The Lunar Life Ch. 10

"We can discuss the implications of that later. What matters now is that it worked." Will said, trying to remind Varek their purpose of coming to The Spire in the first place. Varek nodded, continuing down the path with brisk steps. The pair continued down the dark tunnel, only the sound of their feet upon the rock floor reverberating through the silence. Will remain on high alert while Varek had his eyes glued onto the blueprint of the building, directing them left, right and centre, to lead them to the centre of the entire structure.

Will kept expecting something to spring up and catch them; security droids, traps or even just an alarm, but there were none. Logically, it should have made him relieved, but all he got was more tensed. The Spire wasn't supposed to be easy to infiltrate under normal circumstances, and with Dart holding Thane there, Will expected security to be multiplied ten folds. Something about how easy it was to get in, made him have a strange feeling in his stomach.

Varek stopped abruptly, causing Will to bump into him. Will jumped back in surprise, not expecting Varek to halt without so much as a warning. He was jumpy enough as it was and he didn't need any more surprises. "Why did we stop?" Will asked, looking ahead past Varek, only to see the reason. It was a dead end, the brick wall blocking any further advancement. "Did we take a wrong turn somewhere?"

"No, we're here." At Varek's words, Will raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Um...it's a dead end Varek."

"It looks like that, but..." Varek ran his hand along the wall next to him, lightly tapping each brick as he went, finally coming to rest on a single brick. The smile that Varek gave was even more confusing. It looked like any other brick, so why was Varek so happy. "...looks can sometimes be deceiving." With that, Varek pushed in the brick, the block receding an inch before sliding to the side and out of view behind an adjacent brick.

Behind it was a small metallic square, with nothing more than two small LED lights and a small port of some sort. "How did you know that was there?"

"It's all in the blueprint...well that, and the brick facade was made of plastic." Varek smiled, making Will shake his head at Varek's seemingly too calm exterior.

"What is it anyway?"

Varek took out his tablet as well as a cable as he spoke. "It's one of The Spire's network ports." While he spoke, Varek began connecting one end of the cable into his tablet, and the other end into the port. "While plugged in like this, I should be able to hack into The Spire's systems."

Will watched quietly as Varek did his thing, fingers moving so fast across the tablet screen they were a blur. Suddenly a sound came from Will's left, startling him for the second time within the last ten minutes. The once dead end had parted to show an elevator behind it.

"There, that should lead us right to Dart's quarters, Thane is up there somewhere." Varek said, disconnecting his tablet from the port. Just as he did so, the elevator closed. Will looked to his left, trying to spot any sort of button to open the doors. "Damn, I was afraid of that." Varek said.

"Why, what happened?"

"I can only control the system if I'm plugged in. Once I disconnect, the system auto locks out to prevent any sort of unauthorized use." Varek said, once again plugging his tablet into the port.

"Can't we leave the tablet here and go?"

"We can, but I don't know what the situation is up there. If anything goes wrong I need to have access try to get us out. I won't be able to do that if I leave the tablet here."

At those words, Will knew what had to be done. "You stay here then, monitor the situation while I go up and look for Thane."

"What?! Will, no. We need to stick together."

"We don't have a choice Varek. We need to rescue Thane and if that means I have to go up there alone, then that's what we'll do. We'll communicate through our in-ears." Varek sighed, knowing that Will was right. There was no time think about something else.

"I'll do what I can to help you in any way possible." Will nodded, turning and heading into the elevator. "Please...be careful, Will."

"I will." Will looked at Varek as the door closed. The look on Varek's face told him just how much he meant to the older man because he saw the exact same look on his parents' faces just earlier that day. There was no telling what was going to happen once Will got up there, and Varek knew it could very well be the day that he lose not only Thane, but Will as well.

As he felt the elevator ascend, Will took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. This wasn't the time for emotions; he needed to be focused. So he tried not thinking about Varek, his parents, or that this could be his last few hours alive, putting those thoughts to the back of his mind. He focused on the task at hand, and only one person. Thane.

The elevator ride felt like it went on forever. Not only was it a pretty high climb to get to the top of the tower, it didn't help that time seemed to stretch when you were counting the seconds go by. With each passing second, Will had to fight the ever increasing nerves that were bubbling within him, seemingly proportional to the height of the elevator.

"You're almost there." Varek's voice came from his in-ear communicator.

"What am I to expect once I get there?"

"I have no idea. Dart's quarters are devoid of security cameras, I can't see what's happening in there." Will sighed, already expecting the answer. "I've been scanning the rest of the security feed and most of the security drones are located near the base of The Spire. That means, if Dart were to call for reinforcements, it would take some time for them to get to you."

"Let's just hope he doesn't already have reinforcements deployed in his quarters."

"Yes, I guess that too. Only one more floor Will, prepare yourself." Varek muttered. Will exhaled sharply, shaking away his nerves, his right hand hovering over the whip secured to his belt, in the event he needed to draw it quickly. The elevator slowed, coming to a smooth halt, it's metals door parting with a hiss.

Will peered out of the elevator, looking for any signs of movement, any sound, anything that might indicate signs of hostile forces. There were none.

Cautiously, Will stepped out, his feet light on the tile floors to avoid any sound that might alert someone to his presence, his hand standing at the ready by his whip. The room was circular, completely white and strangely, completely empty.

"Varek, I'm in."

"Okay, according to the blueprint, there should be a room to your left. From the system's maintenance mainframe, I see a surge in power consumption in that area. My guess is that that is where Thane is kept." As Will listen to Varek, the frown on his face increased.

"What room?" Will asked, confused. All he saw was a single large empty room. No doors anywhere, except the elevator behind him.

"On the left, the door right next to the elevator." Will raised an eyebrow.

"Varek, there is no door. It's just one big empty room."

"What? No, according the blueprints, your in a hallway after exiting the elevator, with doors on either side and the living room in front of you." Varek spoke.

"Varek, I'm looking at the room right now and I can sure as hell tell you there is no hallway."

"No...it can't be. Something's not right. You should get out of there now." Varek shouted.

"What about Thane? We can't leave him here."

"Will, listen to me! Turn around and head back to the elevator. I think Dart is up to something." Will wanted to stay and find Thane, but Varek was telling him to go. He was so close, already inside Dart's quarters and he had to turn back? With a huff, he turned back to the elevator.

A few feet away from the entrance, the doors slid shut. "Varek, open the doors."

"I...can't. I don't have control over it anymore. Shit...something's wrong, you..."

Varek's voice cut off abruptly, the signal going dead.

"Varek?" Will called out, scared for Varek's safety.

The sound of slow clapping captured Will's attention, spinning around so fast his head became dizzy. There, standing in the middle of the room, was Dart, dressed in all white, almost blending into the background. "Hello William." Dart laughed, all the while continuing his slow clap.

"What did you do to Varek?" Will growled, the sight of the president immediately setting his anger off.

"Varek is here? Oh good, saved me the trouble of needed to search the city for him." Dart said. That brought some comfort to Will, knowing that the disconnection wasn't caused by Dart.

"Where is Thane!?"

"Oh of course, you're here for Thane. Well, it would be rude of me to deny you." Dart smiled, waving his hand to the right. Will turned in that direction, seeing the white tiles parting, revealing a hole in the floor. From this hole, two metal beams came up, each with lights running down them. As the platform continued to rise, Will noticed something else, something between the two beams.

Seeing Thane brought emotions running through Will. For one, he was happy that Thane was alive, but then he felt sadness, when he saw the bruises that covered Thanes face. Seeing his semi conscious state however, replaced all emotions with anger towards Dart. Thane hung from his wrists, large bracelets encircling them, floating seemingly in mid air by what Will could only assume were electromagnets. "Will..." Thane breathed out, hardly able to talk in his dazed state.

Will began to run towards Thane, wanting nothing but to hold the man close to him, but Dart stopped him.

"Ah ah ah, don't want to do that. It might be a little...painful." Dart smirked. With a wave of his hand, a holographic interface appeared in front of him, much like his special BIC hologram but bigger. At the same time, the force field that surrounded Thane became visible momentarily, looking like an electrically charged egg.

"What do you want Dart!?" Will shouted.

"What do I want?" The smile on Dart's face slowly fell, replaced by the scowl that could terrify children. "I want to rid the colony of this plague we call homosexuality."

"So what? You want to kill us?"

"Oh William, you need to think of the big picture here. You know, this may have been difficult, tracking you down, but I knew you wouldn't let Thane here suffer, so I guess I have to thank you, for coming to me instead. I've got to say though, I thought you'd have wised up to the idea when you realized how easy it was to get in." Will's scowl fell. It was a trap, and they fell right into it. "You didn't actually think it would have been that easy getting in did you? For your information, I let you in."

"If you wanted to kill me, why not do it if you knew I was coming? Why wait till I get here?"

The laugh that Dart let out sent a chill down Will's spine. "Why? Because I don't just want to kill you, William. I need to plan for the future, make sure something like this doesn't happen again. Back before the migration, scientist gave up in trying to find the 'gay' gene. Well with the technology we have now, I'm sure we can get more conclusive results. That's why I need you both, to find out which parts of your genome code for the same thing. Once we find what makes you tick, we can find a way to snuff it, nip it in the bud."

"So what, you make sure a few elites won't be gay, what about the rest of Lunaris? natals are not genetically altered." Will stated, unsure of what good arguing would do.

"Oh, so naive. Do you honestly think natals are not altered? We've been doing it all along. Sure we don't make you guys all perfect, but we tweak a little here and there." Will frowned, unsure if Dart was telling the truth or simply lying. Dart however, apparently caught on to Will's thoughts. "Oh it's true. How you ask? Well it was quite simple really, and the answer lies on your wrist, all locked away in your tiny BIC. Nano bots, my personal design. Little robots that enter your bloodstream from your BIC. Right from conception, these nano bots do everything that is required, to eliminate any defects that might arise.

"Of course, there are many other applications. I'm sure you know of the rumor surrounding me being the former CEO of Highland. Well, I'll put those rumors to rest by saying, yes I am. You see these nano bots can do so much more than just alter genetic material. They can even repair cells, essentially making them live forever. Making me, live forever. Of course, no one Lunaris knows this other than me, what with immortality being such a taboo subject and all, but seeing that you're going to take this to your grave, I thought you should at least know."

"You're sick, you know that. No one should live forever, especially not someone like you." Will spat out. It all made sense now though, why Dart didn't look elite. Why he had the wrinkles that other elites didn't possess. He wasn't made perfect, just altered and kept alive after the technology allowed it.

"Oh but I'm not the sick one here Will, you two are. Which leads me to the next use of these nano bots. It seems only logical that with the ability to repair cells, they also have the ability to destroy them, causing cell lysis and leading to spontaneous necrosis. A demonstration perhaps? Maybe on...you?" Dart smirked evilly, never looking as dangerous as he did just at that moment. Will didn't have the time to react as Dart, pushed a couple buttons on his interface and looked up knowingly.

Will stood there, waiting for something to happen but even after five seconds, nothing. The answer came right to Will. His BIC was deactivated; Dart had no control over him. "It's dead Dart. You can't do anything to me."

Dart's eyes narrowed as he realized his plan failed, but he wasn't going down without a fight. "Oh that's a shame, I was so looking forward to you writhing in pain. No matter though, I think I'll enjoy Thane in pain just the same." Will eyes bulged at the statement, watching as Darts finger swiftly ran across his control centre.

The cry that emanated from Thane wracked Will with panic. Thane convulsed against his restraints, thrashing his body around from the intense pain that was filling his body. Every inch of his body burned from the nano bots slowly destroying him for the inside, the tiny robots breaking every cell they encountered. Seeing Thane tossing around like that made Will want to throw up.

He couldn't take it. He needed Dart to stop.

"Stop it! You can have me, just let Thane go." Will pleaded, anything to get Dart to stop.

"It's too late for that now Will. You think you can play god? Only I can do that, and you won't get any kind of mercy from me."

The sounds of Thane's screams pierced every fiber of Will's being, unhinging him slowly. He needed to make it stop, do something to stop Thane's pain. With all the strength he could muster, Will grabbed the whip at his belt, releasing it with one swift flick. Turning the knob to maximum, Will pressed the button on the handle, the whip immediately crackling to life with electricity.

Dart watched Will, seeing the look of utter rage written across his face as he reeled his arm back, ready to send it in Dart's direction. Dart on the other hand, had a look of complete calm on his face, the least bit worried that he was about to be assaulted. Will wanted to see Dart convulse under the electricity of the whip, make him feel whatever pain he was causing Thane.

He wanted Dart dead.

Thane's cries fueling his body, Will threw his arm forward with everything he got, sending the sparking whip flying towards Dart. The coil of metal snaked towards Dart, slicing through the air, crackling ominously, ready to wipe the smirk off Dart's face.

There was a loud crash, as electricity arced from the whip after coming into contact with a solid object, the resulting flash of light blinding Will in the process. Will expected Dart to be on the floor, unconscious, but the old man stood as if nothing had happened. Residual sparks of electricity danced across the invisible egg of energy surrounding Dart, surrounding him in a safe cocoon.

He was shielded too.

Will assaulted the shield with a barrage of whips, wishing that just one would penetrate the armor, giving Dart his just deserts, but every strike Will unleashed ended in a burst of sparks and light as they collided with the force field.

Will's fist clenched in frustration. "Wi...Will...can you...hear..." Varek's voiced sounded through his in ear communicator, static laced. "Will, are you okay?"

"Varek, he's hurting Thane. He has a shield around him that I can't get through." Will stated as he darted his eyes over to Thane, his screams abruptly cutting off as the elite lost consciousness. Panic boiled up in Will stomach, praying that Thane wasn't dead.

"Ah, Varek's back I see." Dart said, noticing Will's conversation with himself. "Almost forgot about him. Well I think I should send a welcoming party for him don't you think." Dart laughed, fingers typing on his control centre, sending drones searching for Varek.

"I'm already working on bringing the shields down." Varek spoke.

Will's eyes were locked onto Thane's motionless body, hoping to see any signs of life. Anything, a twitch or something. Something to show him that Thane wasn't dead.

"Oh he's not dead...not yet at least." Dart smirked, drawing a teary eyed glare from Will. "See Will, it's pointless. All your resistance, your little futile attempts to save dear Thane. It's all pointless. You never had a chance, wouldn't have even gotten into the building had I not allowed it. It's cute, when you actually believed that you had a chance to stop me.

"I had such high hopes for you too, it's such a shame really. You were the first natal elite transition. You could have been so special, so full of promise. Turns out I was wrong. You're not special, it was simply serendipity that you were thrown into your current life.

"After all this though, at least you could say that you tried, but then again, who is gonna hear you say it. You're gonna be dead soon anyway, and I will still be here, living forever. Face it Will, you lost. You can't touch me." Dart smirked.

Will clenched his fingers around his whip so hard, his knuckles turned white. Anger was pouring out of him, seething with rage, wanting nothing more than to torture the bastard in front of him. He wanted to see the man suffer, wishing that he had some way around that shield.

As if luck was on his side, Varek screamed into his earpiece, "Will, shields are down! Shields are down!"

"Fuck you Dart." Will shouted, once again sending his whip towards Dart. This time though, instead of colliding with the invisible wall, the whip coiled around Darts arm. The man didn't even have time to realize his shield had failed before 1000 volts of electricity coursed through his body, sending his body convulsing before collapsing into a heap on the floor.

Without a stutter, Will ran to Thane's limp body, hanging against the restraints that held him upright. Recalling his training he received when he interned as a nurse, he quickly brought two fingers to Thane's neck, checking for any signs of a carotid pulse.

There was none.

"Varek, he doesn't have a pulse." Will cried out, his voice cracking as he battled to keep his emotions in check.

"Shit...um...I'm gonna release his restraints. Be prepared to catch him." Varek said.

Will wrapped him arms around Thane's body, supporting his weight onto himself. "Thane, please wake up." He whimpered as he held his head against Thane's chest. A second later, the restraints unlocked, Will bearing the full weight of Thane as he slowly brought him down to the floor.

As a precaution he checked for a pulse a second time, hoping that he would feel even the slightest sign that Thane was alive. Nothing.