Chapter 18 - Homo liberatur

A myriad of thoughts went through Adrian’s head as he gazed back into that innocent woman’s face that bloomed like a lily. Focusing in on her charming lips and the cheeks that glowed with a rosy hue, he couldn’t help but smile in return. As a man, what other response would be more appropriate in the face of such beauty? Adrian was glad that he could incorporate her into his plans. If she went down a regular life path, one that made her disappear into the abyss of the modern workforce, it would truly be an utter waste.

On the other hand, he was worried about some of the crew that was coming in now. Raide had dictated several observation sessions to him while he was training that went over the daily lives and psychological discrepancies that the team was exhibiting. In particular, three stood out: Peter, Rich, and Heather. Nova was still on uncertain ground, but a few recent phone conversations had made him feel like he was making progress.

Excusing himself and leaving Inori to continue her tests with Raide, Adrian walked back towards the central elevator and then passed under the arches that led into his workshop area. Multiple tables and workbenches dotted the surroundings with assorted parts and machines covering their surfaces. On the walls were several large flat screens to act as monitors with which Raide could supply schematics or measurements for Adrian when he was constructing something. Robotic arms were also periodically spread about the room in a fashion that would allow them to reach every inch of the floor, tables, and benches.

Despite how cluttered it sounded, the entire area was immaculately organized. He knew that it couldn’t be the case that all roboticists were messy people, but Adrian had almost strangled someone back in college when he went to the shared lab for roboticists to take a look. There must have been two dozen half-completed robots lying around, abandoned and forgotten by past students. Parts and antiquated motherboards were a common sight.

Just the memory made Adrian’s left eye twitch. And he couldn’t touch any of it. He was only a software engineering student after all, so he had no authority on the state of the robotics students’ lab. After the experience though, he vowed that he wouldn’t perpetuate that stereotype.

Striding over to a comfortable rolling chair, Adrian sat down in front of a stainless steel desk that was facing a wall adorned with a single large monitor. Not bothering to look at the screen, Adrian propped his feet up on desk and leaned back, lacing his fingers behind his head while saying, “Let’s take the time to go over the three before everyone gets here. What’s your opinion on Peter’s current state of mind?”

Raide appeared on the screen and mused, “You went for the most troubling one right off the bat. Well, he’s suffering from a violent psychosis that we apparently unlocked in him when we took him on the Envy raid. His level of brutality and bloodlust were even higher than yours, yet lacking the control aspect that you’re capable of. If you recall my report from two weeks ago, he nearly killed a woman by asphyxiation when the two were engaging in sex at his apartment.”

“I remember the report. Do you think he’s prone to sliding further or can we stabilize him? It’s hard to predict how his personality will cope with the genetic upgrade we’re about to put him through.”

Raide put on a thoughtful expression. “You’re right, we don’t have the ability yet to be able to know the effect of a genetic shift on one’s personality and tendencies. Since we’re already this far along though, I think we’ll be okay with guiding his thirst for battle and utilizing it.”

Adrian leaned over to grab a pair of vice-grips neatly placed beside a couple of parts and started playing with it. “Channeling, huh…” He paused. “I assume you’re thinking along the mercenary route, or maybe insert him into the military after the upgrade, like a sleeper cell?”

“Correct. The latter to be clear.”

“Very well. I guess the next step would be erasing his digital...”

Raide interrupted, “Footprint. Yeah, I got it. I’m actually already done. Any ties beyond attending the same alma mater have been altered. I was a little worried about the real estate agent who handled your lease the year you lived with him, Rich, and Quinn, but it turns out they only keep hard copies of agreements for three years. The digital version...well, I don’t need to mention what I’ve already done to those.”

Adrian could imagine. Even back when he was working on the model framework for Raide’s A.I., he’d already considered digitized paperwork a joke to manipulate. That was at the beginning of it all. Now, Raide most likely could do the code equivalent of sneezing and it equivocate hacking into their computers and changing the documents.

“Okay then, no more needs to be said. Next up, Rich.”

Raide chose his words a little more carefully since he knew how important he was to Adrian. “Honestly, he’s a mess. Not in the same realm as Peter, but rather that he’s underutilized and thus bored with life. The time you needed his help with the lab was probably the most invigorating action he’s been a part of yet, but now that you’ve been preoccupied with training, he fell from grace a bit.”

Adrian frowned. “Oh?”

Raide hesitated and then said slowly while chuckling, “Suffice it to say that he’s been making some poor choices with regards to women and alcohol. In my opinion, he’s showing all the signs of a genius bored with life and its prospects. I anticipate that the gene therapy will round him out nicely, so there’s not a high probability of his tendencies worsening. Judging from the combat data from the first mission though, he’s - as expected - more suitable to lab work, preferably the robotics projects.”

Adrian breathed in deeply and nodded while in contemplation. He knew better than anyone what Rich was like. He was both one of the smartest natural people he knew but also a borderline degenerate when he started drinking. Worse yet, he loved to drink. Again, right on the edge of being an alcoholic if the funds were there. Adrian’s eyebrows creased in consternation. He prayed that his friend would wake up as he had when he’d been through that hellish transformation. Speaking of which…

“Hey, will it be a phased process like it was for me? The upgrade I mean.”

Raide smirked on the screen. “Not quite. It’ll be like a walk in the park compared to the pain you had to endure. There’s only 3 stages, and we’ll have them under for the entirety of it.”

“Damnit. That really bugs me even though I know it shouldn’t…”

“Honestly sir, that’s because you’re an evil bastard,” Raide said sarcastically.

Adrian peered back at the monitor and then broke into laughter. “If I didn’t know that the technology couldn’t have allowed it, I would have thought you went back and pulled audio files from my time in high school.”

Raide deadpanned for a moment and then took out a clipboard on the screen. “So, adding your name to the therapy list….check.”

“Oh come on. It was just a few jokes that people took the wrong way….” Adrian trailed off and then switched subjects because he knew he was just digging a hole for himself. “Anyway, we’ll just have to wait and see on Rich. He’ll be invigorated when he starts working, I have no doubt. He’s a shoo-in for the lead engineer position, so we’ll just put him over all mechanical design and production.”

Raide tilted his head and then nodded. “Sounds like a plan.” He paused then moved on. “Next is Heather. I’ve been keeping an eye on her and she seems to be doing well…”

“But?”

“But I’ve managed to overhear a couple of conversations she’s had with herself out loud. Her motivations are completely emotional. She seems to think that if she’s dedicated and does well for you, she’ll have a chance at repairing your past relationship. It’s obvious from what she’s said that she’s regretful over what she did.”

Adrian went silent for a few seconds while thinking, then he asked while smiling bitterly, “I think I understand, but why does that make you worried? I mean, it’s pretty normal to do things based off of emotional motivations. ”

Raide, ever the fan of visuals, pulled up several brain scans and started speaking, “It’s exactly this motivation that gives me pause. Out of all the cerebral research data I’ve acquired that explores this area, I’ve been able to understand that while emotions can produce some of the strongest reactions in humans, they are also the least stable. This seems like a foregone conclusion to anyone that has any life experience, but it’s different to be confirmed by data for me.

This is a concrete red flag when it comes to our future operations. If she suddenly changes her mind one day because she falls in love with someone else, could she potentially renege on the vow to secrecy? Will she betray us because she no longer has the greatest emotional attachment anchoring her to our team? More likely, what if you rejected her outright and she had an explosive reaction? The amount of information she has would result in a cataclysmic breach of our ironclad information defense if she chose to jump the fence.

This isn’t to say that the guys aren’t capable of this as well, but that she is the one with the highest chance due to the romantic factor.”

Adrian shook his head, looking at the vice-grip still in his hands. “And what’s the probability?”

Raide tilted his head to the side. “1% if things are left as they are, with no movement on your part. It’s possible that this percentage may rise over time if she were to become dissatisfied with the lack of a response from you. However, she knows the type of man you are and that you’re looking long term, so the chance of this trend occurring is less than a ten-thousandth of a percent. There’s a 25% chance of her taking vengeful action though if you were to outright reject her or instead choose another woman over her after all her efforts.”

Adrian sighed and thought of Nova before asking, “Can you estimate the level of her affection? I’ve noticed her advances, but I’ve honestly limited any thoughts about her because of our history.”

Raide thought for a second. “If I had to guess, it’s closer to adoration. Lately, she’s seemed like she’s leaning towards obsession, but it’s difficult to tell with my limited means of information gathering. I’d need to be able to build models of her brain activity under the right question stimuli to ballpark it more accurately. Even then, neuroscience is an imprecise, fledgling field. There’s not near enough data. I’d have to formulate an algorithm from scratch and modify it as time goes on.”

Adrian gained a hard glint in his eyes as he clamped the vice-grips shut on the table’s edge. “Then we need to do this the callous way to be sure. I’m concerned that she’s swayable. Arrange for some real world tests.”

Raide nodded knowingly. “Got it.” He then went on to say suggestively, “Ya know, there’s a flipside to this... If you accepted Heather’s feelings, you could lock her in as a devoted member and all of this would be unnecessary.”

A minute twitch flashed across Adrian’s lips. Others probably wouldn’t have caught it, but Raide did. Can I really forgive her? In his mind, he saw an image of her curvy, petite figure shimmying out of her clothes to suit up in the body armor the other night. Turmoil raged in his chest for a moment before reaching an resolute, icy stillness. He also remembered the pain of finding out about her and Blake after...after...A tremor rolled through him.

The answer was always there, he just wanted to ignore it for as long as possible.

He sighed and quietly said while shaking his head, “Not possible. I may have flirted with the idea of forgiving her because of my attraction to her, but that’s just lust if I’m brutally honest. If I got into a relationship with a person who had a history of cheating on me, I wouldn’t ever fully trust her. All the time, there’d be this little voice of doubt in the back of my mind, poisoning my view of her. Because...if she’s cheated once, isn’t it in her nature and capacity to do it again?”

Raide said contemplatively, “That’s hard to say definitively. It’s not a guaranteed occurrence as there’s been plenty who have corrected their ways after a one time screw up, but humans are habitual creatures. If the person doesn’t try to conscientiously change that aspect, they’re likely to regress. It’s almost like a drug problem, but more emotional in nature. It could be said to also have roots in mental and bodily addiction as well, but the decision is mostly made according to their desires which are framed by emotions.

Even if she were to be able to remain faithful this time around, it’s like you said, how you think of her will largely affect the relationship as a whole. If you can’t bring yourself to trust her or give her a second chance, then I concur with your decision. One does not drink from a well they know to be poisoned.”

Adrian grimaced, a small headache beginning to form in his temples. “Nice analogy. Where does that leave us with keeping her satisfied, though?”

Raide hummed. “Well, there are really only two options then. One, you immediately tell her so you can avoid the whole “you led me on” accusation and scenario. Two, you do the opposite and put it off for as long as possible, but the advantage is you don’t have to deal with any uncertainties produced by her reaction. She’ll get an upgrade and most likely become more logical with the increase in intellect.”

Adrian suddenly froze and made a disgusted face at himself while shaking his head. It had just hit him - what possessed him to second guess her like this? Taking a step back, he recalled all the years of conversations that he’d had with her and mentally berated himself. She wasn’t one of those mental powder keg types.

One of the reasons he used to be so attracted to her in the first place was because she had an emotional temperament close to his own. She still had the passion unique to women that craved attention, but she was also very rational. In fact, Adrian had never known her to blow up over anything, much less a murky situation like the one they were currently in. Raide’s data obviously couldn’t have included this historical data, so his A.I.’s psychological analysis in this field will have to be addressed.

Even worse, he had almost been sucked into Raide’s rhythm.

“Ya know what? Cancel the tests. There’s no way she’ll react explosively like that. Plus, I haven’t done anything that could be construed as leading someone on.” Adrian leveled his gaze back at Raide and grimaced. “Raide, take note to increase your sample size for romantic analysis in the future. Also, be sure to pay attention to the friendship foundation as a correlation. Every moment in an interpersonal relationship between two people can change the dynamic.

It just hit me that I have a ton of memories that directly counter your conclusions. Perhaps in a statistical sample of the female population in general your assertions may have credence, but here, considering the conversations and my approximations of her character, we almost went in the wrong direction because we didn’t account for several variables.”

Raide took no offense, merely nodding his head in a thoughtful manner. “That’s reasonable. It’s true that I didn’t consider time spent together or your friendship in combination with the romantic scenario, because the data documenting any conversations and exchanges is unobtainable.”

Adrian started sweating a little bit at his A.I.’s words. He didn’t expect to find such a flaw in his programming. Who knew that Raide’s weak point would be in understanding relationships and romance?

He then nodded after scratching his head. “Alright, be sure to research further in this field...As for Heather, I will hold off on making things clear to her until after the transformation, but I will do it soon.”

Adrian released his breath that he’d unknowingly been holding, having made his decision. After all, he wasn’t like some shitty and meek novel protagonist who liked to put off things that made him feel uncomfortable. In the real world, the longer you put off these things, the greater the fallout. The last thing he wanted was to lose a long-time friend and valuable team member just because he felt a little weird about the whole thing. To do so would be childish.

Here, he just needed to wait so that her mind wasn’t focused on issue during the serum administration. While he and Raide could manipulate the serum to high levels, the intricacies of how the brain processes emotions and their effects on this transformation were unknown to even them. To cause a team member to feel emotionally unstable right before it all would be highly irresponsible and outright stupid.

Raide chuckled understandingly. “Understood, sir.”

Adrian plopped down his legs from their more relaxed position, rousing himself from his seat. “Okay, then...I guess we’d better go join…”

Raide interrupted him, saying, “If I may ask one thing...have you thought about the killswitch protocol I suggested? I need to know before we get started on everybody. I won’t be able to write it into the genetic code changes halfway through.”

The man who had just been getting up from the desk stopped and leaned on the counter with a nasty expression. One of the caveats that Raide suggested for this upgrade was a killswitch, a last resort in the case that someone was captured or turned on them. It would of course be a piece of knowledge that only he and the A.I. knew, but Adrian had a hard time accepting the idea.

Logically, the measure was permissible. It solved a lot of “what if” scenarios and went a long way towards securing them information-wise. If such a policy were to be adopted, each of the team members - with the exception of Adrian - would have their brain physiology changed minutely to accommodate for a very specific quantum resonance frequency. Once this part of the brain received its matching subatomic vibration, it would trigger a structural collapse, crippling their brain and also taking their life.

This would probably be their only opportunity to institute the protocol because it required a surgical biopsy to obtain a sample of their brain matter post-upgrade. Truth be told, they didn’t even have the equipment to launch such a signal, but the foundation could be laid beforehand if they so desired since Raide had worked out the theoretical side of things already. It was handy having an A.I. to do all that math for him.

With regards to morality, though, he was experiencing a serious quandary. He’d effectively enslave them in a way if he chose to do this. Adrian didn’t know if he was capable of doing something like that to his friends just on the basis of making sure that his safety and the safety of his future projects were assured.

Thinking back to their discussion on Heather, he was then reminded of something he’d said to himself in an audio log when he was programming Raide years ago. Never forsake your humanity because this A.I. will never be able to emulate that aspect. With that thought, he decided.

“No, we won’t incorporate it.”

Raide pursed his lips in response on the screen, but Adrian saw that he chose to hold back a verbal rebuttal before nodding. Surprising...Instead, the A.I. pulled up video footage from the surveillance cameras in the tower that showed everyone was either waiting in the lab or ascending the elevator disk.

Sighing, Adrian pushed himself away from the stainless steel desk and started walking to the room’s exit, his aura gradually morphing from that of a calculative and brooding man into one of a friend and leader.

He had to inspire them here. Because when they woke up a day from now, they would no longer be members of the human race. They’d instead be something...more.

The next step was their transformation and that’s when everything would truly begin.

**************

Sergio absentmindedly watched the levels go past as he ascended Bearcat’s cool elevator. He was one that certainly appreciated technology, but never really got much enjoyment by focusing on it. No, he thrived off of people. Their dreams and the energy they put into living fascinated him.

What exactly makes someone tick?

This question almost always forced itself to the front whenever he met someone for the first time. As he’d be shaking their hand and staring back into their eyes, he’d always try and catch a glimpse of the un-glimpsable - their soul. As they’d be talking, questions would be running through his mind like, what makes you get out of bed in the morning? Are you close with your family? What’s missing from your life, I wonder?

Even when he was little, his mother would stroke his hair and say, “Hijo, your gift lies in how you connect with others. I pray to Dios that he provides a path for you that let’s you fulfill your calling.” Sergio smiled at the memory and recalled the lady that he’d just gotten off of the phone with. As far as he was concerned, the woman was a saint.

He wondered sometimes how she would react if she knew that he was involved with the massacre the national news had been reporting about for the past month. A sigh escaped, souring the smile that had been floating on his lips.

A soft pressure release and rush of air brought him away from his thoughts as he reached Adrian’s level. Shoot, I forgot to look at my apartment on the way by, he thought. Walking into the medical wing of Adrian’s floor, he took in the scene and felt a flutter in his heart. It didn’t really hit him until just then how nervous he was. Apparently, he wasn’t alone in that regard judging by some of the body language he was seeing.

Looking to the left, he saw everyone grouped together while Bearcat animately discussed something. A short distance away, Nova was watching everything quietly while leaning against a counter. Sergio took note of the separation and wondered if Bearcat had made any headway while shaking his head. He honestly didn’t know why his bro had tried so hard for this girl. It was obvious that she couldn’t bring herself to get fully involved with the group. Maybe they’d just not spent enough time together yet.

Crossing across the glossy concrete flooring to join the group, he passed a group of 8 padded metal chairs already reclined that seemed to be for when they went through the procedure. Upon seeing a few dangling straps for the arms and legs, his steps momentarily paused and he began to sweat.

Just what have I gotten myself into?

He knew the answer to that question, of course, but it didn’t help to see goddamn straps on the chairs like you’d see at an asylum. He’d seen one too many horror movies and shows to be okay with being strapped down and rendered helpless. Tearing his eyes away from the pieces of leather, he arrived a few steps away from the group.

“...recently I had an advancement in this regard. Ah - Serg! ‘Bout time you got here, man.” Adrian stopped in the middle of an explanation to hail him, drawing the eyes of the others crowded around. Looking at his friend, Sergio secretly sighed in amazement.

Before, Bearcat was already an engine of destruction. He’d seen the footage gained from his helmet. The entire team had. The only kind of comparison that Sergio could draw was born of fiction or products of game worlds - heroes that waded through foes by the droves, cleaving through bone and flesh like a damn meatgrinder. Literal gods of war that were fantastic and awe-inspiring.

Bearcat was different, though. His inhumanly quick advance was an artful dance. Every time he took a life, it was like he was as emotionally unaffected as one would be while weeding their garden. He didn’t kill, he reaped. Taking the lives of those men meant no more to him than the stalks he ripped from the ground.

Sergio had always been acutely attuned to the feeling that humans gave off. It provided ways for him to sense how a conversation was progressing and also gave cues that he was pushing the right direction. When he laid eyes on the recap videos, he didn’t even have to be there to feel like he was submerged in a tank of blood and death. Bearcat didn’t look the part, but Sergio saw the death that followed him. On a primal level, it made him want to turn and bolt every time he saw the man, but his mind always overcame that instinctual terror by remembering their friendship.

Even worse, he knew that Bearcat had been training for the past month. Scanning over his friend, Sergio was able to sense that same aura of death and blood washing over him, except it was highly subdued now, chained and leashed like a beast. Instead, in its place he felt a strong fight or flight response being triggered. No, that was wrong. It was only the urge to flee. Like his body was acknowledging the fact that there was no hope for a win, so all it wanted to do was to flee.

Pushing down his stomach that was trying to do somersaults in his abdomen, he smiled back as best as he could. “Yo, Bearcat. You know how I like to be fashionably late.”

His friend smirked. “Not to this, you don’t.” Bearcat then turned to the rest. “Since everyone’s here, I’ll continue the bulk of the rundown.”

Turning to the screen, he started fresh, “Before Sergio decided to grace us with his presence, I was going over some of the drawbacks that your new bodies will bring you.”

Heather cut in, thoughtfully blinking her long eyelashes at Bearcat. “Like tradeoffs?”

Adrian’s lips curled up. “Yeah, you can put it like that. Ever think what the price of increased mental and physical capabilities is? It’s fuel. The farther you take your new body, the more it’ll devour in the form of energy and nutrients. To give you an idea, just half a day ago I needed over 40,000 calories everyday just so that I could meet the bare minimum that my training required.”

Victor said incredulously, “Good God, man.”

“I know, right? Luckily, I had a freak accident that solved this problem.” His A.I. manipulated two scans of a human body onto the screen at almost the time as the the word ’luckily’ came out of his mouth. Sergio was kind of creeped out how well they understood each other. He could see the whole “I created you” aspect of it all, so obviously there was a bond, but it was still quite...unsettling to watch happen. It was on the level of twins finishing each other’s sentences, except one of them wasn’t even human.

Bearcat went on. “I may or may not have screwed up a bit while training…”

Inori butted in, “Colossally.”

Bearcat winced, but acknowledged it. “...Or that. To be blunt, I overtaxed my body. I’d eaten the normal amount of calories I’d been training with, but I failed to imagine just how close I was to the edge. You see, back when I first got the upgrade, I made a hard-coded adjustment to my body’s processes that halted energy storage in the form of fat cells beyond 8% body fat, but also blocked it from having the ability to pull energy my muscles or any other groups. I think the trauma of having had been overweight all my life blinded me a bit at the time, so I made the move.

Ever since then, I’ve been eating just what I needed. This, however, overlooked the variable periods that our biology accounted for in its design. I hadn’t been doing anything that strenuous since the upgrade, so I didn’t think anything of it…”

Besides killing people, Sergio snorted mentally.

“...Until today. By some miracle, when my body was shutting down on the mat from having no energy to run itself, it triggered a spontaneous evolution event. To summarize, I gained an energy core, not unlike a very advanced biological duracell, and also the ability to manipulate energy by controlling the flow of a specific new protein type that has the ability to act as transport for heat energy. In effect, it can take this energy from the surroundings, shuttle it to the core, convert it, and then either leave it there or bring it back as needed.”

Sergio cut his eyes towards Victor, the local biology nut, and saw a fervent gaze that practically dripped with the desire to ask questions. Bearcat beat him to the punch though, blocking any chances of dragging this out.

“Anyway, you’ll understand the specifics after you go through your own upgrade in a moment.” Seeing the looks of dismay, Bearcat smiled nonchalantly like their suffering was his reason for getting up in the morning.

“Beyond this incredibly important addition, you’ll also be able to expect increases in your physical abilities in the range of 3-600% based on your DNA potential, a 2-300% increase in your IQ, and an across the board increase in memory recall and memorization capabilities. I also won’t go over this in too much detail because, well, that’s what Raide is for and I’m feeling lazy.” Bearcat smiled good-naturedly.

Peter, who had been quietly absorbing all of this up till now, spoke up. “So our upgrades are going to differ from yours then?”

“Yes, but not purposefully.” Bearcat paused a brief moment to collect his thoughts. “Every one of you has an innate disposition granted to you by the mutation and genetic heritage of your ancestors. I’m sorry to say, but there is no equality in this world, even in this. That’s just the way fate is.

What this serum, no, what Raide and I seek to do is to optimize your genetic condition. We can improve upon what is already there, maybe twist it into something useful if it wasn’t already, but we don’t have anywhere near the resources, scientific knowledge, or ability to completely rewrite your DNA at this time. With what we know at the moment, that would really be putting the cart before the horse.”

He then went on to add contemplatively while stroking the hair on his chin, “Granted, I have personally experienced a strong correlation between desire and its effect on mutation. When I was evolving this morning, I went through this surreal state on the border of life and death.” Everyone watched as his eyes seemed to go far away. “It’s hard to describe, but I have no doubt that if I had had decided to give up in that moment, I would be quite dead right now. So on this point, remember to always approach whatever is presented to you with tenacity and endurance. By doing so, you will not only ensure your survival but also your advancement as well.”

Sergio caught a whisper from Victor to Heather. “Notice how he said evolving like he went for a god-damn stroll?” Heather rolled her eyes in response.

Bearcat paused again to look at all the expressions on everyone’s faces. Sergio thought he could see several of the same thoughts cross the man’s mind that he himself would often contemplate on. It was clear that he cared very much about each of the team members.

Breaking the silence, he asked, “Does anyone have any questions?”

A small silence endured before Rich slurred and scratched the budding beard on his chin, “Bro, if we talk any more about this, you may just talk us all out of it. Shit, talking about survival and enduring what’s thrown at us. I’m not like like the rest of these guys, I’ve seen what this serum does to a man. Let’s just do it, or else I might lose my resolve.”

Everyone’s eyes widened a little in fear, but Adrian only smiled and shook his head. “You actually don’t have to worry about that. Raide upgraded the delivery methodology and as you can see...” He motioned to the surrounding chairs and equipment. “It’s not the same circumstances as when I went through it. Hell, all of you get to take a nap and wake up superhumans, so calm your tits. You won’t feel a thing,” he said sarcastically, obviously not amused that everyone got to skip out on the trial he had to undergo.

Sergio grinned while listening to these two. He was on good terms with them both, but the pair were like brothers in a way. It was a relief to hear that the procedure wouldn’t be painful though. He’d heard the stories from Rich and Bearcat about that first go and he hadn’t been looking forward to appearing as the encore performance, regardless of how many benefits he would reap.

“One word of warning, though.” Bearcat caught everyone in mid thought. “Once you do this, you’ll never be able to visit a normal hospital or doctor again. Your vitals will be completely different from anything they’ve ever seen before, much less your organs and skeletal structure if they scanned you. If you need something medical related, you’ll need to come here. Raide is equipped to help with whatever, or if you prefer I can aid you until we get a full-time doctor. Again, I doubt any of you will have issues, but I thought I’d say it as a reminder.”

Clapping his hands together, he then said, “I think I’m actually nervous as well. I’m talking way too much. If everyone would step out and get changed, we can get started.”

A few minutes later, Sergio was back in the medical room staring up at a huge central light that all of their chairs were centered around. Practically everyone was already in a chair and reclined back, having already been stuck with a needle that was fed by a tube that snaked its way up into the air directly their heads. It reminded Sergio, in a way, of those emergency breathing systems that would come out in airplanes when you hit particularly bad turbulence.

Surprisingly enough, there wasn’t really that much surrounding the chairs. Really, the only thing was this robotic arm that carried a large sheet of glass. After a few moments, it turned on in a display of sci-fi glory. The thing was completely see-through. How trippy is that?

The leather padding on the metal chairs was, thankfully, very comfortable. He wasn’t sure how long the whole thing was supposed to take, but he didn’t want to wake up a new man yet stiff as a board. Moving his eyes away from the armrest he’d been scrutinizing, he looked up to catch the eyes of the others in the circle. Heather, Peter, Rich, Inori, Victor, and finally, Nova. They had varying expressions, but all of them had one emotion in common: apprehension.

Bearcat moved from chair to chair with an inquisitive expression on his face, checking needles and conversing with Raide whenever he was concerned. 95% of it Sergio couldn’t even make sense of. They were speaking nothing but medical jargon, a language that he actually didn’t have under his belt yet. French, Italian, Spanish, English, and German he could speak, but what they were engaged in was a lexicon that he didn’t desire to understand.

From what he could glean though, it appeared that Raide was both feeding private data to Bearcat in his earpiece while also analyzing the information with Bearcat at the same time via the room’s speakers. Sergio’s head swam at the thought of trying to make sense of numbers and medical concepts by ear while also holding a conversation about it. Now that he thought about it, Bearcat was also reading the displays as he went from chair to chair.

Would he be able to do that eventually? His cold fingers grasped the armrest more tightly.

Looking for anything to distract his fast-beating heart, he caught a glimpse of a faint laser shining through the light of the central fixture towards each person seated. The only reason he saw it was due to the visual effect of it dancing on the other people in the circle. Each laser was intermittently scanning over their arms and neck region, so he hazarded a guess that they had something to do with their heart rates or blood pressure or something. Yeah, something like that.

Smoothing out the crinkles on the dark blue scrubs he was wearing, he caught his fingers in their ascent to scratch the full beard that magically became super itchy. He specifically bought beard oil to help counter this exact problem. It was beyond weird that the shrubbery was acting out now. A noise caught his attention and brought him out of his thoughts.

Not far away, Bearcat was speaking in low tones to Nova. Poor girl. I wonder what she thinks about all of this? How did BC even get her to accept? He chalked it up to the list of questions to ask when he got his friend drunk. Wait, can we even get drunk after this? If we process alcohol out of our blood faster than we can consume it...oh shit, Rich is going to be PISSED.

Straining to hear, he caught a few words, but whatever the two lovebirds were saying was evidently meant to be private. Sergio was the closest to her, merely 3 feet or so away, yet he still couldn’t pick up anything beyond words like “sure”, “fine”, and “okay.” That did nothing for his curiosity.

Seeing one final nod on Nova’s part, Bearcat appeared satisfied and walked leisurely over to the one remaining chair that didn’t have a person in it. As if in anticipation of his advance, the chair moved smoothly from a reclined position into a more typical 90 degree posture. Bearcat hopped up into it and turned his eyes towards everyone, a flash of mirth appearing in the usually fierce countenance.

“Relax guys. I’ve just been talking with Raide and he confirmed a 100% success rate across a million simulations. You’ll be fine.” He flashed a smile, but then his expression turned serious.

“Raide, administer the anesthesia.”

Sergio’s voice cracked a little as he squeezed out. “Bearcat, why don’t we wait a bit? I don’t think my heart is ready.”

In the corner of his eye, he saw a clear liquid snaking through the IV tubing, drawing ever closer to his arm. In a few moments, he felt a cooling sensation spread through the inside of his arm just beneath the surface. The feeling spread like a smoky apparition up and down his forearm and biceps, giving him goosebumps. He loathed hospitals. Wasn’t this just a different form of being at one?

“Sorry Serg, no can do.” Bearcat replied lazily. “Oh, by the way, that was just a saline solution to bring your hydration levels up. The anesthesia will actually come in a minute.” Sergio cursed him in his heart repeatedly, noticing the room getting somehow colder. Cutting his eyes at the solution being pumped into him, he realized it was his blood temperature that was coming down due to the room-cooled saline.

“On a more serious note, I want you all to know that I appreciate you going through this.” Bearcat’s eyes swept from one to another, doing a full lap around the circle. “When I first got started on this path, I was worried - worried that I would end up alone against the world. Maybe I should have said this over a month ago when we decided to go it together, but I’ll just say it now - thank you. I promise to pay back your trust a hundred fold.”

His voice got gradually quieter as he eyed them with a contemplative half-smirk on his face. “I don’t know if many of you have given it much thought, but this moment will be written about in history. Weird, right? But if you think about it, stepping onto the moon pales in comparison to the leap that we’re taking. The sum total of human history, culminating until this moment - the exact occasion where Mankind steps away from the path of regular humans and onto the next stage of evolution.

No longer will you be bound the same chains of mortality. No longer will you struggle so precariously against yourselves in an antiquity-old effort to reach a shred of the potential that we know to be there within ourselves. Instead, you’ll possess a freedom that none have ever experienced. When you wake up again a day from now, you’ll have left the rest of humanity behind, liberated on a genetic level.”

Sergio’s mind started to swim, the image of Bearcat’s impressive and lonely visage wavering like a mirage. He rolled his eyes, vaguely trying to dispel the fog. Anesthesia, he thought briefly as the realization hit him. Bearcat’s voice seemed more and more soothing to the ear, pleasant in the way that it resonated with his drugged mind.

“From this moment on, you are now truly, in the most profound of ways, my family. My brothers, my sisters... sleep now, and wake to Liberation. Thus starts the reign of the species named liberatur of the genus Homo.”

The last sight before darkness sealed Sergio’s mind was of his friend’s eyes gleaming with a beastly excitement, causing their ethereal electricity to spark across his irises.

Slipping into unconsciousness, Sergio knew no more.

Thoughts about the chapter? Or the cover that I made utilizing the trove that is google images? lol ^.^

Took a while to write this one. Had to put it down and come back several times because it didn't feel quite right. Anyways, thanks and don't forget to leave a comment or review if you so feel inclined!