Tragedy

Early Morning: February 27, 2190 AI

"Hey, Werner, can I talk to you for a moment?" asked Elliot, "I really need some advice, and some help finishing turning the Filgaia Sample into a human." He had just come over to Werner's quarters early that morning, with Jet in tow to watch over Virginia. There was a sense of regret in his voice, as if one of the many problems they were trying to avoid had come to pass. Jet was just worried his friend would never live.

"Sure you can, I'll do anything to help. Let's just go into the other room, so we can talk in private. Jet, you and Virginia stay here. Eat your cereal young lady, your mother will have a fit if you start skipping your meals. And no spying on us," warned Werner. Then, they went into the other room, closing the door.

Jet whispered, "I'm gonna go see what they're talking about. I've already eaten my breakfast, and they said nothing about me not spying. Only you. So I'll spy and tell you what's going on with our fathers." Jet then walked over to the door, putting his ear to it. He instantly heard his father voicing a complicated problem that had just come up with the project. Adam wasn't forming completely, because they didn't have any human DNA inside of him. If he didn't have any features, he could not be formed. For without DNA, he wouldn't have an eye color, a hair color, heck even hair itself, and even his own body wouldn't gain a shape. The shape they had now was basic, but with DNA he would gain a genuine body type like small or husky.

Jet looked to Virginia, and told her what was going on. "I've got to make sure he's born, else I won't have a friend my own age and you won't have your second big brother. I can give the necessary DNA for the project. Then, it'll almost be like he was my twin brother instead of just my friend. That'll be real cool. I want to go right away, that way I can surprise my dad when he comes in after talking with Uncle Werner." The boy then left the room, with Virginia right behind. But not before she cleaned up her breakfast dishes.

Meanwhile, in the other room, Werner and Elliot were unaware of the trouble the two children were about to get into. They were still talking about the possible ways to find a donor for the project. Elliot had no intention of using one of the seven for this, imagine a clone of Leehalt running around. That would bring nightmares to little kids, if there was a teenager that acted like the vindictive and angry scientist on a daily basis. Poor Jet would just end up friendless again, and the two boys would be fighting over every little thing.

"Well, why can't we just use some random kid?" asked Werner, "I could ask someone from Boot Hill if they want to help out a very important project. Or, if you'd prefer, I can always go to one of the other towns with the Teleport Orb once it's fixed, then you won't have to think about him meeting his double if for some reason he has to come and stay the week at my place. That should sure solve your little problem."

"That wouldn't work, we can't just take someone random. I'd prefer someone over eighteen, a man, since we already named him 'Adam Kadmon', and someone with nothing left to lose with no living relatives. Because this is a very dangerous process, the transfer of DNA, even if done properly the person might end up dying of a heart attack due to the extreme stress your body is put through," Elliot informed Werner.

* * *

In the specimen chamber, Jet was hooking himself up to the wires that connected to the tube. As Virginia looked on, she saw her friend push the button that would begin the DNA transfer. Luckily, the girl had no fear of blood, for a small sample of it would be pulled out of Jet's body in order to give genes to their new friend. She never took her eyes off him, he really was determined to make all three of them very happy.

But suddenly, something went wrong. Jet began to feel strange, he was having trouble breathing. The boy fell to the ground, clutching his heart and trying to let out screams of agony. But since he couldn't breath, he wasn't able to get any out. Virginia ran for him, she wanted to try and save him by giving him the artificial respiration her mother had taught her. Jet held up his hand, telling her to stay back. For there was an electric current running through him, and if she touched it she might just be electrocuted by the energy.

She told him, "Don't worry, I'll go get my father and yours. They'll help you out, I'm sure of it. I'm a really fast runner, always wins when I'm racing away from town bullies." With that, she took off for the room her father lived in. There, she found Werner and Elliot still talking. But they didn't scold her for busting in on their private conversation. For Werner could see there was genuine fear in her eyes, something was wrong.

"It's Jet, he's in the specimen chamber. He's trying to bring Adam to life, but something is going wrong, he's in pain. I don't know what to do, please help him." Her eyes were wild, she was really worried about her friend. Werner and Elliot knew what had happened instantly, the boy had spied on them, realized what had to be done, and missed the part about the risks involved. He was going to fry if the two couldn't get to him and take him out of there. So they ran back to the chamber, with a crying Virginia close behind.

* * *

When they arrived, they saw the energy was just beginning to die down. The DNA was starting to take effect, it appeared as if a mist was shrouding the Filgaia Sample, giving him a new form. Jet was just lying on the ground, breathing heavily. He looked like he was in pain, but couldn't do anything about it.

"Dad," he gasped, "I don't know what went wrong. I just, felt the pain from the inside, the second I turned on the machine. Don't worry about me, at least your project is going to succeed. And Virginia, I want you to take care of Adam from now on, I'm not going to make it. Don't blame yourself for this, you did all you could. I was the one who foolishly rushed into this, without knowing there would be risks. I guess I should have waited for Dad to tell me how to work it properly, must have used too much energy." With that, his eyes closed, and his head rolled to one side. Virginia tried to give him artificial respiration, but it didn't seem to be working. Elliot tried shocking the boy back to life with a defibrillator, but he didn't respond. The man then began to cry. He picked his dead son up, and just held him like that, questioning the whole world.

"Leave him alone for now. He needs time to cope with this. If only Jet had listened to the whole conversation, he would have known there would be risks involved," Werner lamented, tears staining his eyes as well. For years he'd cared for Jet as if he was his own son, since he only had one child. It worked out well, if one of them had to work the other would take care of Jet. Werner loved the young boy almost as much as his own father, it really hurt him to see him lying in Elliot's arms, never to move ever again.

Virginia's eyes were even more teared than her father's. She ran back to the room, and began to cry on her pillow. By the time Werner got back there, he found he didn't have the heart to yell at her for not listening to him. The two of them were just to grieved at this tragedy, and they sat there. Then, Virginia fell into her father's arms, and he held her close. Together, they spent the day washing away their sorrows.

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words…

I'm crying my eyes out. That was such a sad chapter. But I couldn't leave it out, it is one of the most important parts of the entire story. I just notice, that both Jet and Virginia never refer to him as "Filgaia Sample", or anything like that. They just call him Adam. That's cuz of how they think of him as their friend. Shows it, kids are more accepting than adults.