Anomaly
Krista McGee
Language: English
Pages: 320
ISBN: 1401688721
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Thalli has fifteen minutes and twenty-three seconds to live. The toxic gas that will complete her annihilation is invading her bloodstream. But she is not afraid.
Decades before Thalli’s birth, the world was decimated by a nuclear war. But life continued deep underground, thanks to a handful of scientists known as The Ten. There they created genetically engineered human beings who are free of emotions in the hope that war won’t threaten the world again.
Thalli is an anomaly, born with the ability to feel emotions and a sense of curiosity she can barely contain. She has survived so far by hiding her differences. But then her secret is discovered when she’s overwhelmed by the emotion of an ancient piece of music.
The Ten quickly schedule her annihilation, but her childhood friend, Berk—a scientist being groomed by The Ten—convinces them to postpone her death and study her instead. While in the Scientists’ Pod, Thalli and Berk form a dangerous alliance, one strictly forbidden by the constant surveillance.
As her life ticks a way, she hears rumors of someone called the Designer—someone even more powerful than The Ten. What’s more, the parts of her that have always been an anomaly could in fact be part of a much larger plan. And the parts of her that she has always guarded could be the answer she’s been looking for all along.
Thalli must sort out what to believe and who to trust, before her time runs out.
“. . . the first in what has the potential to be a fascinating trilogy of general appeal. McGee’s simple narrative belies the novel’s complexity, a factor that will make this intriguing book accessible to a wide variety of teen readers.” —Booklist
Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors
Queen of Angels (Queen of Angels, Book 1)
The Lord of Opium (House of the Scorpion, Book 2)
Way. Back to my room, away from Berk. 93 00-01_Anomaly.indd 93 4/16/13 7:32 AM Chap t e r F i f t e e n I don’t want to wake up. I was dreaming about Berk and me in a city, walking together. No Scientists were around. No cubes. No tests. Just him and me. And freedom. But when I open my eyes, I am not in the city. I am not with Berk. Berk is an important Scientist, and I am just an experiment. The door opens and an Assistant comes in. She brings me my breakfast, lays the tray down beside my.
00-01_Anomaly.indd 105 4/16/13 7:32 AM Krista McGee The Assistant waves her hand. “Dr. Loudin is ready for you. You can explain this to him.” I swallow hard. I am rushed into the same room with the same simulation cube I was in last time. The Assistant begins to tell Dr. Loudin about the hallway incident, but to my relief, Dr. Loudin refuses to let her finish. “We will begin testing now.” He bends down over his communications pad and begins typing. His Assistant walks me to the cube and.
In captivity, able to be near Berk but not to be with him? Or above, where I can forge a new life? “Good morning to you.” Dr. Loudin leaves and I lie back on my sleeping platform. I can never see Berk—no more picnics or clandestine meetings on the stairs. No more music between us. Even if he tries to see me, to rescue me, I cannot let him. He is a Scientist. He will be—should be—one of The Scientists. I cannot hold him back from such an honor. I will not be the reason he loses such an.
Gene out when they were weaving together my DNA. I pick up my pad and finish my music. I pour in my longing for the beach scene. The notes become my wishes, my dreams, the thoughts I can never speak out loud, not even to Rhen. Because I know my malformation goes far beyond a sickness of the body. My mind is sick, my heart is sick. But I will never tell. Because, if I am perfectly honest, I like my sickness. 17 00-01_Anomaly.indd 17 4/16/13 7:32 AM Chap t e r Th r e e T onight isn’t an.
That I have disobeyed. Again. There is nothing to be benefited from attempting to deny that fact. “You will spend tonight in isolation.” Her fingers grip my 21 00-01_Anomaly.indd 21 4/16/13 7:32 AM Krista McGee arm and guide me to the isolation chamber. She takes the violin from my hands and programs my learning pad to the behaviormodification module. I hate the behavior-modification module. And the isolation chamber . . . normally I hate that too. I have spent more time in it than almost.