Vault 16

Mr. Donovan pushed the wire-framed further up on his nose as he scanned the room. The only sound was the ticking of the clock’s second hand and the background hiss of recycled air. “Anyone?” The room was a sea of faces trying to avoid eye contact - all except for the head of dark red hair from a student who was facedown on his desk. “How about you, Mark?” The head didn’t stir and Mr. Donovan cleared his throat. “Mark!”

Mark lifted his head up with a jerk, one side of his face faintly creased by his sleeve. “Huh?”

“What can you tell me about war?”

Mark folded his hands on the desk and looked seriously at his teacher. “It never changes.”

Laughter tittered through the class and Mr. Donovan called for them to quiet down as he faced the front of the classroom and clicked a remote, turning on a projector. The words “The Great War” were projected there. “Jane?”

A black-haired young woman in the back of the room sat up a little straighter, glancing around. “Uh, the Great War happened in 2077 when China launched several ships at the United States.”

“So the war began in 2077?”

“No, it was the culmination of a larger conflict, the Resource Wars - more specifically the Sino-American war.”

“And can anyone else tell me what happened after China attacked?” In the darkened classroom, one student mimicked the sound of a bomb falling followed by a loud explosion. The class laughed and even Mr. Donovan smirked. “Yes, that’s right,” he said as he clicked to the next slide, “Boom.”

The picture projected at the screen was of a giant mushroom cloud that caused the laughter to quickly die down. “And how many nations were affected by the Great War? Cheryl?”

A blonde lowered her raised hand. “No one really knows. The records were incomplete so we’ll probably never know how many nations launched nuclear weapons. Most experts say Russia, Israel, Italy-”

Mr. Donovan shook his head. “That wasn’t what I asked. How many nations were AFFECTED?”

An olive-skinned student in the front tentatively half-raised their hand. “All of them. The planet was completely irradiated.”

“That’s right, Chris.” With a click, a new slide was displayed. This one showed a map of the world - the entire thing was tinted green in various intensities. Europe, China, the Middle East, and portions of the United States were much more intensely green than other places. “So how is it that we aren’t dead?”

In unison, the entire class said, “Vaults.”

“Correct - the Vault program was able to preserve a portion of the population underground in specially prepared vaults.” The slide he showed depicted a map of the continental United States with a number of vault icons on it. “And the purpose of the vaults?”

Again, the class spoke in unison. “To preserve humanity until the Earth is habitable again.”

“And when will that be?”

“2377.”

Mr. Donovan grinned. “Hey, that’s just a hundred years - you guys will be out and about in no time, right?” The sound of the bell cut everyone’s groaning short as the students packed their books. “Homework! I want two screens on the origins of the Sino-American War. And Mark, I want an extra screen about the origins of the Resource Wars from you.”

“Aw c’mon-”

“Maybe next time you’ll stay awake in my class.” Mr. Donovan brought the lights back up as the students filed out into the corridor.

Mark was in such a hurry to leave the room that he nearly plowed into Chris. “Hey, be careful, man.”

Mark sighed and shouldered his bag. “Hey, sorry.” He jerked his chin back towards the classroom they’d just left. “Can you believe that shit?”

“Believe what? You getting extra homework or you falling asleep in class without snoring. Because I’ve gotta be honest, the second one’s harder to swallow.” Mark shoved Chris halfheartedly towards the far wall and Chris laughed. “Anyway, you want to head down to the caf? Beat the dinner rush?”

“Dinner rush? It’s not even three! Anyway I can’t, I’ve got testing later and they don’t want me to eat an hour before.”

Chris looked concerned. “Again? That’s the third time this week, isn’t it?”

“Hey, I can’t help it if my DNA is extra special. Besides, I think Dr. Chen just wants an excuse to see me with my shirt off again.” He made a show of flexing and ignoring the way his friend rolled their eyes. “They say I’ll be done by five, though. Knowing you, you’ll probably still be stuffing your face.”

“Hey, I’m a growing teenager!”

“No, you’re a vacuum. Where does that food even GO? Six square meals a day and you’re still a beanpole.”

“I’m still strong enough to kick your ass!” Chris got Mark in a headlock and the two struggled as classmates swerved around them in the hall. This gave Jane enough time to catch up with them.

“Hey, are you okay, Mark?”

Mark squirmed out of Chris’s grip and flashed a crooked grin at Jane. “Yeah, I’m fine. But I’d be a lot BETTER if someone would let me borrow her notes on the Resource Wars for this stupid essay…”

Jane sighed. “Why don’t you just use your OWN notes?” She saw Mark’s confused expression and rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll bring them to dinner.”

“You’re the best.”

“That’s what you keep telling me. But you really should start taking better notes in class - you’re never going to get good grades if you keep going off other people’s work.”

“Well as long as I pass, that’s all that really matters. MY parents aren’t pressuring me to go into science after graduation.”

Jane huffed. “They’re not PRESSURING me, I just really like it there. Dad thinks I can make some meaningful-”

-meaningful contributions to the field of genetics,” her friends finished in unison. Jane reached over and smacked Chris, who was closer. They continued down the hall and she glanced over at Mark again. “Seriously, though: are you getting enough sleep?”

“Jeez, MOM, yes I’m fine. I was just up late last night.”

“Doing what?” Chris frowned. “When I wanted to hang out, you said you were staying in.”

“Look, something came up. It wasn’t a big deal.”

Jane stopped short and the others got a few steps ahead of her before they stopped and turned back. “You went to the protest, didn’t you?” Mark glanced around and moved back towards her, gesturing her into the alcove by a drinking fountain. “My parents were trapped in their lab until three in the morning, the protesters had them pinned and TERRIFIED-”

“Jeez, no one was HURT, Jane.”

“They trashed one of the labs!”

“An EMPTY lab.” They were struggling to keep their voices down while Chris stood interference between them and the few people still passing in the hall. “Look, there wouldn’t BE a protest if they’d just listen to what the people want and stop treating them like lab rats all the time.”

“Oh come on, no one treats you like a lab rat-”

Mark pushed up his sleeve, revealing numerous needle marks on his inner arm. “Yeah? What’s that from, then? Are they bringing us into the lab for milk and cookies?” Jane looked at the marks and blanched, turning her face away. “Aw, wassamatter?” Mark cooed, “Is Widdle Janie scawed of the big bad needles?” He shoved his sleeve back down and glared at her. “You better work on that squeamishness if you want to follow in Mommy and Daddy’s footsteps.”

Chris stepped between them, voice quiet but firm. “Hey, that’s ENOUGH.” Mark looked away immediately but Jane kept glaring at him until Chris put a hand on her shoulder. “Guys, come on: don’t get like this.”

“Whatever,” Mark said as he shifted his backpack. “I’ve gotta get over to the lab. Don’t want to keep my overlords waiting.” He turned and left before either of his friends could say anything.

“You okay, Jane?”

“I guess so.” She sighed. “I just don’t get what he’s so upset about. We’ve ALL spent time in the labs.”

“Yeah, but for most of us, it’s just once a month. Mark’s got the active form of the gene, they do work on him way more than they do on the rest of us.”

“Well it’s the only way we’ll understand these mutations, right? I mean, it’s been generations since the first experiments and there’s still so much they don’t understand. Why did the mutations take so long to manifest? Why do certain people get mutations and not others? They still can’t even tell who has an active gene unless their powers are actually active.”

“Yeah?” Chris tried to sound casual. “So… for all the scientists know, people could have active mutations and be hiding them.”

Jane laughed. “Well, I mean, TECHNICALLY. But the abilities are so hard to control. I mean you remember when Mark manifested: he nearly burned down the cafeteria. For someone to hide their ability, they’d have to have a LOT of self-control and be on guard, like, ALL  the time.”Jane winced and rubbed her temple, then rummaged around in her bag for something.

“Another headache?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Not too bad, though.” She shook a pill out of the bottle and swallowed it dry.

“They’re happening more often, aren’t they? Maybe you should talk to your folks.”

“They’ve got way more important things to worry about than my headaches right now.” Jane sighed. “There was talk of putting some of the test subjects into containment.”

“Containment?”

Jane nodded. “Yeah, just to keep them from getting out of hand. I mean, the number of people with the active form of the gene has almost doubled every ten years. Soon they’ll outnumber the rest of us.”

Chris frowned. “The rest of us?”

“Stop it, you know what I mean.”

“Do I? You’re starting to talk like we’re all that different. We’re still people, Jane. We’re not just test subjects.”

“Look I-” Jane sighed and bit her lip as she tried to think of how to phrase things. “Okay, you know how the security division have night sticks, right?”

“Right.”

“Why don’t they carry guns? We know there are a bunch in the Overseer’s office.”

“Because guns are way more dangerous - there’s a higher chance people will get hurt if we don’t keep them carefully regulated.”

“Exactly. Well some of the test- some of the people down here are just as destructive as a gun. Maybe worse. Maybe it’s time we start keeping them regulated too.”