2081. In a sinister world where human survival hinges on biotechnology, an oblivious sixteen-year-old possesses the one code to undo it all. Can she survive the devious world designed to eliminate anything - anyone - out of the ordinary before it's...
"So what do you have for me today, doc?" I grin. Half loathing her and wishing I could shoot laser darts through my eyes like Superman.
She points to the treadmill set up inside a cage that sits in the middle of the room where she's conducted many, many tests on me this past week. A giant hamster wheel? — and I'm the hamster.
"If you are checking my stamina? I should tell you I'm a terrible runner!" I try to break the ice. What is it with these people and their lack of humour? Did someone remove all their funny bones? The glares I get could skin a cat.
Her assistant grabs me by the arm as if I've been a naughty child and shoves me into the cage. The man is getting rougher each day. "T-shirt off!" he barks, as if I don't already know the drill.
"No!" I cross my arms, cause YOLO. Besides, I'm tired of being bossed around. For Pete's sake, even my mum doesn't get this much compliance out of me on a good day.
"T-shirt off, little girl." He holds up EKG's leads in his hand. "I have to put these on you so we can monitor your heart."
I hesitate. He's a man twice my age. I hug my chest, aware of my situation there. Every day, we do this dance. I feel awkward about my missing breast and he gets cranky and gives me that bored look that says, 'Relax, kid. I'm not interested in you. Just science.'
"Hurry up," he barks again — and here comes the sigh.
I jut my jaw out and shake my head.
"Look, kid, I need to put the leads on you so I can make sure she doesn't push you until you keel over and die from a heart attack."
I dare to shake my head a little, though the man has a point. We cannot trust Dr Hill to know when to say enough.
Exasperated, he takes a step towards me and whispers. "Will it help you, to know I'm gay?"
I nod. It does, but only a little. I see the hesitation on his face. He isn't happy about forcing this on me either, but I'm guessing he doesn't have a choice.
"Alright, here's what we're going to do. You're going to lift your t-shirt. And I'm going to put these on you quickly, and then you get on the treadmill and do as she tells you."
I nod. Lifting my t-shirt up with a cringe, shut my eyes, and brace myself for the cold kiss of the pads on my skin. Seconds later, he says he's done and I hear one word over the intercom. "Ready?"
We both nod. As ready as I'll ever be to run. Note: I'm going to die!
To my surprise, I don't break a sweat or run out of breath. To Dr Hill's immense surprise, my heartbeat barely hovers above normal. I run at the fastest speed setting and the steepest incline the machine offers, and still nothing. I'm a freaking machine. Take that, Nate!
Too bad Hill doesn't share my enthusiasm as she joins me in the cage after a good two hours of me not breaking a sweat. She listens to my heartbeat and airflow with her stethoscope. At one point lifting the t-shirt to check on the scar tissue around the injured site.
"It's looking good. Amal, check Dr Strasbourg's schedule this afternoon and see if he can do the augment on her." She lets my t-shirt fall back and smiles at me — warmly. "Let's see if we can make you whole. I can't bear to look at that another day!"
Sometimes I swear I don't know if Hill is evil or not. She borders on sincere some days and then wham, hits me where it hurts. In the feels. I'm leaning towards 'less evil' right this minute.
Her assistant behind her nods and leaves the room to call this surgeon. Doctor Hill studies my face.
"I wonder what else you can do, Mia. Even elite soldiers with the best of the best CodeTech break a sweat at least."
"I thought you weren't CodeTech?" I narrow my eyes at her.
She laughs. "You're standing inside the original CodeTech facility. What makes you think we aren't CodeTech? But you're right. We are the original CodeTech, not your government's version. So my question still stands, Mia Love. What do you have in you if it's neither ours nor theirs?"
"How do you know my name?" I blurt. It's the one thing that's been bugging me since they dragged me out of that river. I gave them my first name for sure, but I've never told them my last name. So how does she know it?
She grabs my wrist and skims the skin until she finds what she is looking for. Then she grabs my arm and lets me feel the tiny bump moving just under the skin within the muscle layer of my forearm.
"It's called a microchip. Old tech. They used to use it to tag pets. Cats, dogs. It was for ID and medical records, and to find the owners so they could return the critters. You have one in you." She lets go of my arm. "We scan everyone we bring in from the outside using all detectors available to us. We must protect what goes on in this lab, you understand."
"Doctor Hill, Strasbourg has the afternoon free after two." Amal pops his head in, the phone still to ear.
"Book her in," she replies without breaking eye contact with me. Once I see him leave, she smiles. "Whoever you belong to, they put that in you, in case you got lost, and someone found you."
Could it be my parents? But why would they use this old tech, the microchip? I already have the Codex in me. The Hive can track and trace my whereabouts, within a centimetre, anywhere on the globe. Why would they need a microchip?
"So you can have me returned?" I hesitate to ask.
"No, not exactly. This one has instructions that are a little beyond your pay grade."
What? Beyond my pay grade? It's my chip, lady. Geez, that sounds so odd, even in my head.
"What does it say?" I press anyway.
She smiles and turns to leave. "You tell me your secrets first and then I'll tell you mine."
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