"That Maca, he is a freak of nature, isn't he?" Zero asked.
"I suppose. He's one of his kind." Rico replied.
The two were in a secret laboratory deep down the moon. Engineers in it were not allowed to go out once they were in. It was a laboratory only the current head of the Oxyloc knew of.
"You don't mean...you haven't tried to create someone like him, haven't you?" Zero asked.
After a deep sigh, he showed holograms of previous experiments. Gruesome images of experiments trying to recreate what had happened to Maca.
"It was initiated by the one before me," Rico said. "The plan was to infiltrate the nims with our newborns. That is with the hopes of retrieving them back someday along with the data that they would acquire. But that didn't pan out quite well. The newborns died almost instantly the moment they transformed into a nim. Not one ever made it out the lab."
"Does this experiment still continues to this day?"
Rico shook his head. "I had it stopped the moment I became the head. There's no point in sacrificing innocent lives."
With fear, he continued - "Do you want, to revive this experiment?"
Rico turned to Zero as he did not reply right away. He realized he was distressed, tears were falling from his eyes.
"I'm sorry that you had to go through all that, " he said, wiping his tears. "You have made the right decision. Oxyloc is in good hands."
"Not as good as you think, though. There is so much that I do not know and need to learn."
"That's what makes the technology interesting, right? It's ever-changing." Zero said as he broke a smile.
"What about this lab?"
"As our head, what do you think?"
"To tell you the truth, I want to shut this facility down the moment I learned of its existence. But you had built this for a purpose, and I am but a steward. I wouldn't dare touch it without your consent."
"As I see it now, this facility doesn't represent the vision it was originally built for."
Zero placed his hand on Rico's shoulder as if entrusting his will.
"You are in charge now, do as you see fit."
"My pleasure," he replied with tears of joy. The heavy burden on his heart was finally lifted.
YOU ARE READING
Nimrod
Science Fiction"Earth is our home!" Four words from which the last humans live by. Words that bring them hope and life and reason for living. Even after a thousand years of exile in the moon, their dream of reclaiming the Earth did not waver - not a bit. No matter...
