Book 5. Mei. Just Launched

Mei knows the truth.

For that, they want her dead.

Post vanishing, the world plunges into lawlessness. A new leader emerges from the chaos, uniting the world behind his sinister agenda. Those who know the truth are slaughtered. Mei, his former employee, flees and joins the rebels as a rescue pilot. Her previous life managing super-powered clones is a two-edged sword as she and her new friends fight for survival, making their way to the secret base in Mount Zion.

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Escape

Flaming green eyes seared the recesses of her mind.

Green fire radiating heat more intense than a furnace, danced in the palms of her supervisor’s hands.

“You’re dispensable,” inhuman eyes bore through her, death being the only means of exiting Beast Corp.

How could she have missed it?

The signs were right in front of her. Big, neon signs - red flags only an idiot could miss. She hated to admit it but Leo had been right all along. She had been working for an evil company.

Heart pounding, adrenaline surging through her veins, she charged through the gate seconds before it closed. She didn’t care where she was heading. All she wanted was to be as far away from this continent as possible, on the first flight out.

For once, she was glad they overlooked her for any form of recognition at work. Being at the bottom of the corporate rung, with minimal security clearance, she should be safe. They wouldn’t waste resources looking for someone as insignificant as she was.

To think she strove to be one of those chosen to beat death through Beast Corp’s Project Immortality. With grandma’s ghost hounding her, she fooled herself into believing that obtaining immortality through Beast Corp’s programme would save her from the hellish eternity the dead woman’s spirit promised her.

The immortality programme was but a sham. She’d seen what they did to Ben. Once her supervisor uploaded Ben’s memories and personality into the super-powered clone Mei had been tending to,

he killed Ben.

In cold blood.

The duplicate lives on, replacing the dead man it was cloned from.

That was Beast Corp’s definition of Immortality - to have your memories and behavioural patterns transferred to clones or androids which live on after they murder you. It was how they ensured no one would suspect the truth.

She knew.

Would that make her a loose end?

She shuddered as her eyes darted around for assassins sent to terminate her.

Her eyes scanned the aisles as she made her way to her seat. 

Men and women in business suits.

Families with little children.

Young couples in love.

Lone travellers.

A little girl in a bright red coat, who sat on her own, looking wise beyond her years.

Everything appeared safe.

No one seemed threatening.

Mei took her seat across the aisle from the little girl, beside an elderly woman.

So far so good. No one’s manhandled her yet.

The plane took off, taking her through the clouds, flying over the ocean, away from the clutches of her former employer.

I’m safe.

Tension melted away. Exhaustion overtook her as the adrenaline wore off. Her eyelids growing heavy, she drifted asleep.

“Would you like beef, chicken or vegan?”

Mei stirred, following the voice to the air steward behind the trolley.

“I’ll have chicken.” The little old lady in the next seat pulled down her reading glasses and looked up from her book.

“Give me beef,” Mei raised her hand.

The steward flashed a charming smile and nodded while he took down the orders.

“Where are you headed?” The old lady asked Mei.

“Touring,” Mei replied, hiding her discomfort behind a smile.

“I’m going to visit my grandkids,” elderly woman beamed. “It’s been too long.”

The food arrived. Mei’s stomach growled when she sniffed the delectable aroma. Who knew airplane food could smell so tantalising?

Then again, she hadn’t eaten anything for more than twenty-four hours.

Mei hummed and nodded, acknowledging her chatty neighbour while they ate, tuning out when the lady started talking about Jesus. She’d heard enough of that spiel from her friends, Emunah and Oliver. Excusing herself, she made her way to the empty seat across the aisle, on the pretext of checking on the lone little girl.

“Hello,” she offered her hand to her new neighbour. “I’m Mei.”

The little girl hugged her teddy bear tighter. “My Daddy said never talk to strangers.”

“Oh,” Mei settled in her hijacked seat, as awkward as a pufferfish trying to deflate.

“But you don’t look strange,” the girl eyed her curiously. “I’m Natalie. And I’m bored.”

“We can play tic-tac-toe,” Mei pulled out a pen and a napkin.

“Okay,” the adorable girl’s smile lit the room. “I’ll start first.”

Mei’s a scientist with an IQ of a hundred and fifty. But after losing to her underaged competitor nine times in a row, she was beginning to suspect she’s not as smart as she believed..

“You are good,” Mei remarked.

“Thanks,” she replied. “Daddy taught me all the strategies.”

“Where is your Daddy?” Mei looked around the plane.

“He’ll wait for me when we come out of the plane,” the child shrugged.

“Did you come here alone?” Mei couldn’t help worrying about the precocious child.

“My aunt dropped me at the gate. Daddy will pick me up when I come out. We do this all the time,” she grinned, showing off her missing baby teeth. “I am big enough to take care of myself.”

“Yes, you are,” Mei laughed.

“All passengers, return to your seats and strap on your seatbelts. We’re expecting turbulence ahead,” a voice announced over the audio system.

“Talk to you later,” Mei secured the kid’s seatbelt and ruffled her hair before getting up.

“Hey, don’t do that,” Natalie protested, with a cute little pout.

Back in her seat, Mei strapped on her seatbelt. Thankfully, this time around, her elderly neighbour discussed dessert recipes. Her family recipes intrigued Mei. She couldn’t wait to test them in her mother’s kitchen once she got home.

“It’s been too many years. She’s been away, first because of her scholarship in a prestigious college, and then university. Before graduation, she landed her dream job which left her no leeway to return home. Life’s been a nonstop whirl of studies and work.

Home’s in the East.

But to escape her supervisor and those who wanted her dead, she took the first flight out, which would take her to the North.

The turbulence calmed.

They were free to release their seatbelts and walk around.

“Go join your little friend,” the elderly gave her a warm smile.

Then she vanished.

Mei stared at the empty seat beside her. Was it her imagination but did the old lady fly through the ceiling? From the porthole, she could have sworn she saw people shoot into the clouds. She had to be hallucinating.

She looked across the aisle.

The red coat sat alone in the little girl’s seat without its wearer.

The floor dropped.

Screams rang as their plane plummeted.

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First chapter from

Mei (Emunah Short Stories, #5)

Janice Wee

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Hope you enjoyed this

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Your sincerely

Janice