Endy- Reaching for the Missing Moon

by Jiny Lee

  So, to you who are now watching this final record of mine, I beg you to listen to me and know what happened. I don't beg for mercy or recognition of the world. I don't beg for forgiveness or reconsideration either. I just want you to know what really happened in this building.

  The operation Earthworm, the plan to make me invulnerable to the sunlight, seemed to be successful at first. It's a stupid name isn't it? To name it after a creature which can't stand a sunlight. Do you know the story of an earthworm that wanted to be a dragon? The poor earthworm dreamed of getting out of the earth and fly freely through the air without being burnt down under the sun.

  The name was silly, but it seemed promising at first. After years of research and human experiments, I could walk under the daylight at noon without burning myself. I didn't even get a casual sun burn. But the problem was the other people in the building. There was a horrible side effect.

  As a cure, I injected a specific bacteria into my body. It was a bacteria that reacts to the specific gene in my body. In theory, the bacteria would replace the targeted gene to another. I succeeded in cultivating the bacteria and made it react to the gene in my body that causes the condition.

  That was when I was over 40. I spent all my life studying the human genetics and finally I became able to modify the human DNA with the bacteria I cultivated.

  The first experiment I did was to modify the DNA of a subject with a terminal cancer to make his liver secret an anticancer substance. Although human genetic modification was illegal in the city, she volunteered for the experiment. Doctors have given up on her already. I hesitated to do it at first, but decided to proceed.

  I kept this experiment a secret and only few people could have knowledge of it.

  It was a success. She was completely cured and showed no side effects. The next experiment was to cure a subject's congenital genetic disorder. He was a boy who had CIDS, congenital immunodeficiency disorder syndrome. I modified his DNA so that he could have normal immune system. It was another success. He didn't show any side effect, either and his immune system had become stronger than any other men and women on earth.

  All those experiments were done in this basement. Only a small number of people could get into this level after they signed the written promise that they will not say anything about the existence of this research facility.

  Some of them might have signed out of a pure scientific purpose or humanitarian intention, but as with all the groups in the world, there were some who had other motivations in their minds.

  As I said, at first, I tried to confine the subjects of the experiments to the ones with high mortality. The ones who had no other way of treating their conditions. But after witnessing the remarkable feasts those people with malicious motivations started to come out.

  There were some researchers who had a faith that human beings could be improved by the genetic mutation. They convinced me to lower the standard. They tempted me to allow them do the genetic modifications in order for making enhanced human beings. They believed that they could perfect the human race with superior physical and mental capacities.

  It may sound like an excuse, but I strongly objected to them at first. I clearly said that our objective should be to cure the congenital disorders and not to cause any ethical issue. I wasn't trying to be a god. I was trying to be normal and that was all. They seemed to conform to my decision, but they were preparing a plan to overthrow me.

  After a series of success, I lied on the operating table myself. I changed the genetic structure of my body and I became invincible to the sunlight. I was happy that I could finally go out in the sun, like any other ordinary people. But what I have become was not one of the ordinary people that I'd always dreamed of. I also became more powerful than an ordinary human being. I can see much farther than the normal people, run much faster than the normal people, and I became resistable to most of the diseases known to the world. I have become the world's first genetically modified human being.

  They must have figured it out that once they make me the first 'perfect' human being as they said, I'd change my mind. And unfortunately, they were right. I was the first of my kind. The new human race. A perfected human being. I know it's too much a cliche, but perhaps it's the unchanging human nature to be close to the creator. And the conclusion of those cliched stories are always the same.

  Long story short, my body started to show unexpected side effects. The byproducts of unlimited human greed. The genetic structure of my body became extremely unstable. My body started to break down. I regretted. I should have stopped them when I first figured out their malicious intentions. No, I should've stopped at that point at least. That's when I made a terrible, the worst decision in my whole life.

  Instead of stopping everything, I did more and more to my body. It was like pouring a gasoline to put out the fire. My body, the whole system have become unstable. It started to make a random genetic mutation in a way that I couldn't predict.

  While I was busy figuring out the way to fix my body, they take control of everything in the building. They made a secret contract with the city government to make genetically engineered soldiers. They made facilities to do the human experiments they wanted on the basements to make soldiers who were better in any way than the enemies and could adapt to every possible environments on earth and beyond. The city government perceived the ethical problems and the risks of genetic engineering but they discreetly sent human subjects over and over. They were mostly the soldiers who knew nothing about the risk.

  I couldn't stop them. I had no other choices but to connive at their undertaking because I needed them, too. I collaborated with them to find a way to perfect the procedure.

  But things got worse and worse, the subjected soldiers all showed the same aftereffect as mine and their bodies turned into a monstrous figures as a result of random mutations. It was out of our control. But what was worse was that not only their bodies but the bacteria in them also started random mutation to a point it became highly contagious.

  Everyone in the basement had become infected to the bacteria. I quickly blocked the way to the first floor, but some already went out. So I blocked the whole building and cut every possible communication channel between the building and the city outside and I warned the city government about the possible outbreak.

  ...

  I don't know what the outcome will be. But still, I don't want to give up yet. I'm getting into a cold sleep, and I'll wake up hundreds of years from now. I hope the world will have become a better place when I wake up. If someone sees this video while I'm asleep, I plead you to understand that I didn't mean for any of this.

  That was the end of the video. The guy turned on the second video. This time, the appearance of the man on the video had changed a bit. His face became paler and he had no hair on his head. The man said he just woke up from the cold sleep and had checked the situation outside through a secret pass way that led to the panic room in his office on the top floor.

  ... The people in the building have somehow adapted to the situation and made some sort of agreement with the city. Now the building is like a huge plantation in the new world. Is this the new world order? No, it isn't. It's the same old human nature. The slavery. It's as old as the history of human race.

  I met the man who seemed to be the head of the building. He introduced himself as the Reaper. He was controlling the whole building by force in the same way that all the war lords in history controlled their territories. He seemed surprised to see me. Well that's obvious because I have this monstrous look and I suddenly came upon him on where he thought no one could get in. His throne, and my old haven. I tried to converse with him but he shot me. I would have been dead if it weren't for my healing. Have I truly become a monster?

  It wasn't hard to calm him down. I realized that I somehow obtained the ability to interfere with people's mind. I learned that the world has changed a lot and hundreds of years have passed since I put myself into a cold sleep. He told me abou
t the way do business with the city, the religion for controlling the crowd, and everything else. But most importantly, I feel great responsibility for all the people in the building have the same condition that I had.

  I had to find the cure again. This time, not for me but for the descendants of the survivors.

  To find the cure, I needed some subjects to test the DNA structures. So I was given some female residents of the building who the Reaper said were the sisters of the religion in the building. I tested their DNAs in this facility and the results were not satisfying. Their DNA structures have changed a lot and they were different from the ordinary people. I had to map their genetic structures first.

  The findings were captivating. I was impressed to see how the genetic mutation have turned them into a new species. They were the new species. They didn't know they were, but the distribution of the cognitive skills, physical abilities, and overall bodily functions showed greater width than the ordinary people. It was as if they have evolved to choose the strategy of selective focus in order for survival.

  One of the subject showed much greater cognitive ability and memories than the others and another showed much improved muscle fibers than the others. Yet another subject even showed a capability to use the mental ability that I have obtained without realizing that she had one. She said she could feel the images and impressions of the person she was talking to, but she considered it as an empathetic sensibility slightly better than the others.

  Since there was a possibility that the Reaper has intentionally or unintentionally chose the ones with that special attributes, I thought I needed some more subjects. So I went up through another pass way to a different floor and took more male and female subjects.

  The results were the same. Each individual had a various attributes particularly developed in their genes. But at the same time, all of the subjects' DNA were unstable to a various degree. So my conclusion so far is that the rapid mutation is still in progress inside the bodies of the residents of the building.

  One of the subjects showed a minor improvement when she was exposed to ultra violet ray after the procedure. But all the other subjects showed extreme genetic mutation that they all turned into monstrous creatures. And later, even the one who showed the improvement sadly soon turned into one of them.

  I think I need more time before the DNA structure of the people in the building get stabilized after a few more generations. I'm going to put myself to a cold sleep for another few hundred years. I seriously doubt the possibility of someone watching this video, but still, if someone find this out, wake me up and I'll give you every information I got from my research so far.

  That was the end of the second video. The guy turned on another video on the screen without saying anything.

  When I woke up this time, the first thing that I did was to check my body. My body was still breaking down though the cold sleep have somehow slowed down the progress.

  I went up to the top floor again to talk with the current leader of the building. He looked surprised but he wasn't surprised like the first one. He told me that he had heard of me from his father before he died. He said he was also called the Reaper. He was using the same name of his father and his grandfather to make people believe that the Reaper was the one who is immortal and absolute.

  I brought dozen sisters to the facility and continued the research. This time, it looked promising. All subjects showed improvements in their genetic stability compared to the last time.

  I successfully cultivated the bacteria and injected the serum in their bodies. Their progresses looked promising and they didn't show any negative response to the injected serum such as an abrupt genetic mutation or any other complications.

  But the problem was that the bacteria didn't replace the target gene successfully. They settled in the subjects' bodies but didn't altered the target gene perfectly. Just like the last time, they only showed a minor improvements.

  But still, I think it's a major advance that no one showed any negative reaction. After some more generations, I'm sure their descendants will show a far better improvements.

  So I smuggled them into the building. I made them promise me that they wouldn't tell anyone about what they saw down here. Not me, not the facilities and not the creatures. I can't be sure that they wouldn't tell anybody but well, they have to live the rest of their lives as runaway sisters. They wouldn't be able to talk it out loud to anyone. They have to live in silence. Maybe they'd say a few things about me or the creatures, but it would be turned into fairy tales or ghost stories.

  I separately sent them back to various floors with serums and syringes and told them to inject those serums to people they truly care. I hope the next time I wake up, I'd get more positive results from their sons and daughters.

  That was the end of the third video. After that, we watched a several more videos with almost the same story. He woke up again from the cold sleep after a hundred years and met the next or the next-next Reaper and did research with the sisters and the people. The guy's appearance changed little by little as we watched the videos until he looked exactly the same as the one standing before us.

  'So you are Nergui, the founder of the building?' I asked him. He said he was. There were many things I wanted to ask him. But first, I needed to ask him where the missing sisters were.

  'They are in a rehabilitation chamber. You are looking for a girl. A girl named, Diane. She's doing alright so there's nothing for you to worry about,' he said. I asked him again, 'How can you read my mind?'

  'This is also one of the unwanted side effects of mine. But it's not that I can get through your mind and scavenge all the thoughts and memories. I only sense the strongest thoughts and feelings that you are having at the moment. And your willingness to find the girl is much stronger than the others in this room. Don't worry, I'll get you to see her when the time is right. Just a few hours. I promise. But before that, let me finish what I wanted to say through out these recordings,' he answered.

  Then he asked us to sit down. He told us about his experiments and the progress of it. Simply put, he said he succeeded in making the cure and we would finally be free from the curse that the sun had afflicted us.

  'It's only a matter of time. A very small amount of time. I already injected the finalized serum into their bodies and all we have to do is wait until the result comes out. But even if the result turned out to be negative, you still don't need to worry since they wouldn't show any forms of negative side effects,' he said.

  Purple said, 'So you made a contract with the Reaper?' Nergui said he did. Purple said, 'Then do you know that the Reaper is dead?'

  Nergui said without startle, 'I didn't know but I can guess by the fact that you are here. No one had ever come this far until now. So tell me what happened. Was it a coup? Revolution? I guess it has something to do with the clothes you're wearing. I haven't seen anything like that in the building. I see. It's not the technology of the building, is it? Oh. So we have the visitors. May I speak with the operator on the radio?'

  Then he somehow controled the panel and let Bertie and the others shown up on the big screen.

  'Hello, visitors. Pardon me asking you in a rather explicit manner. Are you trying to build a new kingdom in the middle of your exile?' said Nergui.

  Bertie said, 'No, we're not trying to, I mean, I know what you're worrying about. This building is for the people in the building. We are more than aware of the fact that we're just visitors. But what I want you to know is that they asked us for help. We are just here to help the people. The whole revolution thing was what they wanted.'

  Nergui laughed. He said, 'You don't have to make an excuse. Sorry if I sounded a bit coercive. To be honest, I don't actually care about the politics in the building. Who am I to judge. I'm just a ghost of the past trying to right what I did wrong. But still, there's one more problem that remains, which is ...'

  Then he stopped talking. He seemed to be thinking deeply about something. After a second, he sa
id, 'I think it wouldn't be appropriate to say this or that here and end up saying unnecessary things. Gentlemen, and ladies, would you follow me while I lead you to the chamber, and meanwhile, I'll think about some more jolly topics to share. Come on, follow me.'

  31

  My heart was pounding in excitement and anticipation to meet Diane at last. I thought of what to say when I saw her and wondered if she'd look the same. I kept thinking and practicing in my head like hi, long time no see. No, that's weird. Oh, Diane, I missed you so much. Did you miss me? Nah, that's cringey. But those practicing became meaningless because by the time we arrived at the rehabilitation chamber, all the sisters were still sleeping in capsule like beds.

  'What are those things?' asked Alex. Nergui said, 'They are called hibernation chambers. They put the users into a coma state and help recovery while at the same time stimulate the gradual settlement of the bacteria inside their bodies.'

  'When will they get up?' I asked, and he answered, 'In a couple of hours.'

  There was a small waiting room beside the chamber with beds and couches. He told us to get in there and wait for the rehabilitation to end. We did as he said. He followed after us and had a seat in the middle of the couch.

  'So, let's continue. Tell me about the current situation of the building,' he said. Purple had Josh to put Bertie on screen. Jacques was with Bertie, too. They explained the current situation of the building such as the reconstruction, the counsel, and how they were trying to make the building free of violence and fear.

  Nergui listened to them very carefully. He sometimes seemed to be interested but other times showed a little annoyance against Jacques's vision. He said to Jacques that when an idea sounds perfect, it can't be achieved by people since people are the creatures of absurdity.

  He also asked Jacques about the world outside. Jacques said the world outside was full of greedy pigs and he wanted to make this building better than any other place in the world to live. I'd never seen him talking with that enthusiasm before. After listening the long declamation from Jacques, Nergui said he'd hoped to see that really happening.