The Machine of Flesh

Chapter Two: The Elite-Korps

ChapterTwo: The Elite-Korps

April 21st, 2055

Due to the distance from Dabergotz and The Black Forest, the government assisted my wife and I by moving us into a new house in the small town of Forbach. Forbach was 8 kilometers northwest from the secretive lab hidden in the dense forest. Few roads cut through this area of the forest and the government had rerouted traffic on these roads for the explicit purpose of keeping the labs secret. As my wife was making our new house homely, I was driving on my way to the Elite Korps laboratories. The drive was short, about twenty minutes considering that we were in rural Germany.

It was peaceful, that first drive there. I looked out into the blooming trees and thought of the wildlife living in the shrubbery. Birds were chirping and deers were frolicking about in the disparate patches of green fields interwoven with dense forestry and fauna. I thought of how ideal that world view of peaceful nature was, but it was far from the truth. These creatures fought for their lives and died much sooner than us humans did. We were effectively immortal and without struggle. Only mankind was now at peace or so I thought back then.

Deep in the forest, I encountered my first military checkpoint before entering the laboratories. These checkpoints were placed on the roads leading into this section of the forest and were manned with machine gun nests and watchtowers. I pulled up my SUV to the checkpoint gate and a soldier hailed at me to stop.

"Stop! Show us your papers! You are entering a restricted area!" Yelled the soldier.

He was dressed in forest green camouflage and I could not see his eyes underneath the shadow of the top of his cap. He descended from the watchtower with his assault rifle un-holstered. He pointed the rifle at me and said

"Who are you? Do not make any sudden movements besides giving me your papers. This is a restricted area that only government officials with top secret clearance have access too. I need to see the right identifiers or I might have you court martialed for entering restricted territory and airspace soldier!"

I put my car in park and reached for the glovebox. I took out the clearance papers, my identification and I then gave it to the soldier. He let his rifle hang with slack from the sling around his body. He examined the papers and then looked at me to confirm my identity. He scanned me up and down, and his eyes were darting back and forth from the papers and my face. He flicked my ID photo with his middle finger and put wrapped it in the clearance papers.

"Your papers seem legitimate. You're cleared for entry. We will be alerting the facility that you are coming. Have a good day Lieutenant Colonel Schriever." The soldier said.

He gave me back my papers and I made my way to the laboratories which were two kilometers down the road. As I came into sight of the laboratory, another checkpoint around the perimeter cleared me for entry. The dense forest area had been cleared for a large complex. From above ground, I could see a large dark black building with no windows. It was rectangular in shape in about symmetrical proportions in length, depth (from what I could see above ground) and width, barely qualifying as a rectangular prism. In front of the facility, there was another gate with a soldier in a booth.

I pulled up to the booth and asked

"Hail soldier. Where is the parking for the laboratory?"

"Greetings. Go down the right on this road here and go around the building. The parking is in the back. I hope you have a good day Lieutenant Colonel Schriever." The soldier said.

He must have read my name tag and saw my ranking insignia on my left shoulder. I made my way to the back of the building and the parking lot was massive. Thousands of cars were parked behind the building and people were leaving their cars to enter the building. The front of the building was in front of the parking lot. I parked one hundred and forty rows behind the front of the building and made my way to the front door.