Project Human

by Sean McKenzie

turned back to Darryl. “I’m afraid I will have to cut this short.”

  Darryl saw the hand gesture the doctor gave, indicating that he was to follow him. He saw the troubled look in Whitmere’s eyes; he could hear the urgency in his voice as he asked Darryl to follow. Leaving the room, Darryl noticed that the doctor’s steps were much quicker than usual. Something was wrong.

  “Is everything alright?” asked Darryl.

  Whitmere didn’t make eye contact. “Not to worry.”

  “If you say so,” Darryl said.

  Once at his room, Whitmere opened the door and let Darryl in. “We’ll continue this at another time, Darryl.”

  Darryl shrugged. He began removing his shirt, preparing to shower. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  Whitmere stared for a second at Darryl. “I hope so.”

  Darryl looked up, curious to the other’s choice of words and tone, but only saw the door close. He walked to the door shirtless, looking out into the hall. Whitmere was no where to be seen. He stared for a second, and then turned and walked for the shower.

  Whitmere reached the end of the corridor seconds before Ren opened the door and stepped into the darkness. Whitmere followed as they descended a winding stairwell. It ended at the start of another corridor. It was dark; several doors lined the walls.

  Ren turned to Whitmere. “End of the hall. Just before the stairs.”

  Whitmere knew where he was indicating. At the end of the hall was another set of stairs leading down to the lower levels. No one was supposed to have access to these levels. They were empty, forbidden.

  Ren started forward. Whitmere followed at his side. Through the darkness, the air changed to thick and musty, pungent and stagnant. The scent of something dead filled their nostrils. The doors on either side of them were barred, locked and empty. The level had been abandoned long ago.

  Until now, Whitmere thought bleakly.

  Before they reached the end of the hall, he saw it. There, in the middle of the corridor, something lay. Ren stopped just before it. Whitmere bent down to inspect.

  “What is it? Barton?”

  “Mellson,” Ren stated.

  “How?” Whitmere gasped, seeing the dead man’s face. He rose instantly. “What happened to him?”

  “Poisoned. His body was filled with something that ate away at his tissues from the inside. And there’s only one thing that could have been able—would even think about doing this!”

  Whitmere swallowed hard. “Has he been found?”

  “No. We are still searching. He cannot hide forever.”

  It was quiet for a second.

  “What about the girl?” Whitmere asked.

  Ren sighed. “Nothing.”

  “When we find her, we’ll find him.”

  “It’s not her that concerns us,” Ren whispered harshly.

  Whitmere looked away. He was angry at himself for allowing everything to slide out of his control. “He has severed his ties to us now. He must be found and dealt with accordingly. Preferably alive, but if you have to…kill him.”

  Ren’s nod went unnoticed. Whitmere turned and walked away.

  It was late in the night when a noise brought Darryl awake. He jerked upright with a start, finding someone walking towards him in the dark. The person was moving quicker than Darryl could focus.

  “Who’s there?”

  But the figure already made it to his bed. “I want to discuss something with you.”

  The dim light from the hall did little to show any of Whitmere’s features. There was urgency in his eyes, and something else, something Darryl couldn’t put a finger on yet.

  Darryl swallowed hard, relaxing a bit, though still concerned.

  “Okay.”

  It was late, so the reason for the abrupt visit would be a matter of importance. It was not like Whitmere to barge in during the night. Or am I wrong? He did seem comfortable doing so now.

  “Darryl, do you know what has happened today?” Whitmere’s voice was almost a whisper.

  Darryl cleared his throat. “No. I assume there is some sort of problem.”

  “There is. It has to do with one of our doctors here. Doctor Barton, to be specific.”

  Darryl was wide awake now, staring past the shadows masking the old man’s face to find his eyes. They were dark, mysterious; they were filled with secrets.

  “I need you to listen carefully to what I say and don’t repeat it to anyone.” Whitmere began, waiting for the look in Darryl’s eyes to change, to realize that his next words needed to be taken seriously.

  “I’m listening.”

  “Darryl, Doctor Barton has left my group and is working in secret. He is doing what he wants, without any supervision, without any consent, or care for anyone but himself. He is not acting in a sane state of mind. This is a very dangerous situation. One of our staff tried to confront him and was found dead.”

  “Wait. What did you say?”

  “He was killed, Darryl. And several patients are missing. We presume that they are in Barton’s custody, held for whatever studies he is now doing, but we are unable to find them. They may be dead as well.”

  Darryl shifted uncomfortably.

  “I am not saying this to frighten you, but to make you alert. Doctor Barton is not to be trusted, nor if you come in contact with him, should you leave willingly. I need to know right away if you see him. Whether it’s him walking past your door, or anything more direct. Consider him to be dangerous.”

  “What is wrong with him?”

  “I believe he is looking for revenge.”

  Darryl pulled his blanket over him. “What would he want with me?”

  It was hard to see all of Whitmere’s face in the darkness. Or anything else in the room for that matter, he realized. Darryl felt vulnerable.

  “To be quite literal: everything. He could want your body; he could want your mind; or both. He is a neurologist who works on changing DNA and human tissue. And he is good at what he does. I believe now he is working on changing my patients.”

  “I don’t understand.” Darryl’s fingers rubbed the blanket nervously. “Why would he do that?”

  “For him, change is necessary. He cannot achieve his goal in the state he is in.”

  Darryl wasn’t sure he followed. He was missing something. The room was silent for a few seconds.

  Whitmere chose his words carefully. “He’s different. Though we’ve tried to alter that. We tried to help him…see things the way we do.”

  “What are you telling me?”

  “I’m telling you that we only partially succeeded. Now I believe he’s working to reverse what we started.”

  Darryl said nothing. He couldn’t grasp what he was being told.

  “When he was found, we saw it as a gift. And the fact that he could work with us was nothing short of miraculous. He became vital to our operation.”

  Darryl’s head shook slowly. His eyes were flush with confusion.

  “Found?”

  “Yes, Darryl. And he needs to be found again.”

  “And you have security looking for him? Do you think he’s still in the hospital?”

  “Yes. He has no place else to go.” Whitmere considered something, and then continued speaking. “He can’t leave. We’ve made sure of it. We’ve taken precautions.”

  “So, he’ll get caught and…” Darryl didn’t finish. He thought maybe Whitmere was making it a big deal. Barton would be found and jailed. It was simple.

  “It’s what he does before he’s caught that is disturbing, Darryl. It may take hours; it may take days to find him. And in that time, we’re all at risk. That is why I’m here now. I want to make it clear to you what is happening. I want you to remain safe.”

  Darryl didn’t think anything was clear. “You said that you changed him and now he is trying to undo whatever it was. Right?” Darryl saw Whitmere nod. “Well, what did you change about him? And why not change it back, so you can get rid of him? At least that way he’s not running aroun
d killing people.”

  “You make it sound so simple,” chuckled Whitmere.

  “Sounds that way to me.”

  “You have a childlike innocence. I like that about you.” Whitmere’s smile retreated. “The thing you don’t understand is that we don’t want him to change back. He would be of no use to us then.”

  Darryl shrugged. It sounded petty. So much work for nothing. Let Barton have what he wants, and then he’ll leave. It made little sense to continue fighting something if you have the means not to. What was the point?

  “How is he different?” asked Darryl. He sighed, feeling almost too tired now to even care. He didn’t need an answer, he realized. It didn’t matter. If Whitmere left him now, he’d fall asleep instantly. He decided on asking no further questions.

  Whitmere was silent for a few moments. He was about to do something that he‘d never thought about doing before. It would play into his hands, he thought. It was necessary. When he spoke, his voice was a mere whisper.

  “He’s an alien, Darryl.”

  Alien.

  The word seemed to hang in Darryl’s mind a few seconds before registering. Time froze then.

  Alien.

  Darryl struggled for air. A cold chill swept across his skin. See you soon, whispered in his ear.

  Alien.

  Surely he misunderstood what Whitmere was saying. There was obviously another explanation.

  Alien.

  “You’re scaring me here, doc.”

  “It’s a very scary scenario, Darryl.”

  “No. I don’t believe this. You can’t possibly be—”

  “An alien, just as you would interpret the term, Darryl.” Whitmere watched the life in Darryl’s face drain. He could see the panic begin to set in. “Understand what we do here is of great importance. It has taken someone of a different