Terraforma

Prologue

A man bent intently over a microscope. He was an elderly character, but not feeble. His graying hair was slick and stuck out in all directions from his head. It shone in the bright lights of the laboratory, giving a clear indication, that it had not been washed in quite some time. His strong, chemical stained fingers were busily turning the knob on the powerful magnifier, as his sharp hazel eyes peered into the microscope's viewer. The man was short, but his mind was incredibly brilliant. Beads of perspiration sparkled brightly in the harsh white light around the man's head and neck, trickling down into the collar of his white laboratory coat. The man's name was Malcolm, and he was just about to change the course of history forever.

Malcolm gave a gasp and looked up from his work. His icy blue eyes watered as they became used to the brilliance of the brightly lit room. "Chase," he began, but he had not spoken in so long, that his usual clear, deep voice was raspy. Malcolm cleared his throat as a man across the room hurried over.

Chase was much younger than Malcolm. His hair was dark brown, and shaggy. Traces of a growing beard were evident on his cheek and chin. His eyes were a deep black and they sparkled with life. Michael's laboratory coat was splattered with colorful liquids of all sorts, and there were two large sweat marks around his shoulders. The room was warm. Very warm.

Malcolm pointed a slightly wrinkled finger to the slide under the microscope. "Have a look!" he excitedly urged.

The younger man peered intently into the glass, his sharp eyes taking in every inch of the incredible sight below him. "Wow!" he exclaimed. "Malcolm, you've done it!" Chase turned away from the contraption and grinned at Malcolm, with the deepest of admiration in his eyes.

Malcolm shyly brought up the corners of his mouth in a slight smile and looked down at his shiny black shoes. He was one of the most famous scientists in the universe, but you would never know it from the humble way he acted.

His younger assistant wouldn't take such an answer. He slapped Malcolm heartily on the back, nearly encouraging a wince from the elderly character. "Malcolm," he gently scolded, "you are about to change everything we ever thought about science! You should be proud of yourself!"

Malcolm smiled. "I am," he admitted tiredly, wiping away some of the perspiration off of his forehead. "It still doesn't seem real."

Malcolm peered once more into the microscope, as the delayed realization absorbed into his body. His heartbeat became quicker, and his usually steady hands actually began to tremble. Malcolm forced himself away from the discovery he had just made, and walked with hasty steps to a private speaker on the lab wall. It was time to let Captain Jack know what he had just found!

 Dr. Malcolm had just made a major breakthrough. After many years of fruitless experiments, his hunch finally seemed to have come through. He had just found out how to make microscopic artificial intelligence robots. The tiny speck under the microscope was his first successful experiment, ready enough to be tested and soon put into production everywhere. Dr. Malcolm would now be able to blur the distinction between man and machines, and everything in the world that was living. It was a new tool to be used for the good of humans, but evil is present everywhere and where evil abounds, it may prevail.