Book 2: The Trialborn Legacy

The lights from the break room flickered out, unnoticed as they left to stand at the entrance to a long hallway. To their left the hallway stretched out in what looked like offices and glass-walled conference rooms. To their right was the lobby.

Zavier froze and gave a quick alert over the group chat. The family turned and followed his gaze, seeing a single small drone hovering silently in the middle of the lobby, its single red eye fixed on them.

"Uhhh… do we go toward it?" Zavier asked. He took a tentative step in that direction, causing the drone to drift forward almost lazily. He froze, then took another step. A high-pitched buzzing could be heard coming from it as he did.

"Z, come back here," Tess warned.

Zavier considered but wanted to know what they were dealing with. He readied his chain and took another step forward, only for a rapid bolt of electricity to shoot out of it and arc into his hand with a loud crack.

"Son of a!" He exclaimed, shaking his numb hand and jumping backwards to his family. "Damn, that hurt. Not enough to knock me out, like in the lobby, but enough to convince me that was a bad idea."

Tess fixed him with a glare. "I told you. Next time listen."

The drone moved toward them again, the buzzing sound starting back up.

"I think we need to move!" Zavier said and turned to jog down the hallway, his family close behind. The drone stayed at a steady distance from them if they walked and fell behind if they jogged, giving them time to think.

They'd made it a few dozen feet when another drone appeared in front of them. It buzzed when they stepped closer and Zavier looked behind him with dread, seeing the first drone hovering just outside of his chain's range. "Well we're in a classic pickle," he said. "What do we do now?"

As if the voice heard them - and it probably did, Zavier conceded - the doors to the meeting rooms on either side of them slid open. The rooms were identical, neatly furnished in the minimalistic style they'd seen from the lobby. Expensive chairs were neatly arrayed around even more expensive-looking meeting tables. The rooms were otherwise empty, glass walls showing the rooms in their entirety.

The voice came from an overhead speaker. "One in each room please!"

"Yeah, fuck that," Zavier said. The second he did a crack of lightning hit Luna, knocking her against the wall. Zavier's chain was flying in an instant and Tess had her pistols out, already firing at the drone behind them. The chain hit the drone in front of them at the same instance that Tess's bullets hit the one behind, both drones shattering in bits of metal and plastic.

"Hey, that's not nice!" The petulant voice said and the air was filled with the sound of droning. Dozens of drones appeared on either side of them, all of them buzzing with electric potential. "One each or all of you die now."

Tess and Zavier shared worried looks.

"Okay, what do we do?" Tess asked. "I'm not sending the kids in those rooms by themselves."

"I don't disagree, but I'm also not keen on leaving them out here with these fucking things," Zavier replied.

A loud ticking sound started and their heartbeats increased in time with the speeding up of the countdown. The drones inched closer and their internal buzzing grew to a fever pitch that threatened to drown out the ticking of the clock.

"Aaawwweee… fuck me!" Zavier yelled and jumped into one of the rooms. Tess moved to jump into the other but Zavier yelled out "No! Protect whoever stays in the hallway!"

Tess froze, the indecision painful on her face. Before she could make another move the buzzing died out and the voice spoke again. "Good!" The doors slid silently shut and everyone turned to see Luna standing just inside the door of the other room.

Tess lunged forward and hammered on the door with the butts of her pistols, then switched to Claw and Shimmer. Neither caused even the hint of a scratch on the reinforced glass.

"This decision will be easy! In two minutes I will kill one of the people in these rooms - you just have to decide which! Please discuss it amongst yourselves and explain your reasoning - but be aware that if it seems that you are communicating mentally I will kill all of you. If you haven't made a decision in two minutes I will kill the ones left in the hallway. Begin!" The cheeriness of the voice crushed their hopes that they could reason with it.

Zavier and Tess's eyes met in instant understanding of the choice that had to be made - no parent was going to allow their child to be killed in front of them. Tess's eyes welled up with tears and her entire body tensed in helpless rage. Her pistols were in her hand in an instant but Zavier stopped her with a shout.

"No!" He looked to the ceiling and said "It's me. We choose me," then he sat on the floor cross-legged and closed his eyes in concentration.

"It must be a consensus!" The voice said, clearly enjoying the game.

"No!" Luna's small voice could be heard from the hallway, pleading. "Choose me! I think my Luck will help me!"

"Quiet!" Tess hissed and sent a quick message over the party chat. "Don't reveal your abilities."

She looked at the drones in front of her with hatred and gave her answer through gritted teeth. "Zavier."

"That is two for Zavier and one for Luna! 90 seconds left! I will pause the countdown if you explain your reasoning."

Zavier was lost in concentration and didn't answer. Tess looked at the shocked horror on Cass's face and realized she needed every second she could get.

"Parents live to protect their children, even if it means sacrificing their own lives."

The voice sounded confused. "But wouldn't it be more effective to save the parent? You have two children and they are not as strong as you, so it would be logical to save the strongest of the group to give the remaining members a higher chance of survival. In addition, parents can have more children to replace any that have been lost, but children can't replace their parents."

"Your logic may be sound, but your reasoning doesn't take into account the biological need for parents to protect their children." Tess was straining to keep her tone calm and rational despite the roiling emotions tearing her up inside.

"But shouldn't immediate need supersede the survival of the weakest?"

"Immediate need takes a back seat to the survival of the species and family." Tess was trying her hardest to channel Zavier and his logical philosophical arguments.

"But survival of both parents gives a higher probability of familial continuity. Many animal species sacrifice their young to ensure the survival of the parents. Bears, for instance, will eat their young when starving, since the parent will have more opportunities to mate in the future and produce more offspring."

Tess felt lost, unsure of how to respond to logic like that. It was cold and vicious, but it rang with undeniable truth. Her silence must have been determined to be the end of the conversation because the ticking of a clock started up again.

"Wait!" Tess shouted. The timer paused and Tess wracked her brain for an answer. She just needed to keep talking, even if she didn't know how to answer. She glanced at Zavier and wished he would say something - anything. Realizing that no response was coming she squared her shoulders and looked back at the drones.

"Yes, that's true - for beasts. They are governed by their base instincts and will sacrifice long-term gains for short term results." She felt weird speaking like this, but she and Zavier had had enough wine-induced philosophical conversations for her to respond in the way she thought he might. "Humans evolved to have a longer view of life. Beasts probably aren't even aware of their own mortality unless in immediate danger. They don't plan or find ways to make the world a better place for their children." She realized she was onto something and dove deeper into her own thoughts on the matter.

"Humans want to leave behind a legacy and ensure that their children have the best chance of survival. Parents strive to help their children, and even humans who don't have children are willing to take risks or make sacrifices if it means the children have it better than their parents did. Each generation strives to make things better and more survivable than the generation before. We are willing to do anything - ANYTHING - to give our children the best chance they have at that."

She looked at Cass and Luna, their eyes wide with fear but in rapt attention to what she was saying. "Either of us would sacrifice to help our children survive, even at the cost of our own lives."

There was silence for a moment before the voice responded. "Humans care for children that are not their own? What is the motive for ensuring the survival and safety of humans that are not their offspring?"

Now that was a question for the ages. Tess didn't even want to broach the subject of how many humans couldn't care less about other children, or how they would happily sacrifice other children to give their own a leg up. "It goes beyond biological imperative - although that plays a part. Biological imperative gives us all a sense that we need to protect each other. We're…" How had Zavier referred to it? "We're tribal creatures, and what is best for the tribe is best for the individual, since a strong group means greater survival for children who may be defenseless."

"So," the voice said with a pause. "As long as the collective is strong it creates a higher probability of the weaker members surviving. I think I understand. Humans care for children that are not their own, even if the child is not related to them, since it creates a stronger whole. One more question then: Will humans care for children that are too young to understand these social norms and act in a way that is not helpful to the collective? Be aware that I am monitoring your biological processes and will be able to determine a lie."

Tess read the loaded question from a mile away but knew she could only respond honestly. She sighed, her voice full of regret and defeat. "We do - children aren't expected to know the social norms, we need to teach them. BUT! That is contingent on the child accepting what the adults have said. Children can't be allowed to make their own decisions when they're young, since they haven't learned what is harmful or helpful yet. Children who don't listen to adults become adults that don't follow the rules of the society and are, therefore, harmful and must be eliminated. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Another pause, then the voice responded cheerfully. "I do! Thank you! Countdown continued."