by CS Patra
"Please, I am an ally!" The girl insisted. "I do not wish to hurt you or your family. I am a part of Project 99. I know what you have been going through."
"You know about Project 99?"
"Yes. I wanted to meet you before you went to your lesson. I have to deliver another message."
"No, no." Misty held up her hands. "I don't want to deliver messages for you. I just want to know what all of this is about. What exactly was Project 99? Who are you? What does all of this have to do with me?"
The girl took a deep breath. "You are a part of a group called Project 99. You were created by the Bradley Institute and treated by Genexis. You were designed to be a perfect human being. You also have the ability to meld and fuse with another perfect human being. Together, you were supposed to create the ideal person. However, Project 99 tested this out and the results they received weren't what they wanted. They feared that their experiments would learn the truth and would combine to destroy them. That's why they are trying to get rid of them."
"Get rid of them?" Misty whispered. "Wait, are you seriously telling me that I'm a lab rat? I was created as someone's experiment?"
"I know it is a lot to take in. This is all I can tell you right now. You have to be very careful if you want to find out the truth. The Bradley Institute knows about you. They know about all of you." The girl went on. "I have to go. Keep this in mind. Everything is a lie."
"Wait a second!" Misty tried to stop her as she was leaving. "What do you mean? Why is everything a lie? Who is trying to hurt me? Who are you?"
The girl stopped to turn around for a second. "You may call me Marie. That's all you need to know right now. What you have to do is protect Project 99 at whatever cost. That is my message. That is what you need to tell your brothers and sisters."
"Brothers and sisters?" Misty repeated. "Who are you talking about? I need answers, Marie! When can I see you again?!" Marie didn't answer so she kept yelling. "You know, I'm not going to stop until you tell me who you really are."
Marie finally turned around. "I am your sister, Misty."
"How?"
"I am your sister through Project 99," she explained. "Just like everyone else you've interacted with. You were born in the Bradley Institute like the others. It's about time you stopped asking who did this and start asking why. Once you learn the answer to that, everything else will make sense."
Marie left at that point and Misty was still confused. Even as she was at her piano lessons, she could not concentrate on anything. Mrs. Groff, her teacher, kept telling her to play the same piece again and again. Misty was trying her best, but her fingers kept slipping and hitting the bum notes. She was going loud when she needed to be soft and vice versa. She couldn't even keep up with her metronome. The beat was all wrong and she kept falling behind.
Mrs. Groff sighed after Misty failed to get through the piece for the sixth time. "What is wrong, Misty? Did you practice at all? It doesn’t seem like it to me."
"Yes, I practice an hour every day." Misty insisted. "A lot has been going on lately, Mrs. Groff. It's just clouding my mind."
"Well, try to keep that out of the lesson." Mrs. Groff said. "I want you to have the piece ready in time for the recital next month. So far, you are struggling to get through the first half."
"I know." Misty sighed. "Don't think I hate the music or anything. I just... I can't concentrate on my music right now."
"You have to try, Misty. You've come too far to quit right now. I want you to practice two hours this week if you can help it. If not, try an hour and a half. You are slipping behind. This isn't like you at all."
"No, it really isn't." Misty agreed. "I swear I will get this piece memorized before the recital, Mrs. Groff. I will work hard this week and I won't let anything distract me."
She meant those words, but she didn't know if she could keep that promise. Practicing for two hours every day was a lot of time. It would mean that she would have to cut down on her violin practice or gymnastics. What made matters worse was that she also had a violin recital and gymnastics meet coming up in the next few days. How was she supposed to do all of this?
It was hard not being able to tell anyone about Marie or Project 99. She had given Annie some information, but not enough. It wasn't like she had enough to go on in the first place. Her heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest.
It's about time you stopped asking who and start asking why.
Yes, Marie had a point right there. She needed to start asking why things happened the way that they did. It was taking a lot of her to ask her parents what they had done all those years ago. She had been told that the pregnancy had been smooth and painless. She didn't care that she had been born via in-vitro. She just wanted to know the truth. What did all of this have to do in the end? The way that Marie talked about it made her think that she was in danger.
Maybe I am in danger and I don't seem to understand it. Where do I start looking for answers?
Annie picked her up after her lesson was over. "So how did things go?"
"Not so well." Misty murmured. "I couldn't stop thinking about all that happened. I ran into the same messenger again."
"She was here?"
"Yeah. I have no idea how she found me, but she finally told me who she is. I believe her and I don't believe her at the same time." Misty murmured. “You know, maybe I feel this way because I don’t believe that you’re not my real family. I don’t care if I was created by in-vitro. I just want to know whose child I really am.”
Annie sighed. “Misty, listen to me. You belong to this family. You have always belonged to this family.”
“So why do I feel like I’m an outsider?” she asked. “Why does everything feel like a lie?”
“That’s because you keep hearing things. You’re quick to believe what you hear and not think about it. I know it’s a lot to take in, but you are as real as they come. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
Annie’s words were encouraging, but Misty still felt like she didn’t belong. It was that same nagging feeling she had since she was a child. The truth that was spilling out was making the most sense. She was not ready to confront her family, but she was ready to accept all this. She was ready to believe that she was an experiment.
As much as she hated, she believed what Ren said; they weren’t real.
Chapter 18 – Doug
Doug was having a rough day at the university. It wasn’t that his students were bad. If anything, he had some of the best classes this semester. He was teaching a freshman composition course as well and they were a bright-eyed group of kids. They were scared to be in this school, but they were eager learn. For their first paper, they had to write about a childhood memory. They had been reading a couple of memoirs and some personal essays prior to this. Now it was time to see how they wrote.
There was nothing wrong with the papers he received. Pretty much everyone followed his guidelines the way he wanted them to. It was that he wasn’t in the mood to read them right now. He had his own issues to deal with and didn’t have too many people to talk to in his own family. He gave his wife a few details, but she didn’t know the whole story. He didn’t tell her about the messed up pictures that he had seen of experiments. There was also the girl that was named Marie. Misty had left everyone a message saying that she had a run-in with her.
He had no doubt in his mind that the Marie that Misty ran into was probably the same girl that he ran into earlier. She was the same girl they all encountered. He wouldn't be surprised if she was the messenger that was tying them together. She was the only one who really knew what Project 99 was all about. If he could get a hold of her, then he would find out what he truly was. According to Misty, Marie had told them that they were all created by the Bradley Institute. They were perfected by Genexis. Now they were being killed off one by one.
"I want to know what's going on." Susan began. "What secrets are you hiding from me?"
&nbs
p; Doug sighed. "First off, know that I'm not doing this to hurt you. I would never hurt you or our family. If anything, I'm keeping this secret to protect you."
"Protect me? Are you in danger?"
"I'm not sure yet." He admitted. "All my life, I thought I knew who I was. Turns out that I know absolutely nothing. If my parents were alive, I could ask them, but they aren't. I don't think my brothers or sisters would know about this either. I just need some help here. I feel like I have to go see Dr. Hanson. I know he's retired now, but maybe he can explain this."
"Is Dr. Hanson even alive? You haven't talked to him in years."
"I know, but he's my only shot right now. You see all these people?" He showed her the folder. "All these people were born around the same time I was and they all died years ago. Most of them committed suicide, but there was no explanation why. Even the ones that had been taking medication were doing fine until their deaths. I'm beginning to suspect this may not be as simple as it looks."
"So you think these people were killed by someone else?"
"It's very possible." He nodded. "I'm afraid of going too deep, but I need to know. You have to promise me that you aren't going to tell anyone else about this."
"Not even the children?"
"Especially not the children. I want to keep them as safe as possible."
Thinking about his kids had Doug wondering how anyone could turn their child into a lab rat. He wouldn't be too upset if his parents had used an early form of in-vitro. He just wanted to know what convinced them to let the Bradley Institute keep experimenting on him. He would never do that to his children. He couldn't bear to do it.
"All right, my lips are sealed." Susan promised. "Just don't do anything that's going to hurt you or our family."
"I'm just going to see Dr. Hanson so I can get some answers." Doug promised. "I will come back home. We're just meeting for lunch and I will see if he can remember anything about my birth."
“Hopefully, he remembers something.” Susan said. “I’m sorry you’re not finding the answers you want.”
“I’m finding answers, just not the ones I’m hoping for.” He sighed. “Anyway, I better get going. You take care of yourself and I’ll see you in the evening.”
He hated leaving Susan out of some of this, but he had to do it. Until he was certain about everything, he had to keep her in the dark for some time. The children hadn’t talked to him in days, but he wasn’t going to involve them in this yet. There was no need to get them in a panic now.
Dr. Hanson had gotten very old over the last few years. He was still able to walk, but he could barely see anything and his back was hunched over. As Doug went to shake his hand, he could feel his old doctor's hands shaking. It was hard to believe that this was the same man who delivered him. He just hoped that Dr. Hanson could recall enough about that day.
"I'm sorry to pull you away from your everyday work." Doug began.
"Ah, I don't really have everyday work anymore." Dr. Hanson said, taking a seat. "You've grown up a lot since I last saw you."
"You last saw me when I was thirteen." Doug pointed out. "I thought it would be nice for us to catch up with old times. I also have some questions that I think only you can answer me."
"Oh, I will try. Granted, my memory isn't as strong as it used to be, but I will try my hardest to answer anything you have."
"Good because I have been thinking a lot about my birth. I can't really ask my parents anymore so you're my best bet." He showed him the copy of Fahrenheit 451 that he had gotten. "I bought this book earlier and I've been reading it again. You're the one who introduced me to the world of Ray Bradbury, remember?"
"Ah, yes. I know you were very young, but it definitely struck me as something that you would be interested in." Dr. Hanson said. "I'm glad to see you found a paperback book. These days, people are reading off these electronic tablets. I never managed to get one. It seems like so much trouble."
"It really isn't. However, I was pleased to see that this was out there. I know that these days, most people don't really like the book. I feel like they're missing something though." Doug put his book away. "Anyway, the real reason I'm here to see you is to ask if you remember anything about my birth. Were there any complications? Was it a smooth birth? Do you know?"
Dr. Hanson took a deep breath. "Ah, I remember that day. I had so many babies to deliver that day including you. I was running around like a chicken that had been beheaded. I was also worried because there were complications with a lot of the pregnancies. Yours was fine, but other women were having trouble."
"Did any of the children die during birth?"
Dr. Hanson nodded. "Unfortunately, I had some still births and some of the mothers also passed away during childbirth. They just weren't strong enough to survive this."
"Another question that I have for you is this; did my mother go through any IVF or anything else to give birth to me? Do you know about that?"
"I...I'm not sure about that, Doug. I do remember that a lot of other mothers had gone through it though. I was a little concerned because it didn't seem safe to me. They insisted that they had read up on everything and it was fine. It was a treatment that was given by...oh, I can't remember the name of the place!"
"Was it called the Bradley Institute by any chance?"
"That's probably it. Anyway, they all claimed that this procedure was safe. They were having trouble giving birth before so they were glad to have an alternative. I warned them before they did anything though. I told them not to rely on that procedure entirely. After all, children get their genes from their mothers and fathers. You can't really figure out what genes they get from you."
Doug took a deep breath. "You know, I'm beginning to think that I might have been created by the Bradley Institute as well."
"What makes you say that?"
"There are things I've been finding out about my birth that's leading towards that." He explained. "I know I can't ask my family so that's why I came to you. Did you ever work for the Bradley Institute by any chance?"
"Heavens, no. I had enough on my plate as it was." Dr. Hanson shook his head. “I did know a few people who were a part of it though. It was such an old company. When they first came out, I didn’t really believe what they were selling. They claimed they could make the perfect person. Genes from the parents didn’t really matter anymore. If you wanted a child with blue eyes, you could have one. Genetics was taking a different turn.”
“So you know what they do.” Doug said.
“I had a good idea, but I didn’t really believe it at first. I didn’t think it was possible to do this, but they proved me wrong. We could very well see a huge change in the human race.”
“Do you think they can do anything else besides allow you to pick what kind of child you want?”
“Yes. They can help cure a lot of diseases too. In this day and age, we are going to need all the help we can get to cure cancer and other diseases. People who were given months to live now have chances to live longer. Isn’t that something?”
“It is.” Doug nodded. All of that did sound very nice and he would have loved to see it happen. However, Dr. Hanson didn’t mention anything about the dark side to everything. Either he didn’t want to bring it up or he was afraid to. He was also very old so there was the possibility that he couldn’t remember that. Doug decided not to bring it up right now as he didn’t want to cause a scene here. Instead, he tried to talk around it.
“Would you say that everyone who went there had a happy ending?” He asked.
“The majority of them got exactly what they wanted.” Dr. Hanson said. “We were so lucky that so many people volunteered for this experiment.”
“You had volunteers?”
“That’s right. I was surprised too. We did tell them that risks were involved, but they jumped in anyway. I guess they were eager to find a cure. They wanted to save lives so they did what they could.”
“Well
, I guess that’s what volunteers are for. Someone has to do the dirty jobs.”
“It’s not really a dirty job. It’s a job that changes the world.” Dr. Hanson corrected him. “You want to see change in the world, don’t you?”
Doug nodded. Yes, he was looking forward to good changes in the world, but he didn’t want them at the expense of someone’s life. He had no idea how he could tell Dr. Hanson that. So far, lunch was going fine and he didn’t want to bring it up.
He’d have to deal with the bigger issues on another day.
Chapter 19 – Ash
Ash was not looking forward to this party. His parents insisted that he come downstairs and mingle with the guests. A lot of them were prospective buyers and fellow businessmen. He had to dress properly and try to put on a fake smile. He didn't really care about any of these people. He just wanted to build his project for the Armored Battles that were coming up. At the same, he also wanted to do his research over Project 99. He was starting to believe everyone with all the pieces that they came back with. While he didn't consider any of them friends, they were the only ones he could trust right now.