Keary Taylor: The Eve

Two got the blame because they looked exactly the same.

And as the chaos continued, alarms sounding, the Man of Medicine, father of the Boy, beat Two within an inch of her life. She would have died if she’d been a normal human.

But the Man of Science understood what had happened. He locked Two away when his son ordered her destruction.

Weeks later, the unspeakable happened.

His technology started evolving. The first generation that had been upgraded with the new and better technology, the ones who had been cured six weeks earlier, started evolving. They were losing their humanity and it quickly took over their bodies. Soon it was spreading to everyone around them.

The company had just ended the world.

The Man of Science took precautions to save himself, hoping it wouldn’t be too late.

Once again there were alarms and chaos and people dying.

The Man of Science took Two by the hand and led her down the halls. He told her not to say a word, to not reveal that she wasn’t really her sister.

Two realized then that everyone at the company thought the Man of Science had disposed of her weeks ago.

He took her to her former Keeper and even he could not tell the difference between her and her sister.

The Man of Science ordered the Keeper to make Two forget. The Keeper questioned but did as he was told.

And then the girl didn’t know anything. Didn’t recognize anyone. Couldn’t understand what the panic and alarms were about.

The Man of Science took her to the back of the building and opened the door. He was about to give her instructions when she was tackled to the ground.

The Man of Medicine had realized what had happened. He knew One was hiding with his son. He knew the truth when he saw Two with his father. And still believing Two had nearly killed the Boy, he was filled with rage.

Once again, he nearly beat Two to death.

And even though Two couldn’t remember anything in the world, she had survival instincts.

Her strong hands wrapped around her attackers throat and soon he slipped into unconsciousness.

The Man of Science, with a shaking voice and hands, turned once again to the door and told Eve Two to run and to not stop.

Covered in her own blood and not knowing she should question, she ran into the desert mountains.

She didn’t stop until a pair of burning blue eyes met hers and asked her if she was okay.

The Man of Science found the sister, but having no time to save her from her horrible past, turned her out to the wild as well.

They would never know a normal life, but they would live, of that he was certain. Because he had made those girls indestructible.

He soon sent his grandson away with the answers, the key to reversing what he had done in hopes that someday the Boy would understand how to use it. In hopes that he would someday realize what the key to making it work was. There hadn’t been time to complete the plans before he could no longer wait.

The Man of Science turned back to the building and waited for the end of the world to come.

But once upon a time, he found the girl who was the key to saving the world he ended and was given a second chance to right his wrongs.

The memories started floating to the surface as Dr. Evans recounted the truths of my past. Like they were just under the water and I could see hints of them down there, but I couldn’t quite reach them. Everything looked distorted and murky.

But there was the breath of the truth begging to fill my lungs. If I closed my eyes, I swore I could almost picture my room at NovaTor. I could almost imagine Dr. Evans’ and Dr. Beeson’s younger faces. I could almost reach out and touch my sister.

I had a sister. A sister I had no doubt was still alive. She was out there somewhere.

I had family. Blood family.

I recalled what I’d started to recover while at the Underground. I had seen myself through a window. West was reading to her, an arm draped over her shoulders. He smiled as he looked over at her. Her eyes lit up when she looked back.

And there was the conversation I’d had with her when we were transferred to Dr. Beeson’s care. My sister liked West. I had hated him back then. It wasn’t a true hate, but it was a resentment.

Just before I’d taken off to the desert, West had commented on how the truth about my identity explained so much about us now. And it did. Even as children we had fought. I hadn’t liked or trusted him and he would lose his patience with me quickly.

It had been my sister West had pinned after for those five years we had been separated. It was her in fact that he had grown up with, cared for, plotted escape for.

Not me.

I heaved a deep sigh, feeling something loosen around my heart.

West and I had, in fact, had something. Something fast and hot and consuming. It was positive and negative at the same time. But in the end, it would have been something that would have destroyed us both if I had chosen him.

And now I had little doubt West could move on.

Because West was West and I knew he would do everything in his power to find my sister.

And I would help him.

The sun rose on the horizon. Almost as if he couldn’t stand to wait another moment, Dr. Evans crossed to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. I looked down at his mechanical fingers, both repulsed and fascinated by them. I closed my eyes for another moment, took a deep breath, and finally rose to my feet.

I looked over the masses. They circled around me, all with their eyes firmly fixed on my form. There were so many bodies I couldn’t see any ground beneath them. Off in the distance, I could see the mountains that separated us from New Eden.

There were so many Bane here gathered around me, all called by the Underground’s beacon. There were probably over a million of them here, but there were still billions out there.

Are you ready to save this planet, Eve Two? Dr. Evans had asked me that impossible question. I couldn’t answer it though until I understood who I was. So he told me the truth. All of it.

“How?” I asked, finally.

He opened up his old, tattered notebook to the last few pages. The pages with the device Avian, West, and I had mistaken for an electromagnetic pulse.

“When you were abducted from NovaTor, they put what is essentially a kill switch in you. A damn strong one,” he said, his voice hard and angry. “You only had to get within fifty yards of the latest generation of TorBane and the signal you were emitting killed it off. Completely destroyed.”

“Is that why I can control them?” I asked, my eyes turning out over the Bane that surrounded us.

Dr. Evans nodded. “As soon as I realized what was going on I disabled it. Or I thought I had. Apparently the line wasn’t completely cut off. You can still connect with TorBane. You are still emitting a signal that they understand. That’s why this,” he said, waving his hand around, “is possible.”

“Okay,” I said, shaking my head. He was starting to get scientific and it was all about to go over my head completely.

“Do you not see?” he asked, the excitement growing in his voice. “If we can turn that kill switch back on and amplify it…?”

“How is that any better than the Pulse though?” I asked, my brow furrowing as I looked at him. “We can only reach so far with an amplifier.”

A wicked grin pulled at the corner of his mouth. “You mustn’t be afraid to think a little bigger.”

“I don’t understand.”

Tucking the notebook under his mechanical arm, Dr. Evans crouched. He drew a picture in the dirt with his finger. It looked like a square with four skinny fingers extending from the sides. Attached to those, he drew rectangular shapes.