Prodigy Returns (book 3)

Chapter Fifty-One

Alex's telepathy abilities were not strong enough to pick up on the chatter, but she inferred Monk and Zeus were speaking with one another. Just as she was coming to, she saw the pair standing together by a large translucent monitor. As Alex's brain fired up, she saw the strange symbols that they were looking at suddenly transform into characters in an alphabet that she could now understand. The symbols arranged in her mind like a puzzle until she got the full picture.

Sitting up, she spun her legs over the side of the large chair. Her feet did not even come close to reaching the floor. Her brain felt a bit sluggish, but she figured the feeling would pass with time. She had no idea how the procedure went or just how much data had been transferred. For the first time she was beginning to push the limits of her brain's storage capacity. It was a strange feeling that she had not experienced before.

Rising to her feet, Alex drew the attention of the others.

'How do you feel?' Monk asked, walking over to help her stand.

In her mind, Alex was churning through over ten thousand years of history like a movie on fast-forward. She knew about the rise and fall of civilizations, the customs and rituals, the plant and animal life, the development of technology, and finally the robot uprising. She needed a minute to process it all.

'I feel... fine I suppose. I may need a minute though.'

Alex looked around the room with a new perspective. She understood the purpose of each piece of equipment. The story of Monk's life flashed before her eyes. The pain, the horror, the tragedy... it was almost too much for her to handle. Unable to contain her emotions, she began to cry. She crashed into Monk's big furry body and wrapped her arms around him.

'I'm so sorry, Ziya,' she sobbed. 'I wish I could take it all back.'

'It's alright, Alex.'

'Your wife, your children... they're... gone.'

Zeus came over and spoke to Alex for the first time.

'Hello, Alex' he said.

'Hello, Zeus... sorry, I know that's not your real name. Do you prefer to be called by another name?'

'I don't have a real name. I am a part of Monk. You may call me Monk 2 if you like.'

'I like the name Zeus — it's the name of a Greek god on Earth. He was the ruler of Olympus and was considered the king of gods.'

'If you say so.'

'What has your life been like?' Alex asked.

'It has been... interesting,' Zeus said. 'Have you ever been someone's pet?'

'No,' Alex said.

'You have a loving family that took good care of me, but I was a prisoner, both mentally and physically. Now that I have my suit, I feel more... liberated.'

'What's that like?'

'Have you ever been a robot?'

'No,' Alex said.

'I suppose the best way to describe it would be like operating a vehicle — a vehicle designed to kill things.'

'Zeus, you may be the most interesting person I know, and that's saying a lot!'

'Thanks,' Zeus replied. 'I'm still getting used to everything, and while you were out, we made a few upgrades to my suit.'

'Like what?' Alex asked.

'Reinforced armour, electron blasters in the arms, force field and flight capacitor upgrades. You know, just some basic stuff.'

'Guys, I hate to interrupt, but we have a problem,' Monk said.

'What is it?' Alex responded.

'There's a war going on in Syros Rio.'

Alex recalled the name of the capital city, along with images, maps, and a full history.

'Can you pull up a live feed?' Alex asked.

'Already on it,' Monk said, displaying the action from a multitude of angles.

'That's strange,' Monk said, studying the action. 'Those bots look like Zeus.'

'They're called RTs,' Alex said, '—they're from Earth.'

'What are they doing fighting Enkara bots?'

'Can you zoom out a bit and check for any human heat signatures?' Alex asked.

Monk set a one kilometre radius from the centre of the action and scanned the city streets. Within seconds, the results of the search came back.

'I found one!' he said.

'Can you and zoom in?' Alex asked.

Monk did as he was instructed by isolating the source and focusing the camera on the lone heat signature. The camera saw Kyodin racing away from the scene by himself.

'Why is he not with my father?' Alex said with a quivering chin.

'I'm sure your father is fine.'

'Scan again,' Alex demanded.

Monk performed the search again, but the results only showed one heat signature. The look on Alex's face spoke volumes. She had grown quite fond of her father, and the last thing she wanted was for him to be hurt, or worse, killed.

'Alex, I am surprised we are able to pick up Kyodin's heat signature at all. Even by doing so, it suggests he is not wearing his Jacey stone. He must have lost it like Olivia had done. Your father must be out there, but we just cannot see him.'

'Why are they not together though?' Alex asked. 'They should be together.'

'We have no idea. Maybe they got separated, maybe Maxim is back at camp preparing dinner and Kyo went off on his own. We don't know anything, so let's not jump to conclusions.'

'Can you contact Kyodin?' Alex asked.

'I can try.'