Ex animo, p.45
Ex/Animo, page 45
part #1 of Ex/Animo Series
“Never had a wound that lasted more than three days,” Anya pointed to her neck. “This is no exception.”
“Tsk, tsk,” Zeke shrugged. “Not for long.”
“What do you mean?” Natalie asked.
“The ‘serum’ responsible for your heightened abilities is a knockoff of the R-Virus,” Zeke held up the vial. “Anything made based on this is completely useless–unless you got a genius like me on the team.”
“How’d you get that?” Anya stared at the vial in surprise.
“What is that?” Natalie narrowed her eyes.
“Beacon Corp’s swan song,” Anya said. “All their efforts were put into making that liquid.”
“The ‘Human Evolution’ bullshit?” Natalie asked.
“Part of it,” Zeke nodded.
The crew grew silent again.
“Hey, can I ask you something?” Anya turned to Natalie.
“Sure, go ahead,” Natalie said.
“What do you think of Aron?” Anya sounded hesitant.
“O-oh!” Natalie laughed nervously. “He’s kinda cool. We’ve been together for some time.”
“Um, together in a sense?” Anya narrowed her eyes.
“Together as in a team, of course,” Zeke shrugged.
“Yeah,” Natalie sighed. “A team.”
“He’s quite a leader,” Zeke said. “Well–not that he measures up to my standards, but the others seem to approve of him,” he shrugged dismissively. “You do–don’t you, Natalie?”
“Yes, Zeke–I find his leadership qualities quite impressive,” Natalie glared at Zeke for his off-centered means of complimenting Aron.
Anya smiled.
“Who’d be foolish enough to try and break into Phoenix?” she asked.
“Beats me,” Natalie shrugged. “No one’s stupider than they two.”
Natalie pointed at Zeke.
“Only he and I knew of the mission,” Zeke said. “He needed the others to be just–themselves.”
“I see,” Anya looked down. “Is he–forgiving?”
“Well… I did chop off his arm once,” Natalie scratched her cheek. “And he never held it against me.”
Zeke stared at her questioningly.
“It was to save him, of course!” Natalie insisted.
“Huh?!” Anya appeared perplexed. “His arm-?”
“Requesting permission to land,” Evanos interrupted. “We’re clear to land!”
The three peered down below as the chopper descended. They broke through the clouds. The shiny white top of the base came into their view. It stood forlorn in the vast desert land.
The chopper hovered above the base. They saw the roof open up into a dark pit, and yellow lights lit the helipad underneath. Evanos landed the chopper gently. The doors opened as the roof closed in on them.
“Welcome to Fort Arcadia, the date is 20th November, and the time is 2 AM. It is 10 degrees Celsius outside,” a female voice announced. “We wish you a pleasant stay!”
“My assistant!” Zeke smiled. “It’s been a while.”
“I missed you too, Dr. Zeke!” Synthea replied cheerfully.
“It’s good to be back!” Natalie yawned.
“Greetings to you too, Natalie and Anya,” Synthea said.
Anya had a lot on her mind. It all disappeared the moment she laid her eyes on the group of people waiting for them. Aron stood at the front, with his hands in his pockets. His expression was vague.
Anya climbed off the chopper and walked toward him, not waiting for the other two. She stopped abruptly when she was only two feet away from him. She looked him in the eye. The same inexplicable feeling she had felt before swept over her in powerful waves.
There were things she wanted to tell him, but her lips seemed to work no more; she was unable to utter a single word. She felt like he was not in the least delighted to see her. But she was prepared for anything as long as she could get that moment to last.
She wished to discover what made her heart beat fast. She wanted to find the reason why her trained senses, keen enough to withstand lie detectors, then lose composure.
She longed for a touch, the proof to see whether it was all real. Something to make her believe what her eyes told wasn’t lies. Aron remained stoic; not a sound escaped his lips. And his eyes expressed strong concern. It was unknown to Anya whether it was for her or the rest of the team against her.
“Jack, I-” she finally recollected her thoughts.
“I go by Aron now,” he spoke calmly.
“Yes,” Anya looked down.
She cursed herself for not getting over him. She cursed herself for ever having been involved with him. She cursed herself for letting herself be swayed by needless emotions. She cursed herself for not being true to herself.
“You made it safe,” Aron turned around. “That’s all that matters.”
“I got your roses!” Anya spoke up suddenly.
Aron stopped in his tracks.
“I know no amount of explanation is gonna make this right!” Anya tried to speak her heart out. “I didn’t think you’d care. I didn’t think I would have made you upset.”
Aron turned around and looked at her.
“I didn’t think I’d love you so and yet hurt you more,” Anya said. “It’s–that-”
Aron took hold of her hands suddenly and pulled her close to him.
“Like I said,” Aron smiled warmly. “What matters now is that you’re safe.”
Anya appeared startled.
“Right next to me,” he added.
“I-” Anya began.
“I think I like you too,”
Anya was dumbfounded by those words. As Aron backed from the embrace, she pulled him by the arm and kissed him. Tears ran down her face. They continued to kiss for a while.
“Why didn’t you wait for me to explain?!” Anya scowled. “Why’d you never answer my calls?!”
“There, there,” Aron patted her on the head. “It’s alright now!”
He smiled at the others that stood nearby. Natalie grinned at him. The burning embers in her heart went out as if from a splash of cold water. But it did leave a scorch mark. She waved at Aron excitedly. Sometime, somehow, she had fallen in love with the man who was then embracing the woman of his dreams.
She couldn’t be happier for him. It was a bittersweet moment.
“Your arm,” Anya ran her hand down his.
“I lost it,” Aron nodded. “It’s a bionic.”
“What? For real?!” Anya looked him in the eye. “What happened?!”
“We ran into a Class D,” he nodded toward Natalie. “She saved my life.”
“The entire arm?” Anya asked, wide-eyed. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you!”
Aron laughed at her words. Anya hugged him again. Sherry leaned against Martyn; he kissed her on the head. Zeke walked over to Elaine and Kevin.
“I believe this belongs to you,” Zeke handed the box to Kevin.
“Next time, include us in the plan too, jackass,” Kevin sighed.
“Yessir!” Zeke faced Elaine with a smile. “How ya doing, Elfy?”
Tears fell from Elaine’s eyes.
“Idiot,” she looked away.
“I almost died back there, and all I get is the cold shoulder?” Zeke scratched his head.
Elaine hugged him suddenly.
“Never do that again,” she buried her face into his chest.
“Eh, what’s gotten into you?” Zeke asked.
“Sorry I slapped you,” she murmured.
“Oh, that!” Zeke rubbed his chin. “It’s fine-”
“No, it’s not,” she looked up at Zeke. “Is there any way I can compensate?”
“Well,” the scientist looked sly. “You could always let me touch them!”
Slap!
“I deserved that one,” Zeke held his cheek.
“Shut up, idiot,” Elaine faced away. She cracked a smile.
Natalie approached Aron.
“Hey,” she spoke hesitantly. “About what I said before that Zomboss crashed the party-”
“Ah, right before you chainsaw’d my arm?” Aron smirked.
“Geez, yes!” she rolled her eyes. “It… wasn’t all lies. What I said about my father is true. But for us soldiers–we never had a family.”
Aron faced Anya. She nodded slowly.
“I see,” Aron smiled at Natalie. “Well, you have one now.”
Natalie appeared startled by his words. Aron stared into Anya’s eyes; a sad smile formed on his lips.
“I saw this moment,” he murmured. “In a dream.”
“Us saving the world together?” she smiled back at him.
“You still remember?” Aron was surprised.
“How can I forget?”
She hugged him again. He kissed her on the head.
“And one last dream to go,” he thought to himself.
He embraced her harder.
***
The footsteps echoed through the hallway as the team made their way to the quarters.
“So, who came up with the name for the base?” Zeke asked.
“Martyn suggested it,” Aron said. “We thought it sounded cool.”
“Yeah, it’s cool and all,” Zeke shrugged. “But something like Zeke’s Sand Fortress sounds much cooler, in my opinion.”
“Nope,” Elaine shook her head.
“I see,” Zeke crossed his arms. “So, what have you guys been up to while I was gone?”
“Zeke, it’s three in the morning!” Aron yawned. “We’ll catch up on shit after some sleep.”
Zeke frowned. Not one of them had asked him about the pendant he wore on the neck. The guys waved the girls goodnight and retired to their rooms.
“Um…” Anya looked around.
“You can sleep here with us,” Sherry said. “There’s room.”
Anya smiled at her sheepishly.
“Relax,” Elaine nodded. “Aron has told us everything about you.”
“Hmph!” Natalie pouted. “He never bothered explaining anything to me ever before.”
“Well…” Sherry and Elaine looked at each other.
“I never planned to betray you!” Natalie whined.
“No, it’s not that!” Sherry reassured. “Aron was… worried the entire time you were away.”
“Worried?!” Natalie looked surprised.
“Yeah,” Elaine nodded. “About you and Zeke.”
“Really?!” Natalie couldn’t keep her voice down.
“And about Anya too,” Sherry shrugged.
“Well, at least now we know she wasn’t faking having feelings for him!” Elaine nodded toward Natalie.
“Hey!” Natalie looked red. “Nope, no, no, no! I don’t like… him?!”
Anya chuckled as the other two laughed.
“Hello,” a voice greeted. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything important.”
Anya was surprised to find the female android smiling at them. Her blue eyes appeared fixated on her.
“Wh-?” she began.
“That’s Synthea,” Elaine said. “She is an AI created by Zeke and Kevin.”
“She? AI?” Anya looked confused.
“Just like Evanos,” Natalie nodded. “She greeted us on the chopper.”
“Oh,” Anya realized. “Hey…”
“Synthea,” Synthea said. “My name’s Synthea.”
“Well, nice to meet you, Synthea,” Anya smiled.
“The feeling is likewise,” Synthea sounded cold. “Darling seems to consider you special!”
“Uh–‘darling’?” Anya appeared perplexed.
“You ever think of crossing him, you will be facing a very different me,” Synthea had a menacing tone.
Synthea’s body shifted into battle mode. Rows of micro missiles peeked through the cavities of her body. A helmet appeared on her head. She had two guns in place of her arms.
“Synthea, that’s enough!” Elaine rushed over to her.
Anya appeared startled. Natalie and Sherry stood in front of her.
“I was just introducing myself!” Synthea sounded cheeky.
“That was no introduction!” Natalie spoke. “You were fine with me crushing on him!”
“He only saw you as a friend,” Synthea stated. “But it’s different with her. Darling is clearly into her.”
“Oof,” Natalie backed away. “That kinda hurt.”
“I…” Anya stepped forward. “I love him with my life, and I can never think of harming him in any way.”
Synthea studied her face for a moment and then reverted back to her usual self.
“You better not,” she walked away.
“I’m so sorry,” Elaine walked over to Anya. “That was so not like her!”
“It’s okay!” Anya had a smile frozen on her lips. “This is only making me want him more!”
“What did I expect from a Phoenix soldier?” Sherry shook her head.
They turned to face Natalie.
“Hey!” she frowned. “Why are you looking at me?!”
***
“Did you sleep well?” Aron asked.
“Uh, yeah,” Anya nodded. “Natalie kept mumbling in her sleep, but otherwise, it was alright.”
“Hey!” Natalie looked cross.
“Yeah, she does that,” Aron grinned.
“And how do you know that?” Anya asked.
“We slept together a couple of times!” Natalie sneered.
“What?” Anya raised a brow.
“It was one time,” Aron corrected her.
Anya stared at Aron. Natalie grinned.
“Oh crap,” Aron muttered.
“I see,” Anya turned her attention to her meal.
“Uh, it wasn’t like that!” Aron stammered.
“I see,” Anya avoided eye contact.
“Natalie, quit it already,” Sherry stepped in. “We all know that you forced it on him!”
“But what’s done has been done,” Natalie faked embarrassment. “Isn't that right, M-Master?”
Anya looked up at Aron again.
“Dude!” Aron turned to Martyn. “Help a brother out, will you?”
“Wow!” Martyn took a sip from his mug. “This coffee sure tastes amazing!”
“Hey, Natalie!” Aron grew frantic. “Tell her nothing of the sort happened!”
“Huh?!” Natalie looked down. “So that was ‘nothing’ to you?!”
“Natalie,” Sherry was fed up with her.
“Prove it,” Anya narrowed her eyes at Aron.
“Prove what?” Aron looked puzzled.
“Prove it to me you’re telling the truth,” Anya said.
“Oh-kay, but how?” Aron asked.
“Sleep with me tonight,”
“Oh boy,” Aron muttered.
“Okay, I believe you, Natalie-” Anya said.
“Wait,” Aron was red in the face. “Fine. I agree!”
“Good boy,” Anya smiled.
“Ha?!” Natalie exclaimed out loud.
“This whole operation was your idea,” Synthea spoke in a condescending tone.
“Let’s just finish up and go find the others, okay?” Aron sighed.
They rode the elevator down to the main floor, where the meeting took place. They entered the main hall to find the trio chatting among themselves.
“Good morning, fellas!” Kevin greeted. “Had a good sleep, Anya?”
“Yes, it was great,” Anya nodded. “Um, is it okay if you guys could call me Melody?”
Aron looked at her.
“I don’t wanna be known by this name anymore,” she said. “I am no longer a Phoenix soldier.”
“Sure!” Elaine said. “Melody sounds like a great name!”
“A fantastic name!” Kevin nodded.
“What happened to ‘Robin’?” Martyn asked.
“Ehhe,” Melody smiled sheepishly.
The others nodded in approval of the name.
“Thank you,” Melody smiled warmly at everyone.
Martyn poked Aron in the ribs with his elbow. Aron rolled his eyes at him but with a small smile. Natalie suddenly raised her hand.
“I-In that case, I wanna be called Selena again!” she declared.
“Thank goodness!” Sherry sighed with relief. “I messed up her name like, six times already!”
“Well, if you are done with the naming ceremony, let’s get down to business,” Zeke grew impatient.
“Yessir!” Selena said. Melody nodded.
Zeke spoke of the incidents that occurred while he was undercover at Phoenix. Selena and Melody added in their parts. Aron wasn’t pleased to hear about their fight while the others laughed it off. Zeke then produced the vials and the hard disk of data he had stolen off Phoenix.
“So, that’s that!” Zeke finished. “Hopefully, the disk will tell us what Elijah’s stupid riddle means.”
“I got it,” Aron nodded.
“Huh?” Zeke looked skeptical.
“It’s the JUDGMENT,” Aron turned to the others.
“Oh, yeah, that makes sense,” Kevin said.
“Uh-huh,” Martyn added. “Totally.”
“The JUDGMENT, huh?” Elaine appeared thoughtful.
“You got it right,” Selena said. “It was the initial phase.”
Everyone other than Zeke nodded in agreement.
“Am I stupid, or did you concoct an intelligence potion in my absence,” Zeke crossed his arms.
“Well, as unreal as this may sound, we weren’t sitting on our asses all day long,” Aron said. “We got the base one hundred percent zombie-free, did some light research on Benjamin. Restored some more lost data, discovered the Recreations Block, and even intercepted a distress call on the network.”
“And…?” Zeke mocked.
“Named the base,” Kevin smirked.
“Dammit!” Zeke said. “Okay, what is this ‘JUDGMENT’?”
“Kevin stumbled upon a network of Phoenix bases,” Aron said. “This base used to be a prominent one on that network. And all these prominent bases were linked up to–guess what-?”
“The JUDGMENT,” Kevin finished Aron’s sentence.
“It’s a satellite,” Aron said.
“Okay,” Zeke realized. “Now I’ve caught the gist of things. Evanos did mention something odd about a satellite,” he said. “Could you enlighten us on the matter, Evanos?”
Evanos came upon the holographic projection. Beside him was displayed a stream of data.
