Mason

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Chapter 18


The car drove on in silence after Havener hung up the phone. James said nothing to me, and I didn't bother trying to talk to him. It was obvious that we weren't exactly thrilled to be partners. Instead, I fumed, already beginning to form a plan of attack. There could only be one leader of the World Revolution, and I was determined that it was going to be me. Havener wouldn't get to take the credit for all the hard work that I was doing. I started thinking, concentrating hard on what I needed to do. Havener wants Kate because he needs the code. Without it, the nanites are effectively worthless because we couldn't control them once they were in the bloodstream. The World Revolution is about killing off the weak and creating the strong. If we could control them, we could target specific genes and rearrange them, effectively mutating the body from the inside. But until we get our hands on that code, we're forced to wear the cuffs, and that means there's a chance that the cuffs could be removed. We can't have our prey escaping. Fortunately for us, that would be extremely difficult. 

The only way to remove the cuff was to defuse it like a bomb. You'd have to destroy just the right piece to get it to release. Break any other part, and it would inject the nanites and kill the host. It was genius actually. Why wouldn't it be when we stole it from one? I smiled, trying hard to stifle a laugh at my own joke. I turned in my seat, facing out the window. For a moment, I simply watched the dark grey asphalt fly past me while we drove. I realized, as I disappeared back into my thoughts, that it would be imperative that I please Havener now. I needed to get closer to him, and there were only two ways to do that. I either had to obey his every command and move up the ranks, and God knows how long that would take. The entire Revolution could be over by the time I became his right hand, simply because he refused to trust people. That was a vital when you were in the business of mass genocide, and for that I admired him. That left me with only one choice: strike when he least expected it. 

I would need to get him alone, and use his own weapon against him. As the car began to slow down, my head snapped forward. Finally pulling to a stop, I exited the vehicle, and once again took in the sight before me. The sun slipped through the cracks of the grey skies, and shone on the choppy waves of the ocean for a moment. Turning, my eyes trained on the large aircraft hangar that loomed in front of us.  The grubby white-painted metal quivered slightly in the wind that was blowing in off of the coast. A particularly large gust blew, and the metal shrieked as a huge wave crashed into the back of the pier and sprayed the parking lot. I shivered, with water seeming to seep through every crevice of my body.

I jogged toward the door of the hangar, not wanting to wait out on the concrete any longer. I wouldn't be able to fight for what I wanted if I caught a cold. Nobody likes a pathetic, sniveling leader. After all, that was exactly what Havener was. After all the idiotic chores he'd forced me to, it was an understatement to say that I loathed him. Midnight donut runs, making coffee every morning, and doing his laundry were not advancing the Revolution. They were humiliating. The only thing that was ever accomplished was making his life easier. Well I'm about to make your life hell, I thought sourly. I tugged on the handle of the door three times to let the guards inside know that it was James and I. It was several minutes before they opened the door, and I stood outside hopping around trying to keep warm while I waited. 

James finally appeared next to me shaking lightly just as the door opened to reveal the gloom of the inside. The guards who'd shoved the doors open shrank back from the light as if they would melt if a single ray touched their skin. I angrily stomped inside and made my way to the offices and rooms on the opposite side of the building. It was still bitterly cold inside, but it was out of the wind, and that was at least a slight improvement. For a few moments, I stumbled around nearly blind from the darkness. I fumbled for my footsteps until my eyes adjusted. As I was able to see just enough that I could pick out where to step. I reached the offices on the other side of the hangar, and I was entering my pin to unlock the door as I heard my name being called. 

"Mason!" I recognized the familiar voice of Clark. I stopped, and turned to face him, the light that shone through the office windows lighting up his tall, burly frame as he approached. "Havener wants to see you," he huffed out as he stopped a few feet away. 

"Give me a minute," I responded curtly, before returning to the keypad. I listened as his footsteps echoed off the walls and he walked away. I finished entering my pin, and the wall vibrated as the door unlocked itself.  The lights seemed to be blueish as I sauntered inside to the counter, enjoying the only heated room in the building. I tore open a boxed meal that sat on the counter. The bright yellow and red packaging fell to the floor as I tore off bits of the enclosed sandwich and stuffed it into my mouth. The disgustingly salty taste of ham flooded my senses, and I forced myself to get it down my throat. As the first few bites hit my stomach, it growled, and I force fed myself some more. When the food was entirely gone, I dug around underneath the counter for my choice weapon. 

The cuffs. 

My fingers clasped around one, and I pulled it from its box at the back of the shelf. Before I stuffed it in my pocket, I shook it and stood watching as the silvery liquid quivered around inside the glass. After choosing the remote, I was careful to avoid the spike that would inevitably kill anyone it came into contact with as I concealed each. I wasn't going to die by my own hand, and definitely not by nanites. I waltzed out of the office and toward Havener's private chamber. I crossed into utter darkness as I paced down the hallway. There were no lights aside from a single bulb that dangled by its cord above the door. I stopped, took a deep breath, and mentally prepared to assault the one person who thought he had control.

He had nothing, and by the time I was through with him, there would be nothing left.

When the Revolution begins, he's the first person I will eliminate. I wouldn't need any fighters coming back, thinking that they had what it took to destroy my plans. I knocked loudly on the door, my knuckles growing sore after the first few hits. I wasn't afraid of Havener. He was the one that needed to be afraid. He immediately opened the door, and stepped back, a wide grin on his face.

"Come in," he said, still smiling at me. I flashed him a glare. I was not his friend, and I never would be. I hated that he tried to treat me as if we were old pals. It was fake; everything about his actions was fake. "Please, have a seat." Havener held out his hand and gestured to one of the plush seats that were positioned in front of his desk. I shook my head, and stood along the wall instead. As the door closed, the screaming fury came at me. I knew a moment before he realized what he was doing that he was going to try to strike me. 

But it only takes one wrong move.

I seized my chance and sidestepped him just as he came at me. His palm extended, and reached for my face, but I was too fast for him. No, I was too smart for him. Havener realized a split second too late that I was already aware of his shenanigans, and a look of horror and confusion crossed his face. Before he fully realized what was happening, I had my strong hands gripped tightly around his wrists, and I snapped them to the left, throwing him off balance. While he stumbled I attacked again, not giving him the chance to recover. I struck two hard punches to his chest, and another to his face. There was something gratifying about the loud crunching sound that filled the silence as my tough knuckles connected with his nose. Blood gushed frantically down his face, and he looked down at it in horror.

He realized I was winning.

"Don't worry, Havener," I cooed at him in a humiliating tone. "I don't want you dead." As I finished speaking, I kicked him hard in the chest, sending him flying backward as the blow connected. He landed with a hard thud on the ground, and he curled over on his side whimpering softly. "Yet, anyway," I finished as I approached him slowly, a wide smile on my face as I admired my work. I reached down and pulled his hand away from his face, finally removing the cuff from my pocket. I snapped it around his wrist with a loud click, and let his arm drop. Pulling out the remote, I activated the cuff, and the small light on the bottom of the metal flashed green for only a moment, before disappearing discreetly behind the reflection of the metal sleeve. "Now get up you pathetic excuse for a man," I growled, "and go make me some coffee."

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