Me

Chapter 6

I wake up again, eyes closed, strapped to a table. This is just going to become a pattern, I think to myself. I feel weird, like I'm leaning forward. My back doesn't quite touch the table, and the tops of the straps are digging into my waist, wrists and ankles. I open my eyes and myself looking down at my bare feet. I look up and find myself upright again. The setting is completely different. I'm in a long room, full of these upright tables, each one with a person strapped to it. I'm near the end of the row, so I can see most of the people to my left. A podium stands in the middle of the room, with a microphone on it. Two doors stand shut behind the podium, and there is a large screen right above them.

I survey the area once more before I hear something. The doors open and close. This time they sound normal, as if nothing was wrong in the first place. Maybe it was fixed.

Two people walk into the room. One of them is Dr. Falkman, the other is a nurse, who must have come to assist him. The nurse walks over to the end of the line of kids and starts unstrapping them.

"Welcome, all of you," Dr. Falkman starts his speech. "These past few days must have been confusing for all of you, considering what has been going on. It is time for a proper explanation."

The nurse walks up to me and starts unstrapping the restraints from around my ankles, then moves up to my waist, then my wrists. I drop to the floor happily and start stretching.

"A few days ago, our computer systems crashed, and strange things started happening. You children had started twitching. This was your bodies reacting to the foreign genes in your chromosomes. The genes were implanted at birth so that your bodies could get used to them. The genes are computer generated, and instead of containing DNA, they contain computer codes. It is highly advanced technology, that took many years of experimentation. We were able to translate computer code into genetic script, in order to alter your genetic make-up. Contrary to what most of you believe, we did not decide how you would look. It is all purely chance.

"As for the coding itself, we made four kinds. One kind that would enhance senses according to a specific animal. So we copied animal genetics into the computer code and put it into your genetics. We called that Project Instinct.

"The second project that we came up with is Project Appearance. This would access the genes that control appearance. That way, we could genetically design people as we like. We believed that it would help people who, for whatever legal reason, would need to change their appearance. We did focus mainly on simple facial features, like eye color, hair color and hair texture, but we also did do some alterations to the inside as well. The project was expanded after we decided that facial features wouldn't be enough. We used technology to either increase or decrease the amount of cells in certain parts of the body, whether it was bone cells, skin cells, or even muscle cells. This way, we could create a method that would be even better than plastic surgery.

"The third project that we came up with was Project Cure. It wasn't original research, because people have been experimenting genetically with the immune system for decades. The idea was to create resistances to new viral, bacterial and parasitic threats, as well as try to come up with a medication for it all. We tried to come up with antibiotics and vaccinations for different diseases, as well as study them."

"Wait," I speak up. "You were doing all of this on children? You were actually playing around with our DNA and with parts that could be fatal? That have been fatal? We have nine-year-olds here! Don't you think they could be susceptible to more if their immune systems are altered? And you've been doing this since we were born! How do you have to proper licenses to do this? Shouldn't you have been shut down by now? Who is funding you? Why are they funding you? What about our parents?" Dr. Falkman looked like he was about to say something before he shut his mouth and looked at the floor. "We know we have parents. And shouldn't they keep their children? Why give them away? Did they even want us at all?"

"Look, Jasmine, it's extremely complicated, and we don't have all the answers. We know that you have questions, that all of you have questions, but that didn't stop us from doing this. We were trying to help the greater good." Dr. Falkman sighs and looks me right in the eye. "Next we had Project Adaptability. We tested the genetics that could help people to adapt to the world as we go through climate change. We tested human survival, and how different climatic events affected the DNA, and what could be done to help it maintain homeostasis."

"Why are you talking in past tense?" I ask.

"That we do have an answer to." He says. "Because we're scrapping the projects. All of them. It's all gone down the drain with our computer systems crashed. There's no way we can get the projects back on their feet. The most we can do is run a few last tests and leave the legacy for some other corporation or university to pick up. Hopefully they can learn from our mistakes and will restart the experiments, but use more security measures and make sure the systems are foolproof."

"If the projects are going to be scrapped, what's going to happen to us?" A small voice in the back of the room asks.

Dr. Falkman sighs, and I can see him tearing up. "I'm sorry, but we can't leave any trace of these genetics. There is too much going on out there in which these genetics could be used for evil. We'll have to kill you."