Page 23

I winced at the title. ‘Just Artemis. Please.’

His lips twitched as if they wanted to spread wider, but he caught the reaction and rearranged his expression into the stern, professional mask I was more used to. If he did so because he thought I would be more comfortable with that version of him then he would have been correct, but I had a feeling it was more for his comfort than mine.

‘If it is your wish, I can drop the formalities in private or personal conversations. In front of the soldiers, however, it is best to keep up the formalities to maintain a level of respect between yourself and your subordinates,’ he told me. I couldn’t fault his logic, so I simply nodded my acquiescence.

‘Kitchens first?’ he asked, and I nodded again. ‘It won’t be much. All we seem to have are case-loads of Nutri-Bars,’ he sneered.

‘The ship was fully stocked with them when I found it, but we needed more for everyone to get by until we can dock and restock,’ I admitted.

‘I enjoy missions,’ he started, but then wrinkled his nose, ‘But I must admit that I didnotmiss living off of those things.’

I shrugged even though he wasn’t looking, not knowing how to respond. I’d lived off of worse than Nutri-bars. At least they were filling and provided everything necessary to maintain healthy bodies. Living in The Program, sometimes we hadn’t even been given that much.

‘Will the kids eat them?’ Addy asked, concern lacing her tone.

‘It’s most likely the only food they’ve ever known,’ I confessed. ‘They won’t complain.’

‘That’s really sad,’ she said, her words hitching as emotion clogged her throat.

‘It’s more than what the rest of us got sometimes, so I wouldn’t be too upset,’ I said offhandedly. ‘At least they got the nutrients they needed on a regular basis.’

‘They starved you?’ asked the cap…Xander. I was really going to struggle to get used to calling him that.

‘Frequently.’

‘That’s awful,’ Addy said, her voice wavering with unshed tears.

‘That’s life,’ I responded curtly, cutting the conversation short with my terse tone.

The rest of the walk to the kitchens was silent with both Addy and Xander shooting me and each other not-so-surreptitious glances. Baldr and Dave Junior were the only ones making any noise with Bal trying to reach down and Dave Junior growling up at him in warning. These two were undoubtedly going to be a handful.

When we entered the mess hall on the way to the kitchens, it was clear Baldr and Dave Junior weren’t the only younglings that were going to be difficult to wrangle…

‘Stars above…’ Addy breathed.

‘What. The. Fuck?’ Xander swore, stunned.

‘Oh, stars help us,’ I groaned at the sight unfolding before us.

Previously, thirty volunteers chose to babysit the children, the group splitting in half to take shifts. Currently, all thirty of them were running around after the various groups of children, breaking up fights, pulling some down from the ceiling and attempting to block off the exits for the attempted escapees. Those thirty had increased their numbers, clearly having called for help with the unruly tots.

An array of abilities were on full display, and it was interesting to watch them all. Those born from the animal spliced parents had claws and fangs out, feathers, scales, and fur sprouting from a third of the kids. The children from the DNA altered parents were scattered about, a few of them with tails, some dangling from different objects by feet that were a hell of a lot more flexible than normal, and some simply sitting and watching the chaos with keen eyes.

What caught my attention the most, however, were the children that were levitating much like me and Bal, glowing the same bright blue and causing the most chaos. A few had managed to figure out how to mess about with magnetic fields, pushing others out of the way or even causing themselves to slide back and forth across the smooth metal flooring as their shields bounced off the walls and bounce them back in the other direction. There were even afew blackened scorch marks from where some of them had heated themselves enough to burn the floors.

There was laughter, screams, and cries. There were children on the floor, on the walls, on the ceiling, and dangling from the volunteers. Everywhere I looked there was someone trying and failing to maintain order.

It was a nightmare come to life.

‘What do we do?’ Addy squeaked out, petrified at the scene in front of her.

‘I don’t know. I don’t know what to do,’ was Xander’s equally horrified reply.

I shook my ankle free from his grip, which wasn’t difficult with his attention stuck firmly on the mess ahead, then drifted into the room, pleased to find my body following my instructions despite my failed attempts to get my feet firmly back on the floor.

‘Quiet!’I shouted using my vocal implants to transmit my voice loud enough to be heard over the ruckus. Surprisingly, it worked. Everyone froze and turned to face me, toddlers and adults alike, so I took the opportunity to proceed while I had their attention and their silence.

‘Who wants to play a game?’ I asked, keeping my voice chipper and excited.