Finn Lennoy - March 2121
It doesn't take us long to prepare, especially with Kai managing to bring some equipment back from the school that should help us infiltrate GeneX. It isn't much, but it should be enough to get us through to their main network facility beneath the complex, and once we reach it, Noah's seed should be capable of destroying everything connected to their system.
He would have loved to see it in action.
I can picture the look on his face already, the way his eyes would have lit up as he watched the system collapse and immediately started thinking about what he could improve. He would probably have spent the entire journey explaining exactly how the seed worked, telling us not to interfere with it and reminding us that we'd probably break something if we touched it without knowing what we were doing.
But now he's gone.
I keep looking at the container sitting in my hands, knowing that something Noah created is going to be the weapon we use to bring GeneX down, and there's something almost cruel about it. He spent so long trying to create things that could save people, and now the last thing he left behind is going to help us destroy the organisation that took him from us...
...I had one job.
One thing that mattered more to me than anything else, and that was keeping Noah safe. I was supposed to be the person watching his back, the person making sure nobody ever got close enough to hurt him, and somehow I still failed. I can keep telling myself there was nothing I could have done, but that doesn't change the fact that he's dead and I'm still here and I never got the chance to tell him what he meant to me.
We argued, we disagreed and there were plenty of times when he drove me completely insane, but none of that ever changed the way I felt about him. Noah was smart, caring and stronger than he ever gave himself credit for, and somehow he managed to make me feel like I mattered simply by allowing me to be part of his life.
I've loved him for as long as I can remember.
Maybe it was always one-sided, and maybe he never would have felt the same way, but I never needed him to know for those feelings to be real. Just having him beside me was enough, and now I'm left with memories of someone who should still be here.
I still can't believe he's gone. Part of me keeps expecting him to come running out of the cabins complaining that he needs to get back to his lab, or excitedly explaining some new experiment he's been working on, but I know that's never going to happen again because I held his cold hand in mine for hours after I found him.
I know because I helped dig the grave where we buried him.
And I know because when I close my eyes, I can still feel the weight of his hand in mine.
So when Kai told me he's done waiting and that we're finally going to take GeneX down, I don't hesitate. We both know this is probably a suicide mission, and neither of us needs to say it out loud because the look in his eyes tells me he understands exactly what I'm thinking.
If we can get Noah's creation into their network and destroy the systems that allowed GeneX to do what they did, then at least we'll have finished something worth finishing.
If I die doing it, then so be it. At least I'll die knowing I helped finish what Noah started.
We load the last case into the car, and I carefully place the container holding the seed on the front seat. We had hoped to leave quietly, without turning our departure into some dramatic goodbye, but when Kai told Edmund what we're planning, word quickly spreads.
I hear footsteps behind us and turn to see Jack running towards Kai.
"Please don't go."
He grabs onto Kai's sleeve, his face already covered in tears as he desperately tries to wipe them away with the back of his arm. His nose is running from crying, and normally I'd probably make some joke about it, but I can't bring myself to smile now.
Kai crouches down until he's at Jack's level.
"I'm sorry, Jack."
"Don't go."
Kai looks at him for a moment before glancing towards the cabins.
"Do you want GeneX to destroy this place as well?"
Jack shakes his head.
"Then we need to stop them before they do."
"But you won't be coming back."
Damn it.
I look away because I had hoped Jack hadn't understood what this mission really meant. I wanted at least one person here to believe we might actually return, but the kid is smarter than we give him credit for, and Kai doesn't try to lie to him.
Instead, Kai stays there for a moment before reaching up and wiping the tears from Jack's face.
"Can you do me a favour?"
Jack sniffles and nods.
"You remember how I taught you to fight?"
Jack nods again.
"Good. Use that to protect the people here." Kai smiles faintly. "You're in charge of security, remember?"
Jack starts crying harder, but he continues nodding as though he's determined to prove that he's strong enough to do what Kai is asking. Kai begins to stand, but stops and looks at him again.
"Could you also do me a personal favour?"
Jack wipes his face.
"Depends. What?"
The answer actually makes Kai smile, and for a second I catch a glimpse of the Kai we knew before everything went wrong.
"Could you also look after Ethan for me?"
I turn away again because the words hit harder than I expect.
I've already told Kai that he should stay here, that I could do this alone and that he still has people here who love him and need him, but he told me he had to come with me. I understood immediately because I know exactly what it feels like to have someone taken from you and suddenly realise there is nothing left to lose.
If Kai feels even remotely the way I do, then there is no argument I could make that would keep him here.
"I can do that," Jack says quietly.
Kai reaches down and ruffles his hair one last time before standing.
"You don't have to do this," Thomas says, his voice quieter than before. "We're so close to completing our plan."
Tessa turns towards him so sharply that he immediately falls silent.
"What plan?" she asks, her voice cold enough to make the air around us feel heavier. "Our plan only worked if everyone was still alive, and now..."
Her voice catches before she can finish.
She looks away for a moment, swallowing hard as she tries to regain control, but I can see the pain written all over her face. She has spent so much time trying to hold everyone else together that I don't think she's allowed herself to properly fall apart yet.
Then she steps towards us and without saying another word, she reaches out and takes one of our hands each, squeezing tightly enough that I can feel her fingers trembling.
"Give them hell," she says.
Her eyes meet mine, and there is nothing left in them except anger.
"Make them pay for what they did."
I stare back at her, unable to find anything to say.
I know that look because I've seen it in the mirror every time I've thought about Noah. It's the kind of anger that doesn't burn brightly anymore. It sits somewhere deeper, buried beneath the grief, and it becomes the only thing keeping you moving when everything else inside you has gone quiet.
Tessa has every right to feel it.
She lost the person she loved, and now she's carrying his child without him. She should be planning a future with him, not preparing to raise their baby in a world where GeneX is still hunting us. Instead, she's standing here watching two more people she cares about prepare to walk into what is almost certainly a suicide mission.
I tighten my grip around her hand.
"We will."
She gives a small nod, but I can see the tears gathering in her eyes.
Tessa takes Jack by the hand and begins leading him back towards the cabins, but Jack keeps looking over his shoulder at Kai as they walk away. Kai watches him too, and neither of them says another word.
I force myself to look towards the car.
If I keep watching them leave, I know I'm going to start thinking about what we're actually doing.
"Why do you two get all the fun?"
Monica steps forward, trying to bring some of her usual humour into the moment even though I can see the sadness behind her eyes. She pats Kai on the back and looks between the two of us.
"Because I need you and Gerald to look after everyone here."
"So you get to go out in a blaze of glory while I'm stuck babysitting?" she scoffs.
Kai gives her a faint smile.
"Something like that."
"Fine, if I have to."
"Thanks, Monica," Kai says before looking towards Gerald. "And you too."
Gerald steps forward and shakes Kai's hand before offering his to me.
"It's been a pleasure working with you both," he says. "But try to make it back alive."
I look at him for a moment, knowing neither of us believes that's something we can promise.
Kai gives him a small, broken smile before nodding.
"We'll try."
He turns towards the car, but before he can take another step, Monica suddenly moves forward and pulls him into a hug.
Everyone seems caught off guard by it, including Kai, who stands there for a moment with his arms awkwardly hovering before finally wrapping them around her.
"Don't do anything stupid," she says quietly. "Just come back."
Kai doesn't answer immediately, and when she finally lets him go, I can see the emotion she's trying desperately to hide.
Monica turns towards me.
"You too. You're part of the team, even if you don't have powers."
I give her a small nod.
"Thanks"
She smiles before turning away quickly, but I catch the tears beginning to gather in her eyes. She grabs Gerald's arm and pulls him towards the cabins before either of us can say anything else, leaving Kai, Edmund, Thomas and me standing beside the car.
Edmund has been silent throughout the entire conversation, simply watching us as if he's trying to memorise our faces. When he finally steps towards us, there's something in his expression that makes my chest tighten.
"I want to thank you both," he says. "If it wasn't for either of you, everyone at Trinity could have been killed or taken." He gestures towards the cabins behind him. "I know your losses can never be replaced, but I want you to remember that you saved your family here."
His voice becomes quieter.
"You will always have a home with us, and we will always be grateful for what you've done."
He reaches out and shakes Kai's hand.
"Thank you for giving me a home," Kai says quietly. "And thank you for everything you did for Ethan and Noah."
Edmund's expression falters at Noah's name.
"Noah really did have the best time of his life at the school," I say, my voice barely above a whisper. "I've never seen him so happy."
Edmund looks at me for a long moment.
"I'm glad."
I don't know what else to say after that because anything more feels like it might break whatever control I have left.
My watch suddenly beeps, reminding me that it's time to leave.
Edmund looks towards the car.
"I guess this is goodbye."
Kai gives a small nod.
"I guess it is."
He pats Edmund on the shoulder before looking towards Thomas, who is standing behind him with his jaw clenched and his eyes shining with unshed tears. Thomas looks like he wants to say something, but nothing comes out, and eventually Kai simply gives him a small nod.
We don't need words, we all understand.
Kai gets into the passenger seat, and I walk around to the driver's side. Before I open the door, I look back towards the cabins.
This place became a home for a short while. Noah should be standing somewhere among the others here.
He should be complaining about us leaving without telling him what we're doing, or reminding me to drive carefully because apparently I'm incapable of doing it properly.
Instead, he's gone.
I get into the car and start the engine, gripping the steering wheel tightly as I force myself to look forwards.
I glance into the rear-view mirror and see Edmund and Thomas still standing in the driveway. Neither of them moves as the distance between us grows, and I keep looking back until the cabins finally disappears from view.
Only then do I look towards the passenger seat.
The container holding Noah's seed sits there quietly on Kais lap.
I'll finish what you started Noah... Even if it's the last thing I ever do.
There's nothing left for me to lose.
GeneX took him from me.
Now I'm going to make them pay for it.