The Cost of Defiance

“Let me out!” Yuki’s voice cracked as he slammed his fists against the window of the holocar. He yanked at the door handle desperately, but it refused to budge. “Let me out!” he repeated, his voice growing louder, more frantic.

His parents sat silently in the front seats, their backs stiff as if trying to shut out his voice. The tension in the air was suffocating, but Yuki was relentless, his tantrum escalating. He thrashed against his seatbelt and kicked at the door in a futile attempt to escape.

His mother, who had been biting her lip to keep quiet, finally snapped. “They were going to kill you!” she shouted, her voice sharp with emotion.

Yuki froze mid-motion, staring at her wide-eyed. “You… you liar. Let me out!”

“I am not lying!” she exclaimed, her voice trembling but firm.

Her husband placed a hand on her shoulder, murmuring something too low for Yuki to hear. She took a shaky breath, her hands clutching the steering wheel tightly, as though grounding herself. “Yuki,” she began again, her tone softer now, “the rebellion… Jun told us everything. They were going to use you. You were never safe with them.”

Her words hit him like a slap. “What are you talking about?” he demanded, his voice lower now but still seething with frustration.

“You know they stole our research, Yuki,” his mother explained, glancing at him briefly in the rearview mirror. “The modifications we gave you—your invincibility—it’s what they need to carry out their plan. They want to eradicate genetic modifications entirely, and to do that, they need to use you. Your DNA, your body—it’s the key to transferring the modifications back to the population. But for their plan to work… they’d have to sacrifice you.”

The weight of her words sank into him, dragging him down into his seat. His fists unclenched, his breath shallow. “They… they were going to kill me?” he murmured, almost as if testing the words himself.

“Yes.” Her voice broke, and she quickly turned her gaze back to the road.

Yuki leaned back against the seat, staring at the ceiling of the car. His mind raced. He thought of Maya and the Counselor—the hours spent training and strategizing. Had they all known? Had they all been planning this while he followed blindly, believing in their cause?

His mother continued, her tone cautious. “They were going to use the genetic modification transfer research—our research—to spread the DNA nullification across the population. Without you, that’s impossible. You’re the only one who can withstand the process because of your modifications.”

His stomach churned as the realization set in. The rebellion’s noble goal—to free humanity from the constraints of genetic modifications—wasn’t just a fight for justice. It was a fight that demanded his life as collateral.

Yuki sat forward. “What about Maya? W-what’s your explanation for what you did to her?”

His mother exhaled slowly, her hands gripping the wheel so tightly her knuckles turned white.

“Maya…” she began, her voice wavering. “We thought she died. It was years ago—she was just five. One of the early experiments failed, and she… we thought we lost her.”

Yuki’s chest tightened. “She told me you tried to kill her,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper as he remembered a conversation he had with his sister. “She said you shot her.”

His mother gasped, horrified. “No! That’s not true! We would never—”

A heavy silence settled in the car as Yuki’s father shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He hadn’t said a word during the entire conversation, but now, his silence was deafening.

Yuki turned his gaze to his father. “What?” he demanded, his voice cold and sharp.

His father’s eyes flicked to Yuki in the mirror, then away again. “I knew she was going to be a failure,” he muttered.

The words hung in the air like a bomb about to explode.

His mother turned to him, her face pale with shock. “You—what are you saying? You—”

Yuki stared at his father, his jaw clenched, his heart pounding. “You tried to kill her,” he said, the realization settling over him like a shroud. “She was five years old, and you tried to kill her because she wasn’t… perfect.”

The car erupted into chaos. His mother screamed at his father, her voice shrill and full of rage. His father yelled back, defending his actions with cold logic that made Yuki’s stomach turn. “It was mercy!” his father shouted. “Do you know what happens to failed experiments? To children like her? It was better than letting her suffer!”

Yuki slumped back in his seat, their voices fading into the background as his thoughts consumed him. His sister. His parents. The rebellion. Everything felt like it was spinning out of control.

“I’m going back,” he said suddenly, his voice steady despite the chaos around him.

His parents stopped arguing and turned to look at him.

“You’re not going anywhere,” his mother said firmly.

“You can’t keep me here,” Yuki shot back.

When they reached their home, his parents acted swiftly. They locked him in his room, bolting the door from the outside and placing additional locks on the windows. They left him with nothing but his holowatch, which felt useless in his hands.

Yuki threw himself onto the bed, his chest heaving with frustration. He stared at the ceiling, his thoughts racing uncontrollably. Everything he had learned in the past hour felt like a weight crushing him, suffocating him.

He thought of Jun—his voice, his steady presence. He thought of Maya—her anger, her pain. And he thought of the rebellion—the people who had become his family, who had fought for a cause they believed in, even if it meant sacrificing him.

His mind swirled with questions, doubts, and fears. What was he supposed to do now? Was he a pawn, a tool, or something more? Could he even trust himself to make the right choice?

He clenched his fists, feeling the pressure build in his chest, the weight of everything pressing down on him.

And through it all, one thought kept rising to the surface.

Jun.

Yuki curled into himself, his breath shaky, his mind a storm of emotions he couldn’t untangle. He needed answers. He needed clarity. But most of all, he needed to figure out who he was—before it was too late.

//

“Where is he?” Yuki’s mother demanded, her voice sharp and brittle. She pushed past Jun, scanning his apartment frantically.

Jun darted to the small table where Yuki’s holowatch rested, the screen still lit up with notifications. His fingers trembled as he picked it up, scrolling through the recent activity. A sinking feeling settled over him when he saw the opened protest schedule.

“He’s at the protest,” Jun said hoarsely, his eyes wide with realization.

“What?!” Yuki’s father barked, his face contorting with anger.

“Why would you let him go?” Yuki’s mother yelled, her voice laced with panic and fury.

“I didn’t know!” Jun snapped back, his frustration boiling over. “I thought he was here—I came straight here!”

But there was no time for explanations. Jun grabbed his jacket, shoving the holowatch into his pocket. “We need to go now,” he said firmly.

//

The protest was chaos.

Jun pushed through the crowds, his eyes scanning frantically for any sign of Yuki. Protesters shouted slogans, their voices a deafening roar, while counter-protesters and genetically modified teenagers clashed violently in the streets. Government law enforcement, their glowing mods visible even from afar, were advancing into the crowd, trying to restore order but only escalating the violence.

And then he saw him.

Without a second thought, Jun sprinted forward.

He watched as one of the students lunged at Yuki, only for their attack to have no effect. Yuki’s invincibility was holding up, but the crowd was relentless, and Yuki looked overwhelmed, his face pale with fear.

Jun shoved his way through, grabbing Yuki by the arm and pulling him out of the fray.

//

Once Yuki was safely put in his parents car, he saw her.

Maya.

Her back was turned to him, her figure unmistakable even amidst the chaos. Jun’s heart twisted as he watched her moving through the crowd, her sharp movements purposeful and calculating.

He reached for the comm unit on his holowatch, signaling a team of genetically modified law enforcement. These weren’t ordinary officers; they were equipped with cloaking mods, perfect for stealth operations.

“Target acquired,” Jun said into the comm, his voice steady despite the adrenaline coursing through him.

The officers moved swiftly and silently, their forms shimmering as they activated their cloaks. For a moment, her eyes locked with his, and her expression hardened.

She knew.

Before she could react, one of the cloaked officers struck, knocking her out with a precision blow. Her body crumpled, and Jun felt a pang of guilt twist in his chest as they carried her away.