"How long?"

"I await your command", came the reply, "You are aware a few will almost certainly not survive the transition?"

"It is no matter," the voice forcefully instructed, "initiate the first phase"


The light in the center of the room faded, leaving the man in total darkness save for the fluorescent green emanationg from the tanks circling the room. The roof above lit up while beams of light illuminated the walls and, more importantly, the sequence of plaques above each tank.

Circular in shape, the room itself was somewhat uninteresting; a cylinder with a communication portal in the center of the floor, ringed by 26 tanks of green liquid, above each of which were a pair of plaques engraved into the wall, side by side.

The tanks themselves were made of reinforced glass and were therefore transparent. Inside each was green liquid designed to carry and transfer nutrients and energy while providing a safe womb-like environment for the inhabitant.

Moving to a control panel by the now dull communication device, the heavyset man entered a short code and pressed a bright orange button. In response, a carefully crafted and shaped implement extended from inside the walls of each tank to each inhabitant, embedded itself, and retracted.

Above each tank, the plaques gave vital information pertaining to each experiment. The left hand plaques were, in most cases, far more intricately designed than those on the right; a set of jungle plants here, a sleek merchant vessel complete with multiple sails there. In comparison, the upper plaques were far more straight-forward: each contained a simple letter of the common alphabet, from A through to Z, with no exceptions.

Moving to the communication device, the man reached for a prominent control pad, the centerpiece of which was a large blue button. The man's golden eyes were hit with blue radiance as he reverently reached and activated the control. The blue light grew from the tanks and the portal alike, briefly blinding the man, who shielded his eyes with his arm. Upon lowering, the room had returned to darkness, with the only light being provided by the now empty green tanks.


Rain pelted down on the captains face and hat as cannon fire rang out explosively in the background. The combined scents of blood, salt, and sulfur brought a smile to her lips as she stepped onto the gangplank between the two ships.

Raising her twin pistols she let loose with a pair of blasts, each of which found their marks. The captain didn't bother glancing, instead opting to wait to hear the inevitable splash as the two defenders fell, lost to the waves.

"Captain," a member of her crew approached, "the galley is ours. Your orders?"

"Toss the dead in the ocean, accept any who yield, and lead me to their captain. The price on his head can only be collected with his head"

"Aye Captain", the mate replied as her orders were instantly obeyed.

In truth, the bounty in place for the smuggler Claudius Avonet was modest at best, but Sarah Fortune had never been one to turn away opportunities at gold.

Striding into the captains quarters of the captured ship, Sarah passed by several members of her crew holding the wanted man at gunpoint.

"Y'know Claudius, it wasn't altogether that difficult to track your movements when your first mate was so... malleable..." Sarah opened, a knowing smirk on her lips.

"Do what you will Fortune", the man spat, "I will not rise to your bait"

"You smugglers do tend to have an issue with rising... but oh well. To the holding cell, lads"

Variously smiling, chuckling, outright laughing at their captain's sense of humor, her crew hastened to do just that as her own first mate approached.

"Cap'n, beggin' yer pardons. There's... somethin that's needin your attention" the man quickly said, leading her below decks.

Following closely, Sarah did not at first quite understand what he meant; the woman was clearly dead, the blood sprayed around the room and the giant splinter of wood impaling her was testament to that. A hole in the wall nearby suggested that a cannon shot had caused the damage to, presumably, the smuggler's wife. Sarah was about to ask her first mate why he had wasted her time with a dead body and a traumatising image to be burned into her dreams when she noticed the pile of blankets behind the woman. Carefully bundled among the soft material was a very newborn baby, potentially born that night. Gently reaching forward to brush her hands over the tiny figure, Sarah Fortune's eyes turned from wonder to confusion as she realised that this child was somehow... different: Situated prominently on the little girl's forehead was a small yet clear imprint of the letter A.