Chancellor Theleonius Jaha was watching the exodus drop-ship drop toward the Earth with apprehension and guilt as he thought of all those young souls he had just sent to their probable deaths. Even if all of them had been delinquents who would have been condemned to death on their eighteenth birthday they were still kids that he was sending down and the whole situation was made worse by his own son's presence among the youth.
Theolonius knew that it was needed, that they needed to economize on oxygen and lower resources consumption. He knew that with those hundred souls sent away they would do just that, he knew that in both situation, whether they died or lived, it would be beneficial to the Ark. They would either save a few months' worth of life support or discover themselves with the whole new alternative of going to the Earth.
For the giant home, made of twelve space stations put together hastily, that was the Ark was dying and had become their tomb. Its air filtration system was failing rapidly giving the people in it less than six months at their current consumption rate of breathable air. To remediate to the situation the Ark population had to be drastically cut short but also an alternate place to live had to be found. And only the Earth was attainable.
So here he was, watching the drop-ship enter the atmosphere, praying to whomever was listening that the craft survive the re-entry and landed safely as the Ark needed to know if the Earth was survivable. If it was then they would start preparing to recolonize it but if it wasn't then Theolonius had already decided to release all limits on rations and all prisoners from the skyboxes. If his people were to die they might as well do so with a full stomach, all possible comforts and with a full family.
Theolonius knew he was not a good man. He had done terrible horrible things but all of them had been for the sake of his people. Every floating, every prisoner, every half ration... It had all been so that his people would survive just a little longer until the day they went back to the Earth. And that day had finally come.
A hundred youth were barreling to the Earth at great speed.
Still, Theolonius couldn't get past the bitter taste of not being the first Chancellor to attempt a return to the Earth. Looking at the file on the transparent data pad in front of him, he read it for the tenth time, his attention being captured by several parts of the report as he did.
"Project Next Step has been an impractical and unethical proposition since even before the first Unity Day but today, since all other itinerary have been lost, Chancellor Sydney has approved of it. A large amount of resources has been secretly rerouted for it, all we need now is a set of Subjects. I have recommended isolated and desperate individuals but Chancellor Sydney wishes to add a patriotic side to the enrolling. I foresee her attempting to create Super-Guards in the event the experimentation succeeds."
"Subject X1 has been found, he is sickly and will die of terminal lung cancer if nothing is done, he has no direct family and his bonded has been floated more than three years ago. He was proposed to us by Head Surgeon Griffin who works on the project. After promising a cure Subject X1 has signed all confidentiality papers and left his life behind. Officially, Subject X1 is dead."
"Chancellor Sydney has presented us with Subject X2, he was a Guard until the pressure of work and the lack of a bonded broke him and is now retreated with an honorary discharge. I have my doubts about him: if he has not been able to bear a simple life as a Guard then what of when he is a Super-Guard for there is no doubt this is Ch. Sydney's goal for his participation in the project. Subject X2 signed the papers too but instead of a cure he has asked for food for his daughter. At least it is reassuring to know that the power we are offering him will be given to an honorable man."
"Subject X3 was unexpected. We were looking for a child or a teenager that would allow us to see the adjustments needed on a growing body and in order to learn to preserve the reproduction system and let the bond mark transpire. What I did not expect was for one of my own employees to procure their very own child. They asked for immunity in the trial of their spouse and, after signing several papers were given so. I do not know what he did but the man barely avoided floating and ended in isolation for life in the skyboxes. Now that we have our first set of Subjects the project First Phase may start."
"Subject X1's first operation was to replace his lungs with bionic implants in order to cure him from cancer as promised, his second was a set of legs and arms muscle fibers and the last was the replacement of a single ear drum with a bionic listening device. Subject X1 has had difficulty adjusting to its implants but with some training the problem was settled and he was ultimately recommended for Phase Two."
"Subject X2 was operated with three layers of diamond fiber synthetic skin, a pair of bionic eyes and a bionic heart. Unsurprisingly Subject X2 has had an adverse rejection of his implants and has taken his own life along with that of several scientists after a series of self-made injuries in an attempt to feel anything on his skin. It has been decided that complete isolation of the nerves was a mistake and Subject X3 skin implant shall only consist of one layer both to keep her sanity and because as she grows it will require adjustments. Additionally, all other subjects are now under psychiatric supervision however it is my belief that cutting all physical feeling from the skin implants was what rendered X2 to see himself as non-human and psychically break down."
"All preliminary reports indicates that Subject X3 has attuned with the skin muscle and hair fibers as well as the bionic lungs, heart eyes and ears implants perfectly. The child has the grace of a ballerina, the strength of a bear and the innocence of a, well, child all in one package. Though my team supports the idea that it is due to their relative youth and adaptability I suspect it also was influenced by the subject's personality and the presence of their family looking after them. The implants shall be guaranteed functional for her whole life but the Skin and muscle fibers would have to be changed every five to seven month for optimum growth or each year to compensate for the original body's growth. As to now X3 remains the best candidate for Phase Two."
"Phase Two has started. As expected, Chancellor Sydney has cleared both X1 and X3 for it. They were put in the chairs today and the first update was downloaded into their brains. It shall take all day up to tomorrow midday to finish. After this intensive tests on their brain patterns will be done to determine the changes on their brain functionality and processing output. Memory, cognitivity and the triggering effects will have to be assessed."
"It has been six months since the first package was delivered, both Subjects show strain in the forms of painful headaches, twirling vision and babbling, all indications that their brains are shutting down. To prevent this, it has been decided that X1 shall receive the 0.0 version to compartmentalize the Downloads while X3 shall be implanted with a Compass System at the base of her spine. With this the downloads, should be bearable and their brains no longer in danger."
"The Compass and Version 0.0 has been a success, both subjects are now safe and well, no durable damage was done to their brains and the little that was present has now healed. The next packages shall be downloaded in a month's time."
"Package two which contains combat data has been downloaded. X1's comportment has become aggressive and I predict it will be soon before he uses their new-found knowledge on the project workers. Chancellor Sydney has authorized X1's definitive lock up. She wanted to terminate him but his comparative data is too useful and important to do so. On the other hands X3 is reluctant to access the new information and prefers to study medicine procedures and scientific applications with the project workers. She has already found ways of gaining three months' worth of air and minimize electrical expenditure to the project which is a boon and proof of the project's success. Unfortunately, the Chancellor only sees the growing expenditures and is pushing for its acceleration. Otherwise X3 enjoys all matters of arts and watching the Earth from a window. It is my belief that X3's mental stability is due to one of her parents being part of the project and their youth. I recommend future implants be done on young subjects only."
"The third and last package on unharmed combat has been downloaded in X3's brain only one week ago, but X3 has been refusing to use it saying that to use it means to want to hurt another which she objects to. If her ethical code is to her honor and makes her in my eyes the worthiest to possess such capabilities, it is also making her implants and downloads useless. Even her mother's intervention wielded no result. We were forced to abort the final tests on combat however all other tests whether they be intellectual or physical brought forth incredible results. Once shown to the Chancellor she said that it was the success to the next step of civilization and drunkenly admitted that it would forever remain an illegal project as the Ark could never supply enough material for complete population overhaul and she condoned prioritizing certain strata of their small society."
"Today Chancellor Sydney has ordered the termination of X1 X3 and Project Next Step. I had a feeling this would happen and have taken preemptive steps to save my life's (and those of my forefather's) work."
Theolonius let out a sigh and swiped the sceen to open another file written by his predecessor Chancellor Diana Sydney.
"Head Scientist Steller of the secret project Next Step has gone rogue. He has gone against my orders and highjacked two escape pods to send both X1 and X3 to Earth. As his betrayal took me by surprise he succeeded in his plot. I had to explain to Head Surgeon Abigail Griffin who sieges on my Council that her daughter has been lost. Thankfully the other subject did not have any family left to deal with.
As Project Next Step is too costly it has been decided to abort it. All files will be redacted and classified Chancellor Eyes Only. I hope we will find another way."
"One of the engineers on the closed down Project Next Step from seven months ago, noticed an irregularity on the intercoms while repairing them as they suffered from a technical issue. As it turns out said technical issue started when both Subject Xs were sent on Earth illegally and is a result of incoming data from their bionic implants. According to the same engineer the subjects Health Monitoring are active and broadcasting to the Ark. One from up in what used to be Alaska and the other in the ruins of Washington DC. This is incredible news as it means that the Earth in survivable. Further studies must be done. I am reopening Project Next Step and repurposing it to a new project named Phoenix."
"It has been two month since Project Next Step has been rekindled and we are no nearer to decoding the incoming data. Something seems to be interceding with it which I find quite unbelievable as nothing could have survived the last 94 years on Earth since the nuclear holocaust. Yet something is. Some of the scientist have emitted the hypothesis that both Subjects have managed to build devices to scramble their signal, others believe that some of the implants did not resist the landing and were damaged but the fact that both signals have been moving through ought America seems to prove otherwise. For myself I believe that something else is the cause of the scrambling. Something much more exciting yet worrying: I believe there are survivors with technology equal to our own left on Earth."
"X3's signal has disappeared an hour ago, its last broadcasting location was at the bottom of Mount Weather Mountain, a place where, according to our files, is resting a abandoned military bunker specializing in Weather Studies. It has been near nine month since her landing on the Earth and her Health Monitoring Data shows period of stress, pain and exercising but none too serious. Right now, the subject is sleeping. The scientists tell me that they believe both subjects to have survived thanks to their bionic lung implants. It is a possibility which has made me decide to allow further experimentations."
"Only a few more hours went by before X3 left Mount Weather and since then she never returned. Her stays in the ruins of Washington DC has ended after a dozen days and she is now East of it, surprisingly enough, at the sea shore. No one knows whether she is on a boat or at the beach -our tracking device aren't that performing- and none of the scientists seem capable of telling me if it is possible or not for her to swim with all the metal in her weighting her or if her superior strength will allow her to stay on the surface."
"New subjects have been selected for Project Next Step and Phoenix. In correlation to feu Dr Steller's notes and discoveries it was decided that only youths would be chosen and that they would be given bionic lungs to treat the air from its radiation. To that hand several young convicts have been selected to receive the bionic organs. For now, there is thirty of them but I ultimately wish to gather a hundred. None of them have any family left to object and all have signed the contract of non-disclosure and accepted to be sent on earth as soon as the dropships will be ready. To keep the operation a secret I will have to bury it under paperwork and anonymity. I am thinking of demanding of the Engineer corps a complete over haul of all dropships with repairs and preparedness exercises. If I do not get reelected I hope my successor will see this endeavor as our last hope and understand my actions. If not, may we meet again."
Theolonius rubbed his eyes tiredly as he thought of what Diana left him to do. He had to choose the rest of the 'volunteers' for bionic organ implants and secretly prepare an Exodus ship for their departure. The logistics had been complicated even more so by the nature of their secrecy. Added to this Abby was still distressed by the supposed death of her daughter (she did not know of her survival) and did not see the point in sending more people down and Theolonius had found himself quiet alone in his mandate as Chancellor.
Especially since Theolonius had not stopped there. He had had all high ranked and experienced Guards, Doctors, Scientists and Engineers as well as lottery selected citizens of the Ark implanted with bionic organs and three exodus ship completely refurbished for future send offs. If the Earth was survivable then he would send people back home as soon as possible but if it was not then he would have spent resources for nothing. He was not worried through as with the air filtering system failure they would all die of asphyxiation well before they ran out of resources.
Theolonius re-read the reports once again and let a snort escape him at Diana's theatrical input on her reelection and possible death for her actions. then there was her supposition about survivors of the holocaust. Survivors! Yeah, right. Like it was remotely possible! The Earth was void of life except for the trees and X1 and X3, both loose ends that he would have to deal with somehow.
With one last look at the window that faced the far away Earth, Theolonius sent another prayers that his son Wells be well and safe as he would not be able to protect him anymore and turned away. He had much to do.