Arica began investigating the current contents of the lab. She observed all the projects the scientists were working on when they busted in the lab. Arica waved Tessa over and pointed out a cryogenic room with a collection of DNA tubes inside. Tessa hot-wired the cryogenic room for Arica, and she entered the room to explore. Arica spun the carousels and investigated the D.N.A. samples.
Arica came out to the room to inform Tessa, “They have D.N.A. samples for every plant and animal on the planet. They also have a cache of Evo D.N.A.”
One scientist spoke, “We have D.N.A. on some species that have long since gone extinct.” He seemed proud of his proclamation.
Tessa entertained the conversation, “Do you plan to escape with this D.N.A. to the stars and leave everyone else behind to die?”
The female scientist had a high-security clearance badge and seemed in charge of the lab. “No. We didn’t make the cut to go.”
“So, you know you’ll be left here to die.” Arica didn’t understand why someone would go along with such a terrible plan. Why would someone sign their own death warrant?
“We are prominent scientists here, but our aptitude tests did not warrant our inclusion. We want to ensure that only the brightest minds are promised to be our human legacy.”
Tessa pointed out the fallacy, “Who decides who lives and who dies?”
“The H.I.V.E. council administers the testing. They are perfecting the gene pool.”
Sam scoffed at their ignorance, “Breeding out average people. Seems perfectly humane.”
“And Evos?” Tessa added.
Arica pointed out the obvious irony, “You would think they would have learned from their past debacle in genetic engineering.”
The head scientist became heated, “That is what the H.I.V.E. council is trying to correct.”
“Eliminate the Evo scourge,” one of the other scientists delivered in a hateful tone.
Tessa pistol whipped him for his ignorance, “I never chose to be an Evo, but being one doesn’t mean I’m less of a person. I’m still part of humanity. We all are, and we all deserve to live. This arc should represent all life. More like what you hold in your DNA chamber. A diverse pool of DNA.”
A loud boom echoed through the lab, originating from the main door. H.I.V.E. was hot on their tail, and they were running out of time, “Time to move. Finn, where are we?”
Finn hesitated over the comms, “Just… a… couple, okay, done.”
Tessa was ready for the next phase of the plan, “Open the cell block.”
“That I can’t do. I’m blocked. It looks like they’ve scrambled the access codes. They do not want us in there.”
Tessa holstered her weapon, “No problem. I can do this myself. Let me find my key.”
Tessa charged at the steel door with her supersonic blink speed and crashed through with her super-strength. Inside was a stark white sterile corridor with solid metal doors along both sides. There were little slots in the doors for staff to feed their prisoners. Two H.I.V.E. security guards lay on the floor in front of her moaning. Tessa crushed them with the door. Red lights flashed, and sirens blared. Two more guards on the opposite end of the corridor barreled toward her.
Tessa dug down deep inside her mind, grabbing her power. She felt electrical energy surging through the walls. The very electricity that ran through the wires powering the cell doors. She didn’t need Finn to hack their system; she could hijack the power on her own.
Tessa’s purple light began to grow along the wall on each side of the hall, radiating from her location forward. She intended to surge electricity into the locks flooding them and in turn short circuiting the mechanisms. When her power surge reached the first set of door locks, they sparked and malfunctioned. The doors on both sides opened. Tessa maintained her focus and let out a mighty battle cry as she thrust the energy down the entire corridor shorting out all the doors like dominoes releasing the prisoners two at a time.
One by one, people started to emerge from their cells dressed in gray jumpsuits with numbers printed on the back. The two advancing guards stopped in their tracks. Now the tables had turned on them, and the prisoners held all the power.
Loud booms emanated from the tunnel platform doors. H.I.V.E. was using explosive charges to force their way through the blast doors. It would take them time to break through, but eventually, they would. The released Evo prisoners were now in the hallway brutalizing the two guards. They had some anger and hostility pent up regarding their captors, and that was good. Tessa could use that passion right now.
Tessa instructed Sam to take the girls and Evos through the lab exit and down the stairs to hijack a ship in the hangar. She wanted to make sure they had an exit plan to get everyone to safety. In the meantime, Tessa still had more sabotage to complete. As the refugees funneled out the exit door, Tessa started to weave a protective shield with her power. The sparkling pink and purple colors created a barrier protecting the escaping Evos from any blast debris that might radiate from H.I.V.E.’s imminent breach.
H.I.V.E. broke through in a thunderous blast, and Tessa’s shield did its intended job. She protected the Evos as they ran from the lab. H.I.V.E. security in full riot gear with masks and shields poured through the hole in the wall and wasted no time in firing weapons. The shield held up against the gunfire
