the biology of love | chase davenport

the beginning

"Maeve!"

A sharp voice cut into Maeve's slumber. It was her father again, calling her into the living room for God knows what.

Jesus, it's seven in the morning.

Maeve wiped the sleep from the corners of her eyes and stepped out of her capsule, stretching. She knew better than to keep her father waiting, especially on a bad day.

This was one of those days.

She stepped into the living room to see her dad sitting on the tattered sofa, facing away from her.

"What took you so long?" He growled, barely turning to look back at her. Maeve scoffed.

"I was asleep. Like any normal person at 7:00 AM. What did you think I was doing?"

Her father then rose from the couch and looked at her, glaring. The purple wires that ran through half of his face bulged along with a vein on his neck, signaling his anger. Maeve took a small step back.

"What did you just say to me?" He asked, incredulous. Maeve dared not move a muscle. "That's what I thought. Douglas and I need to talk to you and Marcus. We've got a mission for you." And with that, he turned out the front door and left.

It took Maeve a second to gather her thoughts. Her dad told her she would be given a mission someday, but she was beginning to think that day would never come. Until now, she had been sitting useless in her closet-of-a-bedroom with no friends except Marcus.

Marcus had moved into the home next to hers two years ago. He was Maeve's first friend - sure, she went to school, but the students there hadn't taken too kindly to her. You glitch out and start one fire and suddenly your reputation is ruined for life. Make it make sense.

Anyways, Marcus was the only one who had... abilities like Maeve. Not the exact same ones, but he understood what it was like. And his dad, Douglas, was business partners with Maeve's dad or something. Either way, she and Marcus had spent the past two years training for their potential missions that they thought would never come.

Until now.

Maeve ran out the door after her father to Marcus' house. She made her way to the back of the home, to a red grill. Opening the grill revealed a keypad, on which she typed in a four-digit code. The back wall of the house fizzled into a honeycomb shape before forming a door, behind which laid a large, dark room. The Lair, she and Marcus had called it. It had a capsule, weapons, cyberdesk, all complete with a trap floor.

Marcus, Douglas, and her father were already inside. Maeve took her place next to Marcus, looking up at the two men.

Her father still sported the irate look from in his house. Compared to him, Douglas looked pitiful. His spiky hair didn't even pass her father's ear.

Maeve's father began to speak: "Now that you're both here, we have a job for you." Maeve and Marcus exchanged a look. This was what they had been trained for.

"I've been keeping something from you," Douglas said. "Marcus, you're not my only child."

Marcus shifted beside her. His eyebrows furrowed as he let out a soft "What do you mean?" He was trying to stand his ground, but Maeve could tell he had been thrown for a loop. She couldn't blame him.

"Before I created you, I created three other children: Adam, Bree, and Chase. I gave them bionics, just like you," Douglas continued.

"W-what? I don't understand. Where are they? And why would you keep this from me, Dad?" Marcus exclaimed.

"Look, look. Let me explain. I created them, but my brother stole them from me. My rightful children. He took them, and I haven't seen them since. Until now. I don't-"

"Just spit it out already, Douglas," Maeve's father interrupted. All heads in the room snapped to look at him. "The bionic kids now go to Mission Creek High. You two are gonna enroll there and return them here. By any means - I don't care what it takes."

Maeve began to think. Her father told her she would be used to break into buildings, expose confidential government information, rob billionaires - not kidnap people. She always knew her missions would hurt people, but not this directly.

But then again, she would get to transfer high schools!

"I know this is a lot, but you guys are trained for this. You don't have a choice," Douglas rasped. Marcus turned to Maeve, and they looked at each other in silent agreement.

"When do we start?"