Maximum Ride Fan Fiction / Maximum Ride Fan Fiction ❯ If I Asked You To, Would You Kill Me? ❯ Amelioration? ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter 7

Dr. Anne Walker sat at her desk, having one of her bad days in the office.

“I don't care about your weapon, General! That's not my department.” She argued.

What was it with those warmongers? You buy one thing from them, and they think they can walk all over you.

She absentmindedly listened to the voice on the other side, when a knock came to a door. What now?

Suddenly, the door burst open and Dr. Batchelder strode forcefully into her office, slamming a bunch of files onto her desk. His face looked like it could be etched in stone.

She knew that look, and she was glad for the excuse to hang up the phone.

Cutting the voice off, she said, “I'm sorry Kradd, I'll talk to you later. I've got some pressing matters on my hands.”

Without anything else said, she unceremoniously hung up, giving a sigh of relief. “Thanks Jeb, those guys in Defense never know when to quit!”

“We need to talk, Anne.” Jeb interjected. His tone and mood was so serious, that it instantly transferred to her.

“It's about the boy, isn't it?”

He nodded, pushing the files toward her. “These are the results of Fang's blood and DNA tests. I want you to look at them, and try to convince me that I shouldn't put him on SIG 5.”

She looked up at him strangely, while opening the files and glancing over them. SIG 5? Was he crazy? They'd never done anything beyond SIG 3! SIG stood for Standard Investigative Graphing. It told how much testing and observation was needed for an experiment, as well as the strength of the conditions the experiment needed to be under. The higher the level, the more of a priority it became, and the more work was required, often for days at a time without rest.

Most experiments didn't go beyond SIG 1, like the Erasers. They had become pretty much standard, and did not need much attention. SIG 2 was for those in SIG 1, but had to have new procedures, like the fusing of other DNA into already developed cells, i.e. putting wings on a fully grown Eraser. SIG 3 had only been used for the bird-children, because they were constantly changing and evolving. They were constantly in different habitats, and needed constant observations and new variables thrust in their way.

SIG 4 had only been thought of in theory. That was for if the bird-kids began to act in some way they hadn't predicted. They would have to bring them back in permanently, and observe them constantly. That would be unfortunate however; they liked to observe their experiments in their own habitats…

But SIG 5? It hadn't even been thought of.

Jeb knew that SIG 5 was a big step, but he also knew these kids. This shouldn't be happening, and the speed at which it was doing it…was scaring him. With Fang's status on SIG 5, he'd be able to test and watch him better—for all the good it would do.

He watched Anne's face change slowly, from mild interest, to utter disbelief. She began to go through the files faster and faster, the shock covering her face. She spoke to him while she read.

“Why wasn't I notified?”

“I am notifying you. Now do you understand why he needs to be put on SIG 5?”

She continued to read, “I don't believe this. His blood, his cells, his genes… Are you sure there are no mistakes? The data's right? There wasn't any contamination? The machines aren't malfunctioning?”

He shook his head, “I took the samples myself, Anne. I've run the tests over and over again, in different chambers. There was no contamination. The machines have been checked five times, and no problems have been found. The results you're seeing are correct.”

Anne nodded, knowing he was right. Still, this was too impossible.

According the blood test, not only was Fang no longer human, or even a bird-human hybrid, his blood was not on any of their files. This meant that his blood was unlike any other, on Earth!

His DNA tests were even more baffling. They said that Fang's DNA had not just changed, but was still in the process of changing! He was mutating into something, far faster than she had ever even hoped to see. It normally took them months to manipulate genes like that, and even longer to make them self replicate. Fang's body was doing it naturally, in minutes and hours rather than months and years!

“What do you think caused this sudden evolutionary jump?” She asked gravely, looking up at Jeb.

The man began to pace, thinking and talking at the same time. “I think it has to do with Project: FIFTY ONE.”

Anne looked at him incredulously, “Jeb, you know as well as I do, that Project: FIFTY ONE was a catastrophe. Besides, Fang had nothing to do with it.”

“But he was in Project: FIFTY ONE POINT TWO, their redo project.” He quickly brought up.

“You know that was a dud! Nothing ever came of that! They said that the cells had—”

“'Completely neutralized the extraneous deoxyribonucleic acidic chains.' I know. But what if they weren't neutralized? What if they were just dormant?”

“Dormant?” She had to sit back at think about the mere idea.

He put both of his hand on her desk and looked straight at her, “Yes dormant, like a virus. And I think that it's been mixed in with Fang's genes, and non-functional, until something came, a catalyst, and awoke it into maturity.”

This time she stood and began to pace, “A catalyst? But what?”

“My theory, is the blood transfusions.” Jeb answered hesitantly.

Anne thought back to nearly a year ago, when Fang had gone to the hospital badly injured. (It had been a fiasco that had cost them quite a lot to cover up, and it had taken a whole lot of persuasion on Jeb's part, to convince her not to destroy Ari. In the end, the boy Eraser got away with a suspension.)

However, because Fang had lost so much blood, he'd needed a transfusion. And of course the only blood that could match his, belonged to his “siblings”. Both Max and Iggy had given him over a quart of their own blood, mixing it with his. They matched because for the most part, they had the same genes. However…some parts of their genomial sequences were different.

They had been manipulated that way, so that each of the bird-children could develop unique abilities that could complement their group as a whole. Some examples were Angel's telepathy, Max's supersonic flying speed, and Nudge's empathic touch. When Fang's blood, mixed with that of his siblings, so did there genes…Would that be enough to—?

She looked up at Jeb, “Tell me your full theory.”

Breathing a sigh of exasperation, Jeb sat down in the chair in front of her desk. Running his hand through his unruly brown hair, he started. “Okay, let's just say that Fang's extra genes weren't eradicated, but dormant. When his blood mixed with that of Max and Iggy, their individual genes acted as catalysts and `awoke' his dormant genes. Now that they're `awake', these new genes are going throughout his body at breakneck speeds, reconfiguring his cells to their original blueprints.”

Anne could only look at him stupefied, “But that's impossible! A body would break down at that type of gene manipulation!”

“A normal human body, yes.” He answered back. “But Fang's not normal, and his regeneration ability is amazing. He probably didn't even notice it. To him, it would feel like no more than periods of harsh headaches and soaring fevers. His body's fighting a losing battle.”

She looked at the floor, digesting his words. “Do you think he'll survive?”

He sighed, “Maybe…I don't have enough info yet. My thing is, even if he does survive, will his mind? This transformation is affecting both his body and brain cells.”

Anne tapped her pen for a few minutes thinking. They had brought Fang in because he'd started exhibiting strange behavior. The Erasers assigned to watch them, had noticed that he was getting sicker and sicker. The flock hadn't noticed, because Fang had been good at hiding it; but not good enough for her reconnaissance team. They had brought him in initially to see if it was his operation that was making him that way. However, they had found it was something else…

Putting the pen down, Anne got up, making up her mind.

Jeb watched her put on her lab coat. “Where are we going?”

“To take a look at him, I'll make up my mind then, if—”

Suddenly, just as she was about to reach for the handle, there was a loud knock to the door. Opening it, one of the black ops guards stepped in saluting her. “Dr. Walker,”

He turned and also saluted Jeb, “Dr. Batchelder”, before going back to Anne.

“Ma'am, we had a situation.”

Sighing in response, she asked. “What now?”

“Well, Experiment F1506, well…he escaped, ma'am.”

Both Jeb and Anne got in the man's face. “He escaped!”

Anne collapsed into the chair that Jeb had just vacated. “Oh, this just gets better and better!”

The blond man continued to storm on. “I had a man watching Fang! What happened? For the love of—I just don't see what it is about the incompetence in this place!”

Jeb finally plopped against the wall, running his hands over his face in frustration.

The guard continued to stand there, slightly uncomfortable. “Umm, Sir…”

Anne interrupted him, “Don't waste time with excuses. Get a ten-man group set up. Take a few Erasers with you. I want Fang found, and I want him found yesterday.”

The guard stepped forward, “But, ma'am—”

The woman glared at him, her voice dripping venom. “Are you still here?”

“That's what I'm trying to tell ya, ma'am! The situation is contained.”

Jeb put a hand on the guard's shoulder. “You're telling me you've already captured Fang? Man, that boy must be worst off than I thought.”

“Where is the boy now?” Anne asked.

“Back in his cell unconscious, ma'am. The restraints had been released on accident. The tech guy…um…sat on a button.” The guard answered with slight embarrassment.

“Tell him to not even bother packing his things—” Jeb relayed from his corner.

“—just get out.” Anne finished up the sentence.

“Yes sir and ma'am. Well, I'd better get back, their still cleaning up down there.”

Jeb nodded then asked, “From what?”

The guard kind of seemed reluctant to face him. “Well, an Eraser was the one who took down the boy, and—”

Anne hit her forehead in frustration. “Don't tell me! It was Raz again? Jeb, I told you that one should be put down.”

The man sighed, “Maybe so, I was trying to wait a little longer since his expiration date is coming up.”

Jeb turned to the guard. “How much harm did Raz do to the boy?”

The man shrugged, “Nothing, he just shot him with some tranquilizers; without them, he'd have probably escaped.”

Both Jeb and Anne peered at him strangely. Jeb was the one who finally asked the question. “So what did Raz do, exactly?”

The guard shivered slightly, remembering what he saw. “It's not the Eraser, it's what the boy, that freak, did.”

Anne looked at Jeb, who's face was as concerned as her own. She turned back to the guard. “Take us down there.”

Jeb could smell the blood way before they had even come to the scene. There was a way how death could permeate walls, even that of stainless steel. He glanced at Anne and could see she was wrinkling her nose at the smell.

The two walked down the hall, guided by the guard (even though they knew the ins and outs of the whole compound, like the back of their own hands). When the finally came upon the corridor, it hardly looked as if a battle had taken place. The custodial staff had done wonders, and were basically just mopping up. However, he could notice that the bucket of water was now colored a deep red.

The guard led them to a gurney table and without further ado, lifted the cover from the lifeless corpse that lay upon it.

They both gasped reflexively…

Jeb's hand trembled slightly as he ran his fingers along the ragged gashes that ran along the dead Eraser's body. The slashes looked deep and tattered, as if done by a wild animal, and the killing blow…well, he didn't even want to look at that, he was planning on having lunch this week.

Anne had already turned away, “Take us to the boy.”

The guard nodded and led the way to Fang's cell. As Jeb entered, he was aware that what he saw might surprise him, but he was still unprepared at what he found.

Anne whispered to him, “You didn't tell me he had changed physically.”

“He hadn't last time I was here.” He responded.

Now that he was in the light, Jeb could see that Fang had changed a lot during the in the last 36 hours. His hair was longer than before, going from shoulder length, to his chest. It had gone from jet black, to having strands of dark silver shining through it. His skin color was changing as well. It had gone from its usual pale, fleshy color, to a dreary shade of grey. His wings, which were peeking out from behind his back, had been as black as night. Now, the top feathers near the bone, seemed to gleam somewhat, as if a liquid covered them.

Curious, Anne went up to touch them. Pulling her hand back suddenly, she gasped in pain.

Jeb took a hold of her hand and looked at it. Her entire forefinger was slit with a thin but long cut; blood was pooling from it and dripping on the floor.

She whipped out a kerchief from her pocket and wrapped her finger, sucking in the pain as she tied it tight. “His feathers cut me!”

Taking out his penlight, Jeb began to examine them. He creased his brow, perplexed. His feathers are shining even more when I put the light on them. They seem to have more solidarity to them too, almost as if…

He tapped the flashlight edge on a feather, this resulting in a faint, but audible tinkling sound.

Suddenly he began laughing, amused that his hypothesis, as crazy as it was, was probably right.

Anne looked at his strangely, “What's so funny? I fail to see it.”

He smiled at her, trying to control his laughter, “His feathers—they—they're turning—they're turning into metal!”

“Metal? Oh, come on now!” she scoffed at him.

He became serious again, “I'm almost sure of it. You can tell as the two clanged against each. I knew his molecular structure was changing, but not to this degree…”

Taking the light, he began to examine the boy further. Looking into Fang's eyes, the light made the boy's pupils contract. He made a small grunt of mild surprise, when he saw that his pupils didn't get smaller, but thinner, elongating themselves. Hmm, elliptical eyes…

Looking into his mouth, he immediately noted the overgrown canines. “Fang has fangs.”

Anne took a look as well. “I've heard of people taking after their name, but that's going overboard.”

Jeb nodded, and then looked down intently. Something had caught his eye.

Taking Fang's hand, he peered at it closely. His fingernails looked strange, and a dark brownish-red substance was underneath them. What is this? Blood?

He picked up the hand to examine it closer, incidentally pushing down on the boy's knuckles.

SHINK!

Jeb jumped in surprise, as the large claws shot out from Fang's fingertips. “Wow, didn't see that one coming.”

Retractable claws? Interesting…I wonder if—

He suddenly stopped; looking at the claws and the blood underneath it, he suddenly put two and two together. Those marks on Raz's body…Fang's new set of nails…they matched perfectly.

Anne too had seen them, and came to the same conclusion. “Well this put's a new light on everything.”

She headed out the door, already thinking of the phone calls she had to make. But before she left, she turned back around to Jeb, who looked back at her solemnly. She said, “I'll send some men down here to transport him. Get your team together, you've got your SIG 5.”