Journal Entry # 521
Number dead since last entry: 25
“This is the voice of Doctor Ryder Strong.” I spoke loudly into the small rectangular tape recorder. “We’ve had remarkable results with project X. It has far surpassed anything we could have suspected. Subjects have heightened abilities such as: hearing, sight, strength, and speed. They can survive for long periods of time with very little food and sleep. They can maintain body temperature despite the weather around them and are immune to all human illnesses. Their ability to heal and tolerance for pain is phenomenal. I have no doubt we have yet to unlock all of their potential.
There has been some setbacks with the program. The subjects struggle with basic social skills. Their intimidating height, unnatural mannerisms, and lack of communication causes them to stand out amongst humans. Also, we’ve yet to figure out their thought process. It seems very primitive at times, and other times, it is rather complex. We’ve put the subjects through many basic fundamental tests. The results are all over the board. If we can figure out how their minds work, we can better understand and more importantly, control the subjects.”
I leaned back in my chair and sighed.
“Their rage was once our biggest obstacle--along with loyalty and control. However, I have been able to implement a successful tool to manage the anger issue. I call it the obsession. An obsession is usually a simple object. It could be a stone or a feather, something that can be easily replaced if needed. The idea came to me when I noticed the subjects tended to singularly focus on certain tasks or objects. It is one of the many altered traits in the synthetic DNA we engineered to create them. We used their hyperfocus in the same way one would train a dog. The obsession acts as a reward and a pacifier.
When used as a reward, subjects tend to stay focused longer, complete tasks sooner, without incident, and they are often more eager to do what is requested.
When the obsession is used as a pacifier, it has the remarkable ability to calm the rage inside the subjects instantly. We have had resounding results in this area, despite subject 0041. Casualties have gone down tremendously, and cooperation has increased. This month we have only lost twenty-five guards and other staff members; an outstanding decrease compared to the one-hundred and ten we lost last month before implementing the obsessions.
With the rage finally moderated, we are now able to move on to the next part of the program. We have been granted permission to go on to the next phase of Project X, reproduction. We have already started to gather breeders. Quite a few have volunteered their service for monetary gain, but not enough. We are in desperate need of more breeders. As in all things when dealing with projects of this magnitude, we can’t always do things by the books. We have been forced to obtain breeders by other means as well. Another shipment……”
“Dr. Strong!” The door to my office flies opened, and the loud commotion outside floated into the room.
“What is it, Asim? What’s going on?”
The tall Arabian man stood in my door sweating and breathing heavily. A cut above his brow leaked dark red blood down into his eyes.
“Code Orange. It’s subject 0041.” The fear evident in his dark brown eyes.
“Damn it!”
I rose from my chair placing my voice recorder and the syringe in my pocket, back into my locked desk drawer. My voice recordings are my private notes. They do not belong with the other documentation files.
“That is the third one this week.” I headed towards the door where Asim waited for me.
“We need to find its obsession fast,” Asim stated breathlessly as we ran down the corridor to the sound of the commotion.
We, along with other trained soldiers in full rioting gear, headed in the same direction. Whenever there is a code orange, all armed guards know to relocate to the premises of the threat.
“It isn’t that easy,” I said to answer his earlier statement.
Subject 0041 has been an enigma since the beginning. It is the first successful subject to survive the embryonic stage. 0041 is the first breakthrough in project X, and it is unlike any of the other subjects that came after it. 0041 is still a conundrum to us. Every day we discover something new about it. I think because it is so complex, it will be harder to connect him with a simple obsession.
Asim and I stopped at the door of the cafeteria. A large, burly guard flies through the glass window beside us. By the way his body iwas folded backwards, I can now place our death toll for the month up to twenty-six. I look through the glass windows into the mesh hall, and right away, I spotted 0041. The subject was surrounded by guards. Their usual green and brown operational camouflage fatigues were covered in heavy black padded vest. Their guns aimed at the raving subject. Even with all their weapons and protective gear, they were still no match for 0041. It won’t be weapons that calm this creature down. I pushed open the door and walked in, Asim close on my trail.
“Alpha!” I called out its name.
Silver eyes turned to me, and I could only pray that we gained control before anyone else died.