Molecule

Chapter 8: Body Transfusion

"Doctor, what are you going to do?" I hear Fhaist ask while we were tied to the operating tables, Ezra and me.

"I'm going to tell you something that I've kept a secret until today. I am actually Colonel Amintas Finito Prüton," I notice the impressed looks of the boys, "and on the other side is Colonel Ezra Magnus Perpétuo. We have served together for over thirty years in the Mashinist project, which means man-machine in Russian. We combined our knowledge and became great friends, sharing the same greed and dreams. Our mission was to make our soldiers stronger, more resistant... the idea of the super soldier. But in-depth studies in psychology made us try to understand what could ruin even the most perfect soldier. The answer came quickly... emotion. But not just emotion, but empathy and love; although the latter, when felt intensely, was irreversible. A man is capable of betraying his most honorable promises, and even God, for the love he feels for a woman. That was the feeling we needed to eliminate from the soldiers. We started the training that later became known as Soldat, which means soldier in Russian. Yes, the Russians had a strong influence here... They tried to dominate Brazil shortly before the military dictatorship. We had a lot of scientific-military assistance at the time, which made it easy to progress with the project. Anyway... In the Soldat training, we tried to suppress the soldiers' emotions as much as possible. They seemed like actual robots. But the problem always arose when they were exposed for long periods away from the group in inhumane situations."

"What do you mean by inhumane, Doctor?" Fhaist asks with a disbelieving look.

"That's right, Fhaist. Situations like torturing children in front of these soldiers. Women suffering to death. Children suffering to death... It was terrible," Infinity's face fills with shame. "I still pay for the horrors and atrocities we allowed to happen."

"You are monsters!" I say, indignant at the whole story.

"I can't say you're wrong, Violeta, unfortunately. But, as I said, my conscience haunts me to this day." You have no idea what man has been capable of in the name of 'science'."

"Despicable... They all should pay!" Wulkov clenches his fists, pounding the steel cabinet next to him. His face shows intense resentment.

"The Soldat training was a failure, and it was deactivated five years later. The surviving soldiers were sent to the São José da Misericórdia Hospital, where they spent the rest of their poor lives," the Doctor continued.

At this point, it was impossible to hold back the tears as that dramatic story unfolded before our eyes. I notice Wulkov's hatred increasing along with his indignation.

"After the dust settled, we requested resources to start the Mashinist project. With all the previous attempts, we realized that a perfectly healthy human being was incapable of eliminating the feeling of love. So, we created our weapon against our best soldiers. The serum we developed was actually a virus created using the technology you now know as mRNA. The messenger RNA was the intelligent side of the 'M-virus.' This virus gave the soldiers greater focus, immense resistance to cold, heat, and physical fatigue. Strength was enhanced, and intellect efficiently improved. The virus seemed perfect. We opened an internal call for tests in the military pharmacy, where volunteer soldiers would receive a significant amount of money to participate in the final testing process of the new 'antibiotic' created by the Brazilian Army. The line of volunteers was enormous, totaling over five thousand throughout the country. The ninety selected ones signed a confidentiality agreement.

The queue of volunteers was enormous, totaling over five thousand throughout the country. The ninety selected ones signed a confidentiality agreement and were instructed to tell their friends, family, and their own military divisions that they would be going on vacation for some time. The project was "ultra-secret." Each chosen one was carefully brought to the underground base within the premises of the Brazilian Air Force. There was no chance that anyone would ever discover our secret base. It was something surreal, properly hidden and camouflaged.