8. RAVEN

8

RAVEN

"We are bringing you the most innovative research and the guarantee of a healthy and happy future," says the voice on the TV screen that shows images of a happy family, a young couple with two kids who embrace and laugh with their mouths open.

"The new generation of hope and new beginnings," that same voice says as the two linked strands that form DNA elegantly twist like a spiral ladder against the light-blue background.

"We put years into the research that will now be available to each—and every—one of you."

The young female AI-generated voice is soothing, motherly, affluent, with a speck of high upbringing and scientific insight, patronizing enough to sound knowledgeable but just a tad soft to relate to the poorest. It's incredible how many markers AI can combine to please most of the audience regardless of race, age, and gender.

"Because this is our motto," —the camera first shows that same family, then starts zooming out and turning into an aerial view of a multi-racial crowd, then the entire globe— "no child left behind. Gen-Alpha. The generation with a bright future."

The Gen-Alpha logo freezes on the giant screen on the wall, and everyone in Archer's office exchanges looks.

"Why are we watching this?" Nick Marlow asks.

Archer tosses the remote control onto the desk and leans against it. "Because Gen-Alpha just made a statement about going public."

"Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Yes. For the benefit of the public."

"And?"

Chase Bishop, a former military meteorologist and undercover agent, stares at the screen without much interest. He used to live at the Divide, in the jungle. Now, he is at Ayana daily. In his thirties, he stayed away from people for years. Now, he is back in action, but he's not into politics or market shares or pharmaceuticals.

And I'm not good with the investment trading thing either, even though I have large shares in Gen-Alpha—that was the deal Archer offered me after the Change when I negotiated our dealings with Butcher.

"The funding for the lab stays the same," Archer explains. "But the private funding for Zion's security was cut by sixty percent."

I see. It's a disaster, but everyone supports Archer in going public with the medication.

Let's clarify. Gen-Alpha's main business is manufacturing the drug that controls DNA and prevents its mutation in future generations due to radiation. Up until now, it was the most expensive drug in the world, affordable by—you guessed it—only the very rich. Archer decided to take the company public, making the drug available to almost anyone through healthcare.

So, it's a disaster for the board members and investors who could control to whom and where the drug was sold, literally filling their pockets with billions at an astonishing speed. Now the honeypot is tightly controlled by the public sector. It's a Godsend for ninety percent of the world. The poor rejoice. The rich are angry, of course. Life sort of always works like this.

"We are on our own," Archer says, rubbing his chin. "The board members suggested we move the lab elsewhere."

Bishop finally cuts in, "Like?"

"Australia, Peru, Canada."

"Don't you have labs there already?"

"Yes." Archer nods. "The Ayana lab is mine, though. It's our main research facility. Now, no one wants to spend extra money on Zion's security, and let's just say, it's a bit complicated to move the entire enterprise during lockdown. So, this can't happen overnight."

What he is not saying is that Ayana is a community. If Archer didn't give a fuck, he could've moved elsewhere in a heartbeat. That would mean that this place would start falling apart. The truth is, Archer does care.

Archer's phone beeps with a message. He exhales heavily as he checks it and switches the big screen to video chat. After several rings, Mr. Alex Ortiz is live, nodding to us in greeting.

Katura Ortiz and her father are staggeringly similar. I'm glad she is not here. She might be good at working with intel, but her nineteen-year-old attitude should not be involved when it comes to discussing Ayana security. Even Marlow, the head of security, is distracted by the party life more often than he should.

Thank God for Chase Bishop and Alex Ortiz who actually have backgrounds in military training.

Alex Ortiz doesn't need to watch the commercial to know that the world can celebrate this as a victory while Ayana will have to hold on tight to its panties, because it will soon be assaulted, and it won't be pretty.

We have these meetings almost daily now, because every day something goes wrong. After a long chat about the arms contracts and cutting down on personnel because of the lack of funding, inevitably Port Mrei is brought up.

"You are up, Raven," Ortiz says. "The local town is your domain. You need to figure out that mess with Butcher."

"You want me to take a dozen guards and have a shootout? The way I see it, that's where it's leading."

"No. But you have over a hundred contractors on your island, several former CIA agents, yet, people are still smuggled in and out. So are weapons. Butcher's men can easily get anything they want to Zion. I checked the logs. Your guards denied several shipments at the port, but the boats turned around and somehow got access to the Ashlands."

I stare at him on the screen, not liking that he's stabbing a finger at me. "I'm not in charge of security. I handle the contracts as well as imports."

"Irrelevant," Ortiz says calmly. "This is a bigger problem than security. Butcher is a problem. This fucked up dichotomy must be sorted out. And no one can figure out Butcher like you."

I know that. "After Secretary Crone's death, we lost ties with the Defense Intelligence Agency. That's unfortunate. It was our biggest partner, and Butcher knows that. Don't ask me how. There is nothing I can do unless we completely change security. And I'm afraid?—"

"We can't afford it right now," we all say at the same time.

"Right." I nod. "We can't be in the middle of changing things when Archer just made Gen-Alpha public, the board members are pissed and pulling back funds, and outsiders can find holes in Ayana security."

"I know. It's a bit of a pickle," Ortiz's says thoughtfully.

"It's a disaster," I correct him calmly. "Sure, I can talk to Butcher. But as long as we don't make changes, Butcher knows that we are sinking."

The conversation is pretty much over. We can't get more funds unless someone big gets a specific interest in this island. By big, I mean someone on the scale of the former Secretary of Defense. But Archer's dad is dead, and now we are on our own. Somehow, before, this was Archer's problem. Now, everyone's eyes are on me like I should let Butcher take me in the ass to guarantee our security.

Archer walks out with me as I leave the Center, slightly irritated at everyone's expectations.

"I will take several of my guys and try to arrange a meeting with Butcher," I say.

"Is it safe?"

"What do you think?"

I always liked Archer. He went through a long party streak back at Deene. Sure, he was arrogant and constantly high on something. Granted, I met him after that drama with Kai Droga. But when Archer was sober and talking science, there was no denial that he was one of the most brilliant chemists out there.

When Archer took on Zion after the Change, well, it's no small job turning a resort with a hundred young, rich people into a permanent residence, then setting up a research lab and taking on the development of a DNA drug that could save future generations from looking like aliens. And yes, Archer was still the same jerk, flying high on all substances possible for two years. Yet, he did what he did best—medicine. And for that, I will always respect him.

What changed him eventually was his best friend, Droga. Friendship will do that. I'd say that reuniting with family can be catalytic. Losing one even more so, like him losing his dad, Ayana's godfather. That did a number on Archer and, by the way, fucked us all.

What really brought Archer back to sanity was Katura Ortiz. Katura is a magnificent bitch with a great brain and juvenile attitude that needs a couple of years to adjust itself. But she is exactly what the doctor prescribed for Archer's fuckuppery. A woman can be more powerful than a nuclear war. Yes, I said it. If she can empower the man? Well, the sky is the limit to what he can achieve. Archer is a king. Or something of the sort. And good for him. About time he pulled his head out of his ass.

"It's not about moving the lab elsewhere," Archer says thoughtfully as we stand outside the Center. "This is a home to so many people. Two years ago, we promised everyone this would be a safe haven."

I get it. Now, this is his home, because, yeah, Katura, among other things.

"Listen, Raven, speaking of that Tsariuk business…" Archer stalls, without finishing.

I stall because my mind instantly goes to Maddy. I scan the parking lot and the garden next to it, noticing some of the lab workers smoking and talking to a kid. My entire body tenses, waiting for what Archer is about to say.

"Listen, let's get together for drinks sometime, yeah?" he says, changing the topic again. "We have a lot of things to discuss, besides the meeting stuff. Marlow is all lovey-dovey these days. It would be fine if he weren't partying so much and being completely useless the next day."

"Sound familiar?"

Archer snorts out a laugh. This is new, Archer taking jokes about himself easily.

"Yeah, there are some changes lately," Archer says. "Let's talk sometime this week. Just you and I. Give me a ring, yeah?"

"Sure."

Archer nods toward the kid walking toward us, eating chips out of a bag in his hand. "Watch out, he'll trick you into something or another." He grins at the approaching kid and gives him a high-five. "Looking for trouble?"

The kid squints at him with a big grin. "Nah."

"Nah?"

"Nah."

Archer laughs and walks back into the building, leaving me alone with the kid.

Port Mrei has many children. Ayana has one, Sonny "Little." He is talked about as a mascot of future hope. And the future of Ayana is dressed in a Spiderman shirt, board shorts, and flip-flops with, yep, Spiderman. His sunburnt hair is a tangled web of shoulder-long frizzy strands.

He is an interesting specimen. He helped to find Archer and Katura after their kidnapping when he pointed us to the bunkers in Ashlands. He's been helpful. And there are several ways I can use him again.

Even more so, he often hangs out at the medical center, with Maddy. She is extremely protective of him.

My thinking? If Maddy has a special connection with the kid, then I need to keep him around to get her attention.

Sonny "Little" dips his hand smudged with orange powder into the bag of cheesy chips, and the moment he meets my eyes, he freezes and stops chewing.

"Hi," he says awkwardly, his eyes intense and curious, but he doesn't look away, doesn't walk away, like he's waiting for something.

I don't feel good about using the kid, but he can help. "If I take you to the Center, will you sit down with some of the security guys? They will show you Port Mrei, and you can point out other hidden bunkers. Like you did before."

His eyes light up. He nods. "You will give me a tour?"

"Sure."

"Now?"

Like I said, too eager.

"No. I have things to do."

"Are you going to your cave?"

I narrow my eyes at him.

He looks down at his feet and then up at me from under his eyebrows. "'S lunch time. Wanna have burgers?" He pronounces "burgers" almost like "boogers."

I'll be damned, but I just got invited to lunch by a kid. This little dude is sticky, and right now he's looking at me like a thief. Like he said something inappropriate.

"Do Kai and Callie know you are hanging out here by yourself?"

The Center is deep in the jungle, about half a mile from the resort. The kid doesn't have a bicycle or anything. He just walks everywhere.

He nods eagerly. "Steve gave me a ride." Must be one of the guards or employees. "Look, I got this!" His little chest puffs out with pride as he lifts his hand, boasting his Ayana wrist bracelet that gives him funds to eat at any food place or buy stuff at the resort.

I should ask Kai about this kid. He needs to go to school, though there is no school at Ayana, or other kids for that matter, so I don't exactly see how it's going to work. He is none of my business anyway.

I mount my motorcycle, but he doesn't go away, only steps closer to me.

"You have to go to town now?" he probes.

How does he know everything? But then I remember that Ayana Resort is like Disneyland after him living in a dumpster for who knows how long.

"Can I come to town with you?" he asks.

"You are asking for a lot."

"Sorry."

"Why would you want to go back?"

"I have friends."

"Where?"

"Behin' the warehouse. An' in Ashlands."

"Homeless?"

"They have huts."

"Parents?"

"Nah."

I rev up the engine.

He steps even closer so he can look me in the face. "Can I?"

"No," I say curtly.

His face falls.

But I don't care. He's not my responsibility. And he is definitely not going to that shithole Kai saved him from.

Whereas I have to.

And I drive away, my mood darkening at the thought of what's to come later today.