Purity - 14. Chapter 14

"Okay, I'm sitting down, now what's the big deal?" Sage asked, getting impatient with a sheepish looking Adam.

"So uh, Christian took me to the birthing chambers, as you know, and I finally got to see what they were all about."

"And?"

"Well, and uh…."

"Is this the place where you are gonna be dissected to help them?"

"No, Sage, this has nothing to do with my thing. This is a place where they make people."

"Like robots?"

Adam huffed. "No, Sage, not like robots!"

"Well, can you be a little more fucking specific instead of mumbling out shit?"

"They make people okay, like real people. They make them from this… this featureless body, and when you design it to how you want it."

Sage drew his head in before starting to smile. "Good one, Adam, very funny." Adam remained serious.

"I'm not lying; that's what they do there. So the parents, they… they have their sperms fused to make this baby thing and then they can either pick it up four months later or leave it riiiiight up to the age of sixteen depending on their preference and like, when they wanna get it, they design it how they want it to look and then in a few days they can take it home."

"Fuck off!"

"It's TRUE!"

"So why were you there? Are we having a baby?" Sage sniggered. Adam went quiet and looked away, staring at a point of no particular interest. "Adam?"

"That's where I was getting to."

"So?"

"Well, you see, the ones that don't have parents for whatever reason are held in a room until they are terminated."

"Wouldn't put it past them, the savages! But still, what's that got to do with you?"

"Before I tell you, can I ask you something?"

"As long as you tell me afterwards," Sage replied, a wry smile forming.

"You know when you said we would never be together?"

"Yeah."

"Did you mean it?"

"Adam, I don't do boyfriends. Could I have been any clearer?"

"Okay, well that's… that's good, I think."

"So tell me what you were going to tell me?"

Adam shifted in his seat for a moment. "I'm just going to say it how it is. I have a new boyfriend, I think, and I have just returned from designing him!"

Sage's face was one of immediate horror until suddenly he made Adam jump by falling back into a loud, sustained belly laugh, slapping his knee with one hand. "Oh… oh, that is the funniest thing you have EVER come out with, Smithy!"

"I wasn't actually being funny," he replied softly.

Sage got up and started imitating the rigid movements of a robot, moving his arms sharply and stiffly. "Exterminate… I… am… Ad dam's Lover!" Sage continued to laugh after his impression in a Dalek's voice.

"He's not a fucking robot Sage, he's just like you and me, real, like flesh and bone!" Adam shouted, annoyed he was being mocked. Sage sat back down.

"Oh c'mon Adam, at the very least, he must be like some kind of android, surely, and you're telling me you are going to be with this thing?"

"It's not a thing either, it's a boy, and he's not an android. How else do you want me to say it? He's a living person."

Sage closed one eye and frowned. "So, just to be clear, you have just designed this freak of nature that you have never met, never spoken to, and yet you are committing yourself to go out with it? Do me a fucking favour Adam, that's just bullshit, not to mention fucking naive!"

Adam thought for a moment. What sage had said was right, even if it was harsh. He had never met the new boy or even spent one minute with him. How could it be that they would automatically be together and live happily ever after? The truth was starting to consume Adam, and he wondered what the hell he had done.

"Are you gonna say something or just sit there like some mong staring into space."

"But I created him; how can I not like him. I created him in a way that matched my type of person," Adam announced, not, particularly to Sage.

"Fuck me, you are serious about this, aren't you? I mean, you are really serious about this." Sage responded in an exasperated tone.

"I need some water!"

Adam got up, went to a dispenser connected to a spherical drum, and pressed a button on the panel. Water on Purity was… different because it was almost soup-like, but just the same as the water; it had no particular taste and no apparent after-effects.

He came back and stood by the rear door to his apartment and looked out over his pond seeing his pet creature bathing in the scorching sun. As he stood gazing out, he could feel a slight rumble which was also causing the water in his pond to ripple slightly. Adam turned back and looked at Sage, who just shrugged before getting up and walking over to where Adam was standing.

Moments later, an intercom message beeping came through, and Adam asked Optimus to accept it.

"Adam, are you with Sage?" came the voice of Relshek, almost panicked in his tone.

"Christian? Yeah, I am; why?"

"Get out of the" The line went dead, and all of a sudden, there was a massive crash followed by a violent shake of the apartment. Adam and Sage fell to the floor in fright as the sound resembled a bomb going off.

"What… what the fuck was that?" Adam cried, shaking and cowering with his hands gripping his head.

"Get up, Adam, get up now!" Sage demanded as they both got to their feet. Sage peeked out of the door and darted his eyes around before focusing on the sky. Above him was what looked like 2 balls of blue coloured fire hurtling down to the planet's surface at a rather uncomfortable distance away.

"Oh my fucking Jesus, look at that!" Sage hissed, pointing up at the enormous bright orbs.

"Shit, shit, what do we do?"

"We need to leave. I'm sure that's what Christen was about to say when he got cut off."

"Leave? But where?"

"I don't know, but if one of those things hits us, we are dead."

Sage ran to the front door with Adam close behind. They opened it and quickly went into the leafy street. In front of them was chaos as hundreds of Puritans were scattering in all directions. Some were screaming, while others looked wounded, their masks cracked and uniforms dirty. Up above them, the small craft were flying over and dumping vast quantities of water over burning buildings as the scale of what was going on began to sink in.

"Do you think it's a meteor hit?" Sage asked, trying to get out of the way of the running people.

"I dunno… fuck look over there, that guy has lost his leg, the blood, it's everywhere."

"Adam, we really should go. Let's follow that group there," Sage said, pointing to 15 or so other Puritans running away from the area. They quickly set off catching up with them.

"Uh, excuse me, what is going on?" Adam called. One of the men turned around and looked at the boy before turning back again to concentrate on his direction. However, Sage was a little more forceful, grabbing on the Puritan's shoulder and yanking him around to face him.

"Hey, Pal! What the fuck is going on here?"

"You must leave. We are under attack!" replied the frightened Puritan. He yanked himself out of Sage's grip before running off again. Adam looked at Sage in bewilderment.

"Under attack? From who?"

"We better not wait around to find out… can you contact Relshek?"

"I don't know how. I need one of those panel things or Optimus at the very least!"

"Let's just get going; we're sitting ducks here," Sage commanded as another explosion went off behind them, followed by screams of its victims, the boys assumed.

Ahead was a tall building people seemed to be rushing into. Adam looked up, but as usual, it had symbols on it he didn't understand. "I wonder what's in there."

"I dunno, but that's where we are going, c'mon!"

"Launch the Tomleek and the Selsha. I want them CRUSHED!" A man screamed as he walked into a huge domed room filled with view screens and workstations. The grand circular room looked like a nerve centre with different screens showing various images and charts.

"Give me their position and tell me how many!" Came the baritone voice again, and he homed in on the screen displaying a radar looking image.

"Supreme Commander, I have a fix on six vessels, and I can confirm they have the markings of the Silga race!" A man called from behind him. The Commander rushed to where the person was and looked at his screen.

"How long until we are battle-ready?"

"The Tomleek is leaving dock now, Sir."

"Is that it, one ship? We are being pulverised down here."

"Communications, get on to every available Commander. I want all battleships ready for action in twenty keshtons!"

"Yes, Sir, one moment, please."

"Moments, we do not have my son!"

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Inside the large interior of the building, Adam and Sage were looking for somewhere to hide. As they stood trembling in the centre of the large reception area, a sea of Puritans rushed past in every perceivable direction. It was pandemonium.

"Look, a large group just went through that door!" Adam shouted over the noise of pounding footwear and panicked screams.

"Let's go. I have a feeling these windows won't hold if something hits nearby."

"Fuck Sage, this is turning into a nightmare I just wanna wake up from," Adam declared, tears in his eyes. Sage grabbed him by the shoulders and looked at him with deep intent.

"Hey! Hold it together; things are gonna be okay, right? Now come, we must get to a safe place."

"Okay, okay, your right!"

They started running as fast as they could, ducking and weaving through the crowds of people, different in one sense but all identical in another. Then, just as the sliding door was about to close, Adam and Sage turned sideways and squeezed through at speed.

Sage was now sweating, either from fright or the increase in bodily activity, as they both tried to catch their breath. The door they had entered had led them into a long corridor that was now quiet and void of any meaningful light. Instead, bright strips of blue light flashed slowly along the walls, which Adam had come to realise was the Puritan's colour of danger or warning.

"Which way?" Adam asked, causing an echo to bounce off the walls.

"Shhhh, I'm thinking!" Sage said. There was another deep sounding rumble followed by particles of dust that began to fall from the ceiling, lit up like smoke from the blue light strips.

"You don't think this will fall down, do you?"

Sage ignored his question and grabbed his hand, leading Adam left towards another door. As they approached, Adam noticed a panel on the wall similar to the one he had in his apartment. It looked live, so he pressed the button shaped like a crescent moon and called for Optimus.

"Optimus, please link me to Relshek of Purity!"

"Unable to comply, Adam of Earth, the computer mainframe is currently offline."

"What the fuck does that mean?" Sage hissed, sounding impatient, panicked… or both!

"Maybe it's been damaged? I don't know."

"That's the least of our worries. This damn door won't open. It's stuck good!"

"Well, it must open. All those people we saw must have gone somewhere."

"Quickly, we'll try the other-"

Sage didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as a searing white light lit up the room. Adam, feeling like time had just stopped, went to cry out something just as a gaping two-metre wide hole ripped open the solid wall next to them with the resulting shockwave and debris throwing them high into the air and back down the corridor. Sage felt a crack as his head smashed against the wall and a rock the size of a bowling balled glanced the side of his temple, knocking him unconscious. Adam, meanwhile, was thrown clear of the rubble and was lying some 3 metres further up the corridor.

In shock and virtually deaf, Adam tried to get to his feet to help Sage, but he collapsed for some reason. It soon became apparent his leg was snapped clean in two and was now useless for walking on. With a high pitched ringing in his ears, he tried to drag himself over to the wall to prop himself up. Unfortunately, adrenaline had now taken over as he attempted to get his brain to focus on how to help Sage.

He could feel the thuds of nearby bombs raining down but could not hear them for some reason as he tried to see through the dust to where Sage was. His eyes were pissing with water as grit and dirt were clinging to the surface, causing him to blink rapidly.

"SAAAAAGGE!" Adam screamed. He knew he was making a sound but couldn't yet hear it himself. In a brief moment of clarity, he hauled himself away from the wall and started to drag himself back down the corridor to where Sage was lying, motionless.

Whatever was going on outside must have been pretty heavy as every few minutes, significant impact tremors were almost bouncing Adam off the floor. Finally, he was in reach of Sage and tried to grab his ankle in a futile attempt to pull him out of the debris.

"Sage, you gotta help me, man; I can't do this alone!" Adam cried, emotion now starting to sink in. Sage said nothing, did nothing and moved nothing as Adam tried in vain to haul him away. Finally, battling with his own broken bones, he attempted to use his excellent foot to try and get some leverage on the wall before performing a superhuman feat of strength by starting to move Sage's deadweight body slowly out of the rubble.

"C'mon, you bastard, fucking moooooove!!" he said, hauling him with all his might. As Adam progressed, Sage's head fell to the side, revealing the actual state of his head injuries. There was blood everywhere, and he looked like he had lost one of his eyes which looked like mushed white jelly hanging from its socket. Adam reeled back in horror, letting his friend go due to his hand travelling up to try and stop the vomit that had involuntarily ejected itself from his open mouth. As Adam gagged, he started to hear a very faint noise coming from up by the blast hole in the wall. White beams of light penetrated the thick dust as he watched the hazy image of 2 Puritans running towards him.

"Adam?"

"Christian?"

"Oh, thank the high Lord, we found you!"

"Never mind me, please help Sage; he looks bad. I think he's dead." Christian nodded to his fellow Puritan, who went over to Sage to inspect his wounds. He placed a small white carry case down on the floor and pulled out a little box that seemed to emit three beams of light from it.

"My Lord, the earth child, is alive, but barely! There is extensive damage to the temporal, optical and frontal bones and his right eye is completely expired."

"Relshek to Evac team four. I have located Adam and Sage of Earth. Please arrange for a class one pod for immediate extraction. Please uplink my coordinates and send a pod."

"Christian, what's happening? Who are these people who have attacked the planet?"

"Adam, I do not have time to explain it to you now, but it is imperative we get you to safety."

"Okay, but Sage, I mean, is he gonna be okay?"

"Adam, I won't lie to you, his situation is very grave, but we will give him the very best care. Now put your arm around my shoulder, and let us get you out of this building. It is structurally weak due to extensive damage." Adam felt his emotions suddenly spillover, and he burst into tears, not knowing really why.

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"betagoreay dewinst! Fire at will!" The Commander of the Tomleek cried in this native language as he slammed his fist down upon the arm of his command chair.

"Commander Zeltren, two of the enemy vessels have broken off their attack on the planet and are coming at us!"

"Bring all deflector panels to full strength and charge all plasma rails… load the missile tubes and set yield to maximum. Those who attack us are going to get a hard slap for what they have done! Navigator, bring us to seven two seven-point one, shut off the left pulse engine and spin us around. I want to face these people before we watch them die in a ball of fire."

The navigator and weapons officer did as requested and put the mighty vessel into full battle mode. The Commander switched his view screen to get a good look at the Selsha, which was now flanking their portside, waiting to join the fun. At almost two and a half times the size of the Trandor, both vessels were the proud flagships of the Puritan space fleet, representing the very latest technology designed on the planet. They were designed to be huge, powerful, fast, and most of all… deadly!

"Tracking officer Rish, how many vessels do we have for assistance?"

"Due to the short timeframe, Sir, Space Operations have managed to raise seven ships. Unfortunately, the rest are too far away to assist."

"Very well, Comm, patch me through to the fleet. I'm taking control. Please inform High Command."

"Yes, my Lord, at once!"

The view screen went back to the fast-approaching ships just as they split off into separate directions, presumably to make it harder to be attacked. However, commander Zeltren was having none of it as he authorised the first volley of missiles to be fired at the enemy ships. In a move that made the whole ship vibrate, over 500 individual missiles were blasted from 67 guns as the Tomleek flexed her military muscle. One enemy ship sustained several badly damaged direct hits before the Selsha launched its bow plasma rail and blew it to pieces. There were cheers all over the ship in an uncharacteristic display of emotion the Puritans rarely showed.

Soon the other Puritan vessels came into range and started picking off the enemy vessels one by one. Commander Zeltren was an excellent tactical officer who staged joint task forces with groups of 3 ships to finish off in quick work the remaining attackers. Then in a surprising move, he let the last intact enemy craft escape knowing it would return to its homeworld. The Commander was banking on that fact, hopefully sending a strong message that Purity was no walkover.

With the Puritan system now back under Purity control, all the ships powered down weapons and returned to dock, with everyone on board now being able to lay their concern on the planet below.

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Three Days Later

Adam awoke to find he was back inside a glass capsule, but this time he was in a busy room witnessed by the many people walking around dressed in white robes. Glancing to his left, there were another 5 or so capsules just like his with Puritans inside them, naked apart from their masks. Adam, also naked, looked down at his legs and tried to move them both.

"Wow," he muttered, being able to draw them up slightly with little to no pain. Although a little stiff, he quickly realised that whatever had happened while he had been asleep had been fixed. He tapped on the glass, causing a man standing at a machine to look round. He came over and peered over the top of Adam's glass box.

"Master Adam, you are awake. I should let Lord Relshek know immediately."

"Wait… uh, my friend, Sage… do you know how my friend Sage is?"

"I do not, my child, the boy you speak of was taken to a specialist cranial injury branch, and so we are unable to give you any information." Adam just nodded, and a slow forming, dejected look started to appear on his face. Finally, thinking there was nothing left to exchange, the man walked away from Adam and continued with his work, but not before letting Relshek know his protégé was alive and kicking.

Relshek arrived just minutes later and greeted the boy with a glass touch as if he was reaching out to him. Adam placed his own hand on the glass as the two of them exchanged glances, albeit ones Adam could not see, but none the less he knew the meaning… Relshek was relieved he was okay.

"Before you say anything, please just be honest with me… he's dead, isn't he?"

"If you are referring to your rather complicated earth companion, no, he is still very much alive. His reconstructive surgery was a success, and we have incubated a new eye for him from tissue from his damaged one. He will make a full recovery."

"Christian, if I didn't know you better, I'd say you were even disappointed with that result," Adam said, managing a smile.

"To attempt some of your human humour seeing as we have all been violated like this, I would say that if Sage had lost his tongue instead of his eye, I might have suggested leaving it like that."

Adam nodded, "You know, that's not bad. If I wasn't almost killed today, I might have even laughed."

"Adam, the attack was three days ago," Relshek announced, looking confused, but not as much as Adam by the look on his face.

"But… but it feels like I have been out for a few minutes."

"Perhaps, we slowed your metabolic rate down to aide repairs… But, Adam, I don't think you truly understand the seriousness of your situation, which could almost be described as serious as Sage's."

"Huh… I had a broken leg, I knew that, and you told me if I recall?"

"Broken leg, fractured pelvis, three broken ribs, two broken fingers, fractured temple, and you were bleeding internally from your lower intestines. You also had a ruptured kidney."

"But you didn't tell me any of that when…."

"When you were feeling like that and fearful of the situation… no Adam, I did not, but I knew. I chose not to tell you for reasons you'll probably understand."

Adam nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess. So tell me, what the fuck was all of this about? I thought you guys were peaceful. Who's got a beef with you?"

"Beef?"

"Sorry, it's earth slang… But, I mean, what were they attacking for, whoever these maniacs were?"

"Because we have something that they wish to destroy, and if they get it, they know as well as we do our planet is finished, which is exactly what they want. So destroying it, which they tried very hard to do, would seal our fate and give them a decisive victory."

"And what the hell do they want to destroy?"

Relshek came close to the glass with his face. "You Adam!"