Abnormal {Book 1: Completed, Book 2: Ongoing}

Chapter 16

Adrius's POV

The leader clears his throat, then starts to speak in that raspy voice of his. "I'm proposing an alliance, against the Central Government."

My father leans forward in his chair, resting his elbows on the table. "Interesting, interesting. And what makes you think that I will say yes?"

A bead of perspiration trickles down the back of my neck. My father has no idea what they are capable of, and neither do I. And that's what makes them so dangerous. It's almost as if there's a fog of mystery surrounding them, obscuring their true forms from our view.

"We have weapons. Intel on the enemy. Our enemy. We also have more advanced technology than you do. We have spies..."

"And so do we. Tell me, what makes your...organization special? What makes you worthy of our consideration?"

For the first time, I am afraid, not of my father...for him. He is too proud, too arrogant. He thinks he is invincible, because he has us, the Abnormals to protect him. But now, we don't even know who...or what we're going up against. 

"Would you like me to show you?" The leader asks.

My father seems to be surprised by this. "Tell me your name first."

"Dmitrius. You may call me Dmitri."

"Dmitri." My father nods in approval. "Show me then."

Dmitri snaps his fingers, and a hologram materializes in front of him. I blink in surprise. It is as if they have superpowers of their own. Maybe they do.

"This is our HQ," Dmitri explains.

"Does that mean you have other locations?"

"Yes, many. Almost one in each state."

My father raises his eyebrows, impressed, but says nothing.

The hologram is of a tall, white, normal looking building, with rows and rows of windows on all four sides. If I walked past it on the street, I wouldn't have suspected it to be a rebellious organization that's making evil plots against the government.

Dmitri taps the hologram with his index finger, and the view zooms into the top floor. "This is where our most advanced technology is stored. We have information about every single Abnormal in the country, and after years of research, we were able to replicate their DNA models. In a few weeks time, we can create the most powerful Abnormals through genetic recombination. We could create soldiers, and they could form armies to assist us with our cause."

"Fascinating." My father says. "Let's make a deal."

"What is it?"

"If we become allies...I want all the information on the Central Government, and also access to all the details of the genetic information of the Abnormals."

"Done."

My father smiles coldly and stands up, shakes Dmitri's hand, then proceeds to walk towards the door. Then he rests his hand on the doorknob and stops in his tracks. "As for your end of the bargain...my son knows what to do." Then he exits the room, and I turn to Dmitri slowly, schooling my face into a neutral expression.

"Amelia. Daniel. Find someone from the tech department to negotiate the data transfer with Dmitri. Meanwhile," I turn to Dmitri's soldiers. "Are you planning to return to your HQ?"

"We would like you to introduce us to your facilities," a woman calls out from the back of the group. "We want to have a good idea of who exactly we're allying with." 

"An HQ tour then?"

Heads nod around the room.

Silently, I do a head count for both my team and theirs. We're slightly outnumbered, but I think it will be fine. "Here we go," I say, and lead the group into the hallway.

First, I introduce them to our workout gym, where there are various machines that the TCD has developed, and cannot be bought on the market. For example, there are machines that transport you into another dimension, where you will have unlimited tracks and pools to exercise. 

Next, I bring them to the simulation room, then the other conference rooms reserved for larger meetings. I show them our sleeping quarters, cafeterias, and battle strategy practice rooms. I give them a full tour of our compound, except for rooms with our security and communication systems. And...of course, my father's main office.

Throughout the tour, soldiers in Dmitri's group asks us various questions. Their lifestyle seems to be very different from ours, as they don't have individual sleeping quarters. Instead, one of the women tells me, they have a very large "living area", where they sleep in rows of bunk beds. I wonder if they do it because of some kind of religious belief.

I find that they are an odd bunch of people. Some are quiet and reserved, some are outspoken and enthusiastic. Aside from their outfits, they seem to have nothing in common. I wonder what brought them together in the first place.