Activate Read online

  Activate

  Crystal Perkins user119504

  Contents

  Untitled

  Copyright

  About Activate

  Dedication

  The Creator

  The Decision is Made

  The Last 24

  Untitled

  How it Began

  Trigger Happy…or Sad

  Untitled

  All Together Now

  History is Upon Us

  Five on the Island

  Michaela

  Hinton

  Sabrina

  Abigail

  Coalton

  Abigail

  Hinton

  Michaela

  Sabrina

  Hinton

  Coalton

  Michaela

  Sabrina

  Abigail

  Nine and the Cities

  Hinton

  Michaela

  Abigail

  Coalton

  Sabrina

  Abigail

  Hinton

  Sabrina

  Michaela

  Coalton

  Sabrina

  Abigail

  Hinton

  Michaela

  The Muses

  Unexpected Visitors

  The City of Love…and Death

  The Truth is Relative

  Mind Controls It All

  Alien Versus Human

  After

  Hinton

  Michaela

  Coalton

  Sabrina

  Michaela

  Hinton

  Coalton

  Sabrina

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  1. www.crystalperkinsauthor.com

  Activate

  By Crystal Perkins

  Copyright © 2016 by Crystal Perkins

  Cover Design by Helen Williams

  www.allbookedout.com

  All trademarks are owned by their respective companies and are denoted by the use of proper capitalization of the company and/or brand. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. This young adult novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners. This ebook is licensed for your personal use only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Created with Vellum

  About Activate

  Cheerleader. Jock. Good Girl. Class Clown. Charmer.

  Five teenagers are oblivious to their true origins, until the day they are "activated" by the government, and learn they were part of a secret experiment. They're not like anyone else, and now they're being sent into a war even the most seasoned soldier couldn't survive.

  Fighter. Telepath. Super-soldier. Leader. Empath.

  They know they've been given the skills of the great detectives and spies from literature, movies, and TV, but there's more. Is their government "Creator" really trying to get them to fulfill their destiny, or is their mission more personal?

  Hate. Loyalty. Anger. Compassion. Love.

  When the truth is revealed, they'll discover their heritage, and the real reason they were born. Will they continue on the path that's been set for them, or will their emotions cause them to fight for a new future?

  Saving the world is their destiny. Saving themselves is their choice.

  For my original Adults Who Love YA Book Club. We’ve changed our name, and branched out to different genres, but we still love YA.

  Part I

  The Creator

  The Decision is Made

  We have watched them for sixteen years. Watched and waited, hoping we wouldn’t have to flip their switches, but also hoping that we would. With the world in turmoil, the time has come.

  “Are we sure? There’s no other option?” the President of the United States asks me.

  “I’m sure. The attacks are too wide spread, and encompass too many areas of expertise. Why comb through the resources of law enforcement when we have the perfect experts who can help us immediately?”

  “You know why. My predecessors and I had all hoped it would be at least a few more years before this had to happen.”

  “There were never any guarantees of a time frame. This could’ve happened years ago. At least now, it won’t look so suspicious.”

  “How will it not look suspicious?”

  “They look like adults.”

  “They may look like them, but they’re not. These five are still children. We should be protecting them. Instead we are getting ready to send them into battle.”

  “We both know they are more ready than any elite soldier, or top analyst. They were made for this, and the time has come to let them be who we created them to be. Sign the orders, Mr. President. It’s the only way.”

  “God help us all if this fails.”

  “If they fail, there will be nothing left of us, or anyone else, to help.”

  “Then make sure they don’t. Seventeen years ago, you were entrusted with the creation of these five. Now, I’m entrusting you with keeping them safe.”

  “You have my word. I’ll be watching over them. Always.”

  He looks conflicted for a moment more, but then he signs the papers. I whisk them off his desk before he can change his mind, and walk briskly out the door. It’s done. There’s no going back now.

  “Wait,” he says, running out of the room after me. “One more day. Give them one more day of normal. It’s the least we can do for them.”

  I don’t like it, and because I’ve got the signed orders in my hand, I don’t technically have to abide by his request, even if he is President. However, I need his approval for much more than this one directive, and angering him now won’t help me later. That doesn’t mean I won’t try to change his mind.

  “We both know that seconds can change the course of history. A full day could allow our enemies—whoever they are—to cause more harm than the five can undo.”

  “That’s a chance we’ll have to take.”

  “Sir, I urge you to reconsider.”

  “I’m going to have a hard enough time living with myself after they’re put into service. Giving them one day seems minor. It’s in my power to give it, and so I am. Have the security agencies be extra vigilant during the next 24 hours. I don’t want more attacks on our computer systems, or national monuments, but I won’t back down about this. Give the children one more day to be normal teenagers.”

  “You’re the boss.”

  “Yes I am. I think you forget that sometimes, ,” he says, walking away and effectively dismissing me.

  He’s wrong. I don’t forget that he’s in charge. How could I possibly forget that? I know he’s the wrong person to be leading our country, but he was elected by the people, so what choice do I have but to obey his every order and wish? For now, I have none. Those kids will get their 24 hours, but after that, they will once
again belong to the United States of America—and me.

  The Last 24

  Abigail

  She’s the cheerleader. The peppy one, who has a smile for everyone she meets. It’s not a question of nature versus nurture. Abigail’s personality is a product of genetics. Could she have grown into someone different than we intended? It’s possible, I guess, but highly unlikely.

  The men in charge of the eggs that were harvested knew what they were doing. They’d been working on genetic manipulation for decades. Nothing like what we’d proposed, of course, but playing with DNA was second nature to all of them by the time we got our hands on them. I have no doubt that we’ll get the desired results from this girl tomorrow.

  Today, she is still just a teenager, worrying about clothes, boys, and maybe her classes. In that order.

  “Mom, have you seen my flowered dress?”

  “Which one?”

  She sighs dramatically. “My new one. The one with the red flowers.”

  “Oh. No. I haven’t seen it since we bought it. Did you check your trunk?”

  “Duh? I never brought it in,” she says with a laugh, before kissing her mother on the cheek. “You’re the best, Mom.”

  She runs outside, and my cameras see her open the trunk and pull out a bag from a popular teen shop. She practically dances back inside, and up to her room. I turn off the monitor before she lifts her sleepshirt over her head, because I’m not a pervert. The cameras will still keep rolling in case something happens that we need to see, but none of us will look.

  I pick her up again twenty minutes later as she bounds down the stairs in a white dress with red flowers, her hair in a complicated braid, and red ballet flats on her feet. She kisses her mother again, grabs an apple from the bowl on the counter, and practically runs to her car.

  Exactly eleven minutes later, she pulls into the school parking lot, parks in the spot that the entire school knows is “hers” even though that’s not really allowed, and flips her hair once more before greeting her adoring public. She’s popular and flighty, but not mean, which goes a long way with her classmates. She scores just high enough on her tests, quizzes, and essays to retain a respectable grade point average, but not so high that she’s intimidating to anyone else. That’s not a coincidence either. She has to be liked by everyone, because in essence, Abigail is the key to everything.

  Coalton

  The jock. Pick a sport, and he will not only play it, but excel at it. I don’t need to tell you how or why, because you’re smart enough to figure that out. Where Abigail is the golden girl of the school, Coalton is the golden boy. If you think they’re a couple, think again.

  The five have absolutely no romantic interest in each other, and never will. In fact, while they aren’t openly hostile to each other, they aren’t friendly either. At least not yet.

  Like Abigail, he has fans who flock to him as he exits his car, but unlike her, he’s not nice. Far from it, in fact. We made him cocky and some might even say, mean. Not quite a bully, but he’s blunt and honest to a fault. If a teammate doesn’t play well, he’ll tell him. If something his father cooks for him tastes bad, he’ll say so. He has no choice, and there’s really no point in dwelling on it, or in me trying to explain why we did what we did. It will be revealed soon enough to those who need to know.

  I watch him through the various cameras as he leads his pack through the halls, with a stop at his locker, and then a mock salute as he enters his first class—late, of course.

  “So nice of you to join us, Coalton,” his U.S. Government teacher tells him, looking anything but nice at the moment.

  “I’m sure I didn’t miss anything,” he says without hesitation. There’s that brutal honesty. His teacher is retiring after this year, and checked out long ago. No one else would say it, but Coalton is compelled to.

  “To the dean’s office. Now!” the teacher yells. He hasn’t checked out enough to let the insult slide.

  Coalton salutes him as he struts out the door. I watch him tilt his head from side to side, and roll his shoulders as he walks. He’s thinking about how to get out of this. Because if he doesn’t, he might not be able to play in the football game this week. His team needs him. He knows it, and with a smile I see him realize that the dean will know it, too. I’m not sure he’ll be able to hold back from blurting out that he knows, but that’s not my problem. Yet.

  Sabrina

  Sabrina is the girl who can’t be beat. She has won every election since elementary school. By a landslide. She’s a natural-born politician. Well, if she was conceived and born naturally, she would be. Regardless, she always knows what to do and say to sway a crowd her way.

  It’s not even just school elections. If there’s a side to take, or a debate to win, she can read a crowd and know which one they’d rather go with. Then she picks that side. Simple, right?

  Sometimes it is, but sometimes she has to choose something she would never believe in, or want, and fight for it. She has no choice. She has to win. It has gained her some enemies, but most people are simply in awe of her.

  Right now she is in science class. Her teacher has just posed the question about whether people behave the way they do because they are born that way, or because they are conditioned by society to act a certain way. This should be good.

  Sabrina glances around the room, and narrows her eyes. Once she has looked at everyone there, she speaks up.

  “Society. It’s society who makes us who we are.”

  She is so wrong, but as usual, she has read her classmates right. Most of them jump in to agree, while those who don’t are quickly silenced by everyone else. The teacher looks resigned to what has happened, and barely tries to explain both sides. After seeing Sabrina in action over the past few years, he knows there’s no point in trying to argue. She’s won over the class, just like the rest of the school. And soon, she’ll win over the world.

  Hinton

  Every class needs a clown, and Hinton fills that role perfectly. He’s always got a comeback, or remark that leaves his fellow students smiling. He literally lives to entertain. After years of watching him, I’m not affected by his humor, but everyone around him is. He distracts them with his humor.

  “You girls all love that One Direction, right?”

  The girl next to him rolls her eyes. “Why?”

  “I know all their names.”

  “You do?” she asks, perking up.

  “Yep. Harry, Kermit, Jon Snow, Liam, and Spock.”

  “You’re an idiot.”

  He wiggles his eyebrows. “A loveable idiot, though.”

  She smiles, and bites her lip in response. “Maybe.” There’s no maybe. She can’t resist his humor.

  “Did you have something to share with the class?” his teacher asks.

  “Nothing worth mentioning,” he replies with a smirk.

  His teachers, and classmates, see him as just a fun-loving guy, but his “parents” and I know the difference. Distraction is powerful. Hinton is powerful, and even he isn’t aware of just how much that power will be tested soon.

  Michaela

  Michaela is the prodigy. Our genius. She can learn anything in under sixty seconds, literally. Math, science, languages, and even though she doesn’t know it yet, weapons and warfare. Her mind is so strong that we almost lost her as a baby. Her brain had trouble processing everything. Luckily, we still had the Muse then, the one who helped us create them all. The comfort of having a biological parent nearby calmed her, allowed her brain to acclimate. It would’ve been a shame to have lost her.

  Her brilliance has isolated her all her life, but she likes it that way. She prefers her studies to the humans around her. She is so insular, though, that even her teachers have become annoyed with her anti-social behavior. It’s a source of pride for them. How dare this small girl think she’s better than them?

  “Michaela, are you ready for your presentation?” her English teacher asks, the glee at hurting her student shining in her ey
es.

  “No.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I’m not presenting today.”

  “I told you it’s half your grade.”

  “I’ll still pass the class if I fail this assignment,” she says, quietly as the teacher seethes.

  She may be quiet and a loner, but she isn’t necessarily shy. She will stand up for herself, and because of that, she has never really been a victim of bullying. It’s no fun to pick on someone who doesn’t really care, and she truly doesn’t.

  Emotions don’t come into play for her, which makes her the perfect killing machine. She may be more brains than brawn, but she’s also the one we can count on to pull the trigger with no remorse. We built her that way, and I can’t wait to unleash her.

  How it Began

  In order to understand what’s about to happen, I need to let you know how it started. Or at least what we told the “parents.” Let me take you back, not to tell you, but to show you what it was like. Go into my mind as I gave ten people their dreams, and also their worst nightmares.

  Seventeen years ago

  I walk into the room, feeling like God, because right now, I am. I’m giving the gift of life to these five couples. Couples who want a child more than they want their next breath. They have tried anything, and everything to conceive, with no success. No one else has been able to give them what they want, what they need, but today I will offer it to them. There will be conditions, of course. I have no doubt they’ll agree to the terms. Having a child for a potentially small amount of time is better than not having one at all.