Author: Aldebaran
Title: Initiation
Length: 500 words
Status: Complete
Date Written: May 31, 2007
Disclaimer: "The Zeta Project" was created by Robert Goodman. The episode "Lost and Found" was written by Randy Rogel. "The Zeta Project" and the characters associated with it belong to DC Comics. This story was written for entertainment purposes only.
Author's Note: This drabble was originally written for "The Dolans" drabble prompt on the Knossos Forum. The Dolans were introduced in flashback in the episode "Lost and Found" where it was revealed that in the past, on a mission for the government, Infiltration Unit Zeta had posed as Eugene Dolan, an accountant suspected of being part of the Brother's Day domestic terrorist organization. Zeta "became" Dolan to infiltrate Dolan's workplace and find out information on the terrorist group. Failing to find any information linking Dolan to the group, Zeta proceeded to Dolan's home and spent time with Dolan's wife, Adrian, and his young daughter, Becca. This drabble speculates about events preceding that infiltration. "Vince Merrill" and "Deveraux" are original characters created for this story.
The Knossos Forum is a message board for Zeta Project fans, and can be found at tzpknossos(dot)proboards53(dot)com/. If the address for the forum is not clear to you or you have any questions, you can email me through FanFiction's email service. The original drabble is found in the Fan Fiction section of the forum, in the thread titled "Drabble Challenge 1: The Dolans". There are lots of other great drabbles there that have not yet been posted in FFN, so go check them out!
And as always, I hope you'll let me know your reaction to my story by leaving a review!
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Vince Merrill stared into the training room, captivated by its sole occupant, seated in front of a bank of viewscreens. Utterly still, pale silver and grey, with vivid green highlights in the extremities, it was clearly, unbelievably… a synthoid. A human-shaped robot, its body flowing in smooth art deco lines, created in defiance of international agreements, built and sanctioned by the government Merrill had worked for these many years…
It was too much to process. The revelation of this secret research center, hidden beneath the building he worked in. Told that his expertise was required for a secret program. And now… synthoids. They did exist. They were real. There was one right there, behind thick glass…
Beside him, Deveraux watched. Merrill, searching for familiarity, settled his gaze on the screens, realizing the multiple views were rooms in a single dwelling. Hallways, kitchen… In a bedroom, a woman stripped off a cardigan, unbuttoned her blouse. He pulled his gaze away hastily. He found the same woman, a man, a young girl—husband? daughter?—in photographs displayed in other rooms.
The synthoid sat, unmoving, gaze fixed on the screens. The woman, down to her bra now, entered the bathroom, leaving one screen's reality, reappearing in the next. Merrill closed his eyes, drew a deep steadying breath.
Deveraux cleared his throat. "Any questions, Vince, before we meet Zeta?"
Merrill blinked, swallowed. "Zeta?"
Deveraux gestured at the glass. "Infiltration Unit Zeta, your client. You're assisting in a weapons upgrade for it." He hit an intercom button. "Zeta, discontinue surveillance. Assume target appearance."
The synthoid stood, approached the window. Merrill caught himself before drawing back. There was a menacing impression of power in the synthoid's organic movements. A light rippled over it. The machine disappeared, replaced by a man, an ordinary man in glasses, pushed up white shirtsleeves, grey suit pants. It was the man from the photographs in the house.
On the viewscreens behind the synthoid, the woman stepped into the shower. Merrill pushed out the word without thinking. "Surveillance?"
Deveraux's expression narrowed. "That's how we get the data this unit needs to assume a target's identity. Takes a lot of information to make a perfect copy of a human being. Has to be good enough to fool his co-workers, friends, family." He jerked his head at the screens. "Even the little woman there. Perfect. In every detail." He shot a glance sideways. "You got a problem, Merrill?"
Merrill breathed, willing himself to think. This surveillance could be done to anyone, anytime. Illegal synthoids existed that could replicate any individual. The world was a much more dangerous place than he had ever imagined. What he'd seen today, what he knew now… it was too late for him to have a problem with it. Too late.
The synthoid in human form gazed out from behind the glass. Merrill blew his breath out in a quick gust. "No, no problem. It's all just so… amazing. I'm a little overwhelmed, is all. When do we get started?"