The Experiment

by Costanza, Christopher

  He smiled and patted me on the back “Once I treat this next batch, we’ll take a break and go back to the lab… There’s something I’ve been wanting to show you for quite some time now.”

  As he administered the injections I tried to imagine what it was… I’m sure it had something to do with an experiment on one of the natives. He must have another lab somewhere… One that even I don’t know about…

  Horus grimaced and put his hand over his nose and mouth… “This smell is unbelievable!”

  He became angry, stormed out of the room and yelled “If you people don’t start bathing them correctly, I’ll have you reassigned to the mines! How do you expect me to work in these unsanitary conditions, you’re lucky none of us have gotten sick yet!.. You could cause an epidemic on the whole ship!”

  As he came back in he muttered “Imbeciles…”

  Months ago I may have been shocked to hear Horus suggest that in all this he’s somehow the victim. Now, I wasn’t surprised at all to know that when he looked into those rooms, saw the terrible conditions, and experienced the indescribable odor, that he would immediately worry about how it might affect him. When he looked at the dead natives on the floor, he only worried that he could get sick as well.

  It was just another moment that showed me he didn’t deserve to be alive…

  Once he had finished, he said “Ok Atlas, let’s go” and we started making our way back to the lab.

  “What would you say if I could raise your current intelligence by %50?”

  I was right…“I’d say it would be amazing…”

  “Well then… Try to imagine a whole society of people who can score at least 150 on our standard intelligence test… Think of what society would be like…”

  So this was his real goal all along… To give himself and everyone at the ACI super intellect. It would easily enable them to take control of Aeris…

  If he thought I believed he was going to share this advancement with the rest of the world, he was truly a fool. But it appeared as though I had his undying trust… And I know exactly how to play into his ego and string him along now.

  I said “If you could do that it would probably solve all of our problems. We’d be able to advance as a society so much faster.”

  “Exactly Atlas!.. Right now 150 is the rarity, but I can make it the norm. The few people who are already close to 150 will excel even more… I could make it so there is the first score of a perfect 200!.. It could make our next hundred years of advancement accomplish that of a thousand!… This is more important than all of us Atlas… I hope you understand that.”

  I understood what he said, but I didn’t believe he thought anything was more important than himself…

  “Of course… I believed in you from the very beginning.”

  I could see him smirking…

  He led me back to the private lab and said “There’s something I’ve had to hide from you… From everyone… Something that’s going to change the world forever.”

  He walked to the back of the room and started pushing against a bookshelf. As it began to slide I started to see another door… There was no other lab, he had whatever this was hidden right in front of my face this whole time…

  “Don’t just stand there, help me. My back has been hurting from having to do this every night after you leave.”

  When he opened the door there was a native sitting on the floor… His hands were bound and his ankles were shackled to a heating pipe coming out of the wall. He was dirty and he looked malnourished… I could smell him from where I was standing…

  He stood up and said “Excellent… you’re back… What shall we talk about today? Or will it be more of your insipid puzzles?.. You already know I’m far more intelligent than you are… Haven’t you found the courage to take your own injection yet Horus?.. ”

  He stopped and looked at me “Who is this? And why does he have such a stupid expression on his face?”

  Horus responded “You should be more appreciative of the gift I’ve given you. And remember, when I do finally administer it to myself I’ll far surpass you… As will most other people… Now, this is my assistant Atlas, please treat him with some respect 3.”

  This time I really had no idea what to say… This native was acting just like one of us… the faces he made, the phrases he used. How could Horus do this?

  I had to say something… “3?”

  “Yes, 3… He was my 3rd attempt…”

  The Native fired back “Imbecile can’t even come up with a real name for me! You see how I’m treated… Atlas, is it?”

  Horus turned to me “This is what he does… he tries to manipulate your psyche and upset you. Don’t pay him too much attention.”

  I had so many questions but I was still so shocked, all that came out was “… How?”

  Horus laughed and said “I know, quite the achievement… I’ll start from the beginning.”

  The native remarked sarcastically “Oh please do… There’s nothing I enjoy more than hearing one of your long-winded lectures about how amazing you are…”

  Horus glared at him, let out a deep sigh, and led me out of the room.

  “Now, do you remember the day when I said I could keep going?”

  “Yes.” … I’ll never forget any of the things you’ve said and done…

  “Well that’s exactly what happened… After the revolt, Neros forbid me from continuing to advance their intelligence. He said we couldn’t have another similar situation arise again… Neros is just another fool who lacks any vision… That’s why I’ve had to keep 3 a secret.”

  He cleared his throat “… And as I’m sure you’ve heard, Neros is not a forgiving man. There could be substantial punishment for both of us if this gets out.”

  He stopped and looked me in the eyes… Just to make sure what he said truly reached me.

  “Yes, I understand.”

  As usual, he assured compliance by issuing a threat… First it was treason and life in prison, now it’s the consequences of going against Neros... He was just tightening his grip on me.

  He continued. “3’s latest intelligence score was upwards of 160… As he says, technically he is smarter than I am. He’s in the top %1 of everyone that’s ever been tested. Actually more like top %.05.”

  I interrupted. “He seems like one of our people… If I could only hear him speak I would never think he wasn’t from Aeris.”

  Horus began to laugh. “Once I administered the injection and saw his unprecedented transformation, I began educating him. I let him read our history books, and learn about our culture. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of giving him some my favorite works of fiction, just to observe how he responded to entertainment… I can only assume it’s where he developed his… personalty…”

  I thought to myself “Yeah, he couldn’t have possibly learned to be arrogant from you Horus…”

  He cleared his throat again. “In just a few days he was able to memorize a dictionary and has now surpassed my mathematical abilities… He’s accomplished so much more than I ever could have expected.”

  I said “How is this even possible?”

  I heard the native begin to laugh. Then he yelled out “Don’t bother explaining it to him… he probably won’t get it. I can tell by looking at him!”

  Horus told him to shut up and kept going “Basically, the injection stimulates change and growth in the brain… When this first started, I was only able to slightly increase the growth but it was a complete success and opened the door to simply make it… stronger… I wouldn’t be surprised if we will eventually have to make a new test to measure people’s intellect because the current one will be too simplistic.”

  He paused and looked back into the room at the native “3 here is the last step before I test it on someone like us… In fact I believe it to be ready now…”

  The native interrupted “Oh really Horus? Is that why you’re too scared take it? Because it’s ready?”

  Horus ignor
ed him and said “The reason I haven’t taken it because I need to be able to monitor the new subject… I can’t trust anyone else with this… I need you now more than ever Atlas.”

  I knew exactly where this was going…

  The native started laughing hysterically, but managed to say “Oh! So I guess you’re more of a lab rat than an assistant!”

  Horus closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, walked over and furiously slammed the door...

  “Don’t listen to him Atlas… I’m offering you this opportunity because I feel that you’ve earned it. And that I would like to keep you as my assistant once we get back to Aeris… Think about it Atlas. I can tell you always wished your parents sent you to the science academy as a boy… You could run through it in a year if you let me do this… You could be a scientist – one of the elite in the Capital.”

  Of course I couldn’t trust what Horus said… He wanted to use me because he could get rid of me once this was all over… Or maybe he was really telling the truth… Or maybe he had even planned this from the very beginning…

  But it didn’t matter. All that mattered was switching those injections and putting a stop to this.

  More importantly, we had a new situation that I had to alert Kayin of as soon as possible… We had to make sure the ACI never got his research. Whoever held it would be too powerful, they could literally take over the world…

  “So what do you think Atlas.”

  I must have drifted off into thought… I had to talk my way out of this.

  “I don’t know Horus… Couldn’t this be really dangerous? I’d rather be a living fool than a dead genius…”

  He laughed “Well said… But no I assure you it’s perfectly safe. The risk is so minimal it’s not even noteworthy… The natives are identical to our ancestors, they are us.”

  “So there is a risk?.. Horus, I’m sorry but I’m sure you could find 100 people on this ship who would fight for a place in line to try this.”

  He paused for a few moments and shot me a strange glance.

  He softly said “I’m very surprised by this Atlas… I thought you understood how important this was…”

  I was making him angry… I could hear it underlined in his voice.

  “No, please don’t get me wrong Horus. Once I know it’s safe I’ll be happy to take it… I just don’t want to be a test subject… I know all too well that it doesn’t go as planned sometimes, especially on the first try… You can understand that right?”

  I could see the wild mix of anger and frustration in his eyes… Horus was definitely the kind of man who hated being told “no” by someone. But I could tell he was holding it back, he didn’t want to push too hard and scare me away… He was trying to calmly convince me to be his new test subject…

  He sighed “Well I thought you were a pioneer like me… I guess I was wrong about you… Ok, how about this?.. I’ll give you a week to think about it, if you don’t want to be the first human to break 200 on the intelligence test and change the word… I’ll find someone else who does.”

  I thought to myself “Maybe if you and everyone else involved in this took it, you’d all be smart enough to realize what you’re doing is wrong…”

  “Thank you Horus… I promise I really will seriously consider it.”

  “You’re welcome Atlas… I have a feeling if you think about it you’ll come to your senses.”

  He was obviously trying to pressure me and play on my emotions… Even though it would make no difference who he tested it on… He wanted me… For the same reason he’s keeping that native - he can just disappear when he’s done with him.

  And I could just be paranoid, but I saw a threatening look in his eyes and heard it in his voice when he said “You’ll come to your senses.”

  It felt more like “You better come to your senses.”

  Horus was obviously clever and very convincing but I knew too much about him, and those he’s involved with back on Aeris… There was no way they would share this with people like me… They don’t even really care about all the people beyond the protective field.

  Horus put his hand on my shoulder and said “Please Atlas… Think about it. I want it to be you. You’ve been by my side this whole time. You truly deserve it… And you do realize that if you allow me to administer the treatment, we’d actually be equals.”

  He was trying so hard…

  I also didn’t believe he was even remotely sure it would work… There was no way he could know. He already lied when he said they’re exactly the same as we are. He must have forgotten that he already explained that they’re slightly different… Either that or he just thinks I’m too stupid to remember or even consider it…

  They might be just like us one day, but not yet… He was using me as a lab rat, just like the native said. It was funny, but in reality, I could probably trust “3” more than Horus…

  Horus started walking back towards the door “Give me a few minutes; I need to talk to 3.”

  When the door closed I could immediately hear him start yelling… It was really muffled so I couldn’t tell what he was saying but he was obviously very upset.

  He was probably angry because he thought “3” put doubt in my mind… I guess it was a good thing, he wouldn’t know it was all me.

  I stood there trying to listen when it hit me… Now was my chance!

  I must have forgotten because of everything that just happened… I was still kind of in disbelief…

  I ran over to the cabinet and started looking for the injectors… He moved them…

  “Why would he move them?”

  “I can’t believe after all this time waiting, this is what happens… “

  I walked over to his desk and started looking through the drawers. When I got to the very last one they were there… He had moved them, but not far. So I quickly made the switch and went back over by the door.

  Now I needed to get to Sara as soon as possible and get word to Kayin so he can meet me and retrieve them… While this was good news, I’d have to accompany it with some of the worst yet…

  It was such a relief to finally have this behind me. It had taken so long I was starting to think I’d never get a chance... If it wasn’t for him telling me about 3 I probably never would have…

  Horus had stopped yelling by the time I made it back over to the door… I guess they were just talking…

  Seeing the native behave like that was so strange. It was as if he’d spent his whole life on Aeris. If it weren’t for his appearance I would never know he wasn’t one of us… He was even sarcastic and kind of funny…

  Horus must have been teaching him for a long time… He said he began right after the first successful subject so that means he’s had months… But still… It was just so unbelievable.

  At the same time it made me realize something… 3 could be extremely helpful in dealing with the natives... Kayin should forget about slightly advancing a select few and not knowing what to expect… 3 was the answer…

  I had a new plan and I needed to see Kayin right away. The only problem was I couldn’t go anywhere for hours…

  When Horus finally came out, I expected him to keep pressuring me about taking the injection but he didn’t. He simply said “Ok Atlas, let’s get back to work”

  I could tell he was upset… He was usually very talkative and he didn’t say a word on the way back to the storage rooms.

  I thought about trying to say something to make him feel better but I didn’t care anymore… His game was coming to an end soon and he would answer for his crimes against these people…

  After a few hours he returned to his talkative self and everything seemed like it was back to normal. I guess he was more upset with the native than he was with me... It would be another week before I’d have to tell him no again. Knowing Horus, he probably really believed I would change my mind.

  I didn’t know what would happen when I did say no… Hopefully he wouldn’t have me forced to do it or kill me… I jus
t had to count on Kayin getting everything set up by then so it won’t even be an issue… Horus will be dead…

  By the end of the day, 3 more had died from infections, 7 from various illnesses mainly caused by the conditions, and 4 from the injections… It was just another average day for Horus.

  It also reminded me that his “perfected” treatment was killing natives every day… He must think I’m a complete idiot if he’d try to tell me the risks are “so minimal they aren’t even noteworthy.” He obviously doesn’t value my life at all either.

  Now I was sure he’d planned on using me as his first “human” subject all along… It would explain so many things…

  As usual, I wanted to walk up behind him and cave the back of his head in… I just had to get through another hour or two and he’d tell me I could leave…

  I was getting so sick of standing around all day writing down all the information about every native he injected… Height, weight, eye color, hair color, blood type… Over and over again. I know I had nothing real to complain about… there were just so many reasons I couldn’t wait for this to all be over.

  I’d like to say “so I could put it all behind me”, but I know that’ll never happen… I’ll never forget Horus and all the things he’s subjected me to. I wanted to, but I don’t how I possibly could. I don’t see how anyone would be able to… No matter how strong they were…

  Eventually Horus let me know the current group would be the last for the day.

  “Ok Atlas… Take a total count of how many were a success today”

  I looked over the papers. “Total of 23 are still alive and seemingly fine.”

  Of course he didn’t care about the 14 who died. He never cared about them… Not once did he even show an interest in the number of natives he’s killed...

  Every night when he dismissed me, I had to make myself say “Have a good night.” Even though I really wanted to say so many other things…

  It was harder than usual. Especially after finding out that this whole time he was planning on testing his new treatment on me… That he was willing to blatantly risk my life like it was nothing. After trying so hard to make me believe he cared about me and that he wants me to be his permanent assistant…