By R. John Quisenberry
“Primary Investigator! I have interesting results for you! Somehow, the virus found in our stray seems to be working far better than on all of the other subjects were exposed to. The protein bonds the silicone structures into the cell structure with a 95% success rate. The connections are allowing the bonding and control functions to be very effective. The additional tailored viruses designed by the silicone entity have eliminated the failed cells in the bonding process and have worked wonders in the secondary transformation process. If he manages to complete the tertiary transformation, we may be looking at a Phoenix event.”
“Acolyte Cervince, try to restrain your speculations. In two thousand years of research, we have not found a single subject to achieve a Phoenix-grade transformation. You will recall the last near miss we had. The humans in that part of the world called him ‘Jack the Ripper’ if I recall. The cleanup on that mess was very expensive and almost exposed us.”
“I understand Sir, but the subject has yet to exhibit any of the mental instabilities inherent in the failures. His brain waves also do not display the usual deviations found in any variety of mental breakdowns. I have noticed some patterns that do not fit into the normal human patterns and strength, but nothing destructive. In fact, he seems to be leading a small group of passives and protecting them.”
“I want to see a full report on anomalous brain emissions. How advanced is the subject in the secondary transformation?”
“I would say that he is about 20% – 30% through the secondary transformation. So far, I see no negative effects.”
“See if you can manipulate the aggressives to strip away his entourage of passives. I want to see how this subject handles being on his own. It may bring out the negative side of his metamorphosis.”
“If we do bring out a violent change, he may damage the test by killing off too many of the other subjects though.”
“What does it really matter if he does? They will not last very long anyway, and we may find data that will help us to refine our current plan. A warrior who could wipe out that many aggressives could be very useful in combat.”