It was 20 years since the 'visionary' government gave scientific
asylum to the strange splinter group of a scientific field. These
people believed that biopsies of the infirmed living sped up the chase
to perfect the genome. To her, the crippled, the handicapped, & the
terminally infirmed were already dead. They offered some value to
their lives by dying to save billions. Strapped to cold operating
tables, they awaited her scalpel & team of attending 'harvesters'.
What disturbed her was that these operations had been going on for
longer than the world had heard of the genome. They blamed ritual
killings. Those idiots would contaminate the specimens harvested.
What disturbed the subjects wasn't just the snoring, or the certainty
of death. It was the wait. They wondered how much longer, judging the
depth of her snoring. It was always shallow.
That morning was going to be different however. None of them could
have known. It wasn't just unforeseen, it was more impossible than
unlikely. Subject p-57/c12. When they it was his turn, there was a
sudden power outage. According to maintenance, there was power
everywhere else. When they left his table, the power returned. The
second time was no coincidence. They stopped work for the day. Subject
p-57/c12 was taken to a holding cell & put through a battery of tests.
He was confirmed HIV +, positive for most infections associated with
the poor. His background was hazy. He volunteered himself in exchange
for his family to have a meal a day for a month. That night 3 military
observers invited themselves into the lab. One of them made a sign to
the others after studying p-57/c12's retina.
"I'm sorry, but he is coming with us."
Dr. Oye was unhappy & demanded an explanation.
"We've confirmed him to be what we're looking for. You can take it up
with the president when you can."
She was about to bluster when the senior most officer, colonel Boaz,
quiet all this time, spoke in tone of voice that made her feel the
need to run out of the room.
"You are here. I can't do anything about that. He is going with us. I
know no one who can do anything about that. To persist is to test me.
I've killed children younger than your clothes. I felt nothing. Not
even remorse. I will feel even less if you force my hand. Are we
clear?"
The head researcher, Dr. David Brown, marched in, demanding to know
what was going on.
"Colonel Boaz, you are not taking that man out of this facility. Over
my dead body."
The colonel smiled, pulled out the smallest gun she had ever seen &
shot at Dr. Brown.
"Would like me to try again? Very often people die because of poor
judgment or their ego. Would you care to repeat your statement?"
Dr. Brown had aged. The bullet had lodged itself in a point in the
wall, half an inch from his head.
"I'm not a politician. I'm a soldier. That man holds the key to
keeping my men safer on the field than ever. I would burn this place
down before I pass up this chance."
Dr. Oye stepped up & asked, in a calm voice,"What is it about p-57/c12?"
One of the soldiers took a quick look at p-57/c12 then whispered
quickly into the colonel's ear. The colonel straightened up &
said,"You're about to find out. Lock these two with him. They think
deaths on a table would save the world."
The subject made some primal noises & suddenly tore his bindings with
a strength of 5 men.
As the left, the colonel spoke over his shoulder,
"That is not a man. He is the end result of a test for the perfect
first wave of a front-line. It's been going on for 65 years now. He
will get sick, weak & terminally ill. Then about an hour to his
demise, his adrenaline levels will peak. He will become a raging
killer. All without thought or remorse. The perfect zombie. The
perfect soldier."
True to the colonel's prediction the man's eyes were vacant &
bloodshot. It seemed his mind had been driven over the edge by a
fever. Dr. Oye jumped at the sound of the doors slamming shut. The
soldiers went to the observer's window & enjoyed the grim show. The
subject grabbed Dr. Brown's forearm & threw him in an awkward arc
towards Dr. Oye.
"He's...fucking strong!"
Dr. Oye helped him up only to be knocked back against the wall. It
felt like she left her breath behind her. She watched helplessly as
Dr. Brown was calmly killed by pushing his head backwards until his
entire neck bruised then turned into an ugly fountain of blood.
Subject p-57/c12 had an erection. She thought it was inappropriate.
"Your snoring...fucking annoying...fucking shut up...fucking die."
The soldiers turned away from her guttural screams.
"I wonder, is this how other military scientists make advances?
Watching others getting screwed to death."
His men had started the purge. A battalion swept the complex, shooting on sight.
When p-57/c12 was brought in, 53 bullets were retrieved from his body.
He didn't go down easily. An hour after they left, Dr. Oye's eyes
opened. Bloodshot & vacant.
--
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