Chapter Road Trip
When Josh had reached the bus, the others were sat down already, so he decided to wait until they were underway before telling them what he had just realized. After all, there was no rush, right?
As he boarded the bus, he noticed the bus driver was staring at him in mild horror. Slightly disturbed, Josh held his hand out, and smiled.
"Hello, nice to meet you. I'm Josh, but you probably know me as Biomorph."
The Bus driver nodded, and reached out tentatively, and shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you." He said, and then took to staring out of the front windscreen.
The Driver was terrified. His power allowed him to see, well, you could call it the "Shadow of Damage to Themselves". Usually, there was a small black haze around a person's hands, or possibly their arms and legs , But for any person to be a full shadow? It wasn't possible, was it? Josh shook his head, and catalogued the power as he sat down. Damage view? That was a new variation on Pain sense, no doubt. He'd have to analyze the gene later, though. Right now, he had a more pressing matter to worry about.As the bus picked up speed, he stood up, walked to the front, and asked:
"May I have everyone's attention?"
As everyone turned from their conversations, Josh felt a small spike of anticipation from each. That was odd. His power was working in the background again. He'd have to sort that out later.
"I have news on The Major, and project Sigma Potens that changes my objectives."
Ayla seemed to shrink at these words, imagining more horrible acts committed by her dad. There was no way she could look at him the same after this.
"The Major told his Boss that I was the only subject from the Beta series still left. He protected my fellow subjects - no, my family - but as such, his Boss, General Ross, piled pressure on the Major for more tests, and increasingly harsh test too. The major, however, faked the reports on the worst tests, so that I could still be alive.
However, now, the General is going to use the Gamma 1 subject to try to kill the major, and the top officials in government. I will task myself with stopping them. You guys can just enjoy your trip."
With that, he sat down, and began to run combat simulations with AIMEe's help.
Beta 43 was shocked. The major had kept them all alive, but at the cost of the innocent, laughing boy that used to be her brother. In his place was this... weapon. She knew she had to stop him from going further, if only to keep him from losing more of what made him any different from his clones."I volunteer to help you."
After Beta 43's announcement, the other Beta series subjects also declared their wish to take part in the plan."No, you're not being involved in this plan. You haven't had to deal with the new weapons they could be using. I couldn't put my family at risk." Josh replied shaking his head. "What kind of brother would I be i-"
"I'm just as stubborn as you are, and we all have the computers in our head, so we can all pull up the files needed to prove each other wrong." Beta 43 asserted. "Just accept this, and your classmates won't have to listen to us duke it out in verbal combat."
Josh sighed, then chuckled.
"Ok, your Majesty" smirked Josh, as he settled back into his seat.
"You guys can run the calculations on the damage threshold of my newest armour against the latest weapons to be distributed to the General's troops. All data you need is available on our old micro-server. " he said, as he pulled a small cat out of his bag.
"I'm sure you remember her?"
Ayla was so relieved to hear about her father, that everyone heard her sigh. So, when she saw the cat was being passed around, she decided to give it a stroke.To the envy of her friends, the cat curled up on her lap, and fell asleep. However, to the class' astonishment, the cat sent a message to all of the devices of the people who had pet her, and thanked each person individually.
Just what was this cat?
The Major stood to attention as the General arrived. Behind the general, hidden by the glare of the headlights, was a humanoid shape. It's limbs seemed to be out of proportion with it's torso, and the slight hand trailed just above the floor. The head of the being was slightly too small for the shoulders it rested on.
"Major, meet Gamma 1, the superior soldier." the general boasted, as he tapped one of the buttons on his left wrist.
The being lurched forward, and the major stiffened upon seeing it.
Why would the general bring that?
The metal endoskeleton the tormented being had been grown on was sticking out of the skin in some places, but it was clearly visible everywhere else. The blood vessels, where there were any visible, were clear and seemed to be trying to burst. The appendages twitched endlessly, probably a result of the under-developed brain of the being trying to move them in contradiction to the computer.
And the eyes. The eyes were clearly that of a being in pain, but terrified to let anyone know.
"Gamma 1 is completely remote controlled, so no problems with him killing the staff here." The general chuckled, patting the Major on the back.
The major whispered back "Is he based off the last tissue samples I gave you?"
The general drew back, but nodded slightly before pressing a few more buttons on his wrist. The tormented clone was made to march down the hallway, in the general direction of the General's quarters. The Major grinned as he turned, and walked the other direction.
Beta 42 would be here soon, and put that thing out of it's misery. Then, he would kill the general, allowing the major to be promoted, and fix these problems.