Lost Generation

Lost Generation - Faisal Khan

PROLOGUE    

There are ten of them. Ten children side by side in ten test tubes. The room is dark, the only thing keeping it from being pitch black is the light from the many computers running simulations. The simulations are perfect, after all, I, Dr. Animus have invented them. But, still for some odd reason, number ten is not responding well to the experiments.

"Sir, it looks like number ten might not make it," said Theo, my research assistant.

"No, he'll make it, all of them will make it," I say.

I drag myself to my main computer, sit down and begin working on the simulations again. I must've worked on these darn simulations like a million times but once again I will have to find a flaw so small that no one else but me will be able to detect it. But finding this flaw is absolutely necessary if I am to save number ten's life.

I swiftly move my fingers over the keyboard and start the coding sequence. Most of this is second nature by now but I must be on the lookout at all times if I am to find a flaw. I hack away for what seems like a couple of hours when Theo interrupts me.

"Number ten is really not doing good, his body temperature is dropping rapidly!"

"Just monitor him, slow down the rejection process as much as you can. I'm close to finding the answer, I can taste it."

Sometimes bluffing is necessary to keep people calm. Whether it be you or someone else. I have no clue what is causing number ten to act up like this but I can't have him die on me. No, that is not an outcome I'm even willing to consider. I start half smashing the keys on the keyboard, typing faster than I've ever typed before. Sweat is dripping down my face but I hands are occupied elsewhere. Think! What could be the problem? What needs to be corrected? I rarely make mistakes so I don't even know where to begin in order to search for such mistakes. But, search I must and I better do it fast.

The experiments on these ten children are at its last stage. If I can just pass this last obstacle, I am sure there will be no more problems. The road up to this point has been one filled with many complications. But I've survived through those so why can't I do the same with this one? My hands are hurting at this point but I press even more furiously into the keys. I can hear the alarm sounding from number ten's test tube. Now I am panicking, I can not fail. Where is the error? Should I just give up? Was it not meant to be? Am I not good enough?

No! If I am not good enough, then no one is! At this point, I took a deep breath and looked beyond the code. There it is, I found the answer. Number ten is a special case so I had to do that differently from the others. How did I overlook this? Whatever, let's fix it and fast.
With fast, precise actions, I weave together several lines of code so perfect, the alarm from number ten's test tube stops immediately. I let out a big sigh of relief, wipe the sweat off my face and take off my lab coat.

Theo comes running, "He's stable now, what did you do sir?"

"Looked beyond what was necessary, I guess," I say.

Scratching his head, Theo replies, "It's good we saved him but at least it wasn't like number one or two under attack. If we lost them, we'd have had to start all over."

At this point, I burst out laughing, "He's not just number ten, if we lost him just now there would've been no point in continuing this venture." 

CHAPTER 1

"Here, you can sit here," I say.

"Oh thank you, you sweet handsome young man," says the old woman in the bus.

"Yeah, no problem," I reply.

I move towards the back of the bus, trying my best to not attract attention to myself. That's right, right now I'm on a public bus, I must act like a regular person so that no one will find out about us. At least they let us go outside and experience the real world when we're not busy hunting down rebel groups. I understand why all this secrecy is necessary too; it's because I'm not normal. I look normal; everything about me looks normal. But that's the thing, I look normal but I'm not normal at all.