Symbiosis: At World's End

Recruitment

Dr. Wendell stood in front of the council, giving her report on the latest two symbiotes she had created. She had given them quick identifications since she last addressed the council. The red and black symbiote was called AS-1, the blue and black one was called AS-2 and the orange and blue one was called AS-3. She left it to the council to debate code names for operations.

"As you can see, all three symbiotes have been tailored for fighting in different scenarios. AS-1 is designed for close to mid-range combat as well as acting as a squad leader. AS-2 is ideal for aquatic operations and can fight extremely well in close quarters and long distance thanks to its bio-electrical abilities. AS-3 is perfect for crowd fighting with the spines and its sheer bulk. I have other ideas for the future, but I think these would prove to be a good baseline to produce more."

The council nodded and let her continue.

"Now, I've been studying blood samples from Merrick, Medusa and our most recent subjects to see how being bonded to a symbiote affects the physiology. I mentioned previously that a small percentage of Merrick's red blood cells have symbiote mass still bonded to it, which could explain how he was able to best Medusa in their...altercation. However, Medusa and our other subjects don't have nearly the same concentration of mass in their system, almost 0% to be precise. This points to Merrick's significantly higher concentration being a product of extended bonding. With some study, and candidates for testing, I believe we can take the Gorgon program to even greater heights by introducing symbiotic mass, similar to cloning tissue to replace damaged tissue, into a subject's bloodstream to provide physical enhancement, completely bypassing the longer wait!"

The council nodded enthusiastically. It seemed they were all on board now.

"Very well, Doctor. We would like to request that you delegate your artificial symbiote research to divert more attention to this Gorgon 2.0 program you've proposed."

Dr. Wendell's eyes widened.

"May I ask your reasoning councilman? I personally would much prefer to continue refining my work in artificial symbiotes."

The councilman laced his fingers together and leaned forward.

"I understand that you are engrossed in this particular project of yours, but the council sees much more promise in the Gorgon program you've put forward. We wish to continue both aspects of your research, but we request that you devote more time and energy towards enhancing the soldiers we already have, as opposed to creating brand new ones."

Dr. Wendell shook her head.

"I propose that I lay the groundwork for the program and let another take over from there. Do you find this agreeable?"

The councilman looked at the others, who seemed to accept the idea.

"Very well. Begin your work immediately."

Dr. Wendell bowed her head and left swiftly. She made her way down to her quarters and started plotting out a process for research. She wanted to begin testing with an ordinary soldier. She started going through a list of the unaltered soldiers that they had on site. There were a few to choose from, but one in particular stood out to her. He had saved three squads from the break in, spent many years on patrol of the wall, and he had a family. He seemed pretty ideal.

She copied his file and departed to speak with him.

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Merrick had been formulating a plan for a few days now. He had been visited by one of Dr. Wendell' friends again, which gave him a better opportunity to analyze the gear that his escorts as well as the other soldiers had on them. He did see knives on the soldiers, but not on his guards. They had batons with a trigger on them, which he assumed caused the batons to electrify. Those could be useful. He needed a way to get those knives without being shot and having two shock batons would be very handy indeed.