FLUX

FLUX

last updateLast Updated : 2023-09-09
By:  Ava AltairCompleted
Language: English
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Synopsis

Adventure, romance, assassins! Alex and Jack run from trouble across the surface of the dusty Earth while deep in the Undersea, the life they left behind tries to drag them back under.Alex, a Delta Six hybrid, finds an unlikely companion in a human man, Jack, while on a mission to steal the Athena file. Alex withholds the file to elicit help from Jack and they set out on an adventure across the Surface. Their relationship is tenuous until a device mysteriously links them together. Now, running from Alphas, an elite group of hybrid assassins, Alex and Jack must weather the hostile surface of the planet to reach their common goal. They soon find they can't both have the thing they want most, but also can't seem to let each other go.FLUX Series is created by Ava Altair an eGlobal Creative Publishing author.

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Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The File, Part 1

VOLUME ONE: FLUX: Freedom

Alex crept down the stark white hallways lit with generic compact florescent lighting. The tile echoed every whisper of her careful, quick movement. A dark line beneath each office door gave away the emptiness of the building. She slowed her elegant stride as a corner approached and pressed her pointed ear to the wall. Alex heard no vibrations and carefully peeked one dark eye around the corner. An empty row of office doors stared back. She continued down three more vacant corridors, exact copies of the previous, as if hallways could be mass produced. Her mental map guided her through the winding maze until she finally faced the door number 1672.

Alex flicked a lock-pick set out of the sleeve of her maroon leather jacket and manipulated the lock. The lights wavered as the local magnetic pole fluctuated wildly. Her ears twitched as the tumblers clicked into place and she rotated the makeshift key until the dead bolt released. The door made a whooshing sound as it swung open into the darkened room. Her slight frame slipped through and she closed the door.

Her eyes adjusted to the dark, quickly taking in a large office desk and a few chairs. The heel of her boot tapped against the wooden floor with every step. Alex pulled a crowbar from a slender pocket on the inside of her coat. A strange thing to carry in a pocket, but it suited her purposes for this mission.

She pushed the large cherry wood desk aside and set to prying up the thick oak floorboards. Underneath lay a liner of green padding that Alex tore up easily. Below that, a few metal slats crisscrossed, leaving holes about as big as her leg. She set the crowbar between two slats and leaned into it, her weight barely enough to budge it. She looked around for something heavy and decided on the executive office desk. Alex yanked at it until the desk slid with an angry noise across the floor. She pushed on it from the other side, using the wall as leverage, until it was close enough to the hole. She lifted up the end of the desk with a grunt and set it down on the edge of the crowbar. The metal slat bent slightly. Frowning, Alex slammed her fist down on the desk. The metal slat groaned as it gave way, finally making the hole big enough for her to fit through.

The sudden noise made her pause, she listened for any movement on the building floor, but she heard none. Sitting at the edge of the hole, Alex dangled her feet inside, feeling for any other obstacles. A few wires and conduits blocked her path, which she pushed aside with one foot. Alex pulled herself back out of the hole, then crouched down low over it. She produced two large glowing vials of otherworldly liquid from her chest pocket, one green, one purple, each half full. After pouring the green into the purple and swirling it, the solution began to bubble. Alex leaned down into the hole and leaked the liquid in the vial in a complete circle on the ceiling of the room below. The liquid glinted off the conduit between the floors. She pulled back and waited. After thirty seconds, luminous pink smoke billowed from the hole. With one hand, she waved the smell away from her face. It reminded her of grapefruit. After the gas cleared, Alex lowered her slender body in. The acid ate its way through the ceiling below. She tested her weight on the metal ceiling circle, it detached and fell into the room hitting the tile with a clang.

Alex hung low with her feet down into the room, putting the least amount of space between her and the floor. She let go, keeping her knees bent and braced for impact. Alex dropped three meters and when she hit, she rolled down to her shoulder and off to the side, absorbing the impact.

Peering into the darkness, her elite eyes adjusted to the near blackness. File cabinets lined the room on all of its walls except one, which had a large metal door leading to the hall. She flipped her burgundy braided hair back over her shoulder, examining the labels of each drawer. She spotted her mark, drawer number 114058 listed on its label. Her hand clasped around the cold metal handle. Alex's ears twitched and she paused. Footsteps plodded from behind the door and down the hall. Probably just a guard.

She slowly opened the metal drawer, careful not to make a sound, and thumbed through the manila files. The plodding footfalls stopped outside her door. Alex swung a look back as the door handle wiggled. Her fingers twitched above the sonic pistol at her hip. It wouldn't work this close to the surface and with the magnetic pole interference. She forced her hand away from the useless weapon. She elected instead for a knife from her belt.

How could she have been followed? Maybe she wasn't. Maybe it's just a guard doing his rounds and making sure it was locked. Alex focused back on the drawer. She still had enough time to flee, since it took a while to open these vault doors. Even if time ran short, she could take him out quietly and still be out of the building before his body was found.

She found the file marked "114199 McCormac/Evans", pulled it, and shoved it into her inner coat pocket. The door behind her creaked slightly, as if the person on the other side was leaning against it. A faint orange glow shrouded the room. Alex looked back to see red hot spots forming next to the hinges of the metal door. Not a guard.

She scanned the file cabinet again, this time spotting one labeled "730000-810000". The drawer opened with a ping. She hoped it had not alerted the person outside the door. Her heart started to beat quicker as she checked her touch powered watch, which ran off the electronegativity of her skin and body heat. She realized her time was almost up. Alex flipped through each file with her index finger until she came across "731207 Athena".

The door behind her broke free of its melted hinges and clattered to the floor; the hallway behind echoed its demise. Florescent light filtered through the room behind the silhouette of a tall man with scruffy dark hair. His blue eyes betrayed little of his intent, but a smile touched his lips beneath his beard as he surveyed the broken door at his feet. He smacked his hands together as if finished with a handy job. Then, spotting her, his right hand quickly extended in her direction as if throwing a Frisbee, and the air lit up in front of him. A glowing ball of fire the size of a baseball launched in her direction. The sudden brightness reflected off her eyes like a cat. She dropped down into a crouch and the fireball just missed. It flew into a file cabinet behind her. She sprung up, grabbed the Athena file, and rolled to the side, dodging another fireball.

Alex hurled a knife as she recovered from the roll, it sailed with lightning speed and stuck true in his shoulder with a solid thunk. The man swore a curse as the momentum of the knife knocked him a step back into the hall.

The man's left hand caught the edge of the door. He launched himself back into the room towards her. The light from the burning files flickered off the blood trickling down his limp right arm.

"Whoa, whoa, wait up darlin'. I'm not a guard, and you obviously aren't. You're all dressed in black and such. Let's work together here," he said with a strange twang to his voice.

Alex stood slowly, analyzing his face, searching for any hint of hostility. There was none. "Fine, I'm finished here anyways, it's all yours."

His eyes flicked to the open burning file cabinet. "You haven't by chance got the "Athena" file do you?"

Her eyebrows raised in surprise. That was the word she had killed many to hear. How could he know and say it so easily? Alex quickly caught her expression and fixed it to be unreadable. She shrugged as if she didn't know what he was talking about.

The man took two quick large strides towards her and grabbed her arm before she could slip away. His blue eyes burned into her. "Give it here hybrid, you have no idea how important this is."

He had no idea how important this was to her. Her ears twitched as footsteps echoed off from down the hall.

He shook her arm. "Giv"

"Shh. Someone's coming."

"Great, give it to me and then get out of here. You won't even have to get in trouble," he whispered gruffly.

She stared hard back into his blue eyes. "No," she hissed.

"What do you need with it anyway, hybrid? Go back to the sea and leave the heavy lifting to the big boys."

Her face flushed angrily and with a fiery gaze. "No. Why don't you go back to the sea, human?"

The heat of her voice seemed to amuse him, but only for a moment. Alex saw his determined action, like a tidal wave over an island. He grabbed at her coat where the file was strapped securely to the inside. She quickly spun away and wacked the knife deeper into his shoulder with her elbow. The man grunted and shied away.

A glance up told her she was just beneath the hole in the ceiling.

"I will burn you alive and take it from your ashes if I have to," he whispered a little too loudly for her comfort.

"And the fact that the file is flammable doesn't bother you?"

"At least you won't have it, hybrid scum."

Alex glared back. "Stupid human." She crouched down low. "Hope you enjoy holding up the guards for me." Pushing as hard as she could on the ground, she sprung up straight in the air and caught hold of the jagged metal edges of the hole in the ceiling, the edge cutting into the palms of her fingerless leather gloves. Alex hauled herself up and looked back down into the hole. The light cast weird shadows across the scruffy man's face and his gaping mouth that quickly turned into an angry frown. A fireball followed and she ducked to the side. It hit the ceiling above her, which caught on fire and lit the room in a warm glow.

"Thanks for the light." She smiled then stepped up into the office, and with one arm, swiped all the stuff off the desk, including the lamp that cracked as it hit the floor. She laid out the many pages of each file across the desk and set to scanning them with her eyes, committing each to memory.

Each page held an important secret. At the top the letterhead of ELG, Elite Legacy Genetics, was printed across the top of the page.

Smoke lingered up from below as the fire went out of control. A fireball hit the hole, lighting it in flames. He was taking the ceiling out from below.

The fire in the hole now raged until the room was bright. From below, a guard shouted in surprise and called in for back up, then a loud thud and a crunch of bones. Alex heard footsteps running down the hall.

The air got smokier, inhibiting her ability to see and breathe. After finishing the quick scan of the files, Alex took all the pages up in both hands and threw them down the fiery hole. She watched the fire lick at the edges of each paper, the paper curling and blackening as it was consumed into ashes.

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232 Chapters
Chapter 1: The File, Part 1
VOLUME ONE: FLUX: FreedomAlex crept down the stark white hallways lit with generic compact florescent lighting. The tile echoed every whisper of her careful, quick movement. A dark line beneath each office door gave away the emptiness of the building. She slowed her elegant stride as a corner approached and pressed her pointed ear to the wall. Alex heard no vibrations and carefully peeked one dark eye around the corner. An empty row of office doors stared back. She continued down three more vacant corridors, exact copies of the previous, as if hallways could be mass produced. Her mental map guided her through the winding maze until she finally faced the door number 1672.Alex flicked a lock-pick set out of the sleeve of her maroon leather jacket and manipulated the lock. The lights wavered as the local magnetic pole fluctuated wildly. Her ears twitched as the tumblers clicked into place and she rotated the makeshift key until the dead bolt released. The door made a whooshing sound
last updateLast Updated : 2022-06-15
Read more
Chapter 2: The File, Part 2
She spun on her heel towards the door and listened. When she was sure there was no one, Alex dashed out the door and sprinted down the corridor. She slid to a stop in front of the elevator, and then pried it open with her handy crowbar. Alex looked down the dark shaft. Just below her was the elevator. Was that human stupid enough to use the elevator? She jumped on the top and watched the doors close behind her as the elevator started to rise.Alex stayed away from the moving cables and crouched to absorb any sudden movement that might shift her balance unfavorably. The elevator shuddered as another magnetic fluctuation riddled the building. She steadied herself with a hand on the cold steel of the elevator.An alarm system kicked in, sending sirens booming throughout the whole building. Alex covered her sensitive ears as the noise reverberated within the elevator shaft. Now everyone in the whole city, above and below ground, would know there were intruders. She had hoped this wouldn
last updateLast Updated : 2022-06-15
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Chapter 3: Out of Gas
The clouded sky became dark except for the faded auroras brought on by the local magnetic pole. The green and purple lights pulsed against the tops of the mountains, while the wind turbines glittered under their glow. The night air hung thick, wet, and warm against Alex's skin. The bike sputtered to a stop and the man pulled his helmet off."What's wrong?" Alex asked as she slid off the back of the bike."Out of gas," he said, wiping sweat from his brow.She stretched out her cramped limbs. "Of what?""Gas. Fuel. Energy. It makes the bike go vroom, vroom," he said, irritated. "I swear you hybrids have no sense."Alex scowled at him. She wasn't stupid. She knew it needed energy, just figured it was solar or something. Fuel based vehicles hadn't been used in a hundred years, everything on the surface was solar, wind, or touch powered now."How about you give me the file and you can be on your merry way," he said, holding out his hand for the file.She pretended to protect her jack
last updateLast Updated : 2022-06-15
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Chapter 4: Fill up
Alex awoke to a scruffy man-face thirty centimeters from her face. She jumped."Easy now, sweet cheeks, I'm not gonna getcha," Jack said, offering her a hand. "You didn't need to stay out here all night. I was done in five minutes."Alex rolled her eyes. "I bet you were," she said, pushing his hand aside and standing up on her own. She stretched out her arms and arched her back. Alex couldn't remember the last time she'd slept in a bed. Jack took this time to look her up and down."Like what you see?" she scoffed and put on her jacket."Not bad," he commented, grinning. "Got me goin' last night.""That wasn't a real question," she said disgusted. Alex smacked him soundly on his wounded shoulderJack winced. "Sounded like one," he grumbled.She rolled up her blanket and tied it to her pack. "Are you ready to go?" she asked."Yep."They took turns pushing the heavy motorcycle as the sun rose behind the clouds at their backs. Alex had wrapped her black scarf around her neck and p
last updateLast Updated : 2022-06-15
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Chapter 5: Farmhouse
Jack cut the engine to the motorcycle. They had driven northeast past the desert into another set of mountains, bigger than the last. What used to be a grand forest now looked to be more like large dry tinder plunging up through the terrain. Evidence of great fires scorched the rough bark. Jack pulled up in front of an old white farmhouse next to a river. The wheelhouse peered from behind the farmhouse showing its worn siding, looking as if it would fall over in a gentle breeze. An old waterwheel turned under a constant pull from the strong current in the river. Dark grey clouds hung low in the sky, dimming down their normal tan shade."Where are we?" Alex asked after pulling off her helmet. "It's still two hours until sunset.""It's a storehouse. We can stock up on supplies and stay the night in a bed.""We just happened upon a storehouse up here?" Alex asked, her eyes searching his face."Oh, this is just one of many.""There's more than just one bed, right?"Jack grinned back
last updateLast Updated : 2022-06-15
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Chapter 6: Run-time, Part 1
Creak. Twitch. Creak. Twitch. Creak.Alex sat up on the couch, suddenly alert. Looking around, her genetically enhanced eyes checked the room in the faint light of the low burning coals. She tried to decide if it was just the old house making the creaking noises, or something else. Her ears picked up a steady creak of the walls, but there was another noise. She filtered through all the possible things that could be making it. Was it the muffling of sand? No, more like carpet against- against rubber? It was a steady shuffling. Footsteps?She peered out the windows to the front, squinting her eyes to see the contrast between the night sky and the material things. Alex spotted a shape of smooth metal. Damn. A car.Clink. Clink.Metal hit the floor and Alex jumped across the room towards Jack's chair, landing on his lap."Ooahf," he exclaimed, sleepily.Alex covered his nose and mouth with her blanket. His eyes popped open, believing that she was trying to suffocate him, until he rea
last updateLast Updated : 2022-06-15
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Chapter 7: Run-time, Part 2
They laid there trying to catch their breath before Jack broke their contact and rolled to the side."What was that?" he asked."I'm a Delta Six," she said breathily, "it's one of the newer enhancements bred into Deltas. There aren't many with the gene yet.""Well go Deltas, lucky me." He turned to her. "I knew I would get that roll in the hay," he said with a grin, brushing away a strand of burgundy hair that was plastered to her face.Alex scowled at him. Luck had nothing to do with it, he engineered this with that damned pearl device. She stared up at the high ceiling laced in cobwebs. Through the window, light from the sunrise lit the room. Particles of dust danced in the sunlight streaming through the window. The creek bubbled merrily as it spun the large wheel. The smell of seared flesh came flooding back into her senses suddenly and she gagged.Jack propped his lean frame up with an elbow facing her. He reached out and put a big paw on her thigh. Alex snatched it, but he he
last updateLast Updated : 2022-06-15
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Chapter 8: Data Stream, Part 1
Alex awoke to the gentle rock of the boat. She could still see the grey clouds through the openings of the dry trees. On her stomach lay a sleeping grizzly. His dark hair trailed across the top of her white tank top, his head turned away. The boat rocked again more forcefully and she realized that no one was steering the confounded thing. She tapped Jack on the head. No response. Alex walloped him with the palm of her hand."Hmm-" he grumbled."I thought you were going to let me sleep while you steered.""You really wore me out earlier and you looked so comfy. I didn't want to wake you. Besides, you make a really good pillow." He traced his fingers across her stomach.It tickled, but she forced herself not to react. Alex swatted him on the head again. "Get off me, you oaf. Someone needs to watch where we're going. What happens if we go over a waterfall?""I've traveled this route a dozen times. There are no waterfalls on this river. We're perfectly safe," he said, rolling over
last updateLast Updated : 2022-06-15
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Chapter 9: Data Stream, Part 2
They floated down the river until dusk, stopping occasionally when Alex had to relieve herself. She wasn't about to jump into the river, or pee off the side like Jack seemed to enjoy doing.Jack fished a lantern from his pack and lit it with a flick of his hand. He set it on the floor in the middle of the boat. The light cast mysterious looking shadows across his hairy face."How are we going to avoid the rocks? It's so dark, even I can't seem to see them anymore," Alex said, poking the paddle out into the nothingness."There aren't any from here on, so don't worry so much." He offered her a spoon and an open can of ravioli."Oh thanks, I love cold ravioli."Jack smiled and put his hand over hers. Warmth flooded through them and into the can until steam started to rise."It's warm now." He released his grip."Thanks." She sat stiffly on the front bench and ate the warm ravioli quietly. Something about him made her say things more harshly then she normally would. The words just t
last updateLast Updated : 2022-06-15
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Chapter 10: Reloading, Part 1
Alex's eyes fluttered open. Her head was still on Jack's chest, but her hip leaned against him and one of her legs was draped between his. Jack was stroking her hair all the way down her back, combing his fingers through the wavy burgundy tendrils. It sent stems of pleasant tingles down her neck and spine.She rolled on to her side. "Did you unbraid my hair?" she asked, running her hands through it."No, it must a just fallen out overnight," he said, giving her a sly smile, that twang showing its ugly head in his voice again."It's kind of hot in here now, don't you think?""Oh, good it wasn't just me. I'm baking to death." He undid a few ties and pushed the poles up to their maximum height.Alex put her sunglasses on and peaked out from under the tarp."Wow," she said in awe.The sun was up behind the clouds. Steam rose from the water making the air humid. A small waterfall trickled from the east into the pond they were surrounded by. To the north, stood a rock wall and to the
last updateLast Updated : 2022-06-15
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