Beyond the Horizon: New Dawn

16) "Seventy-Six"

Sweat trickled down Seventy-Six's face onto the treadmill as he neared five kilometers in under twenty minutes. This was a feat he knew he would not have been able to accomplish before the procedure. The nanites were helping him push himself beyond his limitations. He kept his breathing steady as he increased the speed of the treadmill. There would be moments where he felt that he was getting winded. But then he would receive a new bout of energy that allowed him to continue further. He thought back to a time where this would have been impossible for him to accomplish. To run five kilometers in under twenty minutes. Even the most seasoned athletes were unable to achieve such a feat. Yet here he was, doing it on the fly.

Seventy-Six came to a slow jog as he shut off the treadmill. The door to the fitness center opened and Ten entered the room alongside Thirteen. Seventy-Six could tell from their somber expressions that he was going to receive bad news. He grabbed his towel and got off the treadmill. "Something wrong?" he asked as he wiped the sweat off of him.

"We got news from Venus," Ten announced. "Everyone in the Atlas sector is dead."

Seventy-Six looked at them in disbelief. He had heard of a new virus spreading on Venus, but was not made aware of how serious it was. "I didn't believe the virus was that potent."

Thirteen looked at him in bewilderment before shaking her head. "You misunderstand. The sector was disengaged from the others. It plummeted to the surface."

"And apparently Ying was on board," Ten added.

Seventy-Six stroked his chin as he took a deep breath. "Who's the new President?" he asked.

Ten shrugged. "They're going to hold a vote between the governors to pick an interim."

Seventy-Six paused to think. He was unsure of whether they should tamper with the election or not. There were candidates like Governor Leonard that were critical of large corporations' influence on The System. Someone of her ideology being elected would prove to be a nuisance to deal with. But Elias surely knew what was developing on Venus. Yet, he did not tell Seventy-Six about it. He believed this meant that Elias was not concerned about Venus, so neither should he.

"Thank you for the report," Seventy-Six said as he tossed his towel to the side. "How far are we from Luna?"

"Positioning of Earth's current revolution puts it further away from Ceres," Thirteen responded. "So, we're still about three days out."

Seventy-Six nodded and made his way to the door. "I'll see you on the command deck."

He entered the corridor as he started on his way to his quarters. As Seventy-Six neared the galley, there was a loud commotion of cheers and chants. He stepped into the galley to see Zero and Twenty preparing to have their usual sparring match. The entire crew was there with the exception of Ten, Thirteen, and Seven.

Zero and Twenty stood across from each other with the members of the Task Force that were rooting for them respectively. The chairs and tables had been moved to provide space for their match. The room was overcome with cheers for Twenty, but there were some that supported Zero. Twenty had beaten Zero at least ten times straight, Seventy-Six did not believe that streak would end anytime soon.

"Yo!" Thirty called to Seventy-Six. "You want to get in on this?"

Seventy-Six smiled and decided to humor her. He worked his way across the room to Thirty. "How much?"

"$10 buy in. Or you could show off your balls and match Sixteen's placement of fifty on Zero."

Seventy-Six looked across the room at Sixteen in disbelief. "The man rarely ever says a word yet he's the boldest out of all of us."