Prolouge: Welcome

Neil Black starts the G.A.A and is confronted with Dr. Hevas (who is determined to take the G.A.A into his own hands) and two mutant burglers break in to a house in search of the ArksBio

Prologue: Welcome

2015, World Union Centre, Greenland

As the 1969 Ford Mustang drove up to the center, winter was not far behind it. The whole area of the center was covered in frost. The arc, which was also frozen, stood ahead of the car was 4 feet in diameter and made of plated chrome. Each of the starting points of the arc where just 12 feet from the road and raised just enough so that birds would fly though. The arc spiraled from both points and stopped at the very top where a single hole was placed. Weather it was a flaw in the blue print, or just some inside joke between the workers who built it, nobody really knew why it as placed there. The car drove up to the silver plated building and just made it before the back bumper's last hinge fell off. A man came out of the car wearing a black Italian suit just for the event. As the man walked to the frozen doors coated by more metal plating he found himself overwhelmed with security checks, citizen registration, and other various checks. He was somehow unaware about the media attention this meeting had gained. Since he was already late he had no time for media. Being this late already could ruin his chances of the union allowing him to start his experiments officially. He rushed to the room entrance, put his hand on the knob, and stopped. He was unsure if turning this knob would be a good idea, but he turned it anyway

As he walked into the room, he found himself unprepared for what it looked like. Unlike most conference rooms he had been in, this one was made so it resembled a smallstadium. At the very front of the room was a podium, with a strange geometic shape was carved to the front. There were rows of benches placed around the room all facing the podium. A short man in a suit, and by the looks of the quality of it a very wealthy man at that, gestured for him to go up to the podium. He stepped up to the podium and as he looked around, he realized the man at the podium was not the only person with a suit in this building. He thought that since no one was asking him questions, he was going to start talking before they did.

“Hello, I am here to represent the Genetic Alterations Association,” Neil said as he took the stand. “The G.A.A has promised to make humans lives easier by providing genetic alterations. With genetic alterations, we can change, remove and even add genetic code into the body. We can also add other non-genetic materials to the body such as limbs. Proof of that is right in front of you. When we were running experiments, an accident occurred. A test tube exploded when we accidentally sliced a genetically modified cell we were going to use for planes. A shard of that test tube was thrown into my left eye and it was rendered useless. A week later, my team decided to develop a gene, which allowed the mind to alter genes to preform ‘Self-Alterations’. I was the first person to receive this treatment, that is why if you look closely at my left eye you will see that it is a different colour from the right,” the man said as he showed his blue right eye and his grey left one, “An error I made when I was fixing my eye.”

 He was extremely happy with his short speech. He had said exactly what he needed to say and nothing more than he should. He noticed that one man was preparing to say something, then whispered to the man next to him. Turns out he had someone to say it for him.

“Now if I have this correct, you're allowing people to play God and let them live as long as they want?” He wasn’t surprised that someone brought this up.

 “I have some things to clarify since you brought that up. The only way you can heal yourself is if you know how to manipulate certain cells, same goes with changing your own genetics. It is not as easy as thinking it, you have to know exactly what to change and how much. For example if you over heal yourself you can develop cancer by making your cells over duplicate. In addition, it is physically impossible to make yourself invincible, just like anything in the universe it has a limit to keep everything ‘reasonable’. For example Superman, he seemed invincible. But near kryptonite, he became nothing but a person in tights. Also, every person with altered genes is easily halted with a cell we keep under high containment.”

An old man with unrecognizable origins stood up. “Please give us a minute.”

He walked out of the room hoping he didn’t mess up. If he had there would be no use coming back a second time. It always seemed that in a place filled with politicians it would take forever for them to make up their minds. He remembered when the W.U, another group of countries attempting to make peace like the UN, was created. It was created when the major countries: Canada, Russia, America, Mexico, Britain, Countries started by the British, Most of Europe ,Parts of Asia, and so on, decided that they all wanted one universal government after Japan made an attempt to control North America in 2014, which made the W.U. quite new. It was thought that with the WU it could help keep control of earth and oversee any large political organizations, corporate organizations, and so on. Some believed that it was created in case there was an alien invasion. Which was highly unlikely, since the closest planet other than earth with a slight chance of life was 383 light years away.

“We're ready to have you back in.” It always seemed that most women who were secretaries dyed their hair a strange color, almost like blue or a combination of green and white. He walked though that shiny door hopefully one more time. This time there was a chair in the place of the podium. “Have a seat,” said the man, “We have decided to allow the G.A.A to operate on soil, but we have one last question for you, what would your name be?”

The man was surprised that he was not asked this earlier. You would think that as part of the WU, he would take requests very seriously.

“My name is Neil Black.” Neil walked out of the room. Ready to do anything to make the G.A.A stay accepted.
***

2018, G.A.A Complex, England

Neil Black sat at his desk in the administrator building with a bag of metal marbles beside his computer. There was a knock at his door.

“Come in, it’s about time,” he said.

Today was a special day for G.A.A. Today was the day that they officially started up the complex. After three and a half years of business deals and searching for a place to set up, the reason it took so long was because it turns out not many countries are up for genetic alterations, they were finally set to go and start their plan.

The man let himself into the office. “Neil, why is this called a complex when it is the size of a city?”

“Well Jared if we wanted to run over 200 experiments we, besides, its best to have one big experiment going.

“Yes I understand that, but why simulate a city with a whole economy, buildings, and jobs?

“Someday all of humanity will change with genetic alterations and with this city we can see how it will be in the future so we can have full control of it when it does happen. Plus it will be good for you and the psychology team.” Jared had been around since the program was created. He went for testing, got genetic alterations and since he still stuck around after, he was given a promotion so he had permission to work on experiments.

Neil poured out the bag of marbles on the desk and they started to morph into shapes and creatures. Jared noticed the white piece of plastic on Neil’s forehead. There were wires connected from the piece to places around his head. Jared looked down at the marbles that had turned into some sort of lizard.

“By the way Jared how is that bug or whatever coming along?” said Neil interrupting his thoughts.

“Well were almost finished and the antidote for it. We just need to think of a body for it, got any ideas?”

“No I don’t actually, and just remember this bug is for research purposes only. We will not be doing any human testing with it if it does end up working, stick to the simulator. The only reason we're doing this in the first place is in case someone is idiotic enough to make a worm or a hybrid gone wrong.”

“Okay, I’ll get on it.”

“Good, we don’t have much time until we start the next test.”

Jared ran out of the office before Neil could say anything else. Neil remembered how he stood in front of the WU and got this whole proposition passed. No one had suffered any losses yet. He knew there would be eventually though. Politicians were always looking for a way to mess things up. Once his plan was complete he wouldn’t have to worry about money, going back to that old Ford he had, or politics. He would be in complete control of his life. There was a knock at the door, he could see though the glass door that it was most likely his secretary.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Ava, Mr. Black”

“I told you to call me Neil, Ava.” Neil watched as Ava walked in his office. With blue eyes, long brown hair down to her waist, a somewhat slender face and body, and wearing a sleek suit and jeans, it was hard not to. Ava’s hair turned from dark brown to a dark blue once she saw Neil. Ava, along with Jared, was one of the ‘Original’ test subjects. After each test subject fulfilled their designated hours they were granted a personally requested alteration. If they spent more than five years in testing, or did something absolutely amazing, they were given the choice to have a personalized alteration. Ava only spent about two and a half months testing so she just chose to change her hair color at any time or have it change with her mood. But usually she kept it dark-brown because for her ‘blonde’ hair was too mainstream.

“Yes I know Mr. Black, there’s a conference call on floor two. Just thought I’d let you know.” She purposely said ‘Mr. Black’ just because she wasn’t supposed to.

“Okay, I’ll be on my way Ava.”

“Oh one more thing. Is that a scratch on your forehead?”

“What, this? I tripped over a pothole out front.”

“Well the reason I’m asking is because you I thought you had that super gene and I remember you saying that you could heal almost instantly.”

“Yeah, I thought so too. When I was working on a gene to slowdown ageing I guess I might have breathed in some of it. But the chemists downstairs are almost done the rapid ageing…thing.”

“Now are they doing that just for you or are they making it for something useful?”

“They are creating it for livestock, which if I might add was thought of before the slow ageing.”

“As long as you lose that scar.”

“Thanks for the tiny amount of care you gave for that split second.”

“Any time Mr. Black.”

She left before he said anything else to her. He got up walked out of the office. As he was walking he stuck out his hand behind him, swiped it hand in the air and the door closed.
***

Neil walked into the room to see everyone sitting at a large oval table discussing their own business. Everyone was sitting, or at least standing around the table. It was very surprising how the WU allowed that symbol to be on clothing. The only reason Neil had one on his wrist was completely personal. “Mr. Black, even though you are at the very top of this program does not mean that you can afford to be late,” said the man from before. Neil still had no idea what that old man’s ethnicity was. He guessed every year since the first meeting at the WU. It always seemed that Neil would guess,but ended up failing. It seemed like a waste of time trying to guess so he tried to make himself remember other ideas to think about.
      “Yes I know, I’m sorry. I got caught up with a project.”
      “As long as it was not one of your personal projects Neil.’
      “No it wasn’t, it was just research.”
      “Mr. Black, I couldn’t help but notice the particular subject you were looking at. I do hope you know that the WU can shut parts of this organization down just searching what you did.”
      “I don’t believe we’ve meet yet, what is your name?”
      “Ted Greems.”
      “Well Ted, if that is the case then we'll just have to wait untill we are proven worthy of searching ‘Mind- Manipulation’ while not on private browsing wont we?”
      The old man with the unrecognizable face was staring at Neil from the other end of the table. "That man has been staring at me this whole time, just looking at my face. Did I even hire him? I should probably ask him name eventually. He kind of looks like he’s from some kind of wizard school, if there was such things that existed." Neil thought those things just the man stood up and started to talk.
      “Anyway, away from that subject, for those of you who do not know me my name is Henry Hevas. I prefer to be called Dr.Hevas since I am sponsoring half the money for this project and I am a certified doctor.” Neil knew every single doctor in the complex; he was surprised that he did not know of this Dr.Hevas.
      “Since you where late Mr. Black, the rest of the staff here and I came up with a few rules that should probably be looked at and approved by you, since you decided to take your time getting here.” Dr.Hevas lifted up his notepad and handed it to Ava who immediately gave it to Neil. There was an immediate feeling that there was going to be some conflict between the two, considering that Dr.Hevas took it upon himself to start the meeting. Dr.Hevas also decided that he needed to put the ‘rules’ on the white board along with the notepad:
Rules of the GAA complex:
1. There will be no unauthorized genetic alterations.
2. Subjects must abide by the Security, state reflections, and other authority figures.
3. Subjects are not permitted to interact with Un-Natural wildlife.
4. There will be no nicknames, aliases, or ‘Super names’.
5. All subjects must attend expected tests.
6. Never shall the subjects leave the complex or go into restricted areas.
      “You know that you're only here as a supervisor to oversee that the security is properly handled, aren’t you Dr.Hevas?” Neil went back to his seat, face red with anger. He was still angry at the fact that Dr.Hevas completely overruled him in making ‘laws’ for his project.
      Hevas stood up with an intentional smile. “Neil, I assure you that these will help with security. If you think that I am overriding you in anyway then…”
      “That’s enough Hevas. Looks like where all done here so I’ll go back to my office and re-watch horribly made science fiction stories, no one bother me until I have finished. Ava, go buy yourself something, a dress if you want, out of the company bank account, and make sure it’s expensive. I don’t think Dr.Hevas will mind at all, he has a lot to lose.” Watching the Matrix was a code word for Ava so that she knew not to bother him with work. But him telling her to buy something was not a code because Neil was very careful with where money went. Neil got up, gave Ava a debit card, stormed out of the room with Ava trailing behind him, and shut the door behind her.
      “Ava, take that shiny car that no one ever uses, and actually pick me up a burger.” He used that car occasionally when he would go to news conferences; it was owned by the GAA, so he didn’t care if it got a grease stain on it. But since it was a custom 2019 mustang, the company would be displeased.
      “Mr. Black, thanks and I’ll take care of the car.”
      “No problem, and come back in one piece. I want to see you in that dress.”
      “What if I don’t get a dress?”
      “Get a coffee at least Ava.”
      “Thanks again Mr. Black.” Neil stood at the elevator doors and watched as Ava made her way to the 2019 mustang. His mind was still wondering where this ‘Dr.Hevas’ came from. He was going to have to do something but exactly what, he didn't know.
***
      Dr.Hevas stood up without reason and said one sentence before he left the room.
      “Those rules will be the only thing we have when things go completely wrong."
***
      GAA Complex, Combat and Tactics Division. Three months later.
      Dr.Hevas got to the front of the CTD building, surprised at how quickly his team created the security. He had no briefcase, the only thing he had with him was his notebook with the seven rules on the first page. Neil had still failed to come up with a logo for the company so Dr.Hevas had been sketching logos with hidden symbols and puzzles in it in his spare time. His team of bio-genetic engineers have created the first unnatural living thing that no one has ever seen. Of course he ‘lost’ the letter that was supposed to be sent to the WU and also the UN to notify them. The ‘Reflections’ as they were called, the things that his team created, where humanoids but defiantly not human. Their skin ranged from a peach to dark green to light blue and their bones where 50% denser. Their arms and legs where the same length as a normal person, but the hand lacked a pinkie finger. The face looked just like a regular person but the pupils were sometimes semi split. From looking at one far away...you could mistake it for being human. Communication wise they were able to learn up to 2 languages, in order to keep track of what was spoken and understood about three to four of them. There were of course both genders so that they could repopulate if they wanted.
      The doors of the building would not open unless you had an ID card handy to show the camera. The doors slowly opened and closed behind him. The complex had finished many of the buildings and acquired a lot more staff. Following behind him was a 5.6, dark-blue female Reflection with green eyes, normal pupils, and a woman’s suit with long pants down to an inch above her ankles. This was his secretary. Dr.Hevas held the door open with his foot for her but she stopped and got distracted by a blue-jay flying overhead.
      “May, we don’t have much time to waste; we are going to be late for the meeting.”
      “Sorry, it’s just really neat to watch.”
      “How about this, I’ll get Ted to take you to the zoo after the meeting, that’s where they keep all the wild things in cages.” Dr.Hevas was still amazed how something so complex could have no idea what a bird was. May currently lived with him at his house, because the town that the other ones lived in lacked giant shopping malls, with her own section, tooth brush and everything. Living with her was like having a four-year old always asking what something was. Of course, she did not sound like a four year old, but had a voice that matched her looks and physical appearance with was around that of a 24-year old.
      “So like here?”
      “Kind of.”
***
      Dr. Hevas walked into the auditorium, a large red curtain behind him. In front of him was all of the GAA staff and the leaders in the front, including Neil Black. May was trailing behind him as camera drones floated around the auditorium flashing anything or anyone the seemed to be of importance. The camera drones were just starting to be sold to television stations so that they did not need someone holding onto the camera, because as long as the operator was in range nothing terrible would happen. This didn’t help very much with the staff paying attention. Dr. Hevas took his attention from the drone and continued to the podium, which now seemed to be a recurring place after all of the presentations he made. As soon as the auditorium started to quiet down and May sat in the front row, he began to speak.
      “Ever since the start of this program, which was only a year ago, our scientists have been searching for another ‘race’ besides our own to see. Now, thanks to them, there is a new ‘race’ we as people will now become familiar with. These intelligent life forms are called Reflections. They are basic human Remakes based of the same genetic structure as we are. These Reflections will serve as protection, support, and various types of service to the modern world we live in, specifically in the GAA. Do not treat the ‘people’ as anything different. Just like you they are self-aware of their existence and are fully capable of free will.”
The thick red curtain began to rise, May slowly walked up besides Dr.Hevas and nine other Reflections stood behind them. Some were in suits, other in casual outfits, mostly to show the fact that they were just as similar as “humans”.
      “This is May. She is my personal assistant and I consider her, part of my family. May is a reflection, and you can tell that by her hand, she is lacking the small finger we all have. That is how you will know if someone around you is a Reflection. Some of them will have physical features that we normally won't. For example, some will have greenish skin while others are more towards blue, but of course most that more `natural colours`.” Dr.Hevas looked back at the Reflections and they all started to take their seats in the front row along with May.”
      “On a slightly more important scale, we need to start recruiting for volunteer subjects. The actual area is literally empty. It seems no one received the memo to send out advertisements. So I’m going to need one of our departments to take care of that, hopefully the advertising department...”
***
      The 50 inch Holographic TV mounted on the stonewall of the condo shattered into a million fragments as it hits the wooden floor.
      "D****t, I said onto hold it!"
      "I'm sorry my fingers must of slipped.” The taller of the two robbers gave the other a stern look that if it was physical, it would be close to piercing a tank.
      "Just keep looking; we don't need the TV anyway."
      "What are we looking for exactly Matt?"
      "Cad, you'll know it when you see it." By this time, the two had completely ransacked the house and made their way to the office. Matt took out his cutter and started to burn away at the lock of the safe. The doors fell open and a black gun with a liquid filled tube along the side and magazines dropped out right between his feet.
      "So is that it?"
      "No it's not, but it's going to be useful in about 10 minutes." Matt walked over to the desk and started to pull out cabinets and empty them out. All the drawers were completely empty now with books and metal objects scattered all over the floor. As he was moving the contents around on the floor, he jumped up as Cad dropped a glass next to him.
      "D****t, again? How many damn things can yo...wait a second…"
      The orange liquid that was in the cup seemed to flow towards the leg of the desk by itself.
      "Did you drink that? Never mind you're still alive."
      "Wait, what was in that?"
       "Those were artificial microbes used for AI in machines. It's called Arksbio. That is a part of the thing we are looking for. Also, lift this desk." Cad lifted the desk and Matt started to use his cutter to cut around the Arksbio stain. A small metal box came into view and he lifted it up and put it in his bag.
      "We're done here, let's go." Both got up and started to walk out.
      "Can I help you boys?" Cad pulled out his ballistic knife and pulled the trigger in a panic.
      "Crap man, what the hell did you do? We’re not here to kill anyone, especially women." Cad looked at the woman on the ground with the knife in her chest as a pool of blood started to spread beneath her.
      "Well there's nothing we can do now, let's go before the cops come.” Right then sirens could be heard from blocks over.
      "Okay if you’re going to wait for the cops I'll make my way to the apartment, if you’re not I suggest you leave with me right now."
      "Yeah, I'm coming." Cad started to walk out the door with Matt right in front of him.