The Prototype, part One
by Styxx
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Galactic Terran Intelligence planetary research facility,
during the first Shivan invasion.

"What happened this time?" � heard Professor Grant, almost not believing that they could have known about it so quickly. The message was, as usual, voice only, and a standard GTI logo animation filled the small screen on his lab desk. The desk was full of papers, PDAs, schematics and drawings that ressembled complex molecules. A mug rested on one corner, some kind of mold already forming on the bottom. Grant didn�t even have time to drink his coffee anymore.

He was shaking with anxiety, but his terminal was also set to voice only. Pretending that he didn�t hear the initial message, Grant imagined what could he answer them this time. The project was running late, and the guys up there wanted some results soon. He had gave them too many excuses already. The fact that most of them were real didn�t matter at all.

"We know you�re listening, Professor. Answer it � what happened this time?"

Nathan Grant searched his desk frenetically, hoping that he could find a more plausible excuse than the truth. As usual, he didn�t.

"The same as most of the other times � the structure destabilized after the initial adjustment period. We are working on a solution, but it may take time" replied the Professor. He was gathering his breath to resume the explanation, but the voice from the other side interrupted him. They seemed to be even less happy than the usual this time, but he didn�t blame them. He very much, though, feared the consequences.

"We are giving you another two weeks, Professor. After that, a sanitation team will be dispatched. Lets hope that it does not reach this point" spoke the same voice again, just before closing the communications channel. The Professor was the only person at the lab that moment, so he would have to pass the news to the rest of the team. Most of them were resting, after another extremely long working shift. He decided to stay at the lab to clean up the mess left by their last 'prototype'.

He stared at the seemingly complex machinery that filled a wall to his left, and wondered � not for the first time � if he and his team were actually up to the task. At the beginning he had absolutely no doubt about it, but now his mind was not even near as resolute as that time. And it was so little time ago.

Project Visionnaire was the most advanced and complex genetic research being conducted anywhere on the Galactic Terran Alliance, or anywhere else for what he knew. It was, though, very prone to failures � and the military simply couldn�t understand that this kind of research is very delicate and time consuming. They thought that everything was like weapons research � just plug in a stronger power source, add a few heat sinks and you have a better weapon.

"Hmpf. Only if things were this simple" mumbled Grant. He had been working on this project for a few months now � the time of an eyeblink on his terms. If he had the freedom to specify the timetables he would add at least a few more years to all the deadlines. He remembered to curse the day when he was persuaded into this every single time he looked at the watch. Time was running faster than usual those days.

He considered the situation for a while, but then decided that an exhausted man cannot do a good job on judging anything. Back to his personal quarters, he dimmed the lights almost to the minimum setting, and turned on a soft music that he so much enjoyed. As the sound filled the room, he laid on the bed and started to examine every piece of furniture that surrounded him � just as he had done so many times. The light brown lamps on the sides of his bed, the paper-filled desk on the corner, the almost empty wardrobe taking the whole wall to his right.

For a while, Nathan wondered about that wardrobe. It was as empty as his life had became � all that mattered was to complete the project, as all that he needed was his standard white lab-coat. His white coat was his life. The project was his life. And, as the last comment by the voice on the other side of that commlink, failure to accomplish the project�s goals meant his death � and the death of his team.

As always, his eyes stalled for a while when passing over the books that were arranged on a shelf built directly into the wall. He usually took notice of an advanced genetics or medical science book, but this time he was surprised when he realized the book that was grabbing his attention. It was the Holy Bible.


The next morning, Nathan Grant � or simply Nate, as his fellow researchers used to call him � could only think about the previous night as he walked through the metallic corridors of the scientific complex. The walls were dark, covered by pipes and conduits, signs of corrosion appearing everywhere. He could no longer be bothered by the redish light that filled every passageway on that dreaded place.

During the whole time he had been there, he had never even noticed that Bible on his shelf. Actually, he didn�t even know that it was there. He had a rough night � trouble to get to sleep � too many things crossing his mind at the same time. The project, the deadlines, the consequences. His now so distant wife and only child, whom he so much wanted to see again. Work as a researcher for the Intelligence was way worse than he had ever imagined.

"I have some not so happy news today" announced him to the rest of the staff, just as he entered the main lab room. Everybody was already there � Nate was deliberately late, so he could say it right when he arrived � and every single person on the room stopped their current activities to listen to him. They knew that he wouldn�t seem that serious if the situation wasn�t really alarming.

"The guys up there are getting tired of our �lack of progress�, and are starting to make some rather harsh demands. I�ve been informed that if we don�t present any result in less than two weeks, this complex will receive the delightful visit of a GTI sanitation team" spoke the Professor. Everybody was almost in a shock state, except for Laz � his �second in command� there, whose full name was John Lazarus Elliot. He seemed strangely happy, in fact.

Laz didn�t say a single word, but instead turned back to his screens were he resumed work on the simulator.

"They knew right away about our latest failure, and things are getting ugly. We must double our efforts, and this may mean dropping some of the safety protocols. I hope you all understand � our lives are at risk either way, and everyone knew how it would be when joined the project" resumed Nate, as severe as he could get. He noticed, though, that all the attention now was directed towards Laz.

"Why in hell are you smiling? We are going to be killed here, if you didn�t understand it!" screamed Jude, one of the research assistants. She had always worried about it, specially after the stories that Laz had told her. And after the latest news, she was simply panicking.

"Die! Can you hear it? We are going to die here!" she repeated, as Nate walked towards Lazarus to have a private talk. He knew that Laz wouldn�t be acting like that for nothing, and he knew that he could trust him � at least more than he could trust any other person inside the lab at that moment. Lazarus had been working with him for over eight years by then, and together they had always reached their objectives. They were responsible for many of the recent breakthroughs in genetic engineering, and that was probably the reason why the GTI had bothered them so much to take charge of the project. Now they were being threatened with their own lifes.

As Nathan approached him, Laz turned around and, pointing to his computer screen, said a single sentence � with the same casual tone he used every time he knew he was right.

"Don�t worry chief, I have it all figured out."


The acceleration sequence was reaching it�s completion, and most of the team watched the indicators. They were at the acceleration lab, on the other side of the complex, that was directly linked to the huge particle accelerator that surrounded the entire area. The visible section of the accelerator was a huge, almost seamless, chromed metal cylinder that extended from wall to wall, crossing the room.

A series of computer terminals were attached to it, and a circular holographic display filled the center of the room � it was the center of all attention at that time. A graphic demonstration of the acceleration sequence was running on the display, showing a reaction that they would dismiss as completely impossible if they had heard about it an year earlier. Small spheres crossed the air in front of them, just as they had crossed so many times before. Everytime two of them shocked, a separate area of the display showed a still image of the collision, adding several items of data to the image.

The sequence was usually highly chaotic, generating a series of random, unconnected collisions. This time, though, everything seemed to work as a well-tuned clockwork. Shock after shock, particle after particle the tension grew � the whole team watching it in awe, witnessing a spectacle completely different from all the previous times.

As they so well knew, the main objective of the reaction was to insert a series of charged subparticles into the core of every single atom on a highly complex organic compound, without disintegrating the molecule. Watching it happening was wonderful, but the dark objectives of such a reaction casted a sinister shadow over their thoughts. Many of them now wondered if they really wanted to succeed, if it wouldn�t be better for mankind if they never left the prototype stage. There were just too many implications, too many ethical issues, too many blurred consequences.

The team awoke from it�s collective hypnosis as the computer played the distinc and familiar sound of a completed acceleration process. The sequence was over, and everyone rushed to the nearest monitoring terminal.

"Reaction completed, the compound is now charged and holding integrity" said Laz, almost shouting. He was not officially responsible for this procedure, but this time he was running the whole show. After all, he was the one who made the breakthrough. A small multi-layered door on the accelerator opened, and from it came a cylindric transparent vial, containing a glowing yellow liquid.

A robotic arm attached to the accelerator port picked up the vial and moved it to a small cylindric container. A digital display on it�s side indicated a temperature reading from the liquid. It quickly dropped from over twelve hundred degrees kelvin to a little more than fifty, and the numbers turned from red to green.

"Now we just have to make you work" whispered Laz to himself, as he used a protective glove to carry the small tube to the main lab.



continues...