|YA featured story|
Welcome to 2325.
The natural world is no longer habitable, the government has been all but privatised and the 15-billion strong population has spent the last 170 years crammed into a single man-made continent.
When her father's...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I sprinted for the door, barging out into the centre of the level and practically colliding with the EA's desk. A crash and a shriek that sounded very much like Delta came from Zenith's office. I twisted on the spot, panting and completely unsure what to do.
She told me to hide in an emergency—but what if she needed help?
Before I could make up my mind, the elevator doors pinged behind me. I ducked to the ground, crawling into the centre of the EA's desk and listening to a single set of urgent, heavy footsteps. The thumping of their hurried pace echoed on the polished concrete, synching with my rapid heartbeat as I caught sight of a ZenSecure guard passing the desk.
Delta would be outnumbered if she wasn't already.
Without thinking, I stuck my leg out from my hiding spot. The guard's boot caught on my foot, sending her sprawling and my ankle twisting in the wrong direction. I bit back a cry as something in the joint snapped.
I struggled to my feet, gasping at the pain. Dots of neon colour filled my vision like an overlay and I tried to blink them away, barely able to make out the guard writhing on the floor.
The glint of restraint cuffs in the back of her utility belt broke through my hazy vision and I lurched forward, the movement making me draw a sharp breath through gritted teeth.
My foot couldn't support my weight and I came down hard on the guard's back, just managing to rip the cuffs from her belt and catch one of the loops around her wrist. Before I could get her second wrist, she pushed off the floor, grunting as she rolled onto her back. Pinning me beneath her.
I flailed my arms, clawing at her face and throat, trying to get her off me. My nails grazed plastic on her neck and it took me a frenzied moment to work out what it was.
A power patch.
I tore at the plastic, ripping it from her neck. She went limp for a second, her body trying to keep up with the sudden slump in power—and I took my opportunity.
I slipped out from beneath her, reefing her cuffed wrist and catching the second loop around her free hand, tethering them together. I pinned her as best I could with my body weight, aided somewhat by her body's adverse response to the lack of bioenhancer in her system. She panted heavily, her laboured breathing heaving beneath me as I took a coil of cable from her utility belt and secured her legs.
She shrieked and grunted in frustration, breathlessly straining against her binds to no avail. I rose to my feet with a flinch, limping as quickly as I could toward Zenith's office. Panic mixed with the buzz of our scuffle, adding to the waves of my chemically induced adrenaline rush. The high was almost enough to mask the pain that came with every step.
The door to Zenith's office was wide open and gasps and thumps carried out. I peeked around the frame, and spotted Delta against the far wall. Her limbs thrashed wildly, her feet kicking the air as a guard held her against the glass in a chokehold. I couldn't tell if the purple shade of her face was from lack of air or the neon petal lighting—but I didn't want to wait around to find out.
