Two weeks had passed since Anton had arrived at Dr Caroline Finnegan’s facility and she had first spoken to him. His continued lack of cooperation frustrated her. She had tried everything to get the Indigene to open up; his mind was the key to understanding the evolution of the second-generation Indigenes. Even pretending to be his friend hadn’t worked.
The shock treatments she’d administered had kicked him out of his daze, but left alone he would disappear again. With Deighton calling once a day asking for an update, she had no time to babysit him. Failure risked her team being stranded on Earth. For Felicity, Julian, and hopefully her favourite gardener’s sake, she needed to crack Anton’s genetic code.
Her early use of programmed nanoids to add new genes to an animal’s DNA had caught Deighton’s eye. It had led to a job at the World Government. Now, the pressure of the job was getting to her. Deighton was being tyrannical, demanding results when her patient was being less than cooperative. The secrets of evolution lay with the second generation. She just didn’t know how to access them yet.
The Indigenes had been originally designed to live in Exilon 5’s harsh atmosphere. But the voluntary genetic testing programme had been too radical to attract volunteers. That’s when the World Government forced people into the programme, made the genetic modifications without their consent and wiped their memories of any previous existence. Caroline had disagreed with their methods of ‘recruitment’, but not many had listened, or cared.
She watched her team bustle about the laboratory in an almost chaotic fashion. Felicity flushed red when Julian thanked her for a tray of cultures she’d just handed to him. Caroline smiled at the interaction. Felicity, with her untidy black hair, and Julian, with his Scandinavian blond hair and good looks, weren’t exactly a perfect genetic match.
When another argument unfolded between Felicity and MOUSE, Caroline thought about dropping in on Anton again. She hated using shock treatment on him, but it was the only thing that got a reaction from him.
‘You’re a genetic scientist first, a moralist second, Caroline.’ It’s what her father had told her at the beginning of her career. She’d pursued science to improve life; that improvement involved some testing on unwilling subjects. Genetic treatments were in high demand. But those treatments didn’t happen without a few regrettable casualties.
Two things weighed on Caroline’s mind: Deighton’s demands that she succeed and the arrival of new test subjects who were being held in a secure room two floors below. She couldn’t keep them indefinitely.
Felicity and MOUSE continued their argument.
She’d heard enough. ‘Cut it out, you two. MOUSE, come with me.’
‘Gladly, Dr Finnegan,’ said MOUSE.
She grabbed a DPad from the centre island and slapped the doors open with her palm. The sentient program’s voice filled the corridor as it followed her. But Caroline heard little of what it said.
Without pausing, she entered the room where Anton was being held. She had lost her early fear of the entity. Deighton’s control over her future worried her more.
She scrolled through a selection of stories on the DPad about Earth’s most recent history and picked out one reporting the first changes to Earth’s atmosphere.
‘I want to show you something.’ She held the DPad up for Anton.
He turned his head in her direction, but didn’t look at her. ‘What do you want, Caroline?’
She wasn’t sure how she felt about Anton using her name. Too personal. Using the hologram feature, she projected one story in front of him.
Forecasters have reported stark changes to the atmosphere on Earth. Reports confirm that the ozone layer has depleted but the force field, recently activated around the Earth, holds steady. Sources say the deteriorating air quality is not bad enough to cause widespread panic. However, the World Government has ordered mandatory breathing masks to be put into worldwide production, effective immediately. Charles Deighton, CEO of the World Government, said: “While we admit the statistics do not look good, there is no reason for panic. We have everything under control.”
Caroline flicked to another story, many years later, which reported the discovery of Exilon 5. Deighton was quoted as claiming the discovery was a gift from God himself.
We are thrilled with this discovery and personally, I’m delighted with the tireless efforts of the government to secure a future for the people of Earth. It appears as if the planet will support human life. It will be our salvation.
Finally, she pulled up a report from a lead scientist on the creation of the first hybrid, dated well before the story on Exilon 5 broke. She watched Anton as he read it.
We are working on an Indigene prototype. The physical changes are still minor, and cognitively, it is not developing as fast as we’d hoped. I’m not sure if the additional genes work in the way we hoped they might. The genes appear to attach to the bottom of the DNA strands, but disengage a few days later. For this to work, the genes must fuse with both strands.
She lowered the DPad. To her disappointment, Anton didn’t react.
‘I want you to understand where you came from, why you’re here and how you can help us,’ she said. ‘We’re not trying to hurt you, only to utilise your knowledge to create a better future for humans. What I’m about to show you is a picture of old Earth, as seen from space.’
She flicked to a blue and white image of the planet and pulled it out of the DPad. The 3D hologram rotated in the air.
Anton looked at the projected image.
‘And this is Earth as it is now.’ She swiped left on the DPad; the image changed to a grey, dead lump of rock.
Caroline waited for a response, but the Indigene’s expression didn’t flicker. She kept going; something was bound to resonate with him. She selected different pieces of footage showing the loss of entire ecosystems, overcrowding, and Earth’s general demise. She finished with footage of Exilon 5 showing the biodomes where the animals lived, and new technology that eliminated the need for fossil fuels.
‘We’ve changed,’ she said. ‘With your help we can turn Exilon 5 into a better Earth.’
Anton looked lazily at her. ‘What does this have to do with me?’
‘Your planet—the one we gave you—is healthy. Ours is past saving. Our species must transfer to Exilon 5, but also avoid the mistakes of the past. We need to know how you’ve survived in a much-changed atmosphere. Has the planet altered your physiology? How advanced is your brain? We can be of benefit to each other.’
‘You tried to eradicate us with your explosions,’ Anton spat out. ‘How does that benefit me?’
‘We know our two species didn’t meet under the best of circumstances, but some members of our society are hot-headed. There are others, like my team and I, who wish to change things for the better, with minimal interference. That’s where you come into it.’
Her plan to get Anton talking was working. This was the most engaged he’d been since she’d first spoken to him. She hoped MOUSE was monitoring Anton’s vitals and recording brain activity.
Anton clenched his hands. ‘Our race has nothing to do with yours. We are not the solution to your problems.’
Caroline half smiled. ‘I know Deighton has told you about your origins: the first generation of Indigenes came from humans and here you are, a second generation with remarkable abilities. Allow us to learn from you so we may avoid the mistakes of Earth.’
Anton stared at her. ‘What are you talking about? We didn’t come from you.’
‘We’re wasting precious time, Anton.’ Caroline sighed. She had no idea what Deighton had told him. ‘What I’ve told you is the truth.’
A restrained Anton propped himself up on his elbow. ‘How is that even possible? I can see your brainwaves. They differ to ours. I was one of the few ready to accept your presence on Exilon 5, but your barbarism and brutality have changed my mind. I now understand why so many of my kind barely tolerate you.’
‘Explain to me the differences you see.’ Caroline drew closer to him. ‘Tell me how you’re able to see and process that information.’
Anton lay back down and focused on the ceiling. ‘I assume your plan is to kill me. Make it quick.’
‘I promise not to hurt you. Just tell me what I want to know. After we’re finished here, you’ll go home.’
The Indigene laughed once. ‘Liar.’
Caroline stepped back from the table. Another round of electroshock might loosen his tongue. ‘I know you have little reason to trust me. I was not the one to conduct countless experiments on you over the last few months.’
He slid his gaze to her. ‘Yet you have no problem shocking me.’
The look in his eyes fuelled her feelings of guilt. She shook it off. ‘The fate of our people—the same people your first generation once came from—rests in your hands. Please say you’ll help.’
Anton focused on the ceiling once more.
MOUSE interrupted. ‘Dr Finnegan, may I speak to you privately?’
‘Not now, MOUSE. I’m in the middle of something.’
‘I assure you, it’s quite urgent.’
Caroline watched the Indigene for a moment. His lips were pinched and he was refusing to look at her. She huffed and left the room.
Outside, she slumped against the wall. ‘This had better be important.’
‘He doesn’t trust you, but as soon as you mentioned Exilon 5, his serotonin levels spiked.’
She straightened up. ‘Does he believe anything else I’ve told him?’
‘No.’ That only confirmed what Caroline already suspected. ‘He has no loyalty to humans. He thinks you’re lying.’
How could she make Anton understand?
She shoved her hands into her pockets with a sigh. ‘He has to know how important he is. Given human history, in five hundred years we’ll be looking for a new planet all over again. We’re at the peak of our evolution, but crucially, they’re not. Something else has altered their design to make them superior to us. I have to know what triggered that change and how we can replicate it.’
‘Perhaps you should tell him that? You might find him more cooperative.’
The thought had occurred to her. ‘Deighton was clear that I share very little with Anton.’ She sighed. ‘Maybe I should tell Anton everything. It’s not like he can pass it on to anyone.’ She removed her hands from her pockets and straightened her lab coat. ‘Come on, let’s get back in there and see what our test subject can tell us.’
‘Speaking of test subjects,’ said MOUSE, ‘the guests from Batch 52, the ones with the most compatible genetic structure, are awake and quite talkative.’
Caroline nodded. ‘Then our next stop will be the holding area. Continue to monitor any changes to their vitals’—she paused—‘actually, pipe in some of your music. Let’s try to keep them calm. They’ll only be with us until we can determine if they’re a good match for the genetic programme. Oh, and do a complete wipe on the remaining batch’s memories before sending them on to Exilon 5. Remember the trouble we had with that man from Batch 50 when he realised he wasn’t on the passenger ship?’
‘On it,’ said MOUSE.
‘We’re close to creating the new code and getting off Earth. We can’t quit now.’