Project REGEN

[Murcielago Neox]

It started as nothing more than an interview. A letter addressed to a Mr. Tjarro, indicating that I was to be interviewed at Landon’s, a nearby restaurant about a job for the government. I was eager, fresh out of College and optimistic about my opportunity. The interview, if you could call it one, was brief; three questions were asked: Are you KC Tjarro? Did you major in Bio-genetics? When are you next available?

Such a short process, I had feared I was doomed to rejection, that perhaps I had been mistaken for another. And yet the next day three men arrived on my doorstep. They asked no questions, simply told me to go with them, and put me in their car.

I was hired, or rather assigned, to be head of a government project. It was a Research and Development project and I was offered three checks: One for accepting, one for when I produced my first results, and one for when the project was finished. I had previously been unaware that so many zeros could fit on a check, and with little thought I accepted the job regardless of the core feeling in my gut that had I refused I would have been forced in some way into this mess. Three weeks later I was flown to Arizona, the exact location I dare not divulge. It started out well; I was the boss, the big man, with over three hundred underlings, all like me: fresh form school and hopeful.

On December 3, 2003 we began our work on project REGEN. We had three volunteer subjects, four thousand species of animal in reserve for study, and all the time in the world.

On January 18, 2004 we isolated over thirty chemicals that we could use in our project, substances that when present in an animal allowed them to regenerate lost or dead tissue at a rate superior to a human’s ability. We began with an agent found in Hyenas, processed it, studied it, and produced a serum that we affectionately called CURE-01.

We chose one of the subjects, a man named Erdno Szoro, and he was happy to be the first person to undergo what would soon be the end of our government project, and the beginning of what was once considered the future. On that sunny morning of February the third, in the year 2004, all our lives changed.

I stood before a vast array of monitors, scientists and analysts, gazing in a mix of hope and anxiety at Erdno Szoro, or what he later was called Subject 001-T of project REGEN. He looked calm, hopeful, and exited as he lay on the table, disregarding the fact that he was being restrained, he had to be still after all, considering the machinery we were using had to be precise. The room was cleared of all personnel and he was left alone as the lights came on and I pressed the button which engaged the intercom system.

“We’re ready to begin Ed, just relax.” I told him, unaware of the hell that would ensue. He gave me a smile and an attempt at a thumbs-up, which failed due to the restraint of his wrist. I nodded and smiled for what would be the last time for god only knows how long. I signaled to the man on my right and he input the execution code for the first stage.

Eleven people, including myself watched as a mechanical arm swerved into view, positioning itself over Ed and halting as once again I used the intercom. “This will sting a little but remain as still as you can. Another nod from Ed. I nodded and signaled once more to the man to my right. The arm then fired a laser which connected with Ed’s right arm, the discomfort on his face was plain and I remember wincing a bit as I watched the beam slide across his bicep, severing flesh and tissue with such precision that there was almost no blood.

“We’re beginning stage two.” I told Ed. He did not nod.

Another signal and a separate arm swerved into view and promptly injected Ed with CURE-01. He seemed to flinch and his breathing, which had already begun to quicken, now turned into a light panting. We waited exactly thirteen seconds before the monitors began to spew data. Three analysts immediately began crunching numbers and another reported what was happening, a redundant convenience since everyone was staring as the wound on Ed’s arm began to lighten, sealing almost instantly before our eyes. My excitement welled and I was about to relay the good news to Ed before another report came through.

“Sir, there’s an unusual rise in subject’s blood pressure.” Insignificant, expected, nothing really worth reporting….or so I thought. “Current pulse is at 56 over 80.” Very important.

I was about to ask what was going on before another monitor caught my eye, Ed’s cells under a micro camera, the cells were still multiplying, but outside of where the tissue ended. I looked to Ed and noticed he was twitching, heard his scream, watched as some gross, obscene formation crawled along his arm, coating it, surrounding tissue and spreading along his arm, now beginning to cover his chest.

He began to scream as his face began to deform, shouting started among the scientists around me as I stared, too astonished to speak as his face elongated and bulged out, the gross plating covering him like the husk of an insect. The snap of his restraints made me take an involuntary step back. The animalistic roar of pain forced yet another, and the sight of a tail snaking out from behind Ed made my jaw drop.

I watched as Ed turned into some unrecognizable creature, some features of the hyena were seen, but the skin was instead the hard, plate-like formation. I heard the snap of muscle and sinew as Ed tore away from the table and barreled through several feet of concrete wall and vanished from sight.

I stayed motionless, dumbfounded as several people rushed past me out into the hallways, heard their screams as subject 001-T killed them, snapping them like sticks and then crashed through yet another wall.

Three hours later, it was reported that subject 001-T had gotten out of the facility, thirteen witnesses were counted and I let the Head of Security rap out orders to retrieve said witnesses. Listened as twenty-three casualties were reported, and the news that subject 001-T had been retrieved and was now in containment, one that had previously been used for the Bovine materials and storage for some documents regarding some abnormalities in a previously discarded serum.

I personally filed the report to the US government stating that the project was being terminated, had it sent, and then called a meeting of every Head of every department in project REGEN.

Three hours later, it was agreed that we would make a subtle and secret change in some funding programs for the project and we looked to one another with emotionless determination as we left to carry out our jobs.

I remember going to my office and working on the paperwork for the start of project KAIRO, and spent the better part of thirteen hours thinking on what we had done. This was beyond any law we could imagine. We had, with the best intentions, done the most horrible thing we had yet experienced. We WOULD find out what we had done wrong. We WOULD atone for the monstrosity we had created. We WOULD create the cure; the one thing we all believed would make everything better. What we did not know was that almost every one of us would die.

The two remaining volunteer subjects were released without explanation. Some of my closest friends that I had made since the beginning of our operation made some calls and we successfully routed materials and funds for our plans to our facility.

[Murcielago Neox]

btw, any comments or criticisms are welcome and encouraged