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Prologue

Origins

The new breed of man all came from a test tube.

At first, it was all a thought. It was a simple notion that a new breed of the perfect being could be created out of the culmination of science. The science behind cloning was already being explored and had turned out to be a major success yet there were those who saw this as a dangerous tool and dubbed it illegal by all means. That didn't stop science from taking it another step forward.

If a person could be cloned to be the exact duplicate of the donor, what stopped science from creating a being just from the genetics from a primary donor and the secondary genetics of minor donors? There were those who saw this as a ludacris notion and brushed it off, thinking that it was something that could not be achieved or even attempted considering the technology they had at the moment. They said the same about genetic cloning, but they were proved wrong in the end and made it illegal just because they saw it as an abomination.

What fools! Did they not realize that in order for nature of science to progress even another step further they needed to take risks and push the envelope to its absolute limits? It was utterly ridiculous to even think of pushing this thought aside knowing that it had so many promising outcomes! The possibilities of achieving this goal would be endless only if they keep pushing!

The funding for the project began quickly, coming from various undercover charities and the government itself who saw it as a tool to better the army if war plagued the nation. What another possibility it was! To think, if the next evolution in man was to be attainable, only the countries who achieved it could dominate the world and all her resources in just the blink of an eye. They could be used as invulnerable shields who could slaughter countless amounts of men, hardened creations hell-bent on destroying whatever they were told to, and as a threat to any who opposed the country they were created from.

The money created the facility that was going to produce the next advancement in man. It was a glorious facility, one that many would call both remarkable and horrifying. It was going to become the home for the next evolution yet also the grave for all the failed attempts. No one who worked there seemed to care, though. All they were concerned about was to create the perfect being.

It all began in 1991--March 7th to be exact. The facility had just finished development and the "Project" began according to schedule. It started with the creation of the first of the Projects, quickly dubbed "Project I". The donor came from a man from the nearby thriving city of Spark, giving as much of his DNA to the cause as he could. The samples were just enough to begin the first Project.

The first was a major achievement itself, but it did not come without a backlash. "Project I" had been in development for several months with much of the sample coming from a single donor, who quickly died due to a heart attack, halting further experiments until a replacement donor could be found. The first was created shortly after the funeral of the donor, so his death was not in vain--at least, not for the time being. "Project I" survived through the first few stages of growth until problems arose within him. At first, it was heart problems as the newly grown being had major trouble converting oxygen into a breathable substance. Next were the developments of the internal organs taking a staggeringly slow time to grow, forcing the being into more troubles. It was month four by the time the first of the next generation died a slow and painful death, being dubbed a failure by the head of the Project.

The first did not die in vain either. His data was collected and reformed into something that could be used in a better fashion. So, two years later did the experiment continue, this time with a healthy and full donor who was more than willing to aid the advancement in science in any way. This time, it was woman and she and her DNA proved to be more than sufficient to the research and tests. "Project II" was in quick development until the tragedy half a year into its creation. Once the heads of the experiment brought in new strands of DNA to the new Project, the problems quickly arose. It was avian and lion DNA added to the already malamute DNA, splicing the two into a new creature with wings and a faster growing rate. It was thought a success but failure all too soon once the Project's internal organs were found growing at a substantial slow rate. Three days after the find, "Project II" was found dead.

After her death, they moved onto three, then four, and then finally five which were only months apart from each other. All of them were failures, but they were also advances in the study. With each individual Project came new information and securities. In the span of eight years, they had failed five Projects and created "Project VI". This one was the goldmine of all its predecessors. He survived all the stages of creation all the way into a tiny child to the age of two, gifted with the genetics of three other minor donors who enhanced the male's body in extraordinary ways. He could fly at low altitudes with his wings, run substantial distances with the genes of a cheetah, and carried the strength of a lion even at such a young age.

He was not invincible. Year three of his development came and new problems arose. At times, his heart would skip beats, his lungs would close up, and painful headaches plagued his brain for months. His heart eventually gave way and "Project VI" was dubbed another failure even after repeated attempts to bring him back to life. They could create a being into a three-year-old but not bring him back to life. The thought was almost humorous.

The year of 2004 was a victory in the Project, creating number VII. She was a beauty in their eyes, but she was also rebellious and dark with her attitude and temper. At age four, her combat was both accurate and deadly. She accidentally killed two of the trainers she was practicing with and hungered for even more death as it became a drug to her. Who would suspect a little girl as a killer? No one in the facility expected such behavior from her at such a young age, but she proved them wrong by age five once she killed three more guards within the facility before going after another group like a predator hunting for game as if it was a sport. She was put down indefinitely and cast away as yet another failure.

A child created to be a killer...They screwed this one up. As a way to rectify the situation, they decided to tone down on the predatorily instincts and create a more dormant Project, yet they failed twice. "Project VIII" and Project "IX" were created simultaneously to research in case one died so they could focus more attention on the other and not have to start all over again from scratch. They thought that VIII would die before IX, but were proved wrong once they found the two both dying at the same time at the same rate. They staved off their deaths as long as possible, but they knew that they could not save either of them despite their efforts. Both Projects died four months into their creation, making their sacrifice and the attempt a complete failure.

Both failures with the projects were the worst setback Delta had underwent in all its years active. The funding from the experiment was almost cut off by the president himself after viewing all of the nine failures, still finding that none of them carried the genes that could create the ultimate being. Options for a tenth were wearing thin as many began to quit the enduring trial, and soon the Division was almost shut down entirely.

A small ray of hope emerged when they received a second chance. This was the only chance to rectify what had been wronged. They waited another two years before even starting another Project, making sure that this one would not fail like the others. The donor for the being was chosen very carefully out of a long list of donors, but the researchers settled on a very healthy man whose diagnostics were absolute perfection in their eyes--exactly what they were looking for.

Before even starting the tenth being, they took all the previous data from the ones who came before and exploited their weaknesses and strengths. This next one was going to have a heart that would never give way, lungs that could rival that of an Olympic athlete, and the mind of a philosopher. Nothing could be left to chance when it came to this one. He had to be immaculate or else he would become another failure, resulting in the shut-down of the Division. The new workers who worked their knew that they could not let this new opportunity slide by idly and so brought back veterans who began to process for once more try.

With the donor being healthy beyond their expectations, as the Project was grown and harbored in its first few months of creation, and they monitored its every move. Every growth, every movement, and every thought was to be recorded and analyzed thoroughly so that nothing could be left to chance.

The results of his study were remarkable! By month six, he had developed enough to be sustained outside of his tube. He had the appeal of a pup in the eyes of a normal person, but they saw him completely differently. This pup was no normal person by any means. Once the effects of growth take place, he would grow wings, his mind would become faster, and he would gain tremendous strength to overcome any obstacle in his path. He would be as fast as a hummingbird, as tough as an elephant, quick to strike like a snake, and as healthy as the donor he was created from. Oh, he would have even more abilities than just those but he was going to have to grow into those before he could harness them. Time would be the key factor in all of this. They speculated that if he survived into his teenage years that he would live the rest of his life. Even though they weren't entirely sure and since none of the other projects had even come close to teenage years, they could only hope that their theories were correct. This was the last project until their funding was cut off entirely. If he failed as well, they were out of options and Delta Division would cease to exist.

Two trusted scientists were given the boy as a way to show him right from wrong, help guide him on his destiny, and bring his true potential forth. If the boy grew up to be another problem, it would be on their heads.

The tests for him were going to be rigorous and trying, but that was what the boy was created for anyway. They needed to see what he was capable of and whether or not they could replicate him in the near future if the need arose. Perhaps they wouldn't even need a back-up if the boy lived up to expectations and they could continue to use the same data over and over again and create more just like him, garnering a new species ready to unveil to the world.

No doubt the repercussions would be severe. Many would say that it was a crime against nature after all they went through to create him, saying that his creation wasn't natural or right. Others might actually agree with the methods of creating a new species, but they were almost certain the ones who disagreed would outweigh those who agreed.

Would they go to lengths enough to actually destroy the Division? No, that was a preposterous notion. The resources the Division had were vast and strong, so they didn't have to worry about any protestors or disbelievers interfering with their line of work.

The people were of no concern to them, but the rest of the world leaders were an entirely different story. With a new power like this, others were going to want to have him to themselves and do the exact same thing they did and fashion their own elite soldier built ready for battle. Whoever had the boy practically had absolute power within their grasp. Governments would ask for the boy's death and the destruction of all the research and the facility along with him to ensure it could not happen once more. They would rather throw away over two decades of research that took years to perfect rather than use it to better the country as a whole. The fools they would be allowing such research to go unnoticed!

There was no question the boy would be valued. He would get the necessities, be treated with respect, and pushed to his absolute limits. Nothing would be left to chance.

Seventeen years later, "Project X" proved to be the success of a lifetime. He was almost fully grown; his abilities were just as functional as his fully developed set of wings. Over that seventeen year period, he was constantly tested on a great deal of trials ranging from strength, endurance, speed, intellect, persistence, and various others. With the genetics of many other species mixing with the genes of his donor, the boy could handle himself in any sort of fight, solve many puzzles, and survive even the most fatal of wounds. By the standards of the Division, he was very keen and smart, not to mention handsome and brave.

He still knew very little about the outside world though. Even with the years of private education we've given him, his true knowledge about the outside world beyond the compound was something we neglected to show him while he grew up. His protection was more of a concern to us, though. If he died miraculously by some unknown disease or body problem, over a hundred people would be out of a job. We could not take that chance, and so we confined him for not just his own protection but the protection of the employees who helped develop him.

It was not the perfect plan by all means. True, there were many flaws that could plague us in the future. He could become rebellious enough to go against us and try to escape, or he could end up taking his own life for his own reasons, or he might just become the most valuable asset to the world if we played our cards right.

Perhaps he needed some time out of the facility to stretch his wings and breathe in some real air, not some filtered air that we felt would be more suitable to someone of his caliber. He had been a good Project growing up with only minor problems which were corrected for his own good. Maybe a little reward regarding his behavior was in order and a little bit more freedom should be involved.

Sadly, it never felt good keeping him locked up like a bird with its wings clipped. Oh, by no means were his wings clipped! Those jewels were far too valuable research to have destroyed! That was a mere metaphor.

Besides, he would need to have some free time outside the compound once the time came to unveil him to the world, and the unveiling was only in about a month or so. The public had caught wind of our little operation but still knew very little about it. Much of the media calls us and the government who supported our cause conspirators.

Bah! Conspiracy my ass! These reporters knew only one thing about their job, and that was to spread whatever evidence they could muster until it became a topic that was as fickle as the people who created it. They knew nothing about our work besides of the research we've been doing. It wasn't illegal, but as far as we knew, we were the only ones attempting it. That ultimately made us a target for conspiracies, hate, and backlash constantly.

It wasn't even us who were targeted. The government and the president were both targets for the opposing backlash against the subject as well, so we were not the only ones on the firing squad.

We found a good means to deal with the situation, however. Ignore it all. Let the media spread their useless rumors, their preposterous stories, and their ridiculous banter. Their opinions were of no concern to us or to our research, so we focused most of our attention on "Project X" or just "Ex" from what I had gathered from the scientists over the years. Whatever we dubbed him, at least we were able to give him an identity and a personality. What was a man without an identity? Well, some would say that would be no man. Ex had made a name for himself and created his own personality despite inheriting the same from his donor.

Shocking as it was, Ex never fully retained everything from his donor. In truth, Ex was actually the complete opposite. Though the donor was healthy with a decent record of events, he was plagued with a few arrests, vandalisms, and anger issues. Whatever we did to Ex during his growth, or rather whatever he did to himself, he hasn't shown hostile aggression towards us, nor has he shown any signs of pure anger. He had vandalized a few objects during his growth, but we expected much from a growing boy with a pair of wings and a great deal of genetic splices. Despite those mishaps, he was still nothing like the donor, and I was pleasantly pleased with that.

Time after time he had proven himself to be a capable Project with the abilities to make him a real hero of tomorrow. Those who worked alongside him could see greatness in his eyes, and whoever didn't would have to be a very daft person to think not. Did we have those kinds of people? Of course. We made no quarrel with them though, knowing that our thoughts were always opinions of each other, and so we had to live with that.

Ex didn't seem to mind much of it anyway, so we didn't both worry about those people. Our primary focus was to make Ex the perfect being with the capabilities to bring this world out of its own ignorance. It was for his best interests after all.

Unfortunately, I doubt he would be the perfect being. Nothing could be utterly perfect forever. For all we knew, he could still have flaws within his bone structure, or maybe one day his heart would give way, or his organs might begin to collapse after a certain amount of years. Seeing his predecessors living for relatively short periods of time, determining an age for him was difficult enough. He could die today, or tomorrow, or even next week for all we knew.

Sigh. Even with all the technology we had, we couldn't keep him perfect forever. He would have his flaws, and I wasn't the only one who knew it. We could create dozens of others like him possibly, but I had my suspicions that even they would be flawed.

Perfection was a fool's errand. We couldn't honestly, in our right minds, create a perfect being. All we could do was just make the next one better than the one who came before, and repeat this process over and over again until we created, what would be our form, of perfection. That's what we did for nearly three decades. Ex was just the best one we had ever created, and the data we used on him would be used and modified for the many others to come.

Oh, yes. There will be others. We couldn't just stop all of our research at Ex. That would be a waste of nearly three decades of research that we could never get back. No. We could not allow all of our hard work to go to waste just creating him, for we had come so far ever since Project I.

That is why we needed Ex. If we lose him, we lose the best chance of perfection this world has yet to see. His potential is still immense, and we still know very little of what he is truly capable of. This Division will not allow this entire Project to go to waste or else we have just pissed away thirty years research for a lost cause. Allowing that to happen was not an option; it was a last resort we couldn't allow to happen.

If everything succeeds as planned, the Division would be hailed, and we would live on as the catalysts for the greatest achievement known to man. Our ambassadors were already talking with the President to expand our borders from this location and another on the other side of the country to the many different states in the country. Once they convince him, and we were positive they would, we would have laboratories in each state, each working on a new form of technology or advancement that we could use to our advantage. Until then, we would have to make do with the two facilities we have already.

And it was all thanks to Ex. So long as we had him, we had a golden opportunity to do something great.

A knock came from the door.

"Come in," I called, watching the two forms I recognized immediately. "Take a seat, gentlemen. We have much to discuss."

My two top researchers with the duty of guiding Ex. Professors Alexander and Blake. They were very easy to determine, seeing as Alexander adorned his red fox genetics while Blake was a wolf. The both of them graduated from the University of Harvard with very exceptional scores and academics, not to mention their abilities before Harvard. They were already close friends, so I saw fit to keep them together seeing as they worked better in a pair than they did separately.

Alexander leaned forward. "Indeed we do. What would you like to hear first?"

I pondered for a minute. "Give me an overall analysis of Ex's latest results."

Blake slid a manila document over the counter. "Ex has exceeded well past our previous expectations, sir. With the rate his abilities are coming in, even we're having trouble to tackle each one separately without forgetting the others. Have no fear, though. We will see to it that we give you as much research as we can offer."

"What about the past few days?" I asked, skimming through the long list of recordings.

Alex cleared his throat before responding. "His flying has improved tremendously in just a few short days. We clocked him are around two-hundred miles an hour as his top speed, but we expect that number to increase dramatically in just under a month."

I smiled. "Impressive."

Blake nodded. "Indeed. His grammar, mathematics, and history are just where he needs to be, yet we are expecting him to grow better and better with time. As far as we know, there haven't been any major problems that have arisen from him."

"How healthy is he?" I asked, turning to the section that had his health facts.

Alexander answered this one. "His weight remains stable at around seventy-nine point thirty-seven kilograms. With his recent vaccinations, we have found no known traces of sicknesses or diseases. He is up to date on all of his shots. Though he doesn't always eat the food we prepare for him, his metabolic rate still exceeds that of the average person."

"Hmm, good, good, good," I glanced over the rest of the documents inside the folder before slipping it back to the wolf. "Well, gentlemen, I think we're almost ready to unveil the new age of man. However, we need to allow him flight time outside the facility."

"Don't you think that's risky, sir?" Alexander asked, leaning forward. "We're still unsure of the effects of unfiltered air on his respiratory system."

I let out a light chuckle of amusement. "Well, I suppose there's its now or never, gentlemen. Take him outside the walls tomorrow. If he cannot withstand the air, then we will ease him into it one day at a time, but he must be ready for the unveiling in the next few weeks, am I understood?"

They exchanged uneasy looks. I couldn't deny that they were right to feel wary of exposing Ex to the outside world, after keeping him locked up in this glass container for seventeen years. We didn't have much of a choice, though. Either we eased him into the new environment and got him ready for his revealing, or we keep him locked up in here for the rest of his life and force him to become some sort of caged animal. He needed exposure. It was better that way.

Blake leaned forward. "How much time do we have to see if he can inhale the unfiltered oxygen?"

"Three weeks," was my response.

"And if he doesn't have the capacity?" he pressed on.

I sighed. "Then we go to my last resort."

Alexander gave me a puzzling look. "And what exactly is your last resort option, sir? You never clued us in."

Tapping my pen against my desk, I answered them. "My last resort is to invite as much of the media, people, and government men we can and show him to everyone here. They take pictures, make videos, and spread propaganda around the world, and we have no other secrets to hide."

"Sir, with all due respect, that's--" Blake started, but I cut him off.

"Stupid? Crazy? Disastrous? Yes, I am well aware of the many... complications that can come from an unveiling such as that, which is exactly the reason why I need him ready in the next three weeks so that does not happen. Now, you two know him better than anyone else here, am I right?"

They exchanged another look and answered me simultaneously. "Right."

"Then it stands to reason that you two are the best equipped into coaxing him to the newfound environment," I hypothesized. "If there's anyone in this compound that can do it, it has to be you two."

"I see where you're getting at, sir," Alexander chimed in. "But we still don't know what the effects of the outside world will have on him. Remember, it was you who wanted to keep him inside the facility away from prying eyes."

I almost regretted his memory, yet it was vital. "You're right, but I am going against my own order on the matter because we are running short on time. Tomorrow, you will sit aside a few of the tests to see if he can withstand the oxygen of the outside, understood?"

Once more, they were very unsure about this plan. I figured they had grown very attached to Ex, enough that they were very cautious of his safety and well-being and, though I admired their caution, I had to push them into doing something they didn't want to do. If Ex suffered his first time in the real, open world, I would take full responsibility for whatever happened to him and leave them out of the blame. They would keep working here in case Ex survived, and I would receive punishment instead.

If it was for the better of the world, I was willing to take that risk whether I wanted to or not. I gave the order to keep him inside the base at all costs, but I was now going against my own order because of our time. We didn't have a choice, and I wanted to get this over and done with as soon as possible.

After a few moments of whispering amongst each other, they turned to me and nodded. "Ex will be taken care of tomorrow evening."

I smiled. "Perfect." I took a sip of my drink and let out a delighted sigh. "That will be all, gentlemen. I look forward to tomorrow already."

"Yes, sir, Mr. Kindle, sir," Alexander bowed with his friend, quickly turning and leaving the same way they entered. In only a few moments, they were gone, and I was able to return to my thoughts once more.

We had a little under a month to pull this off. If Ex was as powerful and adaptive as we theorized, then we should have no trouble with him tomorrow evening. We were still unsure, but we didn't have time to take the easy road now. Ex had to go out there sooner or later and prove that he wasn't as flawed as we previously thought. He couldn't rely on this oxygen forever, so we had to make sure he was ready for the open world.

I couldn't help but think of the worst outcome from this. What if he grew too rebellious and wanted to see more of the world? What if we couldn't control him afterwards? What if he died? There could be disastrous repercussions from this if we didn't tread lightly.

Time was of the essence, and it wasn't on our side anymore. We had seventeen years to show what we could do. And now we have. I believed Ex was capable of this. He always came out with a hat-trick in case things grew too much for him anyways. No doubt he would surprise us again, for I did have faith in his abilities. He was already a great creature that we prized. I had to make sure, for certain, that he was ready for something like this.

"And if he fails, we have a back-up plan just in case," I spoke softly to myself, letting out a soft sigh of disapproval to myself.

Even I had to admit I wasn't very fond of the back-up plan. I hated hiding it from Ex and many of the researchers who worked with him, but I knew it was probably for the best. We needed a back-up in case Ex perished, but this back-up would not be the Ex we grew to love. I hated creating it, I honestly did, but I could take no chances.

I looked at the keyboard on my desk. Under it was a small compartment that housed a button that would activate the back-up. In all honesty, I wished never to touch it. It was a last resort I never wanted to activate. But it was there just in case we needed to rectify Ex's death.

Only time and patience would prove fruitful. We waited seventeen years for the new breed of man to fully develop and, in another year, we would have the ultimate being ever under our fingertips. He would save this world from collapsing in on itself entirely, but we were going to have to be patient to see if he was ready for such an undertaking.

Sadly, the time for waiting was just about over. One month stood between acceptance or rejection. If we were deemed too dangerous, Ex would be killed and we would be disbanded, never to use our research again. We had a statement to make, and Ex had a statement to make, and the world would be the audience in which we would make it. They would be the final judge, our final critic, and they would decide if we were a salvation or a danger.

"We will show this world what we are capable of," I declared. "And if we don't, then Ex will be the catalyst for our salvation."

Oh, yes. Ex will be the salvation...