The Genesis Saga

Connor sat at his desk at wit’s end. “This doesn’t make any sense,” he cried in frustration. In the two months since Adrian’s arrival, Connor had spent hundreds of hours pouring over the results from their experiments. The dark circles under his eyes were a testament to his long hours spent working.

Surprisingly, Adrian woke back up after the experiment. It took a while before he was ready to stand again, but he survived. The same couldn’t be said for the other test subjects that were a part of the same experiment.

Ultimately, they had continued the experiment on Adrian over the span of several weeks. Each time, his condition improved slightly compared to the previous attempt. Ellie and Connor considered it a partial success, as Adrian was the only one to survive. It had been a costly experiment and the two researchers knew they were going to have to be more careful in the future.

The initial excitement at finding a compatible host for substance XN-05 had long since worn off. After years of failed experiments and more than a few ethically questionable decisions, Adrian represented the first positive sign that their theories were correct.

The only problem was that they couldn’t figure out why.

“I’m telling you, it must be something in his blood. It’s what the agent in XN-05 initially bound itself to when entering the host,” Ellie said, sipping her coffee after another long day of pouring over her notes.

“We’ve checked his bloodwork countless times, there’s nothing special about it. Sure, he’s O-negative, but why did it fail on all the other subjects with that blood type before him?”

Ellie rubbed her temples, “I don’t know either. Clearly there’s something there that makes him different.”

The two scientists continued to exchange ideas but not coming to a clear answer to as to why Adrian was able to be the host while the others weren’t.

“Jory wants results, Ellie. If we don’t present him with something, our funding will get cut.”

Ellie’s face turned sour. “Of course he wants results. What, does he think that the answers to all of our problems just magically appear in our laps? No! We need time to figure this out.”

“We’re out of time. If we don’t learn something new we’re toast.”

Ellie spun around in her chair, the wheels squeaking in protest. “What if we’ve been going about this all wrong,” she said thoughtfully.

“If you have any ideas, I’m listening.”

“Subject 008 is the first person to act as a host to the nanites we’re trying to inject them with. What if we piggyback off of the success and try to introduce those nanites into the other subjects?”

“So you’re suggesting what, a blood transfusion?” Connor asked, bewildered.

“Exactly. Maybe we can trick the nanites into accepting another host if we transplant the ones that have already been proven to work.”

“That just might work.” Connor hummed.

***

Adrian thought back to the last time he’d been brought to a new room. That experience ended in pain and misery. He looked warily at the equipment in front of him, trying to puzzle out what was going to happen next.

There were two chairs separated by a small table that held various needles and tubes. Unfortunately for Adrian, he was not a medical expert and wasn’t exactly sure what the equipment was used for.

Gathered along the side wall were four other test subjects, one of which was Stanley. This was the first time that the two had been a part of the same experiment. The uneasy expression on Stanley’s face did little to inspire confidence in Adrian. The other test subjects appeared to be just as lost and confused.

Ellie, Connor and two other researchers were busy setting up the equipment while they waited. They had been assured that it wouldn’t be much longer before they began. Connor and one of the other researchers were debating about the need for restraints to be placed on the chairs.

“They’re not going to need restraints, Christian.”

“We don’t know what kind of effect this is going to have on them. What if they move around too much and damage the equipment?”

“We have a spare set of equipment. Stop worrying.”

Christian stormed out of the room and returned several minutes later holding a white bag. He lay it on the ground in a corner of the room and said “Here, just in case we need them.”

Connor rolled his eyes.

Finally, the researchers were done preparing the equipment and turned to face the group of test subjects.

“Subject 008, come and sit here,” Ellie said, pointing to the chair on the left.

Reluctantly, Adrian made his way over the chair and sat down.

“Now then, Subject 003, please sit in the other chair.”

A large, heavyset man with bushy eyebrows lumbered over and sat down in the free chair, the chair straining under the weight. The large man barely fit in the chair and shifted uncomfortably.

Ellie walked over from her computer with a small tablet in hand. She tapped at the screen several times, before passing it off to the nameless researcher. Smoothly, she inserted a needle into Adrian’s arm and then proceeded to do the same to the man. “If we’re ready to go, I’ll start the first experiment. Initiating blood transfusion from Subject 008 to Subject 003,” she called out to her assistant, who began recording the procedure on the tablet.

Adrian watched as blood entered the tubes from his arm and made its way over to the man before entering his bloodstream. Several minutes passed by as Adrian’s blood ever so slowly flowed into the larger man.

The man beside him let out a cough, his arms trembling as he did so. The trembling gradually got worse until he began to thrash around in his chair.

Then the screaming began.

The man howled in pain like a wounded animal. His cries rose in pitch as pure agony escaped from his lungs, filling the room. His thrashing got worse until he eventually ripped the tube from his own arm, blood splattering over the table and the floor. Ellie rushed to stop the transfusion process, the remaining blood dripping out of the tubes.

The man threw himself out of the chair and onto the floor, clawing all over his body. His nails left deep gouges in his skin and his once white clothes were soon stained with blood. All the while, his cries filled the room.

The researchers and test subjects alike plugged their ears, doing their best to lessen the sound. Adrian had to look away from the scene, unable to watch the man as blood now flowed from his eyes, leaving red streak marks down the sides of his face.

The researcher with the tablet moved closer to better record the phenomenon, zooming in on his face to capture his tears of blood.

Finally, the man stopped screaming. Adrian looked over, thinking that the man had died, only to find him still alive and thrashing on the ground. He screamed mutely, his expression one of pure pain as his eyes remained wide open, flooded with blood. Adrian looked away again.

Eventually, the thrashing stopped, and the man stilled. He was dead.

Christian hesitantly walked over to the man and checked his pulse for any sign of life. Shaking his head, he declared “Subject 003 expired due to,” he searched for the right words “traumatic shock,” he said finally.

“Perhaps we should have started with a smaller person,” Connor hummed. He joined Christian next to the body and together they moved it out of the way and placed it off to the side, to be disposed of later.

Christian tucked a strand of his long blonde hair behind his ear. “Looks like we’re going to need the restraints after all,” he said smugly. “Jory won’t be happy if that equipment gets damaged. You know how hard it is to get replacements all the way out here.”

“Relax, I’m sure the equipment is fine.” Connor looked over to the blood stains on the floor. “Mostly fine,” he amended.

“Next experiment then. Subject 004, please have a seat.”

One of the women in line jumped at hearing her name called. Adrian recognized her as the thin, mousy woman that he had met the first time he had to give blood, before the experiments started. Her name was Katie, if he recalled correctly.

“No!” she squeaked, trembling. “You can’t make me do that,” she said hysterically. “Pick something else, anything else,” she begged. Her eyes darted around the room as she looked for a way to escape.

Sighing, Christian took a small remote out of his pocket and pushed the button on it. The doors to the room opened several seconds later and two guards came rushing in, blocking the woman when she ran into them in an attempt to get away.

“No, let me go!” she yelled, struggling in vain as she tried to free herself from their grasp. “You can’t do this to me. Please,” she cried.

“Hold her there while we set up the restraints. Then help us get her tied up to the chair,” Christian asked the guards. They nodded in affirmation, tightening their grip on the woman.

Christian and Connor quickly got to work, taking the restraints out of their bag and fastening them onto the chair. Adrian hadn’t noticed the clips on the bottom of the chair’s arms that the restraints were attached to. He quickly checked his on chair and found the same empty slots, waiting for their own restraints to be attached.

Christian turned to Adrian. “Will we be needing to tie you down as well, or will you cooperate?”

“I’m good,” Adrian said quickly, doing his best to appear obedient lest they tie him up as well. Christian stared at Adrian before finally nodding.

“Fine, we’ll leave you untied for now.”

The two guards dragged the woman, who was kicking and screaming, into the chair next to Adrian and tied her down. Once both of her arms were restrained, they went to work at tying her legs down. She tried to kick the guards away, only for them to catch her legs and pin them to the chair.

Despite being restrained, the woman still struggled frantically to get free. The restraints refused to budge, despite her best efforts. The researchers left her there alone until she tired herself out, succumbing to the inevitable. She could only hope that she wouldn’t end up like the last person.

Ellie checked on the equipment and declared it to still be functional. She inserted the needle into the woman’s arm and began the second experiment.

It took even less time for the woman to begin to cry out in pain.

“Oh god,” she screamed. “Oh god, oh god, ohgodohgodohgod,” she repeated hysterically. Tears began flowing down her cheeks. “It hurts so much. Make it stop. Please make it stop. PLEASE,” she wailed.

Her wishes fell on deaf ears and her pleas continued. They eventually turned into screams of anguish as she moved against her restraints, trying anything she could to distract herself from the pain. The woman howled and howled as the researchers did nothing to alleviate her suffering.

“Kill,” she choked between screams, “me. Just kill me,” she begged.

The screams continued as minutes passed, her voice turning hoarse from the abuse. Her voice finally gave out and all that was left were her death throes against her restraints. Adrian couldn’t bring himself look away from the woman, knowing that something in his blood had caused this reaction. The first time might have been a coincidence. Now he was certain of it. He was the reason she was dying.

The thrashing abated and the woman stopped breathing, her eyes glassing over as they remained open and unseeing. Adrian knew she was dead as he watched her head loll. He looked over to the researchers. Even they seemed a little green after watching another subject die so horribly.

“At least this one didn’t cause a mess,” Ellie said as she stopped the transfusion process and undid the restraints. She called for Connor and Christian to move the body out of the chair for her. Her body was placed carelessly on top of the man’s in the corner.

The third experiment passed by much in the same manner, the second woman’s body adding to the growing pile on the floor.

“This is getting nowhere,” Connor growled. “All we’re doing is throwing away valuable resources,” he said to Ellie, pointing at the bodies.

“We have one more experiment to do.”

“To hell with the last experiment. We can’t afford to kill any more people, Ellie.”

“One more,” Ellie pleaded. “We have one last theory to test and then we’re done. What’s one more at this point?”

“You said that with the last experiment and look where it got us. If this doesn’t work, we’re well and truly screwed.”

“Then we’ll just have to make it work,” Ellie said adamantly.

Stanley was sitting on the floor, a despondent expression on his face. He saw what happened to the others and was under no illusions as to what his fate was going to be. Internally, he lamented that this was how he was going to die.

“Subject 011, please have a seat,” came his death sentence.

Stanley stood up and sat down in the murder chair, as he’d dubbed it. He watched with a detached expression as Ellie inserted the needle into his arm and started the blood transfusion. He looked over to Adrian and absentmindedly noted that he was beginning to look a little pale, probably due to the blood loss.

At first, nothing was wrong. Then he began to feel the pain. It felt as if a million insects were eating him alive from the inside. Nowhere was safe. All over his body, the pain spread. With each passing second, it got worse.

He cried out.

He strained against his restraints, but to no avail. His back arched as he moved the only part of his body that wasn’t tied down. His screams grew in volume, joining the chorus of anguish his predecessors had sung.

Time passed in a haze until eventually, to his surprise, his pain began to lessen. His screams slowly stopped, leading the researchers to believe that he too had died. But his breathing continued. Laboured and ragged, Stanley forced the air into his lungs, each breath a relief against the searing pain he had known just moments ago.

Seeing this the researchers grew excited. Stanley had lived. Their experiment was a success. They had found another host for substance XN-05.

Stanley sat limply in his chair, not having the energy to move. He was dimly aware of Ellie stopping the transfusion and had no recollection of his restraints being removed. His vision cleared and he weakly stood up.

He and Adrian were escorted back to their rooms, each lamenting the results of the experiment while the researchers celebrated.

***

The nurse pushed pause on the video that played on the screen in front of her. The contents of a manila folder lay splayed out over her desk. In her hands was a document describing the results of the new experiment. On the front page was a picture of Stanley.

She smiled a Cheshire grin as she reread the results.

“It looks like we have a use for you after all.”