-Chapter 2 Part 1: Being Accountable-----
"Fisher, we need you back at the NSA now." Sam rolled his eyes. "I'm sure. What for?" "Project MT was approved by the government." "WHAT?!?" yelled Sam. "They have identified the DNA to be a sufficient and valid source, and the books contain sound information. You have been granted four billion US dollars to complete this project." Sam the Fisher's head spun. Four billion dollars?! Now I know the government has an 'MT' mind. "So, what if I refuse?" Sam said calmly. Lambert laughed.
"You can't. You pulled yourself into this project by being irresponsible. Now you must deal with the consequences of your actions." Sam grunted. Now he knew he was in for it. "When do you want me to come in? "I want to be looking at you in four hours." "How long will I be staying?" "You will be locked in for a week until you have collected and set up the equipment and have the crew to begin the gene splicing. You may go home after the majority of the project is complete, but you must come back when it has matured." Sam thought for a few moments, and said, "What about Sarah?" "She will have to stay home, she can't come. This project is top level secret. You may not tell a soul about what you are going to do here." "Okay, I'll get ready. Goodbye," Sam said, somewhat annoyed. "Goodbye Fisher," Lambert responded in his serious, monotone voice. Sam put the phone down and turned to Sarah, who was already watching him. "Dad, what's wrong?" She could see her father's mixed emotions of excitement and annoyance. "I'm sorry Sarah, but I have to go back out to the NSA again, and within the hour. I'll be gone for a week." "Dad! Not again," Sarah distressingly whined. Sam compassionately said, "I know Sarah, I don't want to go either, but I have to. I'm bound by law to go." Sarah tried to hold back her tears. Sam had already been gone for weeks. She knew his job, and she hated it.
As Sam packed up everything he would need for a week, he noticed something in the corner. The Gamecube? I haven't played with this in years. Opening the box, it all came back to him. Me and my buddies used to play this so long ago.
He put together all his belongings he'd need and flung them into his gym bag. He then went to Sarah. "Sarah, you know that I love you, " he said as sweetly as he could while he stroked her blonde hair. After she had gotten over her crying, she said, "Yes, dad. I love you too." After embracing each other, Sam left out the door, climbed in his car, and drove off.
Sam sighed again, feeling annoyed and dumbstruck. His road trip would last an hour, stop at a military base, then he would fly by plane to Washington. Along the way, he thought about what Lambert had told him. Of all people, why would Lambert believe this could ever succeed. He's the most reason-dependant person I know. Lambert had sent Sam the data on his OPSAT. Sam plugged it into his car, then pushed a button on the steering wheel.
A Heads Up Display appeared before him, in which he read the data while he drove. He read on, Laboratory... Sealed Container... Valid DNA... Not human; in fact not a match to any other DNA on record. Sam smirked. Logical, somewhat, he sarcastically thought. Next he found the government funding grant. We hereby issue Four Billion Dollars (4B) to fund this project... To be paid towards anything which it requires... Sam read.
By this time Sam was very curious about the DNA and how he would participate once he got there. By the time he arrived at the airport it was getting dark. The Blackbird, Sam's ride, stood waiting. It was a rare sight to see the one hundred fifteen foot long aircraft ready to run in the hangar. The military barely flew them anymore. "Hey there. You must be Sam Fisher," said a man who walked up to him. "In the flesh," Sam responded. "I'm the guy who's going to be flying you. I assume you've flown in one of these beasts before?" "I've been around the area in them, once or twice." The man laughed. "You can call me Trent. Well, get ready, we'll be heading out as soon as you're set." Sam grinned. He knew what to do.
-Chapter 2 Part 2: Closing In -----
As they were taxiing out onto the runway, Sam listened to the roar of the two monstrous engines. Trent radioed in to the tower. "Tower five, This is Epsilon Alpha Gamma Lambda Epsilon One. We are ready to taxi, straight out departure." After waiting for half a minute, the two heard a response from the tower. "Eagle One, this is Tower Five. Taxi to and hold short on runway five. Contact departure tower on 125.5 when ready." "Roger that tower five, over and out." "Ten Four."
"So, Trent, how fast will we be going." Trent thought for a moment, and said, "The speed of the Blackbird is classified, but since you're sitting next to the speedometer, I might as well tell you. We will be traveling at Mock 5." "Mock 5?!? No way." "Do not underestimate the power of this aircraft, Mister Fisher," Trent responded in a somewhat angered but prideful tone.
They continued to taxi through the base. Everywhere they went, heads turned and people talked. Many waved too. Once they were to their destination, Trent contacted the departure tower. "Departure tower, this is Eagle One. Ready to take off, runway five." A man replied: "This is departure tower. You are cleared to take off via IFR departure. It's an honor to see the Blackbird up and running." "It sure is. Ten Four."
Sam and Trent began to talk to each other by radio since the roar of the engines was now up to a deafening level. "Here we go!" Trent yelled as he pushed forward on the throttle. First the left engine sparked, then the right. Immediately following, the two daredevils were pushed back into their seats by a sudden stream of pure acceleration.
When they reached 200 MPH, as Sam could tell by looking at the speedometer, Trent pulled back on the stick. They lifted off the ground, and climbed at an astonishing speed. "This blackbird is equipped with more fuel efficient, faster engines, an improved artificial atmosphere system, and a totally redesigned cockpit," Trent beamed. "Yeah, I can tell that from the engines, I'm still pinned to my seat," replied Sam, trying desperately not to black out from the G forces of their pitch changes.
They continued to accelerate. "We just passed mach four." Trent said to himself. "Faster than a rifle bullet," commented Sam. When they leveled out at mach five, Sam felt relieved. It had only taken them four minutes to ahnilate the sound barrier and cruise at their current speed.
While traveling, Sam thought about the daunting task ahead of him. Still having his doubts, he decided that if the government said yes, and Sam wasn't paying for it with his own money, then he didn't have much of a problem.
-Chapter 2 Part 3: Getting Acquainted-----
Sam walked into the US research headquarters, forty six minutes early, his skin still blushed from his joyride. Lambert had not even arrived yet. After sitting at a bench for fifteen or so, Lambert walked in. "Sam Fisher; I can't believe you beat me here." Fisher, humorously but honestly said, "I like to be early." "Let's put all joking aside, Fisher. I have taken the liberty to assemble a team of the best scientists the US has to offer. Follow me," said he as he punched some buttons on a nearby control panel.
They passed about five doors, and many different metal impact doors, and things of the such. Next they walked over a large bridge that crossed a deep pit, then down a flight of stairs that seemed to drop down at least ten stories. Finally, after opening another door, Sam saw that the structure was similar to a large bunker.
He followed Lambert into yet another room. Opening another airtight door, this time via retinal scanner, Sam met his crew. Four people were standing around idle, three male, and one female. The youngest male hospitably said, "Hello, you must be..."
"You can get to know each other later," interrupted Lambert. "Get situated first." "Yes, of course," said the oldest. Turning to Sam, he said, "you can put your things in the room to your right, then we will have a look at what we must do." During this time, Lambert slipped out, and closed the door, unnoticed.
-Chapter 2 Part 3: The Procedure-----
It was hard not to laugh at some of the things that scientist told me. Half of the stuff he said we'd be using sounded like it came right out of Star Wars. The female scientist turned around, and asked me, "Sam-you specialize in CPR, right?" I took hold of this opportunity to boast about some of my talents. "Yes, I am. Quite a few times I have saved people's lives because of it," I beamed. She seemed uninterested, and returned to doing whatever she had been doing.
The woman scientist suddenly blurted, "So, in the meantime, why don't we introduce ourselves?" I smirked and replied, in my monotone voice, "because I'm hungry." "Funny Sam-real funny." She replied. "My name is Samantha." She bowed to Sam. "My name," the youngest, most energetic scientist said, "is Mark." "I am Gordan," bellowed the middle-aged scientist. "And I," said the last and oldest, in a very stern and serious tone, "am Sean."
Sean adjusted his posture, while saying, "Alright, we're ready to get started. I ordered the items that we will be using, which I have just read to you Sam."
"So you have," I said plainly. "The trucks delivering them will be here in, say," he said as he looked at his watch, "just about... now." "New materials have arrived." blared an intercom. "Mark, Gordan, and Sam: follow me," said Sean.
He led the three of us out to a truck, where a crew of four men were hauling equipment off of it with a dolly. When Sean saw them, he was shocked, and sternly scolded them. "Why are you carrying that in with a dolly! This equipment is more delicate than you can comprehend!" The four movers looked at each other, then back at Sean. "What else should we use?" they asked. "Use your head," I interjected. "Eheheh, very funny Fisher," Mark sarcastically said.
In the end, the four helped us carry in the equipment by hand. This was not the easiest of tasks, however, since everyone else was not as physically fit as me. Finally, we moved everything inside the building. "Thank you, you four. You may leave," Sean said. All four men nodded, then left the area via truck. Samantha was holding a notepad, scribbling in some things. I heard her mumble, "Particle accelerator, fifty K. One thousand times zoom microscope, five K. Atomic microscope, twenty-five K..." She went on and on. Finally, all three of us men looked at her while she said,
"Alright. After accounting for everything so far, we have used fifty million dollars worth of technology-related items." Sean sternly nodded, Mark's eyes widened, and I copied Mark.
Three hours later, I was exhausted. We had been setting up equipment for the whole time. "That should do it for tonight," Mark said. "The room that you placed your things in will be yours," said Sean, in his ever serious voice. I followed him through a door into a small room, which had a bed and bathroom. I thanked Sean, then shooed him off. He walked out and began to close the door. Halfway through, he stopped and said in his typical monotone voice, "Goodnight, Fisher." When he had closed the door, I climbed into the bed, and prepared for sleep.
For maybe as long as ten minutes, I layed in bed, thinking. Will this work out? I thought. Everything else I thought about I did not remember, since I was soon sound asleep.
-Chapter 2 Part 4: Having Some Fun-----
My alarm buzzed early the next day at five thirty. My hand impulsively reached over and smacked the snooze button silly. Once again, it went off five minutes later. I grunted and fell out of the bed. Arg, forgot to turn off the alarm, I complained. Since I'm up, I might as well have some fun, I thought. I pulled my bag toward me, and felt around for my Gamecube.
Fortunately for me, I loved Gamecube. I remembered back to the time I received it. "I shall call him," I had said as I plugged it into the wall, then put my pinky up to my face, "Gamecube," and then let out a Dr. Evil laugh. Strangely enough, lightning had flashed in the background when I had said this.
I plugged it into an outlet, and pulled out my collection of games all packed away in CD cases. Pulling out Super Smash Bros Melee, I inserted it into my favorite console. I had begun by seeing the intro movie. Wow, this looks good, I thought. I first started a new single player game. I wish I had known of this sooner, I thought. Link, Mario, Bowser, Samus, Captain Falcon, and... Pikachu? At the thought of Pokemon I had remembered why I was where I was, and the project ahead of me. Oh well, we don't get started for another hour or two anyways. I chose Mario and hit the start button. Before I knew it, I had control of Mario.
It took me a while to get used to the controls. I always wanted to press A to jump, but had to keep on remembering that jump is tapping up on the stick. After making it through the first level in one piece, I fought Mario and his princess themselves. They slowly walked up to my Mario. Why do they not do anything, I thought. Suddenly, the Princess started to slap me silly, while the computer controlled Mario burned my Mario's butt to a crisp. 148% damage.
I flipped off the Gamecube's power, frustrated. I had no idea how to play it as of now, but that didn't matter to me. That game was good, and I will beat it-some other time, I thought. However, I had seen something else, too. I had seen a row of five question marks on the character screen. Five unlockable characters, and I had a suspicion of what one of them was... I stopped thinking about everything else except sleep, which quickly overpowered me when I got back in bed.
-Chapter 2 Part 5: Return to the Procedure-----
"Fisher, wake up, it's time to get started," I heard Mark say. "Five more minutes," I muttered as I turned over." "Alright, but don't overshoot it," Mark said, as he inconspicuously adjusted my alarm clock. Sure enough, five minutes later, I heard the most annoying sound in history. BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP It demanded that I woke up. If it was just a normal beeping noise, I'd be ok with it. However, this one was different. It had this "scratchy" feeling to it, which made it almost sound like a nightmare. My mind was the chalkboard, and it was the fingernails scraping against it. I quickly got up, slammed my alarm, fixed my hair, and left my room.
The four scientists were standing around a table, each in front of a monitor. Sean was holding a joystick. "Ok.. A little to the left... Higher... Stop... Oop, too much," I heard Gordan saying. I stood there watching them for a few seconds, until I hard Sean. He said, without looking away from the screen, "Fisher, there you are. We are picking out the DNA strands from the fluid. We need you to keep count as we collect them." I widened my eyes. "How many will you need?" Samantha, without looking up, calmly said, "Five Hundred." By this time, I expected almost any akward thing to happen; I nodded, and walked over to a fifth screen.
It seemed simple enough, just watch as the small things passed by the screen. I had a notebook sitting beside me. I opened to the first page, which was blank. I began tallying the strands I saw. "One," I declared.
We did this process for a long time, with the three scientists calling out positions and such. We had to have been there for at least five hours before Mark pulled out some sandwiches and passed them around. I was grateful for peanut butter and jelly, and found it quite filling.
For the next two days (of course, discluding sleeping and eating time), we did this boring thing over and over. "Four hundred seven," I said at five PM with boredom. "Strange, I can't find anymore DNA." Samantha said. I gasped. I couldn't have come thousands of miles and seen fifty million dollars spent for nothing. "Great," Mark said. "We've come too far to fail," Sean said. "We're going to have to take some DNA from one of us to complete the five hundred."
The four of them thought for a while, then looked at me. "Sam, you're it." Mark said, picking up a syringe with a needle sharp point. "What are you doing with that?" I nervously asked as I stepped back. "Just going to take a minor blood sample," Mark calmly said. "Well, fine. Just don't kill me," I said as I held out my hand, fearing the worst. He stuck that needle in pretty deep, and took a small bit of my blood away from me. Mark handed the syringe to Samantha, then she placed it inside of a container. "I've got the five hundredth. We're done," she said with a smile.
Mark and I shook hands, both of us equally grateful to be done with that. Sean stood there and slowly nodded, showing no emotion. "Don't get too excited yet," he said, "We have to make changes to the DNA, then mature it."
This process was more interesting. "The book," explained Samantha, "already contained information on which individual genes we will be modifying. It should only take us a few hours." Gordan took the test tube filled with the DNA, and put it into the gene splicing machine. On the screen appeared all the info they were looking for. Mark called out strange numbers and letters, while Sean entered them into the computer. "DX589. Book says change value to G13G1, but we've seen what happens in the movie. Let's go with G1331. DX306. Change value to G3333." This process only took about two hours, as there were not that many changes that needed to be made.
Finally the DNA was added to a test tube, and a green chemical was introduced. "Alright Sam, you're free to go for a month," Sean said. I nodded, as we shook hands. Then for once, I saw him smile. It was a small one, but it was unmistakable. Next I shook Samantha's hand. "I'll call you when we're ready for you to come back," Mark said as I shook his hand. Gordan just smiled and walked into another room.
As I walked out the door, my belongings in hand, I stopped to think about what had just happened to me. I had stayed for five nights, working on something that nobody even knew would succeed, let alone exist. As I stared at the bandage on my arm where Mark had put the needle in, fantasizing about what would happen, I snapped myself back to the real world. We will see if this turns out, I guess. I continued walking to the street, and signaled a taxi.
Well, that's Chapter two! I think I horribly screwed up the formatting on this chapter - I'll fix it when I've got more time. Once again, don't forget to drop a review: I don't know how I'm doing without 'em.
"Fisher, we need you back at the NSA now." Sam rolled his eyes. "I'm sure. What for?" "Project MT was approved by the government." "WHAT?!?" yelled Sam. "They have identified the DNA to be a sufficient and valid source, and the books contain sound information. You have been granted four billion US dollars to complete this project." Sam the Fisher's head spun. Four billion dollars?! Now I know the government has an 'MT' mind. "So, what if I refuse?" Sam said calmly. Lambert laughed.
"You can't. You pulled yourself into this project by being irresponsible. Now you must deal with the consequences of your actions." Sam grunted. Now he knew he was in for it. "When do you want me to come in? "I want to be looking at you in four hours." "How long will I be staying?" "You will be locked in for a week until you have collected and set up the equipment and have the crew to begin the gene splicing. You may go home after the majority of the project is complete, but you must come back when it has matured." Sam thought for a few moments, and said, "What about Sarah?" "She will have to stay home, she can't come. This project is top level secret. You may not tell a soul about what you are going to do here." "Okay, I'll get ready. Goodbye," Sam said, somewhat annoyed. "Goodbye Fisher," Lambert responded in his serious, monotone voice. Sam put the phone down and turned to Sarah, who was already watching him. "Dad, what's wrong?" She could see her father's mixed emotions of excitement and annoyance. "I'm sorry Sarah, but I have to go back out to the NSA again, and within the hour. I'll be gone for a week." "Dad! Not again," Sarah distressingly whined. Sam compassionately said, "I know Sarah, I don't want to go either, but I have to. I'm bound by law to go." Sarah tried to hold back her tears. Sam had already been gone for weeks. She knew his job, and she hated it.
As Sam packed up everything he would need for a week, he noticed something in the corner. The Gamecube? I haven't played with this in years. Opening the box, it all came back to him. Me and my buddies used to play this so long ago.
He put together all his belongings he'd need and flung them into his gym bag. He then went to Sarah. "Sarah, you know that I love you, " he said as sweetly as he could while he stroked her blonde hair. After she had gotten over her crying, she said, "Yes, dad. I love you too." After embracing each other, Sam left out the door, climbed in his car, and drove off.
Sam sighed again, feeling annoyed and dumbstruck. His road trip would last an hour, stop at a military base, then he would fly by plane to Washington. Along the way, he thought about what Lambert had told him. Of all people, why would Lambert believe this could ever succeed. He's the most reason-dependant person I know. Lambert had sent Sam the data on his OPSAT. Sam plugged it into his car, then pushed a button on the steering wheel.
A Heads Up Display appeared before him, in which he read the data while he drove. He read on, Laboratory... Sealed Container... Valid DNA... Not human; in fact not a match to any other DNA on record. Sam smirked. Logical, somewhat, he sarcastically thought. Next he found the government funding grant. We hereby issue Four Billion Dollars (4B) to fund this project... To be paid towards anything which it requires... Sam read.
By this time Sam was very curious about the DNA and how he would participate once he got there. By the time he arrived at the airport it was getting dark. The Blackbird, Sam's ride, stood waiting. It was a rare sight to see the one hundred fifteen foot long aircraft ready to run in the hangar. The military barely flew them anymore. "Hey there. You must be Sam Fisher," said a man who walked up to him. "In the flesh," Sam responded. "I'm the guy who's going to be flying you. I assume you've flown in one of these beasts before?" "I've been around the area in them, once or twice." The man laughed. "You can call me Trent. Well, get ready, we'll be heading out as soon as you're set." Sam grinned. He knew what to do.
-Chapter 2 Part 2: Closing In -----
As they were taxiing out onto the runway, Sam listened to the roar of the two monstrous engines. Trent radioed in to the tower. "Tower five, This is Epsilon Alpha Gamma Lambda Epsilon One. We are ready to taxi, straight out departure." After waiting for half a minute, the two heard a response from the tower. "Eagle One, this is Tower Five. Taxi to and hold short on runway five. Contact departure tower on 125.5 when ready." "Roger that tower five, over and out." "Ten Four."
"So, Trent, how fast will we be going." Trent thought for a moment, and said, "The speed of the Blackbird is classified, but since you're sitting next to the speedometer, I might as well tell you. We will be traveling at Mock 5." "Mock 5?!? No way." "Do not underestimate the power of this aircraft, Mister Fisher," Trent responded in a somewhat angered but prideful tone.
They continued to taxi through the base. Everywhere they went, heads turned and people talked. Many waved too. Once they were to their destination, Trent contacted the departure tower. "Departure tower, this is Eagle One. Ready to take off, runway five." A man replied: "This is departure tower. You are cleared to take off via IFR departure. It's an honor to see the Blackbird up and running." "It sure is. Ten Four."
Sam and Trent began to talk to each other by radio since the roar of the engines was now up to a deafening level. "Here we go!" Trent yelled as he pushed forward on the throttle. First the left engine sparked, then the right. Immediately following, the two daredevils were pushed back into their seats by a sudden stream of pure acceleration.
When they reached 200 MPH, as Sam could tell by looking at the speedometer, Trent pulled back on the stick. They lifted off the ground, and climbed at an astonishing speed. "This blackbird is equipped with more fuel efficient, faster engines, an improved artificial atmosphere system, and a totally redesigned cockpit," Trent beamed. "Yeah, I can tell that from the engines, I'm still pinned to my seat," replied Sam, trying desperately not to black out from the G forces of their pitch changes.
They continued to accelerate. "We just passed mach four." Trent said to himself. "Faster than a rifle bullet," commented Sam. When they leveled out at mach five, Sam felt relieved. It had only taken them four minutes to ahnilate the sound barrier and cruise at their current speed.
While traveling, Sam thought about the daunting task ahead of him. Still having his doubts, he decided that if the government said yes, and Sam wasn't paying for it with his own money, then he didn't have much of a problem.
-Chapter 2 Part 3: Getting Acquainted-----
Sam walked into the US research headquarters, forty six minutes early, his skin still blushed from his joyride. Lambert had not even arrived yet. After sitting at a bench for fifteen or so, Lambert walked in. "Sam Fisher; I can't believe you beat me here." Fisher, humorously but honestly said, "I like to be early." "Let's put all joking aside, Fisher. I have taken the liberty to assemble a team of the best scientists the US has to offer. Follow me," said he as he punched some buttons on a nearby control panel.
They passed about five doors, and many different metal impact doors, and things of the such. Next they walked over a large bridge that crossed a deep pit, then down a flight of stairs that seemed to drop down at least ten stories. Finally, after opening another door, Sam saw that the structure was similar to a large bunker.
He followed Lambert into yet another room. Opening another airtight door, this time via retinal scanner, Sam met his crew. Four people were standing around idle, three male, and one female. The youngest male hospitably said, "Hello, you must be..."
"You can get to know each other later," interrupted Lambert. "Get situated first." "Yes, of course," said the oldest. Turning to Sam, he said, "you can put your things in the room to your right, then we will have a look at what we must do." During this time, Lambert slipped out, and closed the door, unnoticed.
-Chapter 2 Part 3: The Procedure-----
It was hard not to laugh at some of the things that scientist told me. Half of the stuff he said we'd be using sounded like it came right out of Star Wars. The female scientist turned around, and asked me, "Sam-you specialize in CPR, right?" I took hold of this opportunity to boast about some of my talents. "Yes, I am. Quite a few times I have saved people's lives because of it," I beamed. She seemed uninterested, and returned to doing whatever she had been doing.
The woman scientist suddenly blurted, "So, in the meantime, why don't we introduce ourselves?" I smirked and replied, in my monotone voice, "because I'm hungry." "Funny Sam-real funny." She replied. "My name is Samantha." She bowed to Sam. "My name," the youngest, most energetic scientist said, "is Mark." "I am Gordan," bellowed the middle-aged scientist. "And I," said the last and oldest, in a very stern and serious tone, "am Sean."
Sean adjusted his posture, while saying, "Alright, we're ready to get started. I ordered the items that we will be using, which I have just read to you Sam."
"So you have," I said plainly. "The trucks delivering them will be here in, say," he said as he looked at his watch, "just about... now." "New materials have arrived." blared an intercom. "Mark, Gordan, and Sam: follow me," said Sean.
He led the three of us out to a truck, where a crew of four men were hauling equipment off of it with a dolly. When Sean saw them, he was shocked, and sternly scolded them. "Why are you carrying that in with a dolly! This equipment is more delicate than you can comprehend!" The four movers looked at each other, then back at Sean. "What else should we use?" they asked. "Use your head," I interjected. "Eheheh, very funny Fisher," Mark sarcastically said.
In the end, the four helped us carry in the equipment by hand. This was not the easiest of tasks, however, since everyone else was not as physically fit as me. Finally, we moved everything inside the building. "Thank you, you four. You may leave," Sean said. All four men nodded, then left the area via truck. Samantha was holding a notepad, scribbling in some things. I heard her mumble, "Particle accelerator, fifty K. One thousand times zoom microscope, five K. Atomic microscope, twenty-five K..." She went on and on. Finally, all three of us men looked at her while she said,
"Alright. After accounting for everything so far, we have used fifty million dollars worth of technology-related items." Sean sternly nodded, Mark's eyes widened, and I copied Mark.
Three hours later, I was exhausted. We had been setting up equipment for the whole time. "That should do it for tonight," Mark said. "The room that you placed your things in will be yours," said Sean, in his ever serious voice. I followed him through a door into a small room, which had a bed and bathroom. I thanked Sean, then shooed him off. He walked out and began to close the door. Halfway through, he stopped and said in his typical monotone voice, "Goodnight, Fisher." When he had closed the door, I climbed into the bed, and prepared for sleep.
For maybe as long as ten minutes, I layed in bed, thinking. Will this work out? I thought. Everything else I thought about I did not remember, since I was soon sound asleep.
-Chapter 2 Part 4: Having Some Fun-----
My alarm buzzed early the next day at five thirty. My hand impulsively reached over and smacked the snooze button silly. Once again, it went off five minutes later. I grunted and fell out of the bed. Arg, forgot to turn off the alarm, I complained. Since I'm up, I might as well have some fun, I thought. I pulled my bag toward me, and felt around for my Gamecube.
Fortunately for me, I loved Gamecube. I remembered back to the time I received it. "I shall call him," I had said as I plugged it into the wall, then put my pinky up to my face, "Gamecube," and then let out a Dr. Evil laugh. Strangely enough, lightning had flashed in the background when I had said this.
I plugged it into an outlet, and pulled out my collection of games all packed away in CD cases. Pulling out Super Smash Bros Melee, I inserted it into my favorite console. I had begun by seeing the intro movie. Wow, this looks good, I thought. I first started a new single player game. I wish I had known of this sooner, I thought. Link, Mario, Bowser, Samus, Captain Falcon, and... Pikachu? At the thought of Pokemon I had remembered why I was where I was, and the project ahead of me. Oh well, we don't get started for another hour or two anyways. I chose Mario and hit the start button. Before I knew it, I had control of Mario.
It took me a while to get used to the controls. I always wanted to press A to jump, but had to keep on remembering that jump is tapping up on the stick. After making it through the first level in one piece, I fought Mario and his princess themselves. They slowly walked up to my Mario. Why do they not do anything, I thought. Suddenly, the Princess started to slap me silly, while the computer controlled Mario burned my Mario's butt to a crisp. 148% damage.
I flipped off the Gamecube's power, frustrated. I had no idea how to play it as of now, but that didn't matter to me. That game was good, and I will beat it-some other time, I thought. However, I had seen something else, too. I had seen a row of five question marks on the character screen. Five unlockable characters, and I had a suspicion of what one of them was... I stopped thinking about everything else except sleep, which quickly overpowered me when I got back in bed.
-Chapter 2 Part 5: Return to the Procedure-----
"Fisher, wake up, it's time to get started," I heard Mark say. "Five more minutes," I muttered as I turned over." "Alright, but don't overshoot it," Mark said, as he inconspicuously adjusted my alarm clock. Sure enough, five minutes later, I heard the most annoying sound in history. BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP It demanded that I woke up. If it was just a normal beeping noise, I'd be ok with it. However, this one was different. It had this "scratchy" feeling to it, which made it almost sound like a nightmare. My mind was the chalkboard, and it was the fingernails scraping against it. I quickly got up, slammed my alarm, fixed my hair, and left my room.
The four scientists were standing around a table, each in front of a monitor. Sean was holding a joystick. "Ok.. A little to the left... Higher... Stop... Oop, too much," I heard Gordan saying. I stood there watching them for a few seconds, until I hard Sean. He said, without looking away from the screen, "Fisher, there you are. We are picking out the DNA strands from the fluid. We need you to keep count as we collect them." I widened my eyes. "How many will you need?" Samantha, without looking up, calmly said, "Five Hundred." By this time, I expected almost any akward thing to happen; I nodded, and walked over to a fifth screen.
It seemed simple enough, just watch as the small things passed by the screen. I had a notebook sitting beside me. I opened to the first page, which was blank. I began tallying the strands I saw. "One," I declared.
We did this process for a long time, with the three scientists calling out positions and such. We had to have been there for at least five hours before Mark pulled out some sandwiches and passed them around. I was grateful for peanut butter and jelly, and found it quite filling.
For the next two days (of course, discluding sleeping and eating time), we did this boring thing over and over. "Four hundred seven," I said at five PM with boredom. "Strange, I can't find anymore DNA." Samantha said. I gasped. I couldn't have come thousands of miles and seen fifty million dollars spent for nothing. "Great," Mark said. "We've come too far to fail," Sean said. "We're going to have to take some DNA from one of us to complete the five hundred."
The four of them thought for a while, then looked at me. "Sam, you're it." Mark said, picking up a syringe with a needle sharp point. "What are you doing with that?" I nervously asked as I stepped back. "Just going to take a minor blood sample," Mark calmly said. "Well, fine. Just don't kill me," I said as I held out my hand, fearing the worst. He stuck that needle in pretty deep, and took a small bit of my blood away from me. Mark handed the syringe to Samantha, then she placed it inside of a container. "I've got the five hundredth. We're done," she said with a smile.
Mark and I shook hands, both of us equally grateful to be done with that. Sean stood there and slowly nodded, showing no emotion. "Don't get too excited yet," he said, "We have to make changes to the DNA, then mature it."
This process was more interesting. "The book," explained Samantha, "already contained information on which individual genes we will be modifying. It should only take us a few hours." Gordan took the test tube filled with the DNA, and put it into the gene splicing machine. On the screen appeared all the info they were looking for. Mark called out strange numbers and letters, while Sean entered them into the computer. "DX589. Book says change value to G13G1, but we've seen what happens in the movie. Let's go with G1331. DX306. Change value to G3333." This process only took about two hours, as there were not that many changes that needed to be made.
Finally the DNA was added to a test tube, and a green chemical was introduced. "Alright Sam, you're free to go for a month," Sean said. I nodded, as we shook hands. Then for once, I saw him smile. It was a small one, but it was unmistakable. Next I shook Samantha's hand. "I'll call you when we're ready for you to come back," Mark said as I shook his hand. Gordan just smiled and walked into another room.
As I walked out the door, my belongings in hand, I stopped to think about what had just happened to me. I had stayed for five nights, working on something that nobody even knew would succeed, let alone exist. As I stared at the bandage on my arm where Mark had put the needle in, fantasizing about what would happen, I snapped myself back to the real world. We will see if this turns out, I guess. I continued walking to the street, and signaled a taxi.
Well, that's Chapter two! I think I horribly screwed up the formatting on this chapter - I'll fix it when I've got more time. Once again, don't forget to drop a review: I don't know how I'm doing without 'em.