NAME?

The reason I call her my reason for living, that girl who was kept in the room across from me, the only other room in that underground floor, who I watched grow, that girl, she was engineered with me in mind. And I was engineered with her in mind.

This girl, she wasn't manipulated by gene therapy like I was. No, she was grown artificially altogether. She is my counterpart in that I'm her guardian. I was given this power for one thing: to protect her from harm. She couldn't exist like me, gene therapy affect the brain above all else, which is why I can't remember anything about my life before I went through the treatment. I don't even know if I was chosen or if I volunteered.

The brain of this girl, is too important to take that kind of risk.

Thing is, this girl knows everything that could be of use to anyone. Which is to say, she knows everything. The details of how the scientists accomplished this is as useless a detail as it is a mystery to me. All I know is the scientists developed some way of harnessing the mass consciousness of everyone on earth. Somehow, everything was learned.

This didn't make her a genius, however. She still had the developmental capacity of a ten-year-old girl. She wouldn't be able to harness that knowledge until she was old enough to understand it.

That is to say, a girl with her mind would know every detail of every animal, but she wouldn't know what it means to be an animal, compared to a human. She wouldn't know what it would mean to live or die, for that manner.

To be exact, at the time I was awakened, when she was ten years old, she seemed to have the developmental capacity of a seven-year-old girl. She wouldn't even speak a word to me until after we had spent years together. It must have because of her lack of human contact, or maybe because of her genetic manipulation. It's not really important why.

The point is, I had to take care of her until she would be able to harness that knowledge and save mankind. Humans are fallible imperfect creatures. I, the perfect guardian and her, the only true innocent were mankind's final hope.

So I assumed my role that day. I had no name that I knew of, so I looked for one. I couldn't very well go in there and introduce myself without one. I looked around the chamber I awoke in, but didn't find any real name. Serial numbers, codes, warning labels. I did find one promising plate riveted to the base of the chamber. It said "Geist Project" on it. That was as good as any, as far as I knew. She would later tell me that it wasn't a cute name at all.

"I'm Geist" I said, after a lifetime of watching her. "Don't be scared. I'm here to help you."

I spoke as slowly and as gently as I could. I looked the part, but I was afraid my voice was still too grizzled to fool her. She didn't make a move, and kept her gaze steady.

This awkward period lasted over a year, then she began to trust me.

That day, she wouldn't take a step towards me. It wasn't until hours later, when she realized her meal would not be brought to her at the appointed time, that she moved enough to show me with her hands that she was hungry.

She followed me to the cafeteria, a few dozen feet behind. It was a fine arrangement, because by the time we set out, the Belgians had long since discovered their fallen comrades and had set out to find their killer, me.

With the girl far behind, I took care of an hostile soldier that came my way. I tried my best to hide bloodshed, for her sake.

We ate and didn't speak. This routine continued for many months ahead.

During our time together, we broke the monotony by keeping busy. She played. I trained, read, and continually figured out new ways to keep her safety assured.

Ten at the time of our meeting, by the time she was twelve, we were like father and daughter. Most people would have reached this stage in mere weeks, but we were different.

At fourteen, she was caught up, developmentally, to girls her own age, by my efforts. She wanted to be enrolled in a regular high school. If I hadn't feared for her sanity, being caged up with me like she was, I wouldn't have allowed it. An insane girl can hardly use her vast knowledge suitably. We went abroad to England, and put her in school there because nobody would know about her there, but I stayed nearby while she was in class just to be safe.

That routine continued until she finished college. Then she got a job in some office. I stayed nearby always. Even when she started a family of her own, I lived nearby, just in case.

Every day was anticipation, waiting for the time when her latent knowledge would be unleashed for the sake of mankind.

We lived this way for decades, until she died at the age of 85. It was cancer, I couldn't do anything to prevent her death. I mourned for a few days, wondered what would happen next for a few more, and contemplated my own purpose for even more.

I was sitting in my own apartment, a few doors down from where she lived so soon before. The TV turned up loud to drown out the noise of my last moments, I saw something that saved me. I realized my purpose just then. I lowered my sidearm and left to find the true "one."