Gene. Sys. by Aaron Denius (feel good books .TXT) 📗

Did he report any weird meetings?” She looks at me. I notice that she is probably enjoying this celebration less than anyone else.

“I forgot to ask.” It actually didn’t even cross my mind. I’m sure if there was something, 80 would have told me.

“Mhm.” She furrows her brow.

“Where are Mag and Ox?” I change the subject.

Ev points to the room where I spent my recovery time. Ox is sitting next to an operating table. On the table, under the glass cover, I can faintly make out Mag’s red hair. Working on the glass cover is Dr. Metzger.

“Where is Dr. Peters?” I look at Ev.

“Don’t know,” she says dismissively.

“So Mag and Ox, huh?” I smile and nudge her playfully with my elbow. I want her to lighten up.

“Yeah,” she says as she turns away and rejoins the group.

I really don’t know why Ev is so upset with me. Fe was the one who kissed me. I did like it, and I like Fe, but I also like Ev. Did Rene tell her that she and I are supposed to be together?

“Hey, leader!” I hear Titan’s voice shout. Right when I turn, a tomato hits me in the chest.

The Genesys all laugh, including Ev, and within seconds, we are all throwing food at each other. For the next few hours, we joke around and laugh. Dr. Cicca has brought some music as well, so we jump around and dance. I really like Dr. Cicca. I wish I’d had her as a teacher earlier.

One by one, the Genesys get tired and head off to bed. I can feel the soreness starting to hit my body, and my yawns let me know that I should probably get to bed myself. I head over to the room where Ox and Mag are before I leave.

I poke my head in. “Hey, Ox, how is she?”

He lifts his head from his hands, and I can tell that sleep is not too far off for him as well. “She fractured her leg, but she’ll be fine. She has to be in there for a couple of days for it to heal.”

“She’s a tough one.” I smile.

“Yes, she is.” He smiles back. “I think I’m going to stay in here tonight and keep her company.”

“I’m sure she will appreciate that.” I step back out of the room. The two of them do make a good match.

When I turn back to the open room, I see a couple of drones cleaning up our mess, and I see Fe standing by the exit alone. I walk up to her.

“You didn’t have to wait,” I say.

“I wanted to,” she responds. “We haven’t spent much time together since the attack.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve just been busy. There’s been a lot going on.” I push through the exit and walk into the hallway.

She catches up and links her arm with mine. “Like what?”

“I really can’t talk about it,” I answer.

She stops and crosses her arms. “Why can’t you tell me?”

I sigh. “Listen. Ev and I have been working on a critical project, and I have to spend a lot of time on it.”

“Oh,” she says flatly. I can see that her eyes are getting watery. She walks down the hallway.

I catch up to her and fall into stride. “I’m sorry.”

“You already said that.” She stops walking again. “Do you like me?”

“Yes. I do.” Why do I keep getting asked this? I look into her eyes and take a deep breath. I know that what I’m about to say isn’t going to sit well with her. “Now is just not the time for this.”

I reach for her hand, but she pulls it away. She struggles hard to hold the tears back. “Because of what you are doing with Ev?

“Yes.” I bite my inner lip. I didn’t mean to say that, so I try to course correct. “That’s part of it. The Ragnarok is coming soon, and I need to make sure that we are all ready and that everything will go as planned.”

She stares at me through her water-glazed eyes. I can see hurt and sadness behind them, which is not at all what I intended. I do like her, but it isn’t the time for me to be thinking about her or Ev, or which one I like more. I wish they would both understand that.

“Fine,” she says, and walks off down the hallway.

I know better than to go after her. If I do, I will probably just make things worse. A grunt escapes my mouth out of frustration. I head down the hallways to my bedroom.

When I enter my room, I fall right onto my bed. I know I should shower, but I just don’t feel like it. I’ll do it when I wake up.

Just as my eyes begin to shut, a loud knock at my door jumps me out of my bed. For a split second, I think about ignoring it and falling back into bed, but I know I should answer it. I open the door and see Ev standing there, holding a tablet.

“I need to show you something.” She steps in and sits on my bed. Shock covers her face when she sees the wall of monitors in my room.

“It’s intense, isn’t it?” I sit next to her on the bed.

“I had no idea you had all this in here.” She scans the various screens.

“It gives me a headache looking at them.” I turn away and face her, crossing my legs on the bed.

She turns to me and shows me the tablet. On it is Dr. Peters’s profile. “After you asked me where Dr. Peters was, I got curious. So I looked at his profile and found that he was actually recruited from the city outside the compound.”

“Really?” I perk up.

“Yeah. He was originally an outsider,” she says as she messes with the tablet.

“Which means he might sympathize with them,” I add. This is a big deal. This gives the outsiders an access point to the scientists.

“That’s not all.” She shows