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Chapter 232: Brothers/Set Right
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FLUX Chapter 1: The File, Part 1
VOLUME ONE: FLUX: FreedomAlex crept down the stark white hallways lit with generic compact florescent lighting. The tile echoed every whisper of her careful, quick movement. A dark line beneath each office door gave away the emptiness of the building. She slowed her elegant stride as a corner approached and pressed her pointed ear to the wall. Alex heard no vibrations and carefully peeked one dark eye around the corner. An empty row of office doors stared back. She continued down three more vacant corridors, exact copies of the previous, as if hallways could be mass produced. Her mental map guided her through the winding maze until she finally faced the door number 1672.Alex flicked a lock-pick set out of the sleeve of her maroon leather jacket and manipulated the lock. The lights wavered as the local magnetic pole fluctuated wildly. Her ears twitched as the tumblers clicked into place and she rotated the makeshift key until the dead bolt released. The door made a whooshing sound
FLUX Chapter 2: The File, Part 2
She spun on her heel towards the door and listened. When she was sure there was no one, Alex dashed out the door and sprinted down the corridor. She slid to a stop in front of the elevator, and then pried it open with her handy crowbar. Alex looked down the dark shaft. Just below her was the elevator. Was that human stupid enough to use the elevator? She jumped on the top and watched the doors close behind her as the elevator started to rise.Alex stayed away from the moving cables and crouched to absorb any sudden movement that might shift her balance unfavorably. The elevator shuddered as another magnetic fluctuation riddled the building. She steadied herself with a hand on the cold steel of the elevator.An alarm system kicked in, sending sirens booming throughout the whole building. Alex covered her sensitive ears as the noise reverberated within the elevator shaft. Now everyone in the whole city, above and below ground, would know there were intruders. She had hoped this wouldn
FLUX Chapter 3: Out of Gas
The clouded sky became dark except for the faded auroras brought on by the local magnetic pole. The green and purple lights pulsed against the tops of the mountains, while the wind turbines glittered under their glow. The night air hung thick, wet, and warm against Alex's skin. The bike sputtered to a stop and the man pulled his helmet off."What's wrong?" Alex asked as she slid off the back of the bike."Out of gas," he said, wiping sweat from his brow.She stretched out her cramped limbs. "Of what?""Gas. Fuel. Energy. It makes the bike go vroom, vroom," he said, irritated. "I swear you hybrids have no sense."Alex scowled at him. She wasn't stupid. She knew it needed energy, just figured it was solar or something. Fuel based vehicles hadn't been used in a hundred years, everything on the surface was solar, wind, or touch powered now."How about you give me the file and you can be on your merry way," he said, holding out his hand for the file.She pretended to protect her jack
FLUX Chapter 4: Fill up
Alex awoke to a scruffy man-face thirty centimeters from her face. She jumped."Easy now, sweet cheeks, I'm not gonna getcha," Jack said, offering her a hand. "You didn't need to stay out here all night. I was done in five minutes."Alex rolled her eyes. "I bet you were," she said, pushing his hand aside and standing up on her own. She stretched out her arms and arched her back. Alex couldn't remember the last time she'd slept in a bed. Jack took this time to look her up and down."Like what you see?" she scoffed and put on her jacket."Not bad," he commented, grinning. "Got me goin' last night.""That wasn't a real question," she said disgusted. Alex smacked him soundly on his wounded shoulderJack winced. "Sounded like one," he grumbled.She rolled up her blanket and tied it to her pack. "Are you ready to go?" she asked."Yep."They took turns pushing the heavy motorcycle as the sun rose behind the clouds at their backs. Alex had wrapped her black scarf around her neck and p
FLUX Chapter 5: Farmhouse
Jack cut the engine to the motorcycle. They had driven northeast past the desert into another set of mountains, bigger than the last. What used to be a grand forest now looked to be more like large dry tinder plunging up through the terrain. Evidence of great fires scorched the rough bark. Jack pulled up in front of an old white farmhouse next to a river. The wheelhouse peered from behind the farmhouse showing its worn siding, looking as if it would fall over in a gentle breeze. An old waterwheel turned under a constant pull from the strong current in the river. Dark grey clouds hung low in the sky, dimming down their normal tan shade."Where are we?" Alex asked after pulling off her helmet. "It's still two hours until sunset.""It's a storehouse. We can stock up on supplies and stay the night in a bed.""We just happened upon a storehouse up here?" Alex asked, her eyes searching his face."Oh, this is just one of many.""There's more than just one bed, right?"Jack grinned back
FLUX Chapter 6: Run-time, Part 1
Creak. Twitch. Creak. Twitch. Creak.Alex sat up on the couch, suddenly alert. Looking around, her genetically enhanced eyes checked the room in the faint light of the low burning coals. She tried to decide if it was just the old house making the creaking noises, or something else. Her ears picked up a steady creak of the walls, but there was another noise. She filtered through all the possible things that could be making it. Was it the muffling of sand? No, more like carpet against- against rubber? It was a steady shuffling. Footsteps?She peered out the windows to the front, squinting her eyes to see the contrast between the night sky and the material things. Alex spotted a shape of smooth metal. Damn. A car.Clink. Clink.Metal hit the floor and Alex jumped across the room towards Jack's chair, landing on his lap."Ooahf," he exclaimed, sleepily.Alex covered his nose and mouth with her blanket. His eyes popped open, believing that she was trying to suffocate him, until he rea
FLUX Chapter 7: Run-time, Part 2
They laid there trying to catch their breath before Jack broke their contact and rolled to the side."What was that?" he asked."I'm a Delta Six," she said breathily, "it's one of the newer enhancements bred into Deltas. There aren't many with the gene yet.""Well go Deltas, lucky me." He turned to her. "I knew I would get that roll in the hay," he said with a grin, brushing away a strand of burgundy hair that was plastered to her face.Alex scowled at him. Luck had nothing to do with it, he engineered this with that damned pearl device. She stared up at the high ceiling laced in cobwebs. Through the window, light from the sunrise lit the room. Particles of dust danced in the sunlight streaming through the window. The creek bubbled merrily as it spun the large wheel. The smell of seared flesh came flooding back into her senses suddenly and she gagged.Jack propped his lean frame up with an elbow facing her. He reached out and put a big paw on her thigh. Alex snatched it, but he he
FLUX Chapter 8: Data Stream, Part 1
Alex awoke to the gentle rock of the boat. She could still see the grey clouds through the openings of the dry trees. On her stomach lay a sleeping grizzly. His dark hair trailed across the top of her white tank top, his head turned away. The boat rocked again more forcefully and she realized that no one was steering the confounded thing. She tapped Jack on the head. No response. Alex walloped him with the palm of her hand."Hmm-" he grumbled."I thought you were going to let me sleep while you steered.""You really wore me out earlier and you looked so comfy. I didn't want to wake you. Besides, you make a really good pillow." He traced his fingers across her stomach.It tickled, but she forced herself not to react. Alex swatted him on the head again. "Get off me, you oaf. Someone needs to watch where we're going. What happens if we go over a waterfall?""I've traveled this route a dozen times. There are no waterfalls on this river. We're perfectly safe," he said, rolling over
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