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room. I see Rene, my dad, lying motionless on the operating table
in the middle of the room. The doctors strategically place patches on his body
and cover him with the glass top of the operating table. One of doctors presses
a button on the side of the table and my dad’s body convulses. I pound on the
window to the room. “Dad!”
    Another doctor walks over to the other side of
the window and slides the curtains shut. I can no longer see what is going on.
“You have to save him!”
    Grant and Ev have joined me by the window. Ev
puts her hand on my shoulder but I shrug it off. I don’t want to be touched.
Instead I slide down against the window and sit down against the wall. Ev joins
me on the ground. Grant pulls over a chair but sits far enough away to give Ev
and I some privacy.
    “Why aren’t you upset?” I don’t look at her.
    She shuffles her body closer to me. “It doesn’t
matter what I feel or how I show it. It won’t affect the outcome.” I look at
her. She’s right but I still don’t like how indifferent she seems.
    “You don’t like him, do you?” I search her eyes
for the truth.
    “Of course I like him, Atom. He created me and
has been nothing short of generous and kind with me. I have just learned not to
get too close.” She turns away from me. I have certainly hit a sore spot.
    “Why is that?” I press on. I see tears forming
in her eyes. She tries hard to hide them.
    “There are things that I know, that he hasn’t
shared with you yet. Things I’m not allowed to share with you … unless
something like this happens.” She stands and storms away. Grant doesn’t flinch
as she walks passed him; he just keeps his eyes on me.
    “What is she talking about?” I walk up to Grant.
He stays seated in his chair.
    “Not right now,” he says as sternly as I’ve ever
heard him. He’s concerned. Why wouldn’t he be? Ev and I aren’t the only family
that Rene has. I look around and realize that I was focused so much on my own
emotions that I didn’t notice the amount of people who have gathered. Every
scientist must be here. The number of people who work here is much higher than
I would have thought. There must be around one hundred scientists who have come
to support Rene. A couple dozen drones patrol the perimeter. They too seem to
be putting most of their focus towards the room in the center.
    I pull up a chair next to Grant. “Why did those
people attack us?”
    He sighs and turns to me. “They want to stop
us.”
    “What do you mean? Stop us from what?” I’m
starting to feel like I have been kept in the dark my whole life. I know
nothing of what is going on here or who I am.
    “They want to stop us from destroying the
world.” He turns his eyes away from me. He’s upset with himself at revealing
this information. I’m not sure what to think of it. Rene told me the world was
going to end and he always made it seem like we are the good guys, but good
guys wouldn’t destroy the world.
    “Why are we destroying the world?” I ask. The
door to the operating room opens up. Grant is obviously relieved not to have to
answer and, right now, I don’t care. I run up to the doctor who walks out of
the room. He’s a bit portly, short and bald; he’s the antithesis of Grant. “How
is he?”
    Grant has walked up behind me and he places his
hand on my shoulder. The doctor ignores me and looks directly at Grant. His
grip tightens on my shoulder. “He’s alive but he’s lost a lot of blood. His
status is critical but he should pull through as long as his body doesn’t
reject the new blood.”
    “Thanks Dennis.” Grant takes his hand off my
shoulder and extends it to Dennis. They shake.
    Dennis turns and heads back towards the room. I
reach out and grab his arm. “Can I see him?”
    “Not yet, Atom.” He pulls his arm away and walks
back into the room. How does he know my name? I have never met him before in my
life. Do they all know my name?
    I turn to Grant to plea my case but his