ChapterFive: Vacation

March 2156

The city of Los Antonios was a resort city. It was originally structured to become a port and naval city, but since there was uncertainty on what's on the continent just south the main Eurmerican continent, it turned into a resort city. There was a large sea separating between the two continents, and the Central Government was hoping with HAD, there could be some light shed on the mysterious continent, known as Afraisa.

At a hotel near the coast, the Kent family were there for spring break. Lance and Liam were by the pool, watching their younger twin brothers playing. Lance noticed Liam was slouching in his lounge chair, staring away.

Lance sighed, and told him, "Liam, it's been a few months now. You've been reprogrammed to get another mate. There's plenty of girls here you can have. Just make sure they're not Hunters."

Liam muttered, "It's not the same. They're not Kylie."

"Kylie was only going to use you as a sperm machine. You need someone who won't do that to you."

"But-"

"No buts. Now get your butt off of the chair, and get a new mate!"

Liam sighed as he got up from his chair. He looked around the pool area. He saw many cute girls there, from Gen-Mods to the former Undergrounders to even the Natives. He was surprised to see the former Undergrounders wearing swimwear, revealing their corpse-like, zombie skin. He knew they were highly sensitive to sunlight, but it didn't stop them for even trying to get some color into their skin.

He decided to try the Native girls. He was still hung over on Kylie. She was a Native, and he couldn't deduce it all until it was too late. Yet, he didn't care. He just wanted to be with her. He knew she and most of the Parisian Natives were plotting to intermix with either the Gen-Mods or the Normals. So he figured maybe the Natives visiting Los Antonios would be different.

He walked up to the girls, and smiled politely, "Hello, beautifuls."

The girls looked up, and just stared at him, as if they couldn't understand his language, which was English. He smiled at them awkwardly, unsure of what to do or say. Then the girls went to back to chatting amongst themselves, but in a language that was completely foreign.

Liam nodded his head slowly and awkwardly. Then he walked back to his chair, and sat down. Lance just glared at him. Liam told him, "They sound like they're speaking Russian."

"Do you know what Russian sounds like?" Lance asked.

Liam just shrugged.

"And what did I tell you about the Natives?"

Liam glared at him, "Shut up."

It was now late at night. In one of the hotel rooms, Liam and Lance had their own room. Liam was on his phone. He couldn't sleep. In fact, he hadn't been getting any sleep recently.

Kylie was still on his mind, haunting him in his sleep and everywhere he went. It didn't help that he would see her at his school, but he had to remind himself that he only had a few months left, and then he'll graduate from high school. His parents were pushing he'd go to college and pursue science, just like his parents did right before they moved to GH569. Liam? He wasn't sure what he wanted to do. He knew Lance was going to pursue an engineering degree. All Liam wanted to do was take a year off before going to college.

He wanted to explore GH569. He wanted to see the Native cities. He wanted to see the forests and meet the Forest Natives. There was even the unexplored continents on the planet! Who knows what's on the planet? Maybe there's more technologically advanced Natives and their cities. Clearly the previous explorers didn't want to venture any further. They just picked the continent that somewhat resembled Europe, and set up camp there. Never mind the Afrasian continent on the south; the unnamed continent to the east; or even the continents across the ocean. It was like exploring Earth all over again, but colonizing on GH569 meant starting a civilization all over again. A world before the devastating War of 2070. A world with all the technological advancements of the 2150s, but without both the heavy pollution and the nuclear winter.

In the meantime, he had to find some type of job. His parents' rule was this: The moment he graduates from high school, he must get a job. It didn't matter what it was as long it wasn't illegal and life-threatening. So he decided to look for a job after randomly looking up "desserts on deserts."

After skimming through, he saw one that caught his eye: The military was recruiting Gen-Mods to join HAD as bodyguards and the eyes-and-ears for the Hunter recruits. He raised an eyebrow as he thought that was odd. He knew they needed Hunters, but Gen-Mods? Well, at least their job was to protect the Hunters, but from what exactly? He wasn't sure.

It was now morning. Liam finally fell asleep, but it was just when Lance was beginning to wake up. Lance knew Liam was having trouble sleeping, but he wasn't going to let his younger-by-two-minutes twin brother sleep the day away. So he opened the currents up wide, letting in the sunshine come through. Liam groaned as the light hit his face.

Lance told him, "You need to wake up."

Liam groaned, "No. Just a few more hours."

"It's ten, and the last few days of spring break."

"Since when did you become the fun brother?"

"Since you fell into depression."

Liam groaned once again, but he slowly got out of his bed. He sat there for a good minute when he spoke up, "I'm joining HAD."

Lance scoffed, "Don't be stupid. Gen-Mods can't join HAD. Only those aliens can join."

"No, they're letting the Gen-Mods join, but they'll be acting as bodyguards and eyes-and-ears. They won't be the ones doing all the exploring and the digging."

"Digging?"

"You know what I mean."

"But seriously, Liam, it's a stupid idea. You're obviously still hung over on Kylie, so now instead of being depressed, you wanna do something stupid."

"Hey, you've been complaining that all I've been doing the past few months was mope around and looking like I want to punch someone in face while crying my eyes out. Now I'll get to do something productive with my life while finding out more about this planet."

"You know they'll most likely turn you into an Alpha. Those people are serious and more monstrous than we plain Gen-Mods are."

Liam raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Aren't we long past the point of being considered 'monsters'?"

"Yeah, but that's how anyone who's not a Gen-Mod sees us and the Alphas. Besides, mum and dad aren't going to let you go through with this. They'll want you to finish high school, and go to college to become a scientist. Not ditch school altogether to become a commander of something."

Liam stood up, "Look, I'll go to college one day, but I'm 18 now. I need to think of myself for a change. I don't even know if I want to become a scientist. I'd rather travel throughout this planet then become another clone of mum and dad."

The two became silent for a minute until Lance spoke up: "Im telling mum and dad."

"Go ahead," Liam said. "I'm gonna start packing up. I'm going to Parisian."

"You're going home?"

"In a way, yes."

With that, Liam got up from his bed, and walked over to his suitcase. Lance watched in both silence and in shock. He couldn't his brother was actually going to join HAD, a military division. He knew Liam was curious to see the undiscovered lands, lands yet to be colonized. He also knew that Liam hadn't been his fun-loving self. Yet, he didn't think Liam would join the military just to fulfill his desires and get over his slump. It was reckless and possibly stupid. He'd be following the Hunter recruits around just to protect them. Protect from what exactly? Protect them from more Natives in the other continents? He couldn't deduce what could be the potential threats.

Before he knew it, Liam was now dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. His hair was a still messy, but he always looked handsome. It was a natural trait for all Gen-Mods. Lance told him, "You're actually going through with this."

Liam replied, "Yeah, I am. Don't follow me. Tell mum, dad, Zack, and Zane that I love them, I'll miss them, and hope to see all of you eventually."

With that, Liam walked out of the room. He could feel his heart beating. He was nervous, but he felt like he exhilarated. For a moment, he felt alive again. No more wanting to cuddle his pillow and live in his dreams. No more being caged up in a fenced-in city. It was time to live recklessly, and to explore the world the way he wanted to.