Day 09

C.R.O.S.S. Laboratories

Aves Department

would be an understatement. My body was humming with anxiety and something else...excitement or maybe curiosity? I sure as hell didn't know, but whatever it was, my body was reacting violently to it.

I drove here in record time, dropping my access badge several times trying to scan my way into Section 1. The slippery sucker kept sliding out of my shaky hands. The California heat didn't help, it just continued to bore down on me like the intensity of my nerves.

I was about to see him again.

Once I finally managed to scan myself in, I walked to my office as casually as possible. I tried to stay calm, which proved difficult when I noticed that a white piece of paper was taped to my door. Pulling it off, I opened it and read it.

Miss Hall, meet me in the Section 3 . Your access badge has already been adjusted.

-D.J.P.

I swallowed.

Following Dr. Pierce's instructions, I walked through Section 2 until I reached the doorway to Section 3. Sucking in a nervous breath, I scanned my badge, and just like Dr. Pierce said it would, the lock flashed green, allowing me inside.

I rushed down the familiar hallway that was now full of white-coated scientists. I ignored their questioning eyes, instead choosing to mumble curses at Dr. Pierce for not granting me a lab-coat so I could at least pretend to blend in. Keeping my eyes forward, I walked all the way down until I came across a large steel door labeled Training Center. Scanning my badge, the door unlocked and with a deep breath, I stepped inside.

Rather than a huge open space, the door opened up to a poorly lit hallway with a dim light beckoning to me from the other end. The faraway sound of metal clanging both intrigued and frightened me, and I found myself questioning my life's decisions as I made my way towards the light. The sound grew louder the closer I got to the end of the hall, echoing and bouncing off the walls around me. I also noticed was that this room was significantly warmer than the rest of the compound. I sighed when I felt a fresh coat of sweat begin to bead on my forehead.

Wiping my forehead with my blouse sleeve, I walked down the dimly lit hallway until it opened up into a well-lit large open room. Immediately I noticed that in the center of the space was an encased gym surrounded by clear glass walls. Walking a bit further so that I could peruse the perimeter, I peered inside only to see that a lab coat-clad man was working with the subject. The subject was holding what looked to be a bar with massive blocks of iron serving as weights on either side. Despite the thick glass walls and the deafening clang of metal, I could see by the way the man's mouth moved that he was shouting something as the subject repeatedly lifted and then set down the bar.

The next loud clap of metal and floor had me shifting my focus back to the subject. His face was scrunched up in concentration as he deadlifted the weight off the ground once again. Wisps of his ebony locks fell in front of his sweat glistened face as he moved.

Watching him, I couldn't help but think that there was an air of hidden strength about him. A graceful strength that showed in his balance, the way he held himself, the way he focused on the task at hand.

It was truly a sight.

Don't get me wrong, I've seen people lift weights before, but never ones that big. Squinting my eyes, I tried to focus on the numbers printed on the side of one of the weights. When I read the number I gulped.

One of the huge blocks of metal read 250lbs meaning that the subject was lifting double that. 500lbs. Did I read that right?! 500 pounds! How is that even possible? I looked back at the body of lean muscle lifting the weights with ease. He didn't look super jacked like a bodybuilder or anything so there is no way he should be able to lift that.

"Impressive isn't it." A familiar female voice called from down the hall. Taken off guard, I spun around rather ungracefully to face an amused Dr. Pierce approaching me with her black tablet in hand. The shock must have stayed on my face because she let out a small chuckle as she neared me.

"Did you know that Eagles are the most powerful bird in terms of grip strength and carrying weight?" She said as she came to stand in front of me.

"Um...yes-" I replied, taken off guard yet again by her question.

Dr. Pierce smiled. "When creating the subject, Richard used those genes as well as the genes of a Hawkfinch. But I am sure you already know this from your reading last night." She said, shooting me a pointed look as she waited for confirmation.

"Yes of course-"

"But?" She added, reading the question that hovered at the tip of my tongue.

"I have a question," I said looking back over at the subject whose arms had begun to shake. "If what I read last night was true, then what is the point of this kind of physical testing?"

Dr. Pierce's smile dimmed as she looked towards the glass gym and the subject, "Now that he has crossed over to adulthood the real trials have begun. Pushing him to his maximum physical limit, preparing him for the day that Dr. Grant will return and present all his projects to the Board of Science and show them the true possibilities of genetic modification in humans."

"And the number on his wrist?" I asked, remembering when I first met him.

Dr. Pierce's eyebrows rose. She turned to shoot a surprised glance in my direction. I smiled. Ha, it's not fun to be caught off guard now is it I thought, satisfied with my ability to return the favor.

Dr. Pierce wiped the surprise from her face when she saw the smug look on mine. Clearing her throat, she began again, "Ah you saw that, you're more perceptive than I thought you would be."

I smiled. "Does the tattoo 0043 on his wrist refer to the number of human trials?"

"Yes, 43 trials. However, I would prefer it if you use that term wisely. The people around here do not see the subject as a 'he' but rather a 'it'. So, it would be wise if you refrain from using such terms in the future, especially with mixed company." Dr. Pierce added with a pointed look towards the other researchers before adjusting her glasses and refocusing back on the subject.

I frowned. "That feels wrong. Does the Subject not have a name?"

Dr. Pierce sighed. "Not officially no," she said before looking around to make sure nobody was close enough to eavesdrop. Then she leaned towards me, lowering her voice to a whisper, "but between you and me, I call him Elias. It's a biblical name meaning Yahweh is God."

I frowned. "I didn't peg you as the religious type," I added, not bothering to hide the skepticism in my voice. After all, I had never met many religious scientists during my years at university.

"I wasn't." She said, her glasses gleaming under the lights making her face suddenly unreadable.

"What do you m-"

Suddenly a loud crash of metal echoed across the room, interrupting my question.

Looking towards the source of the ear-splitting sound, I gasped. The subject had thrown the weights across the training room, shattering the glass of the wall on the far end. The once shouting man has now cowered on the ground backing away from the seething subject. The subject's powerful wings prickled as he stalked towards the man.

Turning to look back at Dr. Pierce, I was surprised to see she was no longer beside me. Instead, she had made her way to the unbroken door of the glass room and was scanning herself inside. I watched in both awe and shock as Dr. Pierce entered, tiptoeing over shards of broken glass to approach the subject.

I could see her mouth moving, but I couldn't hear what she was saying. Whatever it was it must have been important because to my surprise, she actually seemed to be calming the subject down.

Suddenly, Dr. Pierce stopped talking and I held my breath as I watched her reach a hand out to touch his wings. However, the subject was quick to notice her movement and jerked away from her touch. Taking a few steps back, he stretched his wings out in preparation for flight.

Nearly as tall as his body, his wings arched off his back like a concave reflection. Each long, narrow feather tensed and shook with his heaving fury. They slammed upward. When they came back down in a flash of white, he was off the ground and soaring around the glass room.

The next thing I knew, the steady cadence of boots enveloped the room. Turning towards the hallway, I watched in shock as a formation of what looked like soldiers armed with tranquilizing guns enter the room and march towards the gym. When they scanned themselves in, the sound of the door sliding open alerted the subject of their presence. He spun around at an inhuman speed to regard the soldiers. He shot them a look of such contempt I could practically see the fire blazing in his eyes. Suddenly, the subject's face scrunched up in pain as long black talons began sprouting from his hands and his bare feet.

Noticing this, the soldiers aimed and on cue, shot at the subject. My chest constricted when a dart hit the subject, causing him to cry out in anguish. It all happened so fast. Before I knew it, they were dragging his limp body out of the gym and back to what I could only assume was his cell.

Cell. The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I was still staring at the door which he exited when I noticed an eerily calm Dr. Pierce walk up next to me.

"As you can see, the subject is still a work in progress and far too impulsive to be used in any important studies." She said looking at me, trying to gauge my reaction to the whole ordeal.

"Is this why Dr. Grant said he was abandoning this project?" I asked, my voice coming out as barely a whisper. For some reason, my throat felt tight.

"Yes and no." Dr. Pierce responded shifting her gaze from me to the now empty and shattered glass gym. "I wouldn't say he is abandoning this project, more like putting it on hold. The subject is still young and volatile, so while he matures, Dr. Grant figured he would-" she paused to bite her lip before continuing. "-pursue other projects that might have more promising results."

Suddenly I felt sick. "He's making more??" I asked, shaking my head in disbelief.

"Why of course, Subject A43 is only the beginning. Genetic modification has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all that is."

"Salvation?" I questioned.

"You're a biology major are you not? Surely you know about climate change and how soon our planet will become increasingly unlivable for humans."

"I am aware yes, but shouldn't we focus on fixing the environment then?"

"Oh please, we have been trying to get the world to do that for decades. The fact is that humanity is selfish and will never back step on economic development, not even to save the world. People only care about the present." Dr. Pierce answered with a huff, straightening her white lab coat

"But why genetic modification?"

"Just because Earth is dying doesn't mean humanity has to."

"I suppose..." I said half-heartedly, turning to look back at the empty room. Memories of what just happened flooded my mind followed by another wave of nausea.

I heard Dr. Pierce sigh. "Well due to this little mishap I think that will be all for today. However, I'll send you home with some more reading that I expect you to finish tonight."

I nodded and let her lead me out of the room. We were silent as we walked back to her office, only speaking once we arrived when she handed me another stack of papers -this time about Eagles and Hawkfinches- before sending me on my way.

As I drove home, my mind continued to wander back to what I saw today. The image of the subjects seared its way into my mind.

Wings so pure white they were almost blinding as they carried him effortlessly through the air. I marveled at how the smaller feathers blended so intricately with the larger ones as they rounded the delicate, narrowing curve toward the bottom tip. Powerful wings that looked so dangerous yet alluring.

After such a display of aggression and violence, I was most definitely afraid. Not of the subject, but rather of my growing intrigue towards him.