Ava Altair grew up reading fantasy and science fiction novels. She graduated from Florida Tech with a BS in Science Education – Physics and a minor in Computational Mathematics. She taught as an AP Physics teacher for five years in Florida. She now lives in Oregon, teaching horseback riding lessons and managing the stables with her mom. She enjoys hanging out and talking about science concepts and story ideas with her dad.

What it is to be human doesn't apply anymore. The surface of the Earth has been poisoned by years of abuse and now most life lives beneath the waves of the ocean. Over the last 500 years, humans have become fragmented and specialized by genetic manipulation, but two main factions exist in the Undersea. The hybrids, a race that continues to genetically modify themselves to climb the social ladder, and the humans, the unmodified organic race that makes up the lowest tier of society. 

Alex, a Delta Six hybrid, finds an unlikely companion in a human man, Jack, while on a mission to steal the Athena file. Alex withholds the file to elicit help from Jack and they set out on an adventure across the Surface. Their relationship is tenuous until a device mysteriously links them together. Now, running from Alphas, an elite group of hybrid assassins, Alex and Jack must weather the hostile surface of the planet to reach their common goal. They soon find they can't both have the thing they want most, but also can't seem to let each other go.

FLUX

Four days after the attack, the survivors set out just after sunset. They hauled the injured onto the newly made carts made from pieces of wooden crates and solar panels as roofs. The carts held all of their unpacked supplies to conserve space. Men took turns pushing the carts forward across the broken road. The caravan moved slowly as they rolled past the solar towers littering the desert. Ahead, a city rose before them. They angled northward where wind turbines dotted the mountain ranges.


They walked onward through the night breaking at midnight for a meal then continued forward. The people remained silent, only whispering quietly on occasion. On they walked. The scenery changed. The hills rose and fell with them. At last, the sun rose and they found themselves in the midst of a valley between the mountains. Golden beams of sunlight illuminated the forming clouds overhead. The sun was still behind the mountains but the light reflecting overhead seemed to lighten the mood.


Chapter 175: Drive