ChapterTwentySeven: Broken

December 2155

It was a few days later, just a week before Christmas week. Cassie, Damon, James, Hannah, and Liam were at a Starbucks, enjoying their warm drinks after being let out of school early for the holiday break.

Cassie kept looking at her phone. She tried to contact Lilly, but she has been busy being with her mate, Max. She deduced that Max was a Hunter, but wasn't sure if he came from Earth or from GH569. That part was blocked from her mentally. She tried to get Lilly alone to tell her the plot the Natives were planning, but it never worked out. Lilly would never make time for her. Even though her best friend dressed liked she belonged to a much simpler time, she was like all the other Gen-Mod girls on both Earth and GH569: The moment a superhuman girl gets her hands on her mate, she ignores everyone around her for that one "perfect" boy.

Yet, Cassie knew she and other Alpha girls were different from the common Gen-Mod girls. They have a preference toward imperfections and physical flaws. They're tired of their picture-perfect world of beautiful women and handsome men. They want to see the Normals and their asymmetrical features. For those on Earth, they have no choice but to conform; whereas those on GH569 can now be with the Normals among them. They try not to ignore the world around just be with their mates. Cassie does her best not to focus on all her attention to Damon. She has still has her life outside of their relationship, but she's still naturally concerned for him.

Her friends and Damon noticed she kept staring at her phone. So Damon asked, "Is everything okay?"
She sighed as she replied, "I texted Lilly that we needed to talk. I'm serious, she's deliberately ignoring me!"

Hannah asked, "Don't you Gen-Mods get very close to their mates?"

"Yes, but I'm a different Gen-Mod."

Before Damon could say anything, he also noticed Liam was staring at his phone. He was swiping something on the glass-thin screen. He asked, "Liam, what's on your mind?"

Liam sighed sadly as he replied, "I can't bring myself to break up with Kylie. Yes, I know what she's planning. I do question if she truly loves me or not. But I still love her very much. I always have."

Cassie sighed, "Liam, this is your choice. You don't have to reject her. But she needs to know that you know of her plans. She needs to know that you're not a sperm machine for her."

Liam sighed again. Hannah spoke up, "Cassie, if you can't reach Lilly at all...force yourself into her house or the guy's house. You need to tell her."

Cassie sighed as she knew Hannah was right. It was the only option left.

It was now early evening. The sun was beginning to set. Cassie arrived at Lilly's house. She deduced that was where she was, along with Max. She knocked on the door. She stood there waiting until the door opened up. It was Lilly.

As Lilly was about to close the door on her, Cassie held it, almost breaking the door with her superhuman strength. She warned her, "Let me in, or you will have no door."

Lilly opened the door, and gestures her to come in. Cassie asked, "Is Max here?"

She replied coldly, "He's in our room. Why?"

As Cassie was about to speak up, she noticed Lilly's stomach was bigger and rounder than usual. She stated, "You're pregnant."

Lilly crossed her arms as she said, "So? I don't see you pregnant with Damon's child."

"That's because we haven't mated yet."

"You'd better. Don't want anyone to take him from you."

Cassie growled at her lowly in an inhumane way. Then she said, "Leave Damon out of this. At least he doesn't have any ulterior motives. Your mate is a Hunter, right?"

"So?"

With that, Cassie told her about what Kylie and the GH569 Hunters were planning to do. Lilly was shocked when she heard that, and then she held her growing stomach. She knew she was carrying a baby girl. The child would be a very rare hybrid species: Gen-Hunter.

Then Cassie added, "You have to talk to Max. If he's from Earth, then more than likely he's not using you as a baby machine. But if he's a Native...that's up to you."

With that, Cassie walked out of the house. Lilly stood there, holding her womb, having mixed emotions swarming inside her. She walked up into her room. She saw Max on his phone, staring at the bright yet dimmed screen on glaring on his corpse-like face. She knew he was from Earth. He looked like all the other former Undergrounders. Yet, he was more handsome than the Normals. He was a Hunter from Earth.

She asked him nervously, "Max?"

He turned to face her. He didn't say anything as she walked up to him slowly. She asked him with a shaky voice, "Tell me the truth: Are you using me just to create Gen-Hunter children?"

His eyes widen at the question. He asked, "Why would I do that?"

Lilly growled at him lowly in an inhumane way, "Tell me the truth!"

Max replied, "No! No, I'm not! Lilly, I love you with all my heart! Who would want to use you and your people to...breed Gen-Hunters?!"

She sighed as she began to calm down, and explained to him the plan Kylie and Mason had. Max also sighed, and said, "I've heard rumors about what the Natives were planning. But I'm not from here. I'm from Earth, like you. I don't see myself as this alien race who wants to breed with the Gen-Mods. I see myself as a human who love you very much, and loves you as my mate and the mother of our baby girl."

Lilly deduced to see if he was telling the truth. He was. She smiled warmly, and hugged him lovingly.

At the same time, Liam drove up to Kylie's very nice house. He walked up to the door, and knocked on it. The door was opened by a woman with a stoic face. She told him coldly, "She's in her room."

Liam nodded to her. He knew that was Kylie's mother. Kylie always seemed different from her parents, who came across as emotionless. Kylie, on the other hand, had expressed emotions. Even if they were all an act, she was more emotional than her own family.

He walked up to her room. He knocked on her door. She opened the door. She grinned, and hugs him tightly. This made Liam even more conflicted. She seemed very happy to see him, but was she really? Was she truly happy to see him unexpectedly? He wasn't sure what was real and what wasn't.

He pulled away from her, and said to her in a serious tone, "We need to talk."

She looked at him with confusion written on her face. She sat on her bed. He shut the door. Then Liam said to her, trying his best to hide his nerves, "Please tell me this: Am I your mate? Or am I just a sperm donor to you?"

Kylie's eyes widened at that question. She asked, "What makes you say that?"

"Damon and James told me they heard you and Mason talk about your plan for the Hunters to use us Gen-Mods as breeding machines to create the Gen-Hunters."

With that, Kylie's expression went from surprised to anger. She couldn't believe that Damon and James would blab this to Liam. Yet, she had noticed he seemed off for some time. She tried to cheer him up by making out with him, but he kept refusing her. She wasn't sure what was going on in his head, but now she knew.

Liam's voice shook with emotion as he asked, "Do you truly love me? Or am I your sperm donor?"

Kylie stood there. She knew for some time that Liam had feelings for her. She would see him trying to talk to her, but he always pulled away by his twin Lance. As for her plot, it wasn't hers. Liam doesn't know the full truth about the plot, and she wasn't about to tell him. Instead, she remained silent as she felt her heart breaking into a million pieces. Yes, she did love him, but she had to protect the plan.

Liam, on the other hand, stood there, now glaring at Kylie. She was refusing to answer. He then walked up to her, and said coldly, "I, Liam Kent, reject you as my mate."

With that, he took out his phone, clicked on the Gen-Mod App, and clicked on the "re-program" button within the app. The app was connected to the Gen-Mods' nanotechnology-infused blood to allow them to live well as they get another mate. The Gen-Mods' blood was black, not red like the Normals. The Hunters' blood is rumored to be an icky brown-green color, but nothing was confirmed yet.

Liam stormed out of room, and soon the house. Kylie closed the door to her room. She tried not to cry, but she felt her tears falling down her face. She wiped them away, knowing that as a Hunter, she cannot have emotions.