Rise of Aen (7 page)

—

General Taylor sat in his room alone, reviewing the team’s status. Of the ten new soldiers, nine were finished augmentation and three were done with neural implants. Those three were now receiving downloads on tactical skills and combat training. The last subject had died from complications from the augmentation process; Taylor had to admit that nine out of ten was a positive result ratio for
success.

It had been nine months since the hybrid had been created and it had been comatose ever since. They had mined its DNA for usage in the soldier platform of the project, giving Taylor the super-soldiers he’d been after the whole time. The three that were in the final phase showed impressive results when tested, and his superiors were very pleased. Once they all were implanted and trained, they would be given small assignments to prove their worth. This was the last hurdle in which the project had in its path; the last real challenge until Taylor was given the go ahead to create an army. In his mind, they were so close to being ready for the day the enemy came knocking from above, and that gave him the first bit of satisfaction he’d had since that night in the
Badlands.

Returning his focus to the reports, he noted that Subject 54 was starting to deteriorate; his life signs were weakening each day. Along with Zero’s steady progression towards death’s door, the program would soon be saddled with two husks instead of two sources of valuable life! Last month, 54 had truly taken a turn for the worse and his heart rate began to flutter erratically while his brain wave activity had lessened. The clock was ticking on this one and it looked like Zero would outlive
him.

Taylor punched in the orders on his iPad to draw as much blood as possible per day without causing harm, to milk him dry, so to speak. Whether it was days or weeks from now, he would get what he could before his cash cow
died!

A knock at the door startled him slightly as he looked at the clock. 21:00 hours it read—the hour led him to believe it was something urgent! He leapt off the bed and swung open the door to see Major Phillips standing there with her lab coat still
on.

“54’s dead.” She said coldly. “Officially he died of cardiac arrest at 20:25 after forty minutes of attempted resuscitation. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep him going, sir.” Her look was forlorn; as if she was truly bothered at what befell this subject. Taylor’s heart felt for her slightly, but he refused to show
it.

“Well, it was expected; a little ahead of what we planned for, but expected.” Taylor thought for a moment, giving the encounter that unpleasant silence that makes most people uncomfortable. “Notify Dr. Norran in the morgue; get the body on ice ASAP!” he said after a long pause. “Our first priority is to complete the process with the soldiers. Once we get that done and they are fully functional, we’ll carve up the freak and let the doctors have a field
day.”

Phillips pushed her disgust at the casualness of the general’s words and snapped a salute. “Yes sir!” she belted out as she spun on her heels and went to carry out his orders, only turning back when she entered the elevator. His door was closed once more. He probably went back to his evil little world of checklists and reports, she
thought.

As the elevator doors closed, she pulled her cell phone from her pocket and dialed the morgue. “Sending over the one we talked about earlier,” she said, as the person on the other line picked up. “Yep, freeze it till later. Yes, I’d get ready for the other one. She’s not too far behind. Yeah, fuck, I think we put our resources into the wrong aspect too, but the old man has his agenda and he’s in charge.” She hung up and slid the phone back in her pocket. Norran felt the same way a lot of the other lab techs did, and the same way she did; 54 was the true success of what they were after and they wasted resources by not trying to save him. As the doors opened on the lab floor, Phillips couldn’t help but wonder if this mistake might come back to haunt them when the storm the general always spoke of hit
home.

THREE

Darkness closed in on him as the light faded from above. The drum of the heartbeat had ceased and Aaron felt the silence choking him. Panic set in as the realization that he was dead was confirmed by the words echoing from those trying to save him. He screamed in the dark; he screamed for his guide to help
him.

Do not be afraid, her voice whispered from beyond his vision, This is only the beginning. It is time for you to rest; I will be with you
soon.

He yelled again for help, but got no further response. He was alone in the darkness of his dead body; trapped in a husk with no means of escape. A feeling of defeat rushed through him along with depression. Everything he knew and loved was gone! He was dead, he was actually dead, but why was he still
here?

From somewhere deep below him, a warm, glowing blue energy appeared. It was dim at first, but slowly grew in intensity. The warmth surrounded him, permeating his very core, and began to make the feelings of loss and depression fade away. Aaron thought it might be heaven, but then wouldn’t the light be coming from above, not below? Slowly he began to feel like he was being pulled back into his body, not disconnected like he had been lately. The sensation of cloth draped over his skin sent shivers up his back. He heard the creaking of the sliding bed followed by the click of the latch from the morgue freezer door closing. The cold air surrounding him was more a sensation then an effect; his body felt warm and comfortable. The concept of time began to return to him in waves with the realization that he had been in the locker for a few days now. Aaron began to feel a build-up of energy inside him; the glow from the depths
intensified.

No longer was he looking around the black well of his core self; no longer did he feel separated from his body. In fact, Aaron felt more in tune with his environment than he ever had before. He would try to wiggle a toe or finger, but to no avail. His body was still readying itself for something more. The energy felt as if it would burst through his pores; Aaron felt like it filled him
entirely!

Then he felt a release; with a beat of his heart it sent a pulse wave outwards beyond his body. It was weak, but Aaron could feel the air move as the wave moved through it. Slowly, another buildup of energy started inside him; this time a bit more intense than the
first.

The time for us to leave is close, my child.
Her voice rang in his skull.
You are nearly ready to
awaken!

He was unable to answer with either his voice or his mind. Everything inside him was focused on the energy growing inside him, filling every deep recess of his body. He felt a minute pass as it began to get closer to release. Then the wave broke free, rattling windows and doors in the building. It shook the door right off the locker he was resting inside, and sent specimen jars and surgical tools crashing to the floor. Just as soon as the wave burst free of his body, Aaron felt the build-up of another one, this time infinitely more intense than the first two. His whole body felt like it was about to burst at the seams and he felt himself rise from the slab he was laid upon. He could hear the morgue staff’s panic stricken voices as they scrambled to figure out what was happening as the energy broke free to begin its final
assault.

Rocky Mountains, Utah –
Military Installation Code Named White Rock

In the ICU, Phillips attended to the final two hybrid subjects who were recovering from the neural implant surgeries. It had been a week since Subject 54 had expired, and she couldn’t shake the feeling of remorse that had firmly gripped her heart. There was something about his case file that had touched her, something about him that held her emotions captive. Maybe it was the devotion to his family that was noted in his file. Maybe it was his resilience to survive the continuous torture that was thrown at him with the project. In her heart, she was unsure of the exact reason, but she knew she felt bad for her part in his
death.

Moving on to the back corner of the ward, Phillips approached the bed with the comatose alien in it. Subject Zero had never been awake in the entire four year span of the program, and as Phillips lifted the charts she didn’t expect some miracle to happen to change anything. But something had changed; Zero’s brainwave activity was off the charts and was consistently
growing.

“What is going on in that head of yours, Zero?” she asked the ever-silent patient. “What’s happened to get you so worked
up?”

As usual, there was no response from her and Phillips wasn’t going to wait around to get one. She reviewed the charts one more time before placing them back at the foot of the bed. Turning to leave, she looked back to say her usual goodbye. “See you next time, Zero,” she muttered as she walked
away.

The Major only took a few steps when a sudden headache stopped her in her tracks. The pain was intense, and her ears were filled with static. Through the pain, a voice spoke in her mind. It said just one word,
Ameia
. Phillips dropped to her knees as the pain subsided, slightly disorientated. Words couldn’t describe what she had just felt. Slowly, she regained her composure and rose to her feet, all the time looking back at the comatose
figure.

“Is that your name?” she asked, but got no response. “You can talk to me more if you want. I want to learn from you; we all want to learn from you.” Again, her words fell to nothingness. The patient lay still, as always, and showed no sign of moving or communicating. The Major felt a little disappointed in the fact that there was no way to get through to this creature. Then, duty kicked in as she realized she had to file what had happened in a report. Looking down at her watch, she noted the time and subtracted the few moments that had passed since. Taylor would be keenly interested in this development and there was little time to waste as she walked briskly from the room to write out the
happenings.

When she approached the elevator, a feeling of nausea overcame her and she doubled over. It felt like the very world around her had been pushed ever so slightly beneath her feet. Looking around, she saw the other ward staff in the same predicament; all of them with the same look of confusion on their faces. The feeling passed as quickly as it had come, so Phillips rushed over to help some of the other nurses. As she helped another get her balance back, the feeling hit again. This time, she saw it coming; a wave of displaced air rolled through the building, rattling windows and doors as it struck the staff, knocking every one of them off their feet. Phillips managed to hold down the urge to vomit; something that few others in the ICU were able to do. Sounds of panic-filled transmissions from the morgue overwhelmed the radio; the cries of too many people talking at once made the calls undecipherable. Alarms went off and the emergency lights switched on as the entire building was seemingly
affected.

As Phillips picked herself up to grasp the receiver, she neared the window that overlooked the morgue in the valley below. It was a small building that was kept separate from the main facility due to the risks of contamination and was connected by a two hundred foot tunnel. She had a brief moment to see the building before it exploded in a blue fireball before her eyes. Instincts and training took over as the Major ducked and turned away from the window. As she barked out orders to the others to get down, she noticed something move out of the corner of her eye. She refocused and saw that Subject Zero was sitting up in her bed with her eyes open, her gaze focused on her. Then the blast wave hit the ward and everything went
black.

—

She felt the first wave hit and surround her body with a wash of energy, refreshing her long quiet muscles. Ameia had rested for years, saving the last of her strength for today. And now it was time to rouse from the depths of the darkness, time for her to guide her progeny to safety. Her people had learned the ability to shut their bodies down in times like this and retreat into the depths of their minds; to disconnect physically from any trauma or torture they might
endure.

The second wave hit and immediately rushed through her body, sparking her nervous system back to life. In response, she sat upright in the bed she had been set in with her eyes snapping open. Her vision took a second to catch up to her body awakening and the first thing she saw was a woman, crouching as she braced herself from what Ameia knew to be the final wave of her offspring’s birth cry. Reaching out with her mind, she opened his eyes and looked through them at the carnage he had
caused.

—

General Taylor was up on the roof having a cigarette when the first energy wave washed over the building and immediately knew that something wasn’t right. He tapped his Bluetooth headset to activate the link between himself and the comm.
center.

“Status report.” He barked into the microphone as he threw the cigarette off the roof to the canyon below and walked briskly to the door. “What the fuck was that,
Private?”

“Analyzing now, sir.” The response came. “Sensors can’t quite figure it out other than it came from the
morgue.”

Taylor’s walk turned into a run as he dashed through the doorway and towards the elevator bank. As he ran, his head turned towards the morgue below as the second wave took his equilibrium from him, sending him crashing to the floor in a heap. His head smacked into the hard tile floor with a crack and his vision blurred briefly. The impact had sent his headset flying off and it skidded to a stop about ten feet away. From where he lay, Taylor could hear the panicked cries of the morgue techs, screaming through the comm lines as the alarm klaxons rang and added to the throbbing in his skull. He crawled to the windows and pulled himself up by the ledge to find out what was happening below—just in time to see a ball of blue energy rip through the building below and send a shockwave towards them. It was at that moment that he knew they had pronounced Subject 54 dead too quickly, a mistake no one had caught until it was too
late!

—

His eyes opened, but he hadn’t done it; his body stood amongst the burning wreckage, but he hadn’t told it to. Aaron was a passenger; watching as his body was being driven by someone other than himself. It wasn’t a secret who it was; he had felt her presence as soon as the third discharge of energy had restarted his
heart.

Ameia was in charge, moving his body slowly and methodically through the remains of what used to be a three story building. He felt the cold mountain wind lash at him like an icy whip, yet felt no pain from it. There was much he’d have to learn about his new body, but for now he was just an
observer.

“Where are you taking me?” he asked
calmly.

Down the remnants of the tunnel and to the hospice where my physical body is; we both are leaving this house of horrors!
Her voice replied. He could almost sense the smile on her lips as she said the words. Her voice was soothing and comforting to him, keeping him in a relaxed state so she could use his body as an instrument.
Whatever you see, you must stay calm. In order for me to free us, I need to use your power to do
it.

—

The first thing Phillips awoke to was the ringing of her ears. A high pitch hummed loud and constant, obscuring any other sound her ears might receive. Dizziness came next, followed by nausea. When she opened her eyes, her sight was blurry and grey, as she was able to make out smoke and debris around her. It was then that she realized that she was on the floor, partially buried under what was left of the exterior wall. Her training kicked in immediately and held back the normal reaction of panic and fear. Instead, she let her free hand explore the rubble that covered her and tried to lift her head to let her eyes assess the
scene.

Only her left arm, shoulders and head were free, as her body lay in an odd angle. Phillips knew that underneath the remnants of the wall there were broken bones and possibly worse, but she aimed to take advantage of the fact that she was in shock and feeling little pain. Carefully, she worked her fingers around bits of debris and leveraged them off little by little in an attempt to free her right hand. It took all the strength she had just to move enough off her chest to make her breathing easier, but she had to stop there to
rest.

Then she remembered the others that were stationed in the wing and began to call out to them. Her voice sounded like it was from miles away, but she continued to scream as the ringing in her ears began to slowly subside. Moans from about the room began to come from all angles letting her know that she wasn’t the sole survivor, but no one would answer her cries. Phillips was alone in getting herself free of this mess and the pain in her legs was starting to overcome the feeling of
shock.

Suddenly, her eyes came to rest on what looked to be the only thing untouched by the destruction; Subject Zero! The alien was sitting upright with her eyes open as they glowed with a brilliant blue. Her head was turned towards Phillips, but seemed to be looking past her towards the direction of the morgue. The Major strained to turn her head to see what the creature was looking at, but the position of her body and the rubble that held her down prevented it. Looking back towards Zero, she took in the calmness in the alien’s facial features, as it seemed unaffected by any of the chaos that surrounded them. Its chest rose and fell as it continued to stare beyond Phillips calmly, but with purpose. It was then at that moment that the shadow began to appear that let the Major know what the alien was intently looking
at.

From behind her and through the hole which once was a wall appeared Subject 54, or what she assumed was once 54. The man floated—naked and covered in dirt and crushed concrete—over her and slowly dropped to the floor in front of her. Phillips wasn’t sure if it was her position or if he had actually grown taller, but she was sure that his hair had grown since she released him to the morgue. The figure seemed to radiate energy as it walked calmly, but with purpose towards Subject Zero. As he neared the gurney, Subject Zero moved—the first time the Major had ever seen her do so—as she lifted her arms, like a child waiting to be held by a parent. 54 bent over and scooped her up in his arms almost robotically before turning back towards Phillips. The female had her head nestled in his chest with her eyes still open and glowing, staring off vacantly. 54 however, moved his head slowly until he now looked right into the Major’s eyes. Her head began to ache like never
before!