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

Jimmy nodded. The men before him parted. Jimmy waved at the caravan to follow. Tom pressed the forward button, but the cart didn't move. The shadows from the buildings blocked the sun enough to keep them from getting charged. The other carts had the same problem. People scurried out and started pushing. Tom steered as the cart moved forward again.


The white-eyed men walked to either side of the group, watching them from the corners of their eyes, or so Tom assumed. Tom directed the cart after Jimmy, who followed the leader. Alex walked at Jimmy's shoulder, her pistol still pointed at the ground a meter ahead of her. A few blocks later, a garage door opened to allow entrance to the cavern. Candles lined the edges and torches lit the center. It looked to have been a shopping mall long ago.


Once the cart was parked, Tom stepped out and joined Alex and Jimmy. Both their eyes were trained on the men at the edges surrounding their people.


Chapter 178: Safe Night, Part 2