charts, leaving her skin an orange hue—the result of life near a blue star. Her hair was almost silk-like, again a result from the carotene levels. Her eyes, though they have never opened, were all irises with little or no white whatsoever. This may have been an evolutionary adaptation to the light emitted by the home star. The feet held four toes, all of which were equal length, and her hands had three fingers and a thumb. The toes and fingers had no nails on them, but came to a talon-like pointed tip. To Phillips, this creature looked like an evolved predator, which was a superior natural hunter.
Then there was Subject 54, who had started to slowly transform physically over the last few weeks. The HGH injections and electro-stimulus of his muscles had given him a ripped physique before the infusion. But now, he had started to grow in height from just under six feet to almost six foot seven. His skin had taken on the orange hue from Zero, and his lips had thinned slightly. His facial hair had fallen out, along with all other hair on his body save his scalp. The subject was looking the part of the hybrid they had set out to create.
Eyeing the results of the newest batches of blood tests, Phillips saw that his DNA had indeed merged with the alien’s. The blood—which had changed to blue—was quite different from the blood of the separate races; it was this blood that they drew now to use on the other subjects.
54 was the new test specimen; the source of the new direction of the project. Ten other subjects had survived the hormone additions and the body transformations of the drugs to advance to the next stage. But they wouldn’t follow in 54’s footsteps. They underwent memory wipes and neural implantation so they would be the perfect soldiers; a virtual pack of dogs to be commanded by their master. Now, they would be given transfusions of a mixture of their blood and 54’s, to enhance them—the first of which was slated for tomorrow morning.
Phillips was beginning to understand the scope and direction of the project. Subject Zero was never the true focus of it, 54 was! The general had planned all along to find a subject that would survive the bonding process; someone that could become an alien/human hybrid, a fountain of genetic material to feed the program of super-soldiers. 54 wasn’t the desired outcome, the other subjects were!
This is why there was an armed guard staring down the comatose figure on the cot. He was the experiment and the general was genuinely afraid of the result. Only his genetic material mattered and now the true scope of the project would begin.
—
In the darkness, Aaron’s mind wandered. Here he was free of pain and suffering; here he could return to his family and be happy. In the background, the soft thumping of his heart kept him comforted, letting him know that he still had a place in this world. He was back to that sunny morning with Krista and Sara, watching them sit on the swing as they joked and giggled. The warmth of the sun rained down on his face, filling him with a sense of love and belonging.
Wanting to sit and feel his wife’s embrace, Aaron reached out to touch them. As his hand neared her face, the whole scene faded into grey and slowly reformed into a landscape he had never seen before. Now he stood at the water’s edge of a lake of brilliant blue, looking over a landscape of luscious green hills. As he looked down, he saw the sand gripping his feet was red in color and felt cool to the touch. The sky had a hue of green to it; the clouds held a tint of purple to them. And glowing bright and unusually large in the sky was a huge, white sun!
“This is my home.” said a voice beside him, causing him to turn with a start. A woman; or what looked to be one; stood a foot away from him, smiling as she took in the visage. “It has been too long since I’ve seen Lyarra’s light!”
“What are you?” he asked, frightened as he looked over the tall, lean female. Her
Then there was Subject 54, who had started to slowly transform physically over the last few weeks. The HGH injections and electro-stimulus of his muscles had given him a ripped physique before the infusion. But now, he had started to grow in height from just under six feet to almost six foot seven. His skin had taken on the orange hue from Zero, and his lips had thinned slightly. His facial hair had fallen out, along with all other hair on his body save his scalp. The subject was looking the part of the hybrid they had set out to create.
Eyeing the results of the newest batches of blood tests, Phillips saw that his DNA had indeed merged with the alien’s. The blood—which had changed to blue—was quite different from the blood of the separate races; it was this blood that they drew now to use on the other subjects.
54 was the new test specimen; the source of the new direction of the project. Ten other subjects had survived the hormone additions and the body transformations of the drugs to advance to the next stage. But they wouldn’t follow in 54’s footsteps. They underwent memory wipes and neural implantation so they would be the perfect soldiers; a virtual pack of dogs to be commanded by their master. Now, they would be given transfusions of a mixture of their blood and 54’s, to enhance them—the first of which was slated for tomorrow morning.
Phillips was beginning to understand the scope and direction of the project. Subject Zero was never the true focus of it, 54 was! The general had planned all along to find a subject that would survive the bonding process; someone that could become an alien/human hybrid, a fountain of genetic material to feed the program of super-soldiers. 54 wasn’t the desired outcome, the other subjects were!
This is why there was an armed guard staring down the comatose figure on the cot. He was the experiment and the general was genuinely afraid of the result. Only his genetic material mattered and now the true scope of the project would begin.
—
In the darkness, Aaron’s mind wandered. Here he was free of pain and suffering; here he could return to his family and be happy. In the background, the soft thumping of his heart kept him comforted, letting him know that he still had a place in this world. He was back to that sunny morning with Krista and Sara, watching them sit on the swing as they joked and giggled. The warmth of the sun rained down on his face, filling him with a sense of love and belonging.
Wanting to sit and feel his wife’s embrace, Aaron reached out to touch them. As his hand neared her face, the whole scene faded into grey and slowly reformed into a landscape he had never seen before. Now he stood at the water’s edge of a lake of brilliant blue, looking over a landscape of luscious green hills. As he looked down, he saw the sand gripping his feet was red in color and felt cool to the touch. The sky had a hue of green to it; the clouds held a tint of purple to them. And glowing bright and unusually large in the sky was a huge, white sun!
“This is my home.” said a voice beside him, causing him to turn with a start. A woman; or what looked to be one; stood a foot away from him, smiling as she took in the visage. “It has been too long since I’ve seen Lyarra’s light!”
“What are you?” he asked, frightened as he looked over the tall, lean female. Her
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