by Mel Odom
A few minutes later, with eight sailors down behind us, we entered the hatch to the lower deck. It felt good to get out of the blinding rain, but the storm was only slightly muted.
Gobbet squeezed rain out of her braids and seemed a little more like her old self now that we were inside the ship. “Nicely done. We’re almost to the goods, and the rest of the ship’s got no idea we’re here.”
“We stay slow,” I said. I folded the trank rifle’s stock, making the weapon more manageable in the tight quarters. Then I went forward, following the freighter blueprints we’d gotten from a runner named Youxia, who’d worked security on the ship once. We’d had to pay for the info, of course, but he had no love for the corp.
An open door on our left allowed access to a computer room.
Is0bel studied the setup and smiled. “Hey, you know what? I bet we could screw with the guards down here using this computer. Draw them away to a different deck or something.” She stepped up to the array and glanced at it. “A few tweaks, and I think I can probably fake a voltage overload elsewhere on the ship.”
I nodded. “Get it done.”
Is0bel tapped keys and grinned. “All right, I just set off a system alarm on C Deck. It won’t fool anyone for long, but they’ll have to send a crew to make sure it’s not a real alarm. That will temporarily cut down the numbers.”
I went forward again, leaving Duncan to walk slack.
Chapter 60
Vatbreed
Is0bel took a moment at the next cabin as well, popping in long enough to hack the sec cam monitoring the deck we were on. In seconds, we had eyes on the ship’s crew and they couldn’t see us.
We moved quickly, knowing time was against us, and we were still heavily outnumbered. If the crew got its shit together and attacked us all at once, we were dead.
Gobbet and Duncan peeled off long enough to take down two sailors grabbing a late-night snack in the galley. Both went down before they knew anyone was there.
I started feeling good about the op. We were clicking by the numbers, hitting the rhythm we’d established. I was feeling like part of something again, and it was a good thing.
The cargo area in front of us became our next immediate problem, due to the handful of sailors standing around talking. I wasn’t sure if they’d been assigned to protect the cargo or if some kind of watch rotation was being conducted.
Either way, they had to be dealt with.
We picked our targets and opened fire, but there were more than we could take out in our first volley. Gunfire erupted, and the thunder inside the hold drowned out the storm outside.
At that point, the trank guns weren’t viable. It was one thing to target unprotected flesh, but the thin-shelled DMSO projectiles weren’t going to smash through armor. I slung the trank gun and drew my Ingram, adding its muted chatter to the cacophony.
One of the sailors raised a fire spirit that hurled a fireball at my position. I ducked back and felt the heat of the blast scorch the back of my jacket through the bulkhead.
Gobbet stood with her back to the bulkhead as well. She spoke and gestured, and a rocky figure took shape before her just as a trio of sailors rounded the corner of the hallway opposite the one we’d just come through.
I opened fire, breaking their attack and driving them back. The fire spirit rushed through the doorway straight at me, covering me with blistering heat. I ran, heading toward the three sailors, who stood frozen as the two spirits locked together in combat in the hallway. Stones and red-hot embers soon peppered the metal bulkheads.
I shot the first man in the face, knocking him back into his companions. While they tried to recover, I lunged into them, intending to put the sailors between the spirits and me, and rolled over their backs, knocking us all to the floor.
One of the men pushed himself up with one hand. I tried to bring the Ingram to bear while staring down the muzzle of his assault rifle. A fireball slammed into him just as his bullets streaked past my ear and I put a round into his forehead. Flames engulfed the corpse as it rolled away.
I rolled in the other direction, then turned to the other man and put a round in the back of his head as he struggled to get to his feet. I pushed myself up, slipped in the blood on the deck, and reached a standing position at the corner.
The earth spirit pounded on the fire spirit with knobby fists till it ballooned out in an explosion of fiery gas. The earth spirit stumbled forward, its footstep shaking the entire corridor, then tumbled to its knees in an avalanche of loose stones before it disappeared.
I sprinted down the hallway and found Duncan at the other end, reloading his shotgun. “Everybody okay?”
“We’re wiz,” he replied. “But the ship’s gonna need more crew.”
I peered into the hold and saw bodies strewn across the floor. Blood pooled in spots and mirrored the ceiling lights.
“Time’s wasting,” Duncan urged.
I nodded and headed into the room with Is0bel, leaving Gobbet and Duncan to bring up the rear.
After a quick search, we found the cargo area where the bio-samples were being held. Tube-shaped cryo units filled with emerald liquid stood against the wall, but one of them glowed blue, and I saw something moving within it. I stepped to it while Is0bel went to the computer terminals in front of two massive freezer units.
Inside the cryo unit, a mass of organic matter drifted against the glass with a soft thump. According to our intel, the blue liquid was Omega Sequence #358G, and was kept in constant circulation to keep the tissue viable.
Suddenly, a pale, lidless eye in the mass locked on me as the—creature, or whatever it was—drifted closer to the glass. I peered more closely, hypnotized by the grotesque thing on the other side of the glass. Gradually, I made out a grossly-distorted face, nearly hidden by swollen tumors and scabrous pustules. A mass of teeth stuck out like flower petals around what may have been a mouth and nose. Pain and fear filled that lone eye.
Instantly reminded of all the nightmares I’d been having aboard the Bolthole, I drew back, never wanting to see something like that again.
“Let me,” Is0bel said softly. She tapped the cryo unit’s keypad, and a built-in drawer slid out, presenting a rack of vials containing tissue samples. She took all of them and put them in a protective case. Then she looked up at me. “What do you want to do?”
“What is it?” I knew there really wasn’t time to ask, but I couldn’t help myself.
“A thing they grew and tortured.”
“It’s—alive.”
Is0bel’s voice was dry. “Yeah. I downloaded the files on it, but I looked through them enough to know it’s alive, and probably in pain.” She paused. “What do you want to do?”
“Shut it down,” I said hoarsely. It was the only humane thing to do. Nothing like that would want to live.
Is0bel shut down the cryo unit and the mass pulled back, disappearing into the blue depths.
I turned away, trying not to shiver or be sick, and called Jomo over the commlink.
The captain’s face blossomed on the screen and he smiled. “Jomo is listening! You ready for a pickup, my friend? We’re standing by, and have eyes on the ship.”
“Come get us,” I said.
“Easy, lah. We’ll be there in a few minutes. Be ready where we dropped you off, friend.” Jomo cut the commlink.
“Let’s go,” I told Is0bel. “I want to have a closer look at what you found before I call Mr. Johnson back.”
Chapter 61
Omega Sequence #358G
Eastern Tiger FileOS 2.2.1
Files:
1)Development Diary—Project Overview
2) Development Diary—Phenotypic Alteration
3) Development Diary—Longevity Research
Please select file data.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Initial research into metagenetics presents a singular challenge: to wit, the study not of genes themselves, but of the interaction between genetics and the unseen world of astra
l space.
If the creation of a particular metatype or magically-expressed phenotype was as simple as the recombination of given amino acid sequences, then the creation of mages would be as simple as the expression of a given eye color or skin tone.
Unfortunately, such expressions are far more complex. The expression of traits previously considered to be “supernatural” is a complex interplay between mundane DNA, the condition of the ambient manasphere at the time of development, and the interactions between genes and what we have dubbed “astral shadows.”
Any research into these is fraught with difficulty, due to their resistance to traditional—that is to say—technological—instruments.
Ergo, Omega Sequence #358G is a project de-coupled from the usual safeguards against project overruns. We have been granted extensive magical assistance in our pursuit of higher metagenetic understanding—as well as autonomy from legal concerns.
As such, Omega Sequence project materials must be kept in Eastern Tiger secure facilities only. Deviation from this may result in local law enforcement interest, and subsequent cleanup costs can be prohibitive.
PHENOTYPIC ALTERATION
Phenotypic alteration is the key process that allows for the Omega Sequence project to progress. Ordinarily, an organism’s phenotype is set and cannot be changed after a very early point in development. Morphology, phenology, replication processes: any alteration in the coding sequence of a living organism is invariably fatal.
Except in the case of the Omega Sequence.
A combination of alkylating agents, ambient mana control, and potent alpha emitters allow us to control the replication of the Omega Sequence metagene.
This is accomplished through alteration of the interactions between DNA and their astral shadows—the building blocks of metagenetics and mana-based abilities.
To understand this concept, consider an Indonesian shadowplay. The story one watches is not of the puppets, but the shadows they cast. A skillful puppeteer manipulates not just the puppets, but also the space between the screen and the viewer.
So, too, is it with metagenetics. Magical aptitude, metagenetic traits, and formerly unknown parazoology are revealed when mana levels reach a sufficient point to allow the astral shadows of DNA to engage in their delicate, powerful dance of replication.
To change the metagenetics of an organism, we do not only manipulate the subject’s DNA, but the space between the DNA and the astral plane. We cast the requisite shadows, engendering change that cannot be explained solely by base pairs, alleles, and nucleotides.
Control is our challenge. Control is a delicate art: it requires patience and perseverance, as well as scientific acumen. But with a fine enough degree of control, we will be able to replicate magical abilities, trait expressions, and “black swan” effects.
What are these “black swan” traits? Individuals born during events that cause ambient mana to spike have been known to express extreme magical potential and metatraits not possessed by the majority of their metatype. Research into Homo Sapiens Nobilis subjects born during the Awakening, for instance, indicate that ordinary Elven longevity simply does not apply—that there is no upper bound to their telometric regeneration.
Effectively, they appear to be immortal.
LONGEVITY RESEARCH
The goal of the Omega Sequence project is to harness and unlock these “black swan” metatraits, beginning with the question of the longevity factor in Homo Sapiens Nobilis.
Treatments for extending human lifespans already exist, of course: organ transplantation can extend life by up to fifty years, and Leonization treatment can theoretically extend life for several hundred years. Yet the drawbacks of these are apparent to any who scratch the surface.
Leonization is prohibitively expensive, and erodes the patient’s essence with every treatment, leading to eventual total systemic collapse. Organ transplants can preserve the body, but plaques build up in the patient’s neural tissue, and the patient must take a cornucopia of immunosuppressants for the duration of their life.
True longevity lies in preventing aging from occurring at all.
Omega Sequence #358G represents our most advanced metagenetic prototype yet. Preliminary results indicate that the test clone’s age will lock at 19 years, and progress no further. In order to test this, we have induced artificial aging of the clone through our FastGro organ replacement process.
Unfortunately, this led to an explosive cancer and mutation rate, rendering it nonviable for any other types of metagenetic research. Even so, the value of this test subject cannot be overstated.
Chapter 62
The Offer
After everyone had read the data Is0bel had downloaded from the cryo units aboard the freighter, we sat back against the bulkheads of the Swift Dream and didn’t talk for a while. It was a lot to take in, and what we carried with us seemed suddenly a lot heavier.
“You saw this thing?” Duncan asked me.
I nodded.
“And it was alive?”
“If you call that living,” Is0bel answered in a small voice.
Gobbet shook her head as she teased one of her rats. The creature stood on its back legs and danced on her thigh as she dangled a morsel just out of its reach. “Can you imagine the ramifications if these people do what they’re trying to do?”
“Fill the world with people who can work in the astral?” Duncan asked.
“That, but think of the consequences of immortality for the masses. We’ve already seen how overpopulating this planet is detrimental to the environment. And to the people who live here. Those poor individuals in the Walled City are proof enough of that.”
“Yeah, well people still have a tendency to kill each other,” Duncan growled. “That’ll provide some population control.”
Gobbet gave the morsel to the rat, watching as it sat on its haunches and ate. “Not enough. Wars don’t even do that.” She looked at me. “What are you going to do with the tissue and the data?”
I thought about that for a moment. “I don’t know. I just want to find the old man, if he’s still out there.”
“He’s still out there,” Duncan said.
“The big picture isn’t my problem,” I said, but I was trying to convince myself, not them. My heart wasn’t in just giving up the goods and getting paid for this one.
“You can’t just hand that information over,” Is0bel said.
“And what do you think Kindly Cheng’s gonna do if we don’t give it up?” I asked.
No one wanted to answer that one.
I checked the time and discovered it was way past the time frame we’d been given to complete the assignment. “I gotta call the Johnson.” I stood and walked toward the stern, where the boat didn’t jerk as much as it sped across the ocean.
I entered the number Kindly Cheng had given me, and the commlink rang once before it was picked up.
Tigath Wright looked like the photos in the Omega Sequence file. He was young and handsome, everything elves who lived easy lives were. His brown hair was cut short, and made his pointed ears look big.
“This is Tigath,” he said. “Is the task done?”
“The cargo was heavily guarded,” I told him, keeping all the revulsion I felt for him from my face and voice. “But we’re done here.”
“As long as you have the samples and data, that’s all I care about.” He hesitated. “Unfortunately, there’s been a complication. I can’t transfer you your payment until we meet in person.”
That didn’t sound good, and I didn’t hide my displeasure any more.
“I’ve had a tail on me since I arranged the run with Kindly Cheng,” he continued. “I think the Seoulpas have caught up with me, and are watching to see what I’m up to.”
I knew about the Seoulpas from Seattle. I’d worked hard to stay away from them. They were Korean crime syndicates who’d tightened their hold on Seattle after the Yakuza had opened up a wholesale slaughter of the Seoulpa members. But instead of
dying, the Koreans had just fought back harder, and ended up expanding their territory. They were small but organized, and all kinds of lethal.
“I can shake the tail, but I need to ensure my safety before this is done.”
“Frankly, that’s not my problem,” I told him, and I knew Kindly Cheng would take the same stance.
Tigath grimaced, then nodded. “I’ll pay whatever it takes to get them off my back. If I can’t, my family’s still dead.” He took a breath and let it out. “I have a safehouse in Ho Chung Village that I set up before landing here. Meet me there—call me when you’re close, and I’ll shake the tail. As long as we get it handled in a hurry, I should be clear to get out of Hong Kong.”
“My rates just went up. Significantly.” I was still thinking about that thing I’d seen in the cryo chamber.
“We can discuss whatever extra payment you think is fair once we meet in person.” Tigath broke the connection.
I looked back at my team.
“He didn’t even dicker over the price,” Is0bel said with a suspicious look. “That’s never good.”
I agreed, but before I could tell her that, my commlink vibrated in my fist. I turned it on again.
A young guy with a cybereye and a squared-off haircut looked back at me. His face was a webwork of old scars. “You’ve been making a lot of waves lately, haven’t you? Naughty, naughty.” His confidence showed in his small smile.
“Who the hell are you?” I asked.
Chapter 63