The Individuality Gene Read online

  It’s not me. It’s my older self. The Will sitting before me is the same person who appeared to me when I lost my will to fight back when I was still new to this whole time travel business. He also came to visit me in the hospital after I awoke from the Virtuality Trainer. He’s the only person aside from Avalon with any idea of what’s going on. Unfortunately, he has yet to share that information with me.

  “Welcome,” he says. “I hope the trip here wasn’t too boring.”

  “Save it,” snarls Jonn. He unsheathes his blade and steps forward. “You’re coming with us.”

  “I don’t think so,” says Old Will, nonchalantly crossing his legs as though he and Jonn were having a friendly conversation.

  “He’s not Avalon,” I say.

  “Of course she is,” he snaps. “She’s trying to manipulate us.”

  “That’s not entirely untrue,” admits my older self, “but I’m not Avalon.”

  “Stop lying,” growls Jonn. He takes another step, but Old Will remains oblivious to his anger.

  “I wouldn’t come any closer if I were you,” he warns.

  Jonn chuckles.

  “Really? What are you going to do?”

  He lunges at Will 2.0, but my older self easily dodges the attack. Taking advantage of his opponent’s momentum, he sends Jonn crumbling to the ground with a well-placed jab. To make things worse, he snatches the knife from his hands, leaving him unarmed and looking foolish.

  It takes Jonn a moment to recover. Retreating, he eyes his opponent with a new sense of respect.

  “How did you do that?”

  Old Will chuckles.

  “I’ve experienced this moment before. All I had to do was wait for the right moment.”

  There’s a moment of silence as Jonn struggles to understand what’s going on. As much as I would enjoy watching him try to piece it together, I choose to put an end to his confusion.

  “He’s not Avalon,” I say. “He’s an older version of me.”

  “Are you sure?” asks Kara.

  “Don’t listen to him,” urges Jonn, but we both ignore him.

  “I think,” I say, suddenly doubting myself. What if Jonn is right? What if this is Avalon? We can’t let our guard down until we confirm his identity. But how am I supposed to do that?

  “Can I make a suggestion?” asks my older self.

  I nod.

  “Ask me a question only the real you could answer. If I get it right, you’ll know it’s really me. If I get it wrong, I’ll accompany you back to Atlantis.”

  I take a moment to consider the proposal.

  “All right,” I say.

  Jonn groans.

  “Can’t you see she’s manipulating you?”

  “He’s not Avalon!” I snap, annoyed by my friend’s constant nagging.

  “Yes, she is.”

  “Actually,” says Kara. “I don’t think he is.”

  “You don’t?”

  “Look at his hands. Do you notice anything missing?”

  I focus on my older self’s fingers and a smile curls my lips.

  “There’s no ring,” I say. Now more than ever, I’m confident Will 2.0 is who he claims to be. But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to blindly trust him.

  “She could have removed it,” says Jonn, but I’m not listening.

  It takes a while, but I come up with the perfect question to ask my older self. Unfortunately, I’m not the only one with questions.

  “Don’t you find it odd the holo tracker led us here if there’s no ring?” asks Jonn.

  He has a point, but I refuse to let it deter me from my task.

  “What is the name of the person who was, until recently, my only friend?” I ask. Jonn and Kara don’t even know the answer to that question, so there’s no way Avalon could.

  My older self smiles.

  “Her name is Grace,” he says, “and she’s the kindest, sweetest person I’ve ever met.”

  I now have proof Old Will is who he claims to be. I should be relieved, but the truth is I’m busy thinking of Grace.

  Will I ever see her again? I wonder.

  “You will,” says Will 2.0.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Grace,” he says. “You’ll see her again, but not for a few years.”

  I should be surprised, but the truth is I’ve grown accustomed to interacting with my older self. At this point, nothing can surprise me.

  There’s a moment of silence before Jonn speaks.

  “Let’s say I believe you and this truly is an older version of you. Why is he here? And where is Avalon? And why the drowned did the holo tracker lead us here if he doesn’t have a ring?”

  My older self answers before I can.

  “All of your questions will be answered, but first I suggest we close the door. We wouldn’t want a robot wandering in, now would we?”

  He’s right.

  I go to close the door, but Jonn beats me to it.

  “Here,” says Old Will once he returns. “You dropped this.”

  Jonn eyes the knife being offered to him. I can tell he’s suspicious, but that doesn’t stop him from retrieving the blade.

  “Aren’t you afraid I’ll stab you?” he asks.

  My older self shakes his head.

  Jonn glares at him for a while before admitting defeat. He sheaths his knife and retrieves one of the three chairs that stand nearby. Kara and I do the same, and soon the three of us are sitting side by side, facing Old Will.

  “Why are you here?” I ask.

  “I’m here for the same reason I always am. To help.”

  “How?”

  “By telling you what Avalon is up to and how to stop her.”

  “Why? In the past, you were always so cryptic and vague. Why the sudden change?”

  “I’m afraid I can’t answer that question, but I can tell you all of this will one day make sense.”

  I’ve dealt with Old Will enough to know there’s no point insisting. The same can’t be said about Jonn.

  “What the drowned does that mean?”

  Will 2.0 chuckles.

  “Sometimes I forget how brutish and insensitive you used to be,” he says.

  Used to be? Does that mean Jonn grows softer with age? It seems impossible, but I guess even he can’t maintain such a high level of anger over the long run. Jonn must have come to the same conclusion because he clenches his fists and glares at my older self.

  “What are you implying?” he growls.

  “You’ll see,” says my older self. “For now, be a good boy and stay quiet while the adults talk.”

  Jonn’s eyes bulge. I fear he will throttle Will 2.0, but Kara manages to calm him down by whispering something in his ear. Old Will takes advantage of this to begin his story.

  “We’re nearly a billion years in the past,” he explains.

  My friends and I exchange a stunned glance. Never before has Avalon travelled so far back. Predicting the effects of an altered past is tricky, and the farther back you go, the more difficult it gets. One small change in this time could mean the entire obliteration of Atlantis. For all we know, we will cease to exist if we fail to stop Avalon.

  “It would take hours to bring you up to speed on the specifics of this time,” explains Old Will, “so I’ll stick to the basics and let R’ha fill you in on the rest.”

  “Who’s R’ha?” I ask.

  “A friend.”

  I don’t know how my older self managed to make a friend in the short time he’s been here, but I choose not to question it.

  “The humans from this time are nearing an evolutionary leap,” he explains. “As you may have noticed, they all look and behave alike. This is in part due to the drugs being pumped into them by the drones”—he must be referring to the spherical robots we encountered—“but the main reason is they lack something of vital importance.”

  “What?” I ask.

  “Individuality.”

  It makes sense given what I’ve seen.
/>   “What does any of this have to do with Avalon?” asks Jonn.

  “I’m getting to that. The individuality gene is present within all humans from this time, but it’s dormant. Only once a true individual is born will it become active.”

  “Is that why Avalon is here?” I ask. “Is she trying to stop the humans from evolving?”

  Will 2.0 nods.

  “A child possessing an active individuality gene will soon be born. His birth will create a ripple effect that will trigger the dormant gene, allowing the humans to evolve. But none of that will occur if Avalon is allowed to intervene.”

  “She wouldn’t kill the child, would she?” asks Kara.

  “No,” says my older self. “She won’t kill an innocent child, but she will try killing the mother, thus keeping the child from being born.”

  I don’t understand how that’s any different than killing the child, but I see how it would make sense to someone like Avalon. She will stop at nothing to save her son, even if that means killing an innocent woman and her unborn child.

  “If Avalon succeeds,” continues Old Will, “the past will be drastically altered. I don’t know to what extent the future will be affected, but I can assure you it won’t be good.”

  “How do we stop her?” asks Kara.

  “Protect the mother, and you preserve the integrity of the timeline. Fail, and all is lost.”

  “How do we find her?” asks Jonn.

  My older self smiles.

  “I picked this house for a reason. The mother of the first individual lives across the street. All you need to do is keep an eye on her and wait for Avalon to make her move. Once she does, you can take her down, both preserving the past and putting an end to the Avalon threat once and for all.”

  “How long?” asks Jonn.

  “Not long,” says Old Will. “This will all be over in a matter of days.”

  “What if we fail?” I ask.

  “Evolution is a tricky business,” explains Will 2.0. “If the child dies, another will one day take his place, but the delay will cause major changes.”

  “Can the timeline be readjusted?”

  “In theory, but it would require travelling to the very near future and, as we all know, that’s impossible.”

  I guess that settles it. The only way to protect the future is to preserve the integrity of the timeline.

  “How do you know all this?” wonders Jonn.

  Old Will smiles and winks. “It will all make sense in time. Speaking of which, I should get going.”

  He stands.

  “Wait!” I yelp. “I still have questions.”

  My older self peers deep into my eyes and smiles.

  “You know enough,” he says. “Plus, R’ha will assist you along the way. In fact, he should be arriving at any moment.”

  “Who’s R’ha?” I ask, but Old Will is already beginning to fade. Moments later, he’s gone.

  “What now?” asks Jonn.

  I glance at Kara. She shrugs.

  “We do what my older self said. We wait for Ava—”

  The sound of knuckles hitting wood cuts me off.

  There’s someone at the door.

  “Who do you think it is?” asks Kara.

  “It’s probably R’ha.”

  “There’s only one way to know for sure,” says Jonn. He strides to the door, yanks it open, and peers out.

  “That’s weird,” he mutters as he closes the door. “There’s no one.”

  “Actually,” I say, noticing the shimmer that stands near him, “that’s not entirely true.”

  I point at the shimmering air, and my friend immediately adopts a defensive stance.

  “Show yourself,” he demands.

  I mean you no harm, says a voice in my head as the shimmer solidifies into a familiar shape.

  It’s the alien. The one who saved us from the drones.

  “Who are you?” asks Jonn, still poised to strike.

  I mean you no harm, repeats the alien. My name is R’ha.

  Memory 9

  I stare at the alien, unsure how to react. Should I thank him for saving us from the drones or interrogate him to determine whether or not he’s Avalon in disguise? In the end, it matters little because my friends beat me to the punch. Kara chooses gratitude. Jonn picks suspicion.

  “Thank you for saving us,” says my girlfriend.

  You’re welcome, says R’ha.

  “Why are you here?” asks Jonn.

  I’m here to help. Will sent me. It takes me a moment to realize he’s referring to my older self. I wonder how much Old Will told him, and I’m not the only one.

  “What did he tell you?” asks Jonn.

  Not much, admits R’ha. He revealed friends of his would be arriving shortly. He also said a bad woman was trying to keep the humans from evolving and asked me to help you stop her. I agreed.

  “Why?” asks Jonn. “You’re not human. Why do you care what happens to them?

  Kara glares at him.

  “Please excuse my father. He’s not accustomed to dealing with other species.”

  Jonn tries to protest, but my girlfriend won’t allow it.

  “We haven’t been properly introduced. My name is Kara. This is my father, Jonn. And this is Will, my boyfriend.”

  R’ha stares at each of us in turn before reintroducing himself. Only then does Kara repeat her father’s last question, though she does it with far more tact.

  I’m an alien, explains R’ha. I come from a distant planet named Kra’lor.

  “Why are you here?” asks Jonn. His knife is sheathed, but I can tell he’s still suspicious of the short alien.

  It’s a long story, warns R’ha. Perhaps we should sit.

  We gather around the table and R’ha begins his story.

  Kra’lors are weak. Our cognitive abilities are highly developed, but our bodies are frail. The only way to maintain them is to consume energy. The simplest way to accomplish this is to ingest the energy contained within ros’tal crystals.

  “What’s that?” I ask.

  Ros’tal crystals—sometimes referred to simply as ‘tals—are a potent source of energy. A single ‘tal can keep us alive and healthy for weeks. But they are rare. For generations, our ancestors mined Kra’lor, extracting every last crystal. When the supplies ran out, we were forced to venture beyond our planet. For centuries, our people travelled the galaxy, mining ‘tals and sending them back to the homeworld, but locating the precious mineral was difficult, and all known sources were soon exhausted. Panic gained our people when it was discovered the supply of ‘tal had run dry. But then we found your planet and hope was reborn.

  “What’s so special about Earth?” I ask.

  It’s the most abundant source of ‘tal we have ever encountered. There are enough crystals to keep the Kra’lors alive and thriving for countless millennia. Unfortunately, the Ros’tal Corporation—the company that mines and distributes ‘tals—is limited by Kra’lor law, which prohibits the mining of a planet that harbours sentient beings without their consent.

  “The humans refused?” asks Kara.

  R’ha nods. I’m part of the exploration crew. Our job was to—

  “How many of you are there?” interrupts Jonn.

  I don’t know the exact number, but there are approximately three hundred Kra’lors scattered across the globe. One hundred of them are Ros’tal employees. The rest are civilians, come here to be with their mates. I’m accompanied by my wife, A’lina, and our daughter, A’lara.

  “I would love to meet them,” says Kara.

  I’m sure they would be thrilled, but for now, please allow me to finish my story.

  “Of course.”

  Where was I? Oh, yes, I remember. I came to your planet as part of an exploration crew. Our job was simple: Spend five years living among the natives and determine whether or not they were sentient. If so, we were to attempt to broker a mining treaty for the Ros’tal Corporation. We did all that was expected of us, bu
t the humans refused. We transmitted their decision to our superiors, assuming we would be asked to come home, but we were ordered to remain on Earth until the five-year deadline was up. We didn’t understand why until the drones appeared.

  “The Ros’tal Corporation sent them?” asks Kara.

  R’ha nods.

  At first, we thought the drones had come to exterminate the humans, but the truth was far more conniving. They injected the humans with a drug that made them compliant, making it impossible for them to resist the Ros’tal Corporation’s unwelcome mining operation.

  “I thought you said that was illegal,” says Jonn.

  It is.

  “Didn’t you try to stop them?”

  I couldn’t. The Ros’tal Corporation is the most powerful corporate entity on all of Kra’lor. They control everything. Speaking out against them would have been tantamount to suicide.

  “I don’t mean to criticize,” says Kara, “but couldn’t you have leaked the news?”

  Why do you think we’re still here? The Ros’tal Corporation wants to keep the truth contained. I suspect we will never be allowed to leave this planet.

  “That’s horrible.”

  It’s not so bad. At least I know my family is safe.

  R’ha’s inaction now makes sense. He wasn’t acting out of fear, but rather concern for his family. Of course, Jonn doesn’t see it that way.

  “You’re a coward. You knew what was happening and you did nothing.”

  Kara glares at her father but doesn’t get a chance to chastise him.

  You’re right, says R’ha. I did nothing. Officially.

  I glance at my friends. They seem hopeful.

  “What did you do?” I ask.

  I did all I could to sabotage the Ros’tal Corporation. I destroyed drones. I helped those who hadn’t been injected find refuge. I did everything I could think of, but it made no difference in the grand scheme of things. Then your friend showed up and that all changed.

  “What do you mean?” asks Kara. “What happened?”

  Nothing, says R’ha. Yet.

  “What drowned does that mean?” asks Jonn.

  I assume your friend told you the humans are nearing an evolutionary leap. But did he reveal this leap will allow them to fight the drug that courses through their veins?