Dark Creations: The Hunted (Part 4) (14 page)

“Maybe you didn’t hear me,” he heard Jack warn then watched as the man spit blood at him and smiled.

Jack appeared unfazed by the bloodied spittle on his cheek and began punching the man in the face repeatedly.

“I can do this all day,” he grunted between blows.   “Tell me where she is!”

“Jack, he’s
not
going to talk.  I doubt if he could even if he wanted to,” Gabriel said.

“What’re you talking about?” Jack asked.

“I’m telling you, there not regular humans!”

“Shut your mouth!” the officer spat angrily.

“You’re in no position to make demands,” Jack growled, dangerously close to the man’s face.  “And your response has made me very curious.”

“Jack, I’m telling you, I’m
not
crazy and I’m not lying,” Gabriel said levelly.  “Give me five minutes before you do anything.  Just five minutes to find this guy’s computer, and I’m sure there will be something on there to show you I’m not crazy.”

Gabriel did not know whether it was the tone of his voice or the expression on his face, but somehow, the seriousness of the situation translated and Jack’s otherwise impenetrable expression softened slightly.

“You got five minutes.  And that’s it,” he said, the hardness in his voice moderated a by a trace of what Gabriel could only guess was hope.

“Five minutes,” Gabriel said.

As soon as the words were out of his mouth he went straight to the living room which opened to the dining room separated only by an archway.  In the dining room, a rectangular dark wood table with eight chairs arranged around it took up most of the space.  But just beyond the table was a small alcove, a niche where a decorator would likely put a curio or large, potted plant.  Yet no such item was there.  Instead, it functioned as a cubicle of sorts with a small desk atop which a laptop computer sat. 

“Found a laptop!” Gabriel called to Jack.

“Don’t you touch it!” the man protested vehemently.

This reaction could only help Gabriel’s cause as it was suspicious, guilty even.

“Bring it in here, Gabriel!” Jack called back.  “I want to see what it is this asshole is so hell-bent on hiding.”

“On my way!” Gabriel said as he ran into the kitchen, computer in hand.

His fingers worked quickly depressing several number sequences until he successfully infiltrated the security program in place and gained access to an array of labeled files on his hard drive.  Terzini had imparted him with several codes during his educational tutorials so that programs he’d utilized could be hidden.  The encoding was so complex that even the most skilled hacker would have found it impossible to crack. Yet Gabriel had been offered these secret and sensitive codes, without hesitation on the part of his maker, and had memorized them.  Terzini had never expected that he would develop feelings, and rebel.  He had been unaware of his oversight at the time.  Now, as Gabriel logged on and scrolled through one of his maker’s creations personal computer effortlessly, he realized none of the codes had been changed, that Terzini hadn’t bothered to implement additional security measures.  He shook his head as he opened several files and read through them.  Many were just detailed itineraries for random people he’d never heard of.  None of it made sense until he unearthed one that was titled “Confidential.”  It was a list of sixty names, half were men and half were women.  What struck him was that he’d seen some of the names seconds earlier.  They had been mentioned in the schedules.  His hands felt cold as he cross-referenced the names to be sure.  They were most likely all Terzini’s creations. 

“What do you have, boss.  Must be good because all the color’s drained from your face,” Jack asked acidly.

“It’s a list of names and schedules.”

“Yeah, so?”

“The people on this list, they’re like him, their DNA’s been changed, or possibly pregnant couples he’s targeting,” Gabriel began.

“Shut your mouth Gabriel!” the man panicked.  “Don’t say another word!”

Jack punched him in the temple.

“And just why should he shut up, asshole?”  Jack said then pointed the barrel of the shotgun at his forehead. “You have ten seconds to explain.”

The man did not look at Jack.  He looked directly at Gabriel and said, “Once they know you’re here, Gabriel, you’re dead.”  Then he turned to Jack and hissed, “You’re wife is probably dead already.”

“He’s right,” Gabriel agreed.  “If there are others and they find out we’re here, we’re dead.”

Jack ignored him and continued his countdown.

“You have five seconds to tell us what we want to know!”

“I’m not going to tell you shit.  You’re just going to have to kill me,” the man said and smirked malevolently.

“Okay, then,” Jack said calmly then pulled the trigger of the shotgun.   The shot sounded like a cannon blast, its impact similar as well, and
pitched the man backward.  The wooden chair he was cuffed to buckled beneath him.  It crashed to the floor then collapsed, littering the floor with innumerable splinters that scattered among gore spilled from a craterous wound in his chest. 

Gabriel looked to Jack who, despite his composed
facial expression, was covered in a layer of sweat and panted silently.  He turned to face Gabriel.  He expected to see eyes wild with shock, with madness, but instead was met with keen alertness, a look of lucidity.  When he spoke, his voice was even.

“Who’s next on the list, Gabriel?” Jack asked.

  Gabriel, still holding the laptop in trembling hands, checked for the next name in the file.

Dr. Terzini watched from behind glass partitions as a woman thrashed and writhed in protest.  She was in restraints and her efforts were futile, but instinct prevailed and she fought, nevertheless.  He found her willfulness irritating as she was resisting momentous research.  Her exertions also distorted her otherwise pleasant features.  Her facial construct was impressive, as was her skin, eyes and hair.  So pleasingly crafted were her features, she could have easily been mistaken for one of
his
creations.  He could not remember a time in recent years when he had looked upon a human conceived by conventional means and marveled at her physical perfection.  If she were not pregnant, she would be an apt prototype for future works.  Of course, if she weren’t pregnant, their paths would never have crossed.  Her gravidity was the precise reason she had been brought to him.  Still, he could not help musing about extracting DNA samples from her before experimenting on her fetus.  Her flawless ivory skin, pastel blue eyes that quite literally shimmered despite the dull lighting of fluorescent overhead fixtures, and naturally blonde hair were rare treasures to happen upon.  Little alteration would be necessary.  The refinement of her features was remarkable as well.  Her bone structure, punctuated by high cheekbones, along with a small, straight nose and symmetrical face shape was nearly perfect.  He could easily recreate a woman identical to her outwardly.  Naturally, the new version would be superior in more ways than he cared to catalog, but he did not have the luxury of time, of fancying such thoughts.  Furthermore, more pressing business needed tending to.  With a cart filled with essential apparatus that included an ultrasound machine, he stepped forward and triggered a motion-activated sliding glass door.

“Let me go!” the woman screamed as soon as she saw him.

“Shh, calm down,
please
,” he began.

“I’ve been kidnapped and I’m strapped to a bed!” she yelled. “How can I calm down?”

“Then just be quiet while I explain what’s going on here,” he said flatly.  “Can you do that?”

Her silence was answer enough for him.

“Good.  My name if Dr. Franklin Terzini.  I am a geneticist responsible for more contributions to biological science that any in history.  My most recent endeavor, the one you will be a part of, will be my biggest yet.  It is a privilege to be a part of it.  You should be grateful to be here.”

“
Grateful?
” she asked incredulously.  “I’m here
by force
.  I’m not
grateful
!”

“Please calm down, uh, what is your name?”

“Dawn, my name is Dawn Downing.”

“Very well then, Dawn Downing, shouting is not going to earn favor.  In fact, your compliance will not only be appreciated, but it will also be noted in the history books that you
willingly
contributed to the renovation of mankind.”

“Renovation of mankind?  You’re crazy!”

“You see Dawn, what you’re doing now, this emotional outburst you’re having, is part of what is wrong with humanity.  This misguided emotionality leads you to all that is destructive: religion, war, substance abuse, rape and every form of depravity in existence.  I am trying to remedy all of it, every ill of society.  And I can.  I have already begun.”

“You have?” Dawn whispered.

Her eyes had widened in wonder, as if something he’d said had struck a chord.  Her features relaxed and tranquility settled upon her.  Her attractiveness, the fineness of her overall manifestation that exceeded that of others he had had the displeasure of coming in contact with, had given him pause during his initial observation.  He recognized uniqueness in her despite her protests, a familiar quality he could not quite pinpoint.  Now, however, he was beginning to identify that which he struggled to name earlier.  His instinct was proving correct.  She was clearly intrigued by his intelligence, by the rationality of his words.  In her shimmering eyes, he saw a flicker, a spark he was confident he’d ignited.  It became clear to him that she possessed potential that transcended the fact that she’d allowed her immaculate self to become infected with the seed of one who was undoubtedly beneath her station.  Now, though she was sullied, a vessel carrying the offspring of a lesser person, she still maintained a faint glimmer of promise.  Sadly, she would die soon after his need for her ended, her light snuffed out, unless his efforts were successful and she birthed an altered baby.  It was too bad, tragic even.  He had never considered the possibility of assuming an apprentice until the very moment he had seen in her the fire of promise.   If his experiment failed, she would be sentenced to death; that was not subject to change.  But he silently vowed to treat her differently than the others that had come before her.  He would treat her with a degree of dignity and explain all that he was doing to both her and her fetus.  He would reward her with his intellect, with his company.

He patted Dawn’s leg, which had stopped moving, and adjusted the strap that held it so that the fabric no longer chafed her porcelain skin.  He then lifted her gown above her belly in preparation for her ultrasound.  She did not flinch as the other women had.  She did not say a word either.  Instead, she remained still, her eyes focused on an unknown point in the distance.  Terzini felt his breath nearly catch in his chest.  She was the picture of poise, accepting her role in the history of humanity.  So affected by him was she that she was able to block out all else, all that she was about to endure, her probable death as well as the likelihood of her fetus’s death, all in the name of research,
his
research.  He swelled with pride as he stroked several keys on the keypad and the display monitor came to life.  He entered the relevant information, as always, then set the water-based ultrasound gel in a warming port he’d never bothered to use before.  He knew the model of machine he’d purchased had the feature, that it was capable of warming the gel for the comfort of potential patients.  But since he dealt with subjects, not patients, it had been a useless feature thus far.   He would debut it, however, for Dawn.

An indicator light blinked when the gel was sufficiently warmed and he removed it from its niche along with the transducer.  He squirted a fair amount on her stomach and again, she did not recoil.  She was motionless as he moved the wand across the gel.  As he did so, a color representation of her fetus appeared on the monitor.  Normally, he would not so much as look at his subject, much less engage her in conversation.  But he found himself wanting to impart a modicum of his vast knowledge with her, to make her feel at peace with her contribution, her sacrifice to further humanity.

“Do you know the sex of your fetus?” he asked her.

“No.  I didn’t want to find out,” she replied.

“Do you want to know now?”

“No, I don’t.”

Her indifference to the gender of her unborn child was astounding.  While most women who did not want to learn their baby’s gender before birth in order to satisfy some juvenile need for surprises in life, did so freely, beyond the confines of his laboratory.  His subjects, even the ones who were brought to him without the knowledge, did, when faced with death, unanimously chose to find out.  But Dawn was the first who had refused him.  She was a credit to her failing peers, and a beacon to those who may possibly come after her.  He respected her wishes and did not reveal that she was carrying a girl.

“Your offspring is healthy and robust,” he commented as he analyzed the image before him. 

She did not smile and turn to the monitor, and she did not cry.  Her self-control was extraordinary.  With each demonstration of strength and composure, he became more convinced that she was a formidable human being, an above-average specimen, that his first impression had been correct.  And now that she had calmed herself and acknowledged her role in the evolution of her species, he could see her true beauty.  She seemed to radiate worthiness.