“I got in, sure. But I’m not sure I can get out. One thing’s for sure, I can’t get us both out,” she says. “Look at it spinning. It’ll tear us to pieces.”
She points to a bend in the path. In the center of the city, a giant, round device rises out of the walls, poking through a large crack in the ceiling It shouldn’t be working, but someone has fixed it.
As it spins, a vibrant hum resounds. It’s the same hum that Rae heard upstairs.
r /> A deep red emanates from the center. It speeds up and slows without a distinguishable pattern to guide them.
“Maybe it’ll send us to another dimension,” Rae says. “Maybe it’ll send us back in time.”
That would be nice.
“Maybe.”
Rae’s body freezes. “We’re stuck here.”
“Unless we can find another way out,” she says.
“Cassian… what was he testing?” Rae asks aloud.
The omega cocks her head. “Who?”
Rae relaxes, revealing the baby in the tank. “Someone I once knew,” she says, reflecting. “I’m looking for my alphas. I… have little time.”
Upon sight of the baby, the omega startles. However, her curiosity gets the best of her. “What… is… that?”
“It’s me. Well, it’s a new version of me,” she says.
The omega walks over to her, kneeling to see the baby in the tank. “You’re right. It looks just like you,” she whispers, comparing the sight of the two. “You’re a clone. Now, I see it.”
Rae nods. “Born to breed in an offshore facility,” she reflects. “I think I’m going to die here.”
Tank baby’s light dims. “Is it true?” the omega asks. “The extinction gene… is it like they said?”
“What did they say?” Rae asks, eyes creasing.
“Rae, right? They said you were born broken,” she says.
“You know who I am?” Rae whispers.
“You’re the first successful clone. Everyone knows who you are,” she says. “You’re a bio-weapon. I’m sure of it.”
Rae stands and pulls the tank back into her arms. She walks the paved path again. “How can anyone prove the extinction gene exists?”
The omega follows her, tailing her lead. “Is that why you killed him? Because you believed the gene is a myth?”
Rae slows, and the omega catches up to her side. “Is that why you took a rock to his head? Smashed his brains out…?”
“Why are you here?” Rae asks, horrified.
“The same reason you are,” she says. “To stay alive. I hid before the detonation. I did what I had to do. Just like you. We’re omegas. Alphas hunt, but we survive.”
“Until I explode,” Rae says.
“Until you explode. Then no one survives.”
Hurt, Rae looks at the particle accelerator one more time. “How did you trick the system and avoid splitting apart?”
The young omega shrugs. “The detonation exploded. I fell in and woke up on the ground. The bomb must have disrupted the thing’s power or something,” she says. “That’s right before I found the bodies.”