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Chapter 35: Unwelcome, Part 1
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2022-06-15 14:06:31Related chapters
FLUX Chapter 36: Unwelcome, Part 2
None of the humans in the room turned to look at her as she and Ellie walked through. They seemed very intent on their jobs. Ellie walked up to an older woman, her brown hair was tucked back into a tight bun. She stood staring at a screen and speaking into a headset."That is what I was talking about." Her voice was deep for a woman and very smooth. It was almost hypnotic. It was the same lady from the photo in the room she had woken up in, only older. Maybe that room was her room.The response came out over the speakers on the control board. The man sitting there turned it up so the voice could be heard. And it was a familiar one."Well, I don't know, it could just be water," Jack's voice rung clearly from the little speaker."Keep looking. We need to know," the woman said and then turned to acknowledge Alex's presence. She extended her hand. "Janice Swift. It's nice to finally meet you Alex."Alex shook her hand. "What do you mean finally meet me?""I have heard a lot about you
Last Updated : 2022-06-15FLUX Chapter 37: One of Us
Alex pushed the metal door to the lab open. Jack smiled at her from across the large room. He sat on a patient bed with a white felt tab stuck to his temple. Ellie was behind him looking at the monitors.Alex frowned back at him and made her way over."I thought you would be happy to see me," Jack said.She slapped him on the cheek, soundly but not hard. "What were you thinking? Don't these people have teams that you could have gone with? Why were you down there alone?" Alex's face flushed with anger.He just smiled back at her. "I'm okay. See? One piece." He patted his dirty shirt. Cobwebs hung from his beard and hair. She spotted a few blood stained slashes in his shirt sleeve and a double puncture wound on his left forearm."And what about this?" She grabbed his left wrist and held it up. She pulled back the sleeve to have a better look at the two holes. They were a dark angry purple with red rims. "It looks like poison. What bit you?"Jack pulled his forearm towards him and t
Last Updated : 2022-06-15FLUX Chapter 38: The Tour, Part 1
Alex flexed her cramped hands. She had spent hours twitching her fingers at Ellie's flickerboard and now she followed her down the hall towards the cafeteria for dinner. Humans stared as she walked by. The two guards following her kept their distance. Ellie just smiled cheerfully, greeting the people that passed as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Alex's forced smile felt more like a grimace, but she held it, trying to look non-threatening as they walked.Ellie pushed open the metal fireproof door. She smiled and invited Alex in. The room was packed with people, which was expected at dinner time. Their chattering quieted a little as she appeared, but after only a few moments the volume surged upward. Alex was not comforted knowing she was the new topic of conversation. Jack stood up amongst the crowd and waved his arms over his head. He didn't really need to wave so much, he wasn't hard to miss since he was so tall and hairy. Even more so now Jack reminded her of those pictures of
Last Updated : 2022-06-15FLUX Chapter 39: The Tour, Part 2
Ellie smiled and bumped shoulders with her. "I've never seen him smile so much."Alex shook her head. "Nah, it's probably just the beer.""Nope, nope. I've known that man a very long time and he can hold his liquor. It's definitely you.""What about Brooke? Didn't she make him happy?"Ellie choked on her sip of beer and spit it back into her glass. "How do you know about that?""You can see it in their faces when they're around each other. And he told me just a little when we were out on the road. How long were they together?""It's kind of hard to say. They dated for a while before he was taken, then a little bit after he came back. He just broke up with her before he left on this trip. So kind of off and on for the last six years."Alex remembered their conversation about the girl he wanted to marry. She still wasn't over him. And now Alex was in the way. She wasn't trying to be, but Jack kept fawning over her and that had to cut Brooke pretty deep."Hey Ellie, you're a scien
Last Updated : 2022-06-15FLUX Chapter 40: Back to Work, Part 1
Alex rubbed the sleeping sand out of her eyes. Her head throbbed as if it had been struck by a train. She flapped her arms out with a sigh. Last night was blurred, but not forgotten. She drank a little too much. No. She had been given too much to drink and then interrogated. She felt bad for yelling at Jack, but at least she had not given up her secrets. How could he even try that? That wasn't a way to earn someone's trust.The red numbers of the digital clock read "15:23". She'd been asleep all day. Alex stretched her cramped muscles, feeling lazy, but it felt nice to have some down time. Her next step would be to figure out how to use her new contacts to help find Lexi. There were no leads right now, but maybe they could help, if they weren't too busy interrogating her. Her body ached, but it felt as if it was getting better. Alex rolled up carefully, letting herself fall off the bed on to her feet. She showered and dressed, but took her time since she wasn't sure what to do next.
Last Updated : 2022-06-15FLUX Chapter 41: Back to Work, Part 2
Jack had a feeling deep down in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't indigestion or a hangover. It was fear. Fear of what? He was just here flicking up his report on Alex on the flickerboard. Wait, Alex? The Link pulled, it called to him. The fear grew. A flash of a grinning man, one of Jimmy's brutes, popped into his head. He didn't take time to think anymore, he only acted.He jumped from the chair and dashed through Operations almost mowing over three people in the process, sending papers flying and shrieks of dismay in his path. He darted down the hall, past slow walking humans, and around a series of corners, letting the Link reel him in.Jack slid around the corner. Two men lay sprawled out on the floor, one cradling his wrist, and the other his balls. Two more men had been knocked askew and were on their knees in the process of getting back up. He recognized two as the guards posted outside her door. Jack saw Alex over the shoulder of a man holding a knife.?He could feel her fear
Last Updated : 2022-06-15FLUX Chapter 42: Back to Work, Part 3
The humans in Operations watched Alex as the party came through the doors. Jack was in front of her, but their eyes drilled through him, almost painfully. She dropped her own eyes as if she was a bad child come to receive punishment. They marched straight through Operations and into a conference room on the other side.Janice waited for them, her arms crossed over her bosom. She leaned back in her chair and gazed over her charges. Jack filed in, then Alex, and finally Jimmy. The rest of the guards stayed outside with the door closed. Alex held the sleeve of her shirt over the gash in her arm."I told you she was dangerous." Jimmy clenched his fists.Janice gave him a look that put him in his place. He hung his head, as if he too, was being scolded."This..." Janice said with meaning, "is unacceptable.""I'm sorry. I will take my belongings and leave. You ca" Alex began, trying to take responsibility."No, this isn't her fault. Sh" Jack took a step forward."She's a hybrid, of co
Last Updated : 2022-06-15FLUX Chapter 43: Comfortable, Part 1
The rest of the day was rather uneventful. Ellie patched up Alex's arm and wrapped up her wrist. She was so excited to show Alex and Jack the spikes on the monitoring systems. Something about the Link and their actions were "causing the data points to coincide," whatever that meant.Alex sat with her back propped up with pillows on the bed in the room. She didn't really want to call it her room. It wasn't. It was Janice's. Papers lay scattered across the bed. She flipped through the documents the humans had collected on Henry Truex. There was very little evidence of Alex. It looked like she vanished after the age of twenty one. Her file contained a few pictures and arrests from her early years as a human rights activist, but not a single scrap of information on Lexi. Good.She scanned the pages one by one into her memory, trying to find connections that their computers and analysts didn't see. The Truex Research Center showed up a couple of times in money transfers from personal acco
Last Updated : 2022-06-15
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FLUX Chapter 232: Brothers/Set Right
Jack woke with a splitting headache. The white tile ceiling above him looked like that of a hospital room. He gave an inward sigh. The last time had been three months. He wondered how long it had been this time.His fingers felt tight and his hand cramped. He looked over to see they were taped together with someone else's hand. He blinked the sleep from his eyes. As his vision cleared, he saw Alex lying on the cot next to him. Their tactical suits had been removed but the tech suit remained. Both of them were layered in blankets strapped to wires. He racked his brain and remembered the nova they had set off. The third one in a row must have taken its toll.He sent heat into Alex's hand. Her eyes blinked opened. She pulled at her taped hand and then used her free hand to rub her eyes. She looked around. "What's going on?""Wish I knew," Jack answered.She quirked a smile, then pushed the covers back. "It's kind of hot in here, isn't it?""Is it? I can't really tell." Jack sat up, l
FLUX Chapter 231: It Only Seems Right
The rumbling throughout the Sanctuary stilled as the battle above drew silent. Tom turned to Jimmy. Jimmy nodded and the team climbed to the Surface.After the light, the tunnel, and the door, they emptied out onto the street. Their men looked tired but had smiles on their faces. The team leaders directed them on searches to find any survivors, whether they were friend or foe."Has anyone seen Alex?" Jimmy shouted.Several people shook their heads.Jimmy turned to his team. "Let's spread out. Knowing them, they'll be up somewhere high."The team diverged. Tom searched on his own, always keeping at least his pistol at the ready. The sun slipped over the horizon casting the buildings in a deep twilight glow. Tom climbed the stairs on several buildings to the top but didn't find anything except dead bodies and empty bullet casings. After five buildings, the night settled in. The tanks disappeared back down into the tunnel. Jimmy recruited more people to help search. Armor-clad bodies
FLUX Chapter 230: Heat/Last One
Someone was calling his name. At least he thought. There it was again. Tom blinked. The room was black and hazy."Tom?" Jimmy's face loomed above him."What happened?""A fireman got to you. Are you alright?"Tom wiggled his fingers. He could feel the skin pulling across his arm as he moved. "I'll be okay, just a few blisters." He pushed back to his feet, climbing up over the top of the dead Alphas.Their power suit clad soldiers surrounded the room with guns drawn. Bullets covered the floor along with bodies of the Alphas and a few of his team members. His stomach twisted at the loss of good men.Jimmy put a hand on the shoulder of his power armor. "They died saving us. We need to get moving. We've gotten ten so far. We'll finish a sweep and then start clearing the level below."Tom nodded. "Let's go."Jimmy led the way. His team fell in behind him as they jogged down the streets checking building to building. The battle had tightened in around the Sanctuary. The noise of it s
FLUX Chapter 229: Fire and Ice
The three of them sat dressed in black tactical gear layered over Alpha tech suits. Alex's dirty face watched Jack as he tightened down the straps on her suit."We stick together, okay. No running off and playing hero on your own," Jack warned. He looked at Lexi while he said it."I thought you were going to make me stay in the pod," Lexi said."I would but it won't be safe there.""I don't think it will be any safer with us," Alex said in a low tone.Jack turned to Alex. "At least we will be able to keep an eye on her. She tends to always find trouble when I tell her to stay put."Alex's eyes flashed to Lexi. "Don't I know it."Lexi rolled her eyes. "If it weren't for me, you guys wouldn't be together, or maybe you'd even be dead.""Watch your tone young lady," Alex warned.Lexi grinned. "I know you're trying to be all tough, but it's really good to hear you say that." She stepped forward and gave Alex a hug.Alex melted. She laid her head against Lexi's cheek. "You're so ta
FLUX Chapter 228: Swift
Jack reached over and touched Alex's shoulder. "Wake up, love."Alex squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed at them with the back of her hands smearing the soot across her face. "How long has it been?" She looked over at Lexi sleeping in a reclined chair.He reached his hand out and wiped at a smudge with his thumb. It only made it worse but she smiled at the touch. "About six hours," he said."You shouldn't have let me sleep so long. You need rest, too.""I got a few hours. Don't worry so much."Alex looked out the pod screen. "I can't help it. I'm finally free of Henry's terror, but now I feel like we're on the verge of losing it all."Jack's mouth drew down in a frown. "It's not going to be pretty. Ellie messaged me before we left her range. Looks like the Alphas are ahead of us by a few hours. When we get there, we will have to fight through them to get to the base."Alex nodded. "Did you see much of it when you visited? It's huge.""No, I only really had one thing on my mind at
FLUX Chapter 227: Oncoming
Tom sat at the table drumming his fingers. "Does anyone actually know how to work these computers other than Ellie?"The five people working the screen didn't look up.Jimmy crossed his arms over his chest. "Just give them time.""General, the ships are in place.""Good," Janice said, leaning over the tech's workstation. "Anyone have a status on the Alphas?""They're closing in. The ships are taking them out now.""It looks like they are floating topside. Orders?""There's nothing the ships can do up there. Tell them to concentrate on as many darts as they can. Send runners topside and tell them to prepare." Janice turned to Jimmy and Tom. "That's your cue. Do your best."Tom saluted and Jimmy nodded. They turned out into the hall. Their teams waited for them, strapped with weapons and power armor. Tom donned the power armor helmet, gave a nod to Jimmy, and led his team away.As they walked down the halls, they passed locked doors to apartments. Their people, the ones that wer
FLUX Chapter 226: Supernova, Part 2
He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly to him as the gunfire continued to rain down on them. She lifted her chin up. Her eyes connected with his and she smiled.He smiled back. They were going to make it. Somehow, they were going to make it. He tilted his face down and pressed his lips to hers. The liquid electricity filled him. He could feel the energy building in them. He held on to it as he kissed her. She parted her soft lips and he slid his tongue inside. Her tongue moved along his, soft, slow, and passionate. He pressed her against him, gathering the energy they created. He could feel the energy sparkling on his fingertips, asking to be released. He held it back until they vibrated. Finally, he let it go.The white-hot fire burst from them. In his mind, he could feel it like an extra sense. He coated the stadium with it. He could tell it what to touch and what not to. Screams of Alphas pierced the gunshots as the white fire flashed into a nova. He could feel the en
FLUX Chapter 225: Supernova, Part 1
Jack turned to Lexi. "You have to stay here. Got it?""But, Dad-""No. Stay. Promise me that you will stay?""Please let me help."Jack shook his head. "There is nothing you can do, muffin. Please. I don't want to worry about you. I have to get your mother and I need you to be safe. So take the pod and go. I will catch up as soon as I can." Jack flicked at the controls, locking them in place.He held his arms out for a hug. She stepped into it, burying her face in his shoulder. He held her tightly."I love you," he whispered. "You've grown into a fine young lady. I couldn't be more proud of you.""Please don't leave me again," she whispered.His heart sank and he hugged her even tighter. "It will be the last time. When this is all over, I will always be at your side. I promise.""You better."He stroked the back of her head. "Please be safe." He stepped back to look at her."Wait." She pulled the sapphire ring off her finger and stuffed it in his shoulder pocket."What's th
FLUX Chapter 224: Set-up
Alex stood locked in a small empty room the size of a utility closet. The walls lay bare except for the light switch. She flicked at the walls, but the screens were disabled and didn't respond.She paced back and forth, rubbing the Vice at her neck. Her bare feet didn't make a sound as they worked the white tile of the floor. She had to figure a way out of here. She needed to find Brooke and Tom. They had to be free. They were only here because of her. This was her problem, her world, not theirs. She flicked her palm open and drew a fireball. Her insides were still hot, but the pull of energy from just one fireball was tremendous. The amount of focus it took to wield it was much harder than it had been when she was pregnant.Alex pressed her ear to the door. Two heartbeats from the other side. She had no weapons other than the fire. She may be able to take out one Alpha, but not two. She sighed, then moved to another wall. There was no sound coming from that side. She tapped on it. S
