corrupted itself and erupted in flames. The staff in white coats immediately ran to the computer, shouting hysterically.

  Crexe drew his Raptor, but Agent Six had vanished.

  A guard was firing at the space Six had occupied moments before, and there was a splash of blood from a scientist who was standing nearby. The machinery in the enclosed areas exploded, shattering the glass. The scientist yelped as he fell to the floor, and the others all ducked. Crexe waved his pistol wildly around through the smoke, searching for Six.

  “Behind you,” Six shouted.

  Crexe whirled around, but saw nothing. Then his pistol was snatched out of his hand. Instinctively he ducked, but as he covered his head he felt a foot press down on his back, and a gun barrel touch the back of his skull.

  “What’s the quickest way out of here?” Six demanded.

  “You can die first!” Crexe screamed.

  Six was about to insist when he detected movement to the right. He jumped into a backward flip as a black shape flitted past beneath him. Sevadonn, he thought, just as a boot thudded into his chest. Six heard the crunch of ribs as he was tossed back across the room, bashing into the tiles. He gasped for air, but found none as a fist hit him in the stomach, and another in the collarbone.

  Six couldn’t even see the attacker. Sevadonn was moving too fast to hit, and Six had dropped the gun. He couldn’t see that, either. He was helpless before his assailant, blind and injured—and still weak from the surgery that they had performed on him.

  He feigned choking on the smoke. Another fist lashed out, at his head this time, and he caught it. There was not the usual cry of surprise from his opponent—but, Six thought, Sevadonn was hardly his usual opponent.

  Six twisted the arm as it tried to pull back. He thought he heard a bone snap, but the roaring of the flames and the wail of the alarms made it hard to tell. He immediately pressed his feet against the wall and dived forward, letting go of the arm as he did so.

  He had expected Sevadonn to roll with the impact, but instead he reached up and wrapped his forearm around Six’s neck. He squeezed, and Six fell to the floor, unable to breathe.

  “Nice working with you,” Sevadonn spat as he choked the life out of Six.

  Six pushed his legs off the floor and somersaulted, catapulting the soles of his shoes towards Sevadonn’s face. Sevadonn dodged nimbly, but had to let go of Six’s neck to do it. The moment he fell to the floor, Six grabbed Sevadonn’s calves and held them together with his arms. Sevadonn lost his balance and slipped down headfirst through the air. Immediately Six was falling towards the back of Sevadonn’s head, boots first, but Sevadonn rolled to one side and Six landed nimbly on the tiles.

  The smoke made Six’s eyes water. The acrid stench of boiling chemicals filled his nostrils and the constant blaring of the alarms squeezed his eardrums. He lifted his feet off the ground to avoid a sweeping trip-kick from Sevadonn. He dived in the direction he had seen the kick come from, and landed hands first on the tiles. Sevadonn was no longer there.

  Six immediately rolled to one side and sprang to his feet. He still couldn’t see Sevadonn, so he ducked. His instincts proved correct: A vicious forearm cleaved the air where his head had been a second before.

  Six bowed his head, crouched, and jumped back towards Sevadonn, aiming to knock him over with all of his weight. But he was stopped very suddenly. His spine bent backward over Sevadonn’s knee, and he cried out. Then he was kicked forward onto the tiles.

  I’m not going to win this fight, Six realized, as he lay on the floor. He’s fitter, stronger, and cleverer than I am. He’ll kill me if I stand my ground. Six looked up from the tiles to see Sevadonn looming over him.

  Six sprang to his feet and tried to run towards the elevator. But no sooner was he off the ground than he felt two strong hands grabbing him, one on the back of his shirt and one on his neck. He was lifted bodily into the air and hurled forward. He could see nothing but a smoky haze as he flew head over heels.

  Thud. His side hit the inner wall of the elevator, and he cried out in agony as he slid to the floor.

  But he had made it to the elevator. Seizing his chance, he planted his foot on the button panel. The doors began to close.

  Sevadonn burst headlong through the smoky fog and flew through the door. It slid shut behind his heels. Six rolled out of the way as Sevadonn’s weight shook the floor.

  The elevator began to hum gently upward.

  Sevadonn tried to pick himself off the floor of the elevator, but Six was on him in a flash. He punched, kicked, elbowed, head-butted, and kneed Sevadonn in the ribs. The other man yelled in surprise and moved his arm down to protect his side. This was what Six had expected, and so he drove his fist into the side of Sevadonn’s head.

  Sevadonn was thrown over by the force of the impact, but the blow had missed his temple and he wasn’t badly hurt. He roared and jumped back towards Six, chopping at Six’s neck with his forearms and lashing out at Six’s belly with his boots.

  Six felt the blows bruise his muscles and break his bones. He gritted his teeth and tried to block the assault, but each rapid strike was just too fast. He was driven into the floor by a steady thumping on his torso. He was utterly at Sevadonn’s mercy.

  “Help me,” he whispered to no one. He needed a miracle.

  The elevator door pinged as it slid open.

  Six struck out with both legs, slamming them into Sevadonn’s chest. Sevadonn was thrown backward out of the elevator, and slid across the glass floor outside. Six pounced on him, Sevadonn punched Six, and they continued to brawl across the floor.

  Six saw that he was now on the fourth level. He could see three layers of glass between him and the laboratory far below. The glass was cold to the touch.

  Sevadonn swung his elbow into Six’s ribs, and Six was thrown sideways. He bounced across the floor, gasping with pain as his broken bones collided with the glass. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sevadonn leap towards him like a pouncing cat. He tried to roll out of the way, but he was too slow. Sevadonn’s knee drove down into Six’s back, pinning him to the floor.

&nbs
p; Life is so cruel, Six thought bitterly. Snatched from a grisly death by a miracle, only to be beaten to death immediately upon awakening. He would have sighed, but just then Sevadonn’s forearm snaked around his neck, cutting off his air supply. He choked and gasped, limbs flailing and whirling, slowly becoming weaker and weaker.

  Then he saw something down below. From the ground floor, where he had begun the fight, Methryn Crexe was looking up at him. Six thought he could make out a smile on the man’s face. And a gun in his hand, aimed upward.

  Six let his limbs slowly go limp. Holding his breath, he feigned a last desperate shudder to dislodge his captor. Sevadonn didn’t budge, of course, and Six collapsed facedown on the glass floor.

  He watched.

  He waited.

  And when Crexe sent the bullet up through the first glass barrier, Six flipped back against Sevadonn’s weight. He tossed the man off his shoulders as though shedding a coat, and dived to one side as the bullet spat up through the floor where he had been lying.

  Sevadonn let out a shocked yelp. Mid-leap, Six turned his head and saw the blood spill from Sevadonn’s leg where the bullet had hit.

  Cracks spread across the glass floor like lightning, spiraling out from the bullet hole like a frosted spiderweb. Six tumbled to the ground, raising his arms to cover his head.

  He thumped on the glass with his tiny fists.

  Six’s elbows shattered the glass. He and Sevadonn both plummeted earthward. Laboratory windows flashed by, like a train in the night. “I’m going to die,” he whispered.

  Kicked it with his stubby feet.

  Six thudded into the next floor, smashing right through it. The air around him filled with tiny flecks of crystal. Barely slowing down, he dropped like a stone. “No! I have to fight it!” he rasped.

  He beat on the glass with his palms, harder and faster.

  The glass below swept up to greet him. He curled into a ball and rolled to one side, aiming to hit it feetfirst. He plunged through it like a cannonball, spraying the air with shimmering fragments. “I’m going to make it,” he growled. “I’m going to make it.”