The Experiment (8 page)

The real information?..

So what did this mean? All the things I had been going crazy thinking about for hours were lies as well? This was getting infuriating but I had to remain calm and appear to be perfectly normal. I didn’t want to cross Horus… Not yet anyway.

He led me back into this private lab and said. “I’m sure this goes without saying but I’m going to say it anyway… Classified, between us… tell no one, understand?”

I nodded.

He went on to explain that the ACI did in fact know what was on X-451 all along. The original unmanned
exploratory vessel had sent back images and video along with the data.

Little did he know I had already figured that out… At least he was starting to be honest with me now...

Though knowing that he’s telling me things no one else on the team knows started to really terrify me… At this point there was no asking to leave… I knew too much, and that’s probably exactly what he wanted…

Next, he admitted the real reason for attempting to advance their intelligence was to use them as miners.

“As large as the ship is, it’s mainly for storage, life support, water treatment and other things we need to survive. It would have been too large an undertaking to transport enough people and equipment to complete the task in any reasonable amount of time.”

He even admitted they already knew the chrysos would be difficult to mine. With the lack of man power and equipment, the real timeline was more like ten to twelve years.

Apparently the plan was going to be cancelled until Horus came up with the idea to give the primitive inhabitants just enough intelligence to be useful workers… Though really I was thinking the word “slaves” would be more appropriate.

So basically, he and his team were going to torture and murder people with experiments only to use them as slaves... While I watched… It was one of the
most horrible things I had ever heard…

I couldn’t believe I was standing there having someone explain it to me as if it were the greatest idea in the history of mankind. I was so sure that if the people of the outside zones heard they’d either have to wait another six years or allow this to happen, they would chose to wait... Wouldn’t any decent person?

Then it hit me… Maybe it was all about money. The ACI didn’t actually care about the people outside the safe zones; they were only preventing wars and protecting themselves. Also, if they could mine extra chrysos they would have one of the rarest and most valuable substances on Aeris.

Maybe that’s what all this was about… money and influence over Aeris. Was Horus just a pawn too?.. Whatever he was, he disgusted me and I knew I couldn’t believe anything he said.

I also had to keep reminding myself that people who would do this are capable of anything and that life means nothing to them…

“We’ve actually been doing genetic enhancement trials on paid volunteers for years now. I believe I can create the start of an active workforce in less than a year. Within two years, I’ll have hundreds or even thousands working alongside the mining division.”

He coughed. “Once I perfect the process, we can do it on a mass scale without harming them.”

I stopped him and asked “What if they get so
intelligent that they fight back and refuse to be slaves?”

He was silent for several moments “If we have to instill fear to get them to work we will… This is too important Atlas. Aeris could break out into war at any moment. Millions of lives would be lost, the Capital could be destroyed. We can’t risk that.”

I wanted to ask more questions but I worried that it would make me look suspicious so I didn’t.

I didn’t buy the reasoning he presented me. They already knew there was chrysos, therefore the mission will be a success unless we don’t make it home… They could have sent a second ship with more miners… There was still a lot more to all this…

The information alone should be more than enough to prevent war. Plus if the outside zones unite and the Capital is destroyed, along with its scientists and technology, the chance for everyone to be saved would be lost.

…He was obviously still lying to me, but at least I got some truth. I got enough to partially figure out what was really going on here.

Horus also casually suggested they would harm the natives if they didn’t comply; this most definitely meant I should fear for my life. I had to be meticulous about my actions and behavior from this point on. I had to offer full support and not question anything while I figured out what I was going to do about this.
If the ACI would attempt to enslave a race and then use violence to punish their refusal… They were dangerous… They were inhuman…

“I know you must be wondering what you’re doing here… Believe it or not you can help. If you simply do exactly as I say, everything will be fine. I’ll never have you do anything I don’t think you can handle... You can even leave the room if things get a little too messy. I understand that not being a scientist you aren’t used to things like surgeries or blood... So when that type of thing takes place I’ll allow you to step out… As long as I don’t absolutely need your assistance. I’d rather not have any of the other scientists know what goes on in my private lab. Only you.”

Even though what he just said had me in a state of pure shock and terror, I had to act like I appreciated it and was ready to start. It wasn’t easy. What I really wanted to do was go get Sara and Kayin so we could run away… but there was nowhere to go.

Even if we somehow escaped down to the planet they’d find us. I was absolutely powerless… All of us were, and that’s exactly the way they wanted it...

He continued - a look of immense satisfaction and downright joy on his face the entire time.

“I received word right before I came and got you. They’ve acquired the first eleven subjects and will be here with them any minute. So get ready to work, we
have no time to waste... I’ll also expect long hours out of everyone; especially you... This is no normal job; we’re trying to save the world.”

I nodded and said “I understand. I’ll do whatever it takes… I don’t sleep much anyway. Never have.”

He smiled and put his hand on my shoulder “Too bad your parents couldn’t afford the science academy, maybe if things go well we could get you in once you’re back. Then you’d be one of us. Sound good?”

While that would have made me break into tears yesterday, today I only saw it as yet another lie. I had already figured out he was playing on my emotions and personal interests. I just had to allow him to think it was working…

I smiled and tried to look eager. “Of course!”

There was a knock on the door. Horus exploded with excitement and rushed over to open it.

Men with covered medical transports started coming in one by one. Eleven in total, one for each team and then one for Horus’ private lab... Then they left without saying a word and closed the door behind them.

I could see the shapes under the sheets, they were just like us. I bet they weren’t even as far behind on the evolutionary chain as he claimed...

As soon as we entered his personal lab I began to feel sick, I even thought of doing something to stop
him. I just had to shut up and pretend I wasn’t feeling this. If I did anything, I’d just get myself killed.

Horus walked over and removed the sheet… He was lying… the man looked too close to us. If Horus were telling the truth he would have a protruding brow and substantially more hair; he would also be shorter, have a much broader jaw and a lot more muscle mass.

He was right on the brink of what we are, this was a person. His only fault was not being able to speak out or defend himself against our military… In reality, it didn’t matter what stage of evolution they were in… This was wrong… It was evil…

I began to feel enraged; I could actually feel a blistering heat building up in the center of my body… I felt my fists start to clench and my right eye begin to slightly twitch…

It literally took everything in me not to try and kill Horus and start setting them all free... There were plenty of things lying around I could use as a weapon... I had to snap myself out of it and just concentrate on controlling my emotions…

I stood there and repeated in my mind, over and over again “it won’t accomplish anything.”

Horus began examining him, looking at his hands, eyes, and feet. He used his thumb and index finger to force open the man’s eyelid… He wasn’t even gentle…

Then he walked across the room and pulled out a
vile and an injector. He used to the vile to fill the injector and without hesitation, walked right back over and injected the man in the neck.

He turned to me “I’ll try and explain this as best I can…This is a semi-experimental drug that was developed during the species advancement trails done on Aeris. We were able to take a person and remove unwanted genetic traits. Things like baldness, organ dysfunctions, poor eye sight, etc... Through this achievement came the addition of genetic traits. We were able to make people taller, produce more muscle, and live substantially longer. The final break through was being able to add approximately 20 points to the subjects intelligence tests over a treatment period of 3 months.”

I interjected and managed to calmly say “It sounds like you’ve already been successful, why did you say earlier that the first rounds of trials are likely to fail?”

“Due to the slight genetic differences, the first few rounds of subjects will basically be sacrifice groups. I have to inject them and allow the treatment to kill them in order to perform a study into why. Testing multiple subjects at once will simply make a quick outcome more likely.”

What he had described is a senseless reason to kill eleven of them at once, instead of just one. Simply to save time and money… He and whoever else planned this experiment were monsters… They really didn’t
value life at all…

The further I sank into this situation the more disturbing it was becoming… I was right on the brink of either breaking out into a panic, or a blind rage…

I heard the lab door open; the rest of the team had arrived. I saw Sara walk in but she didn’t even look in my direction.

Horus instructed me to go sit down with everyone. Then he stood up and gave another enthusiastic speech in the attempt to condone his actions; of course it was slightly different than what he had said to me.

He had to realize I knew he was a liar, that I couldn’t trust him, and that I wasn’t ok with all this… He just didn’t care, almost like he knew he had nothing to fear from my possible betrayal…

I could see Sara on the other side of the room. She still wouldn’t even glance over at me…

One by one he took each team into their assigned lab. I could only assume each time he went in one of those rooms another innocent person was being sentenced to death.

Whenever he was in with one of the teams, I would look at Sara and try to get her attention but she still refused to acknowledge me... This had to mean she was just that afraid. She had to know more than what she told me…

Eventually he had briefed everyone and motioned
for me to follow him into his private lab.

He callously started examining the man’s eyes again and said “Within the next hour we should see the subjects breathing rate increase substantially. Basically, the injection will be eating away at its cells and destroying the brain… As I said, the only way I can determine how to modify the treatment properly is to study the real time effects it has on the subject, especially the brain.”

As I listened to Horus talk, I realized he kept calling the man on the table “the subject” or “it”, as if he didn’t see him as living being. Horus truly was completely lacking compassion and any sense of morality…

He handed me a notebook and told me to sit down. I was to simply sit there, observe him, and write down everything he said.

Horus began wheeling over all these machines and laying wires all over the man. Then he turned to me – The same cold and devious look in his eyes.

“Well actually, I’m going to have to drill a few dozen small holes through his skull, so you can leave if you want. I’ll let you know when I’m done…It should only be a few minutes.”

I froze… I couldn’t believe what he just said to me… I was completely in shock…

He stared at me, and after a few seconds he said “Atlas, do you not want to leave?”

I heard the question but I still couldn’t react… I just stared back at him.

“Atlas, are you ok?”

“Y… Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking about something… I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet. I’ll step out.”

He nodded.

“I understand. It took me a long time to get used to this type of thing… It just comes with the job.”

I didn’t know how I was I going to be able to do this. How could I just stand there and let this happen? I was already in shock and it had only been a few minutes. I couldn’t help but feel like I was going to lose control at any moment and get myself killed…

Horus had no idea that there was a war taking place in my mind… And if one side of it overcomes the other, he was going to die…

When I left the room and closed the door behind me, my whole body was shaking. No matter how hard I tried to calm down I couldn’t…

As I stood outside the door I began to hear the drill. I tried a hundred different things to block out the sound but nothing worked... Eventually I just had to walk away. I went and sat down at the desk furthest away from the door, covered my ears and closed my eyes…

At that moment a symphony of evil broke loose… I could hear the sounds of drills starting to come from
all the rooms.

I thought I was going to lose my mind… I clenched my fists so tightly that it hurt my fingers. It was literally taking every ounce of my strength not to try and rescue all of them. I just had to keep telling myself there was nothing I could do… Yet…

I tried to think about Aeris and how much things could have changed during the five years I was in stasis... How different it would be once I finally made it back. If I did at all…

The surrounding cities could have gathered their strength and defeated The Capital by now. The home and the people I knew may no longer exist... We may return to nothing but chaos and destruction… Or the protective field could have ceased to operate by now and promoted peace…