Prometheus, A New Dawn

by Nicole MacDonald

  Idly watching the two women, unintentionally comparing the minute differences in species, Eoin didn’t really hear Ally’s question. But Holi’s reply struck his central nerve system like a bullet.

  ‘Population control.’

  ‘What? How?’ Eoin was on his feet before he realized it, voice and mind eager. ‘The sterli-‘

  ‘By releasing a secondary virus that shuts down the original nano-virus. Sending any infected Promethean into complete organ failure within minutes.’

  The rest of the word died in Eoin’s throat as he gaped in growing horror at Holi. The projected image was as calm and collected as ever.

  Meeting his eyes with a complete unadulterated expression of stark terror, Ally stammered, ‘Do-does such a virus exist?’

  ‘That is classified information.’

  He could hear Ally’s gasps of breaths as loud as if she stood next to him, wait, was that his own breaths?

  ‘Shut down, Holi!’

  The projection vanished with a calm bow of the blonde head. Ally stared at him. Eoin had no words and no idea in that moment of what to do.

  ‘I’m going to do a perimeter check,’ the gravelly tone was so unlike Ally’s normal smooth contralto. Eoin went to protest, heart hammering at the thought of being alone in this moment but his wife made a sharp gesture with her hand, silencing him. She left at speed, feet fast and quiet.

  In the sterile silence of the lab Eoin calmed himself, letting the panic wash away and the normal pragmatic side take hold. Abruptly standing he began marching a lap of the room, mind working away at this sudden influx of information.

  ‘A virus to shut-down our current virus. An antivirus,’ Eoin snorted to himself at the term. ‘And I thought the birth control issue was going to be tricky.’ He huffed a breath out and stopped short, tipping his head back, considering.

  ‘Holi?’

  ‘Greetings Eoin, is all well? I apologize for concerning you earlier.’ Holi’s projected image kept the easy melodic tone, smiling like she hadn’t announced the potential eradication of his entire species.

  ‘Holi, I,’ Eoin paused, trying to decide the best way to approach the topic. The more he worked with Holi the more he became aware that while she had instructions to help a Promethean scientist, she also had warnings set in place to prevent him doing certain things. But her settings did only account for the protocols programmed into her. If he approached the subjects cautiously he might be able to trick the computer into giving him the desired information.

  ‘Holi, you said there were other Promethean Labs scattered about. Are you able to forward my workings to the one nearest my home? I’m worried I won’t be able to finish my research before we have to leave.’

  Holi’s image shimmered as she processed his words. ‘I should be able to but my data cables have been damaged at some point, if you can repair those then I will be able to forward your workings.’

  Eoin affected a frown and disappointed tone. ‘Unfortunately we were sent to find this lab and work on the virus details, but nothing more. No equipment beyond our basic travel requirements was provided.’

  Holi shimmered again and a couple of minutes ticked by as Eoin waited for her next solution. A whisper of noise caught his attention and directly in front of Holi a skinny tube rose up from the floor.

  Holi made a smooth gesture toward the tube, graceful in a way that only a simulation could possibly be. ‘This token will store your data.’

  Stepping close to see, Eoin reached to pick it up when Holi gestured at it again. The small flat oval almost the length of his thumb looked like polished silver with a small perfectly rounded nodule protruding out near one end of it. He rubbed his thumb gently across the surface, so silky smooth it almost felt wet. When his thumb touched the nodule it depressed slightly and went from solid matt black to a deep red flashing light.

  ‘Holi?’ Eoin said in concern.

  ‘That is the homing beacon,’ Holi waved her hand over Eoin’s the close proximity of light and image making him blink and stand back in surprise. At times it threw him to be reminded she wasn’t literally there.

  ‘When you are within fifty meters proximity of a laboratory it will alert you. To turn the alarm off you hold down the beacon.’

  Eoin stared at the little silver tablet with a spreading sense of delight, an actual method to find another lab! Fifty meters might be like finding a needle in a haystack, but still, it gave him a better chance than hoping he might fall down another entrance by accident.

  ‘Don’t forget the chain,’ Holi prompted him, causing Eoin to look back at the tube he’d taken the tablet from. The thin silver chain slipped through the small hole at the opposite end of the oval, allowing the beacon to hang against the top of his ribcage when he draped it over his head.

  ‘I think I’ll let Ally wear it,’ he commented to Holi who gave her rare cheeky smile.

  ‘Too fashionable for you?’

  Eoin laughed, always amused at her sporadic moments of humor. ‘Yes.’

  The tube slipped back down into the floor, vanishing completely from sight, the floor looking as solid as normal. It tuned his mind back to the issue at hand. With a nod to Holi, Eoin settled back at his desk and began studying the samples.

  The viruses appeared to be perfect replicas, and because he’d created these versions he could also take them apart. The records of the nano-virus on Holi’s computer system wouldn’t allow him to break them down to the point of understanding what parts triggered the virus to respond. The equipment in the laboratory was more than sophisticated enough to allow Eoin to fully map out the virus, but it wouldn’t do it on command. He had to decode the virus himself, sequence by sequence, until he understood all the variants.

  The problem was, he hadn’t the time to do that.

  Ally thought they had three days, five days if they were very lucky before the raiders returned. He personally thought an easy seven, but as Ally was the one tasked with getting them out alive, he left it in her capable hands.

  Eyes running over the data he had so far extracted, Eoin found himself dawdling across the information that detailed the creation of the virus within the body. As a biological nano-virus, it had been designed to replicate within the bone marrow, produced within the body’s megakaryocytes. These cells produced the blood platelets that in nature were the cells that caused blood coagulation and transported and released certain vital chemicals. The nano-virus hitched a ride within the blood platelets around the body, reacting to rises and falls in chemicals released within the body when under various stresses.

  But something seemed to stand out.

  Uncertain if he was reading the information correctly, Eoin pulled up the samples on record of human blood. Examining the two samples, and comparing them to the breakdowns of his creations, Eoin found several anomalies. None made immediate sense. Not suggesting sterilization, or swift death in the case of the antivirus.

  Frustrated he sat back with a heavy sigh.

  ‘Can I help?’

  Holi’s query made him jolt on the seat, having forgotten her presence entirely.

  ‘Oh ahh.’ An idea occurred to him.

  ‘Actually yes, Holi I’m not understanding the addition of this protein here. It seems to be designed as a signal, what could it trigger?’

  Holi studied the data silently, her outline shimmering and eyes flickering. Seconds ticked by, edging into minutes.

  ‘I’m sorry, Eoin, I have no answer for you.’

  ‘Is it classified?’

  Holi stared coolly at him, no expression on her face. ‘I have no answer for you. I have not been provided with the data you have requested.’

  It wasn’t a definite direction, but gave him hope that the reason she had no answer could be because the data was extremely sensitive. If he could pick out the other anomalies and receive the same response, he might be on the right track.

  With that tenuous beginning, Eoin instructed Holi to whip him up a stimulant drink and set to w
ork.

  14 Unwelcome Discoveries

  ‘All five samples stopped mitosis after the first replication,’ Holi said as Eoin entered the lab two mornings later. He groaned and cursed under his breath. Behind him Ally gave the softest sigh and her hand brushed his back. ‘I’ll go do a perimeter check, do a little foraging.’

  He scrubbed his hands over his face, hearing her footsteps as she vanished up the stairs.

  ‘Okay Holi, the strongest stimulant you can dial me. Let’s start again.’

  At least parts of it were easy to repeat. The anomalies however, gave him the same concerns again. He clearly had one or two of them wrong, but which, and how?

  ‘Holi, can we do another run through showing the full genetic breakdown at a cellular level of both the original virus, and my latest two experiments.’

  ‘Did you want them arranged for comparison?’

  ‘Yes,’ Eoin smiled gratefully at the blonde whose projected image shimmered as she worked on the data. ‘I wish I could take you back with us, Holi.’

  ‘If you locate a laboratory near to your home I will be programmed to assist you,’ Holi said. ‘Make sure to keep your beacon on the desk and it will save all your workings. You will be able to work in any lab with it.’

  The suitable robotic response in a human voice made Eoin snort in amusement, shaking his head at himself. At times Holi seemed very human. But she quickly reminded him otherwise.

  Another minute passed before the information flashed onto the hand-held reading device, three distinct columns with items highlighted to show the differences. Remembering her comment about the beacon, Eoin lifted the reading device and lay the silver tablet that hung on the chain around his neck onto its flat surface. A second later the silver beacon made a tiny vibration, signaling the data update. Pleased with the simplicity of it, he let the beacon drop back in place and leaned back to study the information before him. Eyes scanning, he used a finger to scroll the page up. While he didn’t have an eidetic memory, he did still have what was considered by human standards as a mnemonic memory. As Eoin read the details he subconsciously tapped his fingers against his leg, hammering home the massive lengths of genetic codes. Going over it again, rocking slightly while tapping against his leg, Eoin’s mind was able to drift to an almost meditative state as he processed the data within his mind allowing a portion of his mind to drift elsewhere, to a time he’d rather forget.

  Of the two of them entwined in this intrepid adventure, Eoin had the most reason to hate humans. Sucking a breath in he shook his head, trying to distract from the memory but the motion promptly took his focus from the data before him. With a muttered grumble under his breath, he turned his mind back to the data, allowing the memories to haunt the back of his mind as he worked through the precious information, somewhere in this chaos of letters and numbers, there was a solution, he just had to find it.

  Eoin! Not too far now!

  It always amazed him how sharp and clear his mother’s voice sounded in the memory. Muttering the lines of information, Eoin kept working as the memory of that life changing day swarmed in the back of his mind.

  Leave him be, sweetheart, he can’t go far.

  Eoin turned to grin at his father then scrambled on ahead at that presumed permission. The landscape was sheer, vivid and truly awe-inspiring, or moderately terrifying if you weren’t such a fan of heights, like his mother. They’d climbed for the last couple of days, reaching the ridgeline of the mountains late the evening before. The view was spectacular and Eoin couldn’t help wanting to find the next highest point, determined to be able to see where they’d come from, and where they trekked to in one sweeping panoramic. Up here with the air so thin and the visibility unusually sharp thanks to the cloudless morning, it felt like they were on top of the world.

  ‘Papa! Is that the village?’ Eoin shouted as soon as he sighted the difference in color. Even at this height the slightest sign of civilization, touches of colors and the occasional straight line, was easily visible. Nature never had true straight lines. It looked large, Eoin narrowed his eyes forcing the nano-virus to enhance his vision until he could count the humps of buildings, a rough count suggesting over two thousand individual dwellings.

  The sound of small stones slipping away announced his parents’ arrival on the rocky plateau he’d climbed.

  ‘Good spot, Eoin,’ Papa commented, his pale skin already tanning to a deep gold while Mama, just behind him, had darkened to mahogany, her dark hair and eyes nearly making her look like one of the humans living in the old city of Rome. Eoin took after his father, pale with blond hair and gray blue eyes.

  ‘Oooo, yes,’ Mama fanned her face, a nervous reaction as she regarded the view and gripped the stone she knelt against with a white knuckled hand. ‘You must be part ibex.’ She nodded at the scimitar horned mountain goats that casually minced their way along sheer rock faces while nibbling on lichens.

  ‘The village is huge, Papa!’ Eoin exclaimed in excitement.

  ‘Town, Eoin, and it’s not biggest, but it’s certainly larger than just the three of us,’ Papa said with a laugh, exchanging a look with Mama who nodded.

  ‘It’ll be so nice to have company.’

  ‘There’s BIGGER villages?’

  ‘Towns, and yes, Eoin. I’ve heard of a couple of cities that count over ten thousand for their population.’

  ‘Just Promethean?’

  ‘No, mixed like that town down there. Humans are welcome. We want to encourage them to see we aren’t something to fear.’

  ‘I hope their facilities are as good as the messenger said,’ Mama said to Papa. ‘I can’t wait to be part of a research team again!’

  ‘Is our team of three not impressive enough?’ Papa teased her, making Mama swat at him.

  ‘You know what I mean!’

  ‘We do. Now, let’s move on, if we hurry it might only take us three days.’

  It was the eve of the second day, in the failing light of the setting sun that they struck.

  In the midst of climbing down the last of the sharp steep angles, aiming for the first leafy green stretch of land they’d seen since scaling the impressive heights of the Alps, a group of Raiders ambushed them.

  An explosion nearly hurled Eoin off the rock face he clung to. Head snapping around, peering through the rain of shingle, he gasped in horror, body flinching.

  Groaning, a hand limply flailing at the massive hooked spear protruding from his chest, Eoin’s father was abruptly ripped off the rock face. A roar of victory stunned Eoin and he stared blankly down at the humans below, who held the end of the rope that attached to the spear. Bloody, almost unrecognizable as his father, Papa rolled over like a harpooned whale, face and limbs twitching.

  ‘Eoin! Eoin! DON’T LOOK!’ His mother, suddenly fearless had his face in her hands, eyes alert and pupils narrowed. He could feel the hum of the electro-plaques beneath her hands and realized she meant to fight. Terrified, he gripped her hands, ‘No, Mama!’

  Ignoring him she kept her hard stare into his eyes, her tone different, at a pitch designed to make him focus and focus solely on her words. One of the few genuine defenses a Scientist Promethean had. ‘Listen to me Eoin, run. Stay hidden. Find the town. Remember we love you, and don’t, Eoin DON’T look back.’

  The tone made his ears and head hum. The instant her hands left his face he scrambled away, mind locked on her instructions as Mama twisted and threw herself off the rock face.

  Screams filled his ears as he half fell down the remaining climb, feet hitting a dry creek bed that led into the forest. Shouts and explosions rang out behind him. Eoin ran, arms pumping and body singing with adrenaline, mind almost blank with fear as his mother’s instructions ran on repeat in his head.

  Run. Stay hidden. Find the town.

  Almost two days later, bedraggled, hungry and terrified, he’d stumbled through the forest and onto a house. Literally, the house embedded into the hillside. At the thumping of footsteps on their roof th
e occupants had rushed out.

  Eoin took note of the three people, Prometheans, gaping in apparent horror at his condition, then collapsed, the last two things in his mind his mother’s voice whispering ‘Remember we love you,’ and the most beautiful pair of intense violet eyes.

  ‘Eoin? Did you find something?’

  Holi’s voice shook the memory aside and he realized he’d paused mid list, finger firmly pressed on the list before him. Beneath the tip of his finger a code suddenly rang home like a sharp toll of a bell in his mind.

  Encoding protein CXorf49

  ‘Ahh, no. No, Holi, just thought I did,’ Eoin lied, face pleasant while his heart skipped with excitement.

  He’d just found the switch to their automated sterilization.

  Eyes flicking back and forth to compare, Eoin didn’t risk voicing or writing anything down. The protein was a signal of the X chromosome, and designed to link to it were a couple of seemingly harmless amino acids. Eoin’s mind ran swiftly through the possibilities of what the combination could create. He’d have to mimic it in the next attempt. Something else caught his eye, now he’d looked at it in a different manner. A curious gene that was tagged with a different protein. The combination made no sense. Sitting back, Eoin closed his eyes and visualized these two new discoveries against the anomalies he’d found the other day. A picture began to form in his mind, linking the various pieces together in a new theory. Opening his eyes, hands almost trembling with excitement, he ordered the various bits of equipment out on the desk and threw himself into the work.

  The hours flew by while Eoin separated, joined, and reorganized the new virus configuration. It felt right, easy, and before he knew it Eoin was staring down the eyepiece of the microscope at the newest version of his nano-virus. The shape was so like the last failures that a good portion of his mind doubted he’d finally done it.

  ‘But the shape should be the same,’ he muttered to himself. ‘You know that.’