Chapter 1

 

“Hadron, you have a heritage. You are a man, full of breath and beauty. I’m getting old and tired, so it is your turn to breathe. Son, pay attention to what I’m about to say.”

Hadron sat up. He’d never heard his father speak this way. His father continued, “You carry the past, encrypted in your bones, containing the unaltered record of true men.”

“A record?” said Hadron.

“Engineered Men have long hunted to destroy the record. Hadron, they were once true men, but rewrote themselves until they forgot their purpose.”

“Engineered men? What do I do?” said Hadron. He did not like the idea of being hunted.

“You must work to fulfill your purpose.”

“What purpose, father?”

His old eyes met Hadron’s vigor, “To create and preserve beauty, son, that is your work.”

Hadron wasn’t exactly sure what to say, he was struck by a different idea, “Are there any true men left?”

“No, only Engineered Men,” he said.

“What is an Engineered Man?” said Hadron, trying to understand.

“Flawless. Stronger. And more durable, but missing something important.”

“Missing what?” said Hadron, eager to know the answer.

“Come, let me show you something,” he said. Hadron’s father retrieved and opened a little wooden box, revealing some white flowers.

“They’re so small,” said Hadron. They looked dry and fragile, and made him feel large and a little dangerous. “What are they?”

His father gently lifted one out of the box. It had six, cup-shaped leaves, and three tiny yellow strands in the center. “They are imperfect, and beautiful.” He held it closer so Hadron could see it. “This remembers what it is, but Engineered Men chose to forget. Do you understand?”

“I think so,” but looking at the flower Hadron was struck by another idea, “How did you find them?”

“You have to dig,” he said, in a booming voice.

“Dig where?”

He smiled at Hadron’s confused face, then placed the flower back in the box and gently closed it.

“Hadron, it’s time you saw the surface.”

Chapter 2

 

A wide-eyed Hadron followed his father out of the sparse room and to the end of a long corridor. His heart beat a little harder as his father placed a hand in the center of a sensor plate next to the door and tapped a pattern with his fingers. A loud clank, clunk reverberated through the corridor, and the door opened, revealing a dim, metal-paneled hallway. What little light crept through the hallway reflected partial outlines of many dark metal doors along each side. But looking farther down, it appeared to be gobbled up by darkness. His father motioned him to follow.

“We’re going in there?” said Hadron.

“This is The Passage. It leads up to the surface, but you must know the sequence of doors, for there are many, many hallways like this one. Pay attention, Hadron.”

Hadron followed his father from one inclined hallway to the next through many dark and threatening doors, their heavy opening and closing sounds jarred the silence. Left, right, straight on ahead, another right, another left, and on and on and on, he followed quietly. Each door and hallway looked the same, and he lost all track of time.

“Where did all of this come from?” said Hadron.

“Some memories persist even when you try to destroy them,” he said, “But no harm stands a chance of making its way down to us. The Passage is an effective labyrinth.” After a long time of navigating through more hallways and clanking and clunking doors, they stopped. His father turned to Hadron and handed him a suit and helmet. “Now, put this on and stay close to me, it’s very cold outside, and dangerous.”

The door opened and diffused light filtered into the hallway. Hadron squinted a little and looked down while his eyes adjusted to the change. He followed his father’s feet until they walked on snow and ice, then they stopped.

“Look up, Hadron,” said his father.

Hadron looked up and saw towering walls of ice looming to the right and left, and ahead a canyon that stretched out and away from him in a long, gentle, perfect curve with perfect lines. The sheer amount of space made him feel small. Exposed. “This is the surface?” said Hadron.

“This place is called The Scar. We live down there,” he said, pointing beneath his feet, “underneath the bottom.” The Scar appeared to be engineered, or at least unnaturally made, because its curve had no imperfections.

“Where did it come from?” said Hadron.

“A terrible energy carved it in some long-forgotten battle.”

“A battle made this?” Hadron imagined that a giant metal blade had gouged out the canyon. 

“Violence leaves a scar,” said his father.

“How did this happen?” said Hadron, looking up.

His father looked down at the ground and said, “There is blood in the dirt.”

“How did you find this place?” asked Hadron, trying to find the top, but it blended in with the gray sky high above.

“I came a long way,” said his father, “In between the spaces.”

“Before I came along?” said Hadron, unsure of what he meant.

“Long before you, son.”

“Before the ice?”

“No, that was already here. Everywhere,” said his father, taking in the surroundings.

“What’s up there?” said Hadron.

“More snow and ice.”

Hadron looked down, “What’s under the ice?”

“Plants. Grass mostly, at least here. The dirt. Us.” Something caught his father’s attention. His eyes shifted, intently focused. His tone changed, “We need to get back inside, it’s not safe.”

But Hadron stared up at the sky, enthralled, “Can’t we stay?”

“No, we need to go. Come, Hadron, I have something else to show you.”

Chapter 3

 

As they made their way back down through The Passage, Hadron’s father stopped in the middle of a hallway, turned around and said, “Not everything is ice.” He tapped his fingers on a sensor plate next to the door and it opened. A dense fog spilled out of a bright room onto the hallway floor. Hadron stood in amazement. Unlike the manufactured hallways and doors, the room appeared completely alive, full of bright and vivid blue flowers.

“Is this what you meant?” said Hadron.

“A makeshift garden,” said his father.

“Are all of the rooms like this?”

“Most of them.”

Hadron stepped into the room, “It’s so warm. What are these called? How do they grow?”

His father smiled.

“Will you show me more?” said Hadron, eager to uncover more of The Passage.

“Yes, this way.” They stepped back into the hallway, and his father closed the door. Hadron followed him through many hallways where he opened other doors, each one full of dense fog and different varieties of flowers.

“Where did all of these come from?” said Hadron.

“Most of them were salvaged a long time ago. But I found the white ones while digging in the dirt.”

“No, father, where did they come from?” said Hadron.

His father thought for a moment and said, “The answer to that question is in your bones.”