Kwai kwai nidobak! I'm happy to publish another chapter in such a short amount of time, at least by my standards. Thank you to all of you who've been supportive. It's nice to know that my silly writing can entertain others. As always, remember to leave a review or send me a PM! I read all of them.
Chapter 7: Natural Selection
At the start, there was a blank darkness; one of simple calmness and ease. Then there was piercing white light that shined through the shadows, only to quickly be swallowed up again by the black void. Once again, the light returned, but more slowly this time.
Linwood's brown eyes gradually adjusted to the light that was shining down on him. The first thing that he felt was a mild soreness all over his head and in his arm. Along with the soreness, he felt his head pounding behind his eyes, which made him groan in discomfort. It felt like someone hit the side of his head with a baseball bat with all their might. He wished that he was exaggerating, but he wasn't.
Groggily, the bald man looked to the left to see a blank, white wall staring at him. This wasn't the same room he recalled being in before he was knocked out. He looked up and down the wall, but all he could see was white metal. So, he turned his head to look the other way. This time, he could see a door and a window. The door was a blank sheet of steel with a simple hand scanner on the side of it. But a little ways away from the door, there was a rectangular shaped window. It was hard to see in his tired state, but he could see at least five figures on the other side. He couldn't really see, but neither figure was looking at him and they appeared to be facing one another.
The inmate groaned softly and looked away from the wall, just to stare at the blinding light above him. With the little amount of strength he possessed, he began to rise his head and he frowned when he saw that he was restrained to yet another medical bed, much like the one he was on before. However, he was now wearing an aqua colored medical gown. Other than that, he wore nothing of his old garments and he had no idea where they were.
His eyes furrowed to focus ahead beyond his bare feet and he could see another door on the opposite end of the room. Unlike the one to his right, this door didn't have a hand scanner next to it. And in the upper corner of the room, he noticed a camera that constantly switched between watching him and that door.
A din was heard coming from Linwood's right, which made him gasp in surprise. He looked over to see that the door next to the window had opened. Doctor Sarvez walked through the now open doorway while he lifted a metal chair in one hand. And in the other, he was holding a plastic bottle filled with some purple liquid. Linwood just realized at that moment how dry his mouth felt the moment he looked at that liquid. His tongue rubbed the dry roof of his mouth at the thought of drinking something.
The door slid shut behind the tall man while he approached the medical bed. The doctor was no longer wearing the white uniform he wore during the surgery. Instead, he was donning a regular lab coat along with black dress pants and shoes. The dark man smiled lightly as he sat down on the seat he brought with him.
"Hello, Mr. Stevenson. I wasn't expecting you to wake up quite yet." Boris greeted kindly and he unscrewed the bottle cap. "Would you like a drink?" he offered.
Linwood could only managed a small nod. At that, the doctor scooted his chair forward and set the bottle cap down on his lap. With one hand behind the inmate's head for support, he held the bottle up to the other man's lips. The bottle was very slowly tilted upwards and Linwood felt the liquid flow into his dry mouth. Whatever it was, it tasted like grapes and he greedily drank it down, but he made sure not to go too fast.
After a few small gulps of the drink, Boris leveled the bottle and pulled it away. The bald man's mouth was still dry and he felt tired, but those few sips made a world of difference. He felt his head gently lowered onto the pillow under him and he watched as the doctor screwed the cap back onto the bottle.
"Wha…" Linwood started quietly, but he stopped when the man before him held a hand up to silence him.
"You want answers, I know. I'll tell you as much as I'm allowed to. I'm not sure if there's an easy way to say this, so I'll just say it. I performed surgery on you." Boris briefly stated as he clasped his hands over the plastic bottle. "I injected a modified strand of mDNA into you through one of your veins, your vomeronasal organ within your nose, and your frontal lobe. Um, don't worry, I made sure that you won't get any permanent scars and the surgery was a flawless success." he explained and he briefly bit his lower lip, as if a little nervous.
At first, Linwood's eyebrows simply furrowed in confusion as he listened. This was all confusing to him. He didn't understand why he needed a surgery in the first place or why whatever this mDNA was had to be injected into these specific parts. And most importantly, he wanted to know the reason why he was never asked permission before he was cut upon like a fish. If he wasn't so exhausted, he would have been screaming with anger at this point.
"Why?" he managed to ask and his fingers gradually curled into light fists.
"Well, since you survived the surgery and your body appears to accept the serum, I can partially explain. You see, you're different than your peers. I told you that you have a strand of mDNA that is different from the others. As an exobiologist, you know as well as I that DNA consists of various codes that make you, well, you. What makes you special is that you have a series of codes in one of your strands that we hypothesis would accept the modified mDNA strand we've… created." Dr. Sarvez quickly explained, never looking Linwood in the eyes.
This just raised more questions rather than answered and it showed on the bald man's face. Boris understood that this was a lot to take in, but he had to think carefully about what he could and couldn't say. After a long, awkward pause, the doctor cleared his throat before speaking again.
"We have taken blood samples from every single person who lives on this colony, including myself. Yet only two others here had coding that was similar to yours. They weren't quite the same, but we believed they would work. They volunteered for the surgery you went through, but the introduced serums I gave them was not compatible. They died, Mr. Stevenson." Boris explained and he briefly looked away with a look of regret. "So, we started importing unwilling subjects here to try to find the coding we needed. Then you came along. And not only did you have what we believed would be a compatible strand of mDNA, but you ARE compatible. And soon, you'll be the pioneer to another step in evolution. An evolution that us humans can mold for ourselves." he explained and he found himself smiling widely by the end of his short speech.
"What…? What do you mean…? What did you give me?" Linwood demanded softly and he shifted his shoulder blades a little to try to lift his upper body a little, but his bonds kept him firmly in place.
Dr. Sarvez bit his lower lip again and he looked over at the window behind him. One of the shadowed over figures made a nodding motion when he looked over, so he turned back to look at the inmate with newfound excitement. He seemed to be much more energetic now, like a child with their school science project.
"We are breeding a life form, Mr. Stevenson. A life form that operates under a collective hive mind. The serum that I injected into you is a lightly modified form of their mDNA that has been changed to… not be harmful towards humans, for the lack of a better term. We are hoping that within the hour, you will be connected to this hive mind. Hell, it's a possibility you're at least partially connected now." Boris proudly announced with a confident smile.
Linwood felt a cold chill run up his spine as he stared up at the doctor. This response only raised more questions than answered, which he noticed was a running theme with this conversation. What was this life form that they were breeding and what good would connecting to their hive mind be? It only made the man more confused when he tried to think of answers for himself and he opened his mouth to ask something, but he was interrupted.
"I don't mean to cut you off, but answers will soon come. For right now, I wish to introduce you to someone. He's a synthetic that is also connected to this hive mind." Dr. Sarvez stated before he looked over his shoulder at the window. "Charles! Please come in here!" he called out.
Everything seemed to fall silent at that moment. The two men watched as one of the dark figures in the other room moved to the left. A beep was heard before the metal door next to the window hummed open. Soft clicks of claws against marble was heard as Charles, the synthetic, stepped into the room. The light reflected off the black surface of his exoskeleton as he entered the room and the door slid shut behind him once his tail was fully through.
Linwood felt terror overwhelm him as he stared at what looked like a monster, a creature from hell itself. Nothing from Hades V could prepare him for a sight like this. By no means, was he a religious man, but seeing this creature made him want to pray. He watched as the synthetic slowly stepped forward and stood next to Boris, who had been sitting calmly in his chair the whole time.
Charles' head slowly looked over at the restrained human with seeming interest. He could feel a slight connection with this man, which made his lips peel back in a grin. This just proved that the surgery was a success.
"Wh-what the fuck is that…?" the bald man softly managed to say.
"Mr. Stevenson, I would like to introduce you to XL4, but we all call him Charles. You don't have to fear him. He's a synthetic and like all synthetics, he cannot harm humans in any way. And he's been eager to meet you." the doctor introduced, hoping to calm down the obviously terrified man.
"It is nice to meet you, Stevenson." the midnight black synthetic spoke with that toothy grin of his, referring to the prisoner by his last name.
Neither of their words helped very much. Linwood continued to stare at Charles with fear. Not only was this synthetic completely different from any life form he's ever seen, but the fact he was restrained and in the presence of this intimidating creature made his heart race. All he could do was stare at those sharp teeth and claws.
Boris frowned heavily at the inmate's unchanging attitude towards Charles. He thought that perhaps it was too soon to introduce Linwood to Charles, or any of the specimens for that matter. It might be better to introduce Linwood to these concepts at a slower pace. He turned to look at the synthetic at that moment and cleared his throat to gain his attention.
"I think Mr. Stevenson needs more time to adjust to everything." he told the synthetic, hoping the machine would take the hint.
It took a moment for Charles to process what Boris was getting at, but he soon nodded in understanding. It was entertaining for him to frighten humans, but he didn't want to give this one a panic attack. His smooth head moved to face Linwood, who was still staring at him. He could only imagine how vulnerable this human felt.
"I agree. I hope to see you again, Stevenson. My apologies for scaring you." the synthetic spoke before he turned around to leave.
Doctor Sarvez sighed and glanced at Linwood before he stood up and picked up his chair. Without a word, the two of them walked to the exit, which hummed open. The two of them didn't look back or say anything as they entered the viewing room and the door closed behind them. From this side, they could clearly see through the window into the holding chamber where Linwood was restrained.
Besides Charles and Boris, Dr. Len, Dr. O'Connell, and one of the security officers were in the room. The officer was sitting in an office chair by a computer while the two doctors stood by the window. Doctor Len turned to look at Boris and Charles, but the head scientist kept staring at the prisoner in the other room.
"How's the subject doing?" Jennifer Len asked curiously.
"He's scared, but he's otherwise fine. He was drinking without any issues." Doctor Sarvez answered as he held up the bottle he was carrying before he set it down on the table by the window.
"Stevenson didn't seem to take my presence very well." Charles noted flatly with his silver teeth bared slightly.
"I have a heart attack every time you show your ugly face. So, I don't blame the guy." the officer commented jokingly, but he jumped with a start when the synthetic let out a fierce hiss.
"That's enough, you two." Doctor O'Connell snapped, catching everyone's attention.
The head scientist was always known for her seriousness. If there was a job that needed doing, she would do whatever it took to complete it. This sometimes drove her at odds with her employees, but few directly questioned her. And fewer intentionally tried to make her angry. Without looking away from the window, she began speaking.
"XL4… did you manage to feel a connection with the subject?" O'Connell questioned with an emotionless tone of voice.
"Partially. I believe he's at the beginning stages of linking to the hive." Charles answered bitterly.
Like many synthetics, he greatly disliked being referred to as a machine. Even if he wasn't modeled after a human, he preferred to be called by a human name. Despite how he felt, he didn't voice his frustration.
"Good. I would like to introduce a few specimens to the prisoner." she told everyone and she clasped her hands behind her back.
"Wait, what!? Doctor O'Connell, you can't seriously demand this." Boris quickly objected as he stepped towards her. "That man nearly had a panic attack just from seeing Charles. Not only that, but the specimens might consider him a target. Performing surgery without his consent is bad enough, but we cannot-"
"This is non-negotiable. The company demands results from this project if we want to be funded." the head scientist interrupted and she finally turned to glare at Dr. Sarvez.
"Doctor O'Connell, I'm begging you. Don't do this!" Dr. Sarvez yelled at this point and his face wrinkled as he frowned with stress.
"Be quiet. We need results or else this whole project will be scrapped. If the damn subjects try to attack him or us, then we'll gas the room." she said sternly before she looked over at the uneased officer at the computer. "Introduce the specimens." she ordered.
In the next room, Linwood was steadying his breathing as he stared up at the bright ceiling. He was still a bit shaken by the synthetic from a few moments ago, but now that it was gone, he felt much better. So much was happening to him in a short amount of time and he still didn't fully understand why. Sure, he had the DNA they wanted, but why did he have to have this bad luck? He grew frustrated as he thought about this. Why couldn't someone else have their special DNA code!? At least things made sense in Hades V.
Still, being locked in the room alone made him unnerved even with the robot gone. The individuals' faint yelling could just barely he heard from the other room, but it was too muffled to tell what exactly they were saying. He wasn't much of a fan of other people, but he didn't like being in bad situations alone. The isolation almost made him want that doctor to come back. Come to think of it, he could use another sip of that drink from earlier.
A low humming was heard suddenly. The prisoner speedily raised his head at the sound, but he winced when he felt a sharp pain in the center of his head. He mentally cursed himself for moving too fast right after surgery. He tightly closed his brown eyes and took a deep breath before he reopened them. Upon reopening them, he could see that the lone door across from him, the one far away from the window, had been unlocked. The room beyond the doorway was pitch black and it was hard to see inside.
"Hello! Is someone there!?" he tried calling out, but there was no response.
A long silence took place after that. Linwood kept staring at the open darkness in the room beyond the doorway, but his eyes couldn't adjust to the blackness. There was a faint sound in the air however. If he focused on it, he swore it was breathing. Something was definitely in the darkness. And for some reason, his head started to really hurt.
Linwood gasped when a faint click was heard. If he wasn't so focused on the other room, he probably wouldn't have heard it. The sound was similar to that of the synthetic's walking, but this sound was much lighter.
"Ch-Charles…?" he stuttered nervously; did something move?
The darkness itself seemed to shift as the faint clicking of claws grew louder, yet still deathly quiet compared to the synthetic's. The bald man's heart pounded in his chest as he watched a black being slowly step into the light. The creature pointed its long head directly where he was restrained as a line of drool dripped from its lower lip.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Linwood's heart beat furiously in his chest while the midnight black monster fully moved into the light. Its spine-like tail swished for just a moment before it went stalk still; perhaps to balance it while it stood on two legs. And it didn't end there. Right behind it, a second creature walked into the room. Unlike the first one, which had a smooth head like Charles, the second one's head was ridged.
The ridge headed monster hissed from the back of its throat and its eyeless face slowly turned to look at the window, only to turn back to the restrained man. An amalgamation of fear, horror, and curiosity swept through Linwood's mind as he eyed the creatures. There was no way in hell they were from earth, but they held no aquatic features. So, they weren't from this planet either. He could only think to call them aliens.
"H-help… help…" the man begged quietly when he turned to face the window, but none of the silhouettes in the other room moved a muscle.
A deep growl brought the inmate's attention back to the aliens. With a fearful jump, he quickly looked over at the mysterious organisms, who were now standing over his bed. How did they get so close that fast? And why did his head hurt so much?
A small hiss escaped the smooth headed alien when it slowly leaned forward. Its face was mere inches from Linwood's before it opened its mouth as wide as it could. The restrained man looked right down its open maw to see something he never expected, another mouth. The second opening snaked its way forward and opened, its teeth lightly brushing against his skin. Was this creature smelling or trying to intimidate him? Or something else? Linwood didn't know the reasoning behind this, but he was too afraid to contemplate this.
As he stared at the second maw that kept opening and closing, the ridge headed beast appeared to look up and down the man's body, as if inspecting him. Finally, the small mouth in front of his face slid back into the smooth head's open mouth before it quickly moved away without a sound. He watched as the back alien stormed towards the window and hissed directly at the silhouettes. The one with the ridged skull looked away from Linwood and simply growled while it rested its six fingered hand on the human's chest, making him shiver.
That hand was so skeletal, yet despite all its crevices and ridges, the exoskeleton was rather smooth textured. But what concerned him more were those claws, yet the alien appeared to take care not to cut into his flesh, which he was thankful for.
A din made Linwood flinch as the first creature roughly banged its smooth head against the window, making an echoed thump noise. It hissed before it repeated this action, then a third time. Finally, one of the shadowed figures moved and pressed its hand against an unseen location to the right. A spraying sound rang out from above them and both the human and the two aliens looked up at the nozzles on the ceiling.
A colorless gas was being leaked into the room and the two aliens started to snarl and shriek as they restlessly swatted their hands in the air. Their sharp tails flicked in the air and the smooth headed one tried to rush back to the room they came from, but the vapors could just barely be seen leaking in from the dark room as well.
The creature with the ridged head let out an ear piercing shriek before its tail lunged upwards and the tailblade smashed into one of the nozzles. The sound of metal rapidly bending echoed through the room as the nozzle was damaged by the sharp tail, but the other nozzles kept spraying away.
Linwood felt his breathing slow in pace and his eyes started to droop. His chest rose and fell as he looked over at the ridge headed alien, who's movements had also slowed down despite its remarkable feat. The dark being growled from the back of its throat as it looked down at him. It reached its bony hand to touch him, but his vision went black before it connected.
