The Lilith Project

Chapter One

Year 486, PC

"James?"

James looked up from his computer screen, removing his reading glasses absently. "Vixy. What are you doing up Hon?" He turned the computer chair to face her, clasping his hands across his stomach.

She slowly walked over. "Couldn't sleep."

"Mm." He set a hand on her slightly rounded-out stomach. "Are you feeling all right?"

She looked down at him, at his gentle concerned eyes, and felt herself smile. "I'm feeling fine. You don't have to worry so much, you know, women were having babies long before my time."

"True but they weren't my wife having my baby." He stood and gave her a hug absently. "Really, what's bothering you? I was just about to retreat from my midnight musings." He nodded toward the computer.

"Manage to get anything done?"

"Heh, actually, despite the fact that I should be wrapped in red tape right now, including a bow between my ears, I think I actually got somewhere. I'm going to complain to Pepper, this government website stuff is just ridiculous." He shook his head. "You're changing the subject. What's bothering you? You can tell me."

She shifted. "Looked through the mail you had sitting on your desk earlier today… Who's 'Lilith'?"

"Ah." He leaned back on his desk and crossed his arms. "So that's why you can't sleep. 'Lilith' isn't actually a 'who,' hon. It's a 'what.' It's the code name of a project."

"Ah." She relaxed. "I'm sorry, I just…"

"Don't worry about it." He drew her close, nuzzling her neck. "After all, as much as I travel and as paranoid as some of your friends are, I guess you might to some degree be allowed to worry. I'm not that kind of man. And as for Project Lilith…" He trailed off. "I don't think you want to know the details."

She frowned, looking up at him. "Well, let me see. If it's a project that you're either working alongside or working against… Weapons? New technology, a supercomputer perhaps? Drugs? Some new terrorist group?"

He grinned. "Boy. I talk and you listen, eh?"

"Well, the 'how was your day at work' question does entail a bit in this household. So what does Lilith fall under?"

"None of the above." He was silent for a moment. "It's a genetics project."

"Oh? That's nothing new, there's quite a bit of that going on now."

"Not… that kind of genetics, baby. I'm not working alongside this project; I'm trying to find out some more about it so I can bring it down. It's privately funded in a hidden lab. We only recently caught wind of it."

"You're talking about experiments done on people then?"

He closed his eyes. "No, love. Kids."

"Oh, Jesus…"

"That's why I've been staying up late practically every night for the last three weeks. I can't sleep so I try to at least work on this project while it keeps me awake. What pictures we've gotten aren't too clear, thank god, but still…" He shuddered, opening his eyes. "And it gets worse. I imagine you recall Andross."

"Of course. Big name in biotechnology and genetic mapping, etc, etc… I see where this is going. Is he linked?"

"We think so. And he might not be the only big name." James saved what he had been working on and turned off his computer. "Anyone linked to this will either be badly burned, prosecuted, or jailed. This entire affair is a blatant violation of human rights, among other things…" He shook his head. "I'm going to go curl up in bed and pretend the world is a happy place. Care to come with me?"

"Yes indeed." She wrapped an arm around him and walked with him back to their bedroom. "James… what kind of experiments…?" She couldn't even make herself say it.

He looked at her with bleak eyes. "From what I've seen, which isn't much… horrible things, Vixy. Horrible, inhuman things."

Neither got much sleep that night, lying awake, trying to comfort each other without words. Several times, James would start to doze, then would wake up because the fuzzy black and white pictures would return to his memory. Vixy snuggled into him, not too much better—just the idea of it was more then enough to keep her awake. Either way, it was well past dawn when sheer exhaustion pulled both into a state of fitful unconsciousness.

"This is marvelous, this truly is." Andross tapped the screen then sat back, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I had begun to think I knew a bit, and now I can see I know nearly nothing."

"Well, this is a rather new field." One of his colleagues, a younger woman by the name of Rachel Myers, leaned on a desk and sipped at coffee. "And these experiments have opened even more doors to us."

"This is especially interesting…" He tapped a button on the keyboard, scrolling down through the pages of scientific information, pictures, graphs, and charts. "This new concept of genetic intertwining, as Paterson terms it… I am used to the idea of splicing DNA and other such, but intertwining strands without a direct effect?" He spread his hands. "But according to this, it could be done, though it must be done with very young children…"

"How young is young? I have not yet gotten a chance to read the full status report yet…"

"Less then a month. Of course, this has only been under study for a year or two." He rattled his fingers on the desk. "And the effects are even more interesting, almost like a… twin sense, you might say."

"The ones with intertwined DNA can sense each other?" She leaned over his shoulder, skimming down the paragraphs. "How is that applicable? It seems to me that the application of Paterson's studies in telepathy or telekinesis would be much more useful, because that isn't just a vague sense."

"Neither is this. We don't have specifics yet, Rachel. We haven't had the time to watch the subjects grow up after this being done, especially in a 'normal' environment." He sighed, rubbing one of his temples.

"Maybe we could put out the word that we need civilian volunteers?"

"No mother would in their right mind do that, though. I've known enough to know that, since I've done genetic counseling. No, if we wanted to attempt that it'd have to be under the table and illegal as hell."

"Pass it off as part of the baby's first shots, you mean? Buy a doctor?" She hazarded. "Well, we've done it minorly…"

"For blood samples or something, not on this scale." He continued to rattle his fingers on the desk, fidgeting. "I have no doubt that Paterson would go through with it, he is rather shameless, but I rather hesitate to."

"I can see why, it is a rather big step, and it'd be rather easy to get bogged down in red tape. But the other side of it is, how much do you want to see this truly play out?" She gestured at the screen.

He moaned. "And that is my dilemma. I am a scientist, Rachel, and I'd love to see what the outcome would be. But the path there isn't necessarily the most ethically correct one."

"We do what we must." She sighed. "All in the name of science, right?"

He nodded slowly. "All in the name of science. I suppose that means more discussions with Paterson and some very careful research. We don't want to pick our specimens randomly."

Eight Months Later

Vixy cooed, snuggling her little boy close. Even for a new baby, he was strong, gaze sharp, always looking around. Even as she cradled him now, he was looking at the chain necklace she wore, then reached out and grabbed it, twisting it around one of his little hands absently.

James quietly entered the room and stepped in behind her, leaning on the back of the rocking chair and looking down at his son. "He's got your eyes."

"And your personality." She chuckled, detaching her necklace from her son's grip.

"You can already tell, eh?"

"Yes." She twisted and passed Fox to his father, who smiled and cradled the baby gently. Fox's gaze instantly went to his father's eyes, then to the badges currently pinned over his chest.

"Not out of uniform yet, eh?"

"Just escaped from another gift wrapping a la red tape." He rolled his eyes. "And I decided I could delay changing for a few minutes…" He blinked, then passed Fox back. "But I don't think he can delay changing."

Vixy laughed out loud. "And a man is a man is a man. You're going to have to learn to change diapers."

"I do laundry and cook, isn't that enough to appease you? How short of a leash do you demand?" He stuck out his tongue. "Oh yes, the boys want to know how soon they can see the 'chip off the old block.'"

"You're no old block yet." She said over her shoulder as she walked to the changing table. "I mean, I should know right?"

It was his turn to laugh. "Right, right. So, perhaps you could give me a date…?"

"How about I drop you off at the Great Fox some upcoming day and follow you onboard? That's sure to appease the nuts you work with."

"Takes a nut to know one."

"You should know. Speaking of nuts and such, what's for dinner?"

Babies need not think in words.

Recent studies have shown that everyone at any age dreams, from newborns to those nearing death. In fact, it's been proved that unborn babies also experience periods of REM sleep, which is a phase often accompanied by dreams.

Fox's first few days were a bit confusing in his very young mind, especially the first few moments. But that was okay. They made up for it. The words for them were already starting to very slowly work into his memory, even though words were a new thing. Mom. Dad. Short sounds, but already laden with such feelings.

Feelings. Pure emotions, simple needs. Since he was only a few days old, he didn't demand much from life. But he was a bit curious about a little string of feelings that trailed through his thoughts every now and then, a string he characterized by the color impression it left on him—sort of gold and blue. A little string of feelings not his own.

He wasn't worried about it. He liked it. It kept him company when his mother was sleeping in the other room. He got the idea that the owner of the feelings liked it too. It was a mind touch of sorts, an elsewhere friend. An OTHER self. When he had trouble sleeping when it was dark, and he wasn't hungry or something else, he'd watch the mobile above his bed and exchange thoughts with his friend. As time passed, it became a bit harder to listen to the friend, because his own thoughts grew crowded with what he was learning. But still, as words were learned and they tried to teach each other, certain words seemed so easy to them it wasn't a bother. Friend. Happy. And of all things, a very, very unusual little word that was simply known as 'love.'