Genesis | Book One, The Genesis Series

SEVEN

As the three of them stayed confined within the four walls of the lounge, Kai, Leo, and Amber began thinking about would become of Adam and the others, and what would become of themselves.

Amber posted herself up against the cold steel wall, longing for something to drink or eat. She had previously wondered what this place was and whether they would get to see their families again, but those thoughts began to exit from her mind once she witnessed Kai's mind-boggling strength.

What was eluding her now, however, was how cold she was. The girl had always hated the cold. She was shivering in an environment that was supposedly 80 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Leo and Kai. Her stomach began to grumble and vibrate as she breathed a heavy sigh of hunger. "Is there any food in this place?" Amber asked.

"No clue." Leo answered as he organized the pillows on the couch to pass the time. The messy, unorganized pillows had been irking him since he'd arrived there.

Amber had no idea where the others were. They could be getting experimented on, injured, dead, anything. As her mind began to slip into a state of panic, Amber stood up. "We gotta find the others and get out of this crazy building."

At the moment, the thought of food could not have been further from Kai's mind as he kept thinking about Ajax. There had to be a reason that he'd captured them, but he just couldn't figure it out. It felt like he was planning something big, and he felt as if he had the power to stop it.

He knew he couldn't do it alone, though. If what Dr. Matthews had said was true, then all six of his fellow students now possessed superhuman abilities. He figured that, together, they could take Ajax and his entire organization down. But he'd cross that bridge when he got to it.

These people in here were beginning to panic, and Kai now felt that he had the strength to take control of this situation and keep everyone calm. So, he stepped up.

"We don't even know where this place is located."
Kai countered. "It's best to remain calm and wait for updates on the others."

"Easy for you to say. You have super strength for crying out loud." Amber replied, messing with her thick, long brown hair that obscured the freckles on her cheeks.

He opened his mouth to say something, but no words would come out. She had him there.

He couldn't lie to himself, finding out that he had superpowers had been a pretty good confidence booster. But he couldn't let that ego take control of him in a situation as peculiar and possibly dangerous as this. His father had always taught him to be humble.

As he sat on the couch, still trying to process his newfound strength, the door to the lounge was opened. His head shot up.

Through the door emerged Adam and Dr. Matthews, a blank, shaken expression plastered on Adam's face like he had just been abducted by aliens.

"Have you guys been in here this whole time?" Adam asked, wondering why he hadn't woken up in a comfortable room with a couch.

"I wish, man, I wish." Kai replied with an exhausted expression as he shook the boy's hand. "Did you wake up in a bedroom identical to your own, too?"

"Uh, no." Adam answered, clearly confused as he flopped down on the couch. "But, I did wake up with this terrible headache, and then this guy came and explained to me what was happening." The boy gestured to Dr. Matthews.

"It turns out that Kai's not the only one who's found himself with astonishing new abilities." Dr. Matthews explained, as Kai and Adam exchanged looks with a hint of curiosity. "Adam's pre-frontal lobe was affected in nearly the same way Kai's muscles and bone structure were. Though, instead of possessing enhanced strength, I found that he had the ability to read another person's thoughts."

"Woah, woah, hold the phone. You're telling me you have super strength?" Adam exclaimed, unable to believe what he'd just heard.

"You can read minds?" Kai countered.

"Is it really so hard believe after witnessing your own amazing capabilities?" Dr. Matthews said, slowly turning his head in Kai's direction.

"Yeah, it was.....pretty scary at first," Adam stated, stuttering the sentence out, "but I'm starting to get the hang of it-"

"Um, Dr. Matthews?" Amber asked impatiently, "Are there any refreshments or are the four of us just gonna have to stay here and starve?" Adam and Kai nodded in agreement.

"Forgive me, yes we do have refreshments. I'll be right back. Let me go fetch you some." Dr. Matthews replied, briskly walking out of the lounge.

"So, what all did he tell you about this place?" Kai asked Adam, jamming his hands in his pockets. He was determined to obtain as much info as possible about this building.

"Well, he didn't tell me anything, his mind did. Apparently this place is called Genesis Industries, and we were hit by some kind of experimental chemical, called-"

"Hold on," Kai interrupted Adam, putting a hand in his face, "Genesis Industries is a research facility located all the way in Oregon, and I know, because my father was a molecular physicist there before he passed away."

"Yeah, I know where Genesis Industries is. My father also used to work there too before he was fired for some reason, I can't remember what. But there's four of them, so if I had to take a guess, I'd say this was the east facility."

Kai arched his eyebrow at the black-haired boy. His father had never told him about the other 3 facilities-only the one in Oregon. He began to wonder what else his father had been keeping a secret from him.

"Well, one thing's for certain. Before we find out what's really going on here, we have to find the others." Kai declared. "After that, we'll go after Ajax and the rest of his crew."

"Much easier said than done." Leo said. Though he wanted to get back at Ajax as well, he didn't think a fight was the best way to go about doing it. The boy wasn't really a fan of physical altercations. "Agents are everywhere in this place. I think we should just leave that guy to Genesis. He's their problem, not ours."

"Well, we have these abilities." Kai insisted as he stood up, puffing his chest out to look as confident as possible. "And I don't know about you three, but if I have the chance to stop that monster from killing anymore people, I'm gonna take it."

"You and Adam have those abilities. Leo and I don't, at least not yet." Amber chimed in. While she hadn't unlocked her powers, she still wanted to exact revenge on that murdering psychopath. But if it ever came down to it, her bow and arrows were the only weapons she'd need.

"That doctor's been right about everything so far, so he'd have to be right about this. We were all hit by that Genodium beam, or wave, or whatever the hell it was, so it would make sense that it affected all of us. I think our best option is to just stay here and wait for the others. After that, we master these powers, find a way to take down Ajax, and head home."

While he definitely wasn't planning on fighting, Leo had to admit that Kai was very persuasive. Slowly, everyone around the room began nodding in agreement with his statement. Even Leo, who was strongly opposed to trying anything risky, reluctantly listened to Kai.