Author: Johannes "Jergen[K]" Cruz			Viewing: Prelude

Agent Smith paused in front of a plexi-glass container in the rear of the chamber. The clear tube, measuring ten feet tall with a circumference of three feet, was filled with a thick pink liquid. Smith’s eyes followed a few pockets of air as they slowly rose through the jelly until they reached the top of the chamber and were removed via a slight vacuum action, then replaced with fresh air from generators in the cylinder’s base. A doctor approached from behind, then moved around the glowing capsule, jotting down statistics from several of the blinking readouts. Facing Smith he spoke, “The growth stage is nearly complete. Specimen Jones will be ready for mental restructure within the week.” Agent Smith simply nodded, then looked at the body of his partner as it hung before him. All over him dozens of suction devices were attached and feeding data to the external monitors. They read everything from his heart rate and blood pressure to the ambient amount of electrical activity in the brain during the day. Jones wasn’t fully formed as skin had yet to cover the thick braids of enhanced muscle that stood out bright red against the sterile white backdrop behind him. His skull was still somewhat visible through the thin layer of flesh that had begun to grow there, and both of his mechanical eyes stood out starkly against the organic mass of the growing man. Smith walked away from the Jones’ chamber, coming to stand in front of another just like it. The specimen contained within this one was much different, an odd hybrid of man and genetic wizardry that would culminate in a near perfect organism. Perhaps the alien race that now ravaged every known human system had caused a tremendous amount of destruction, but it had also brought with it an unparalleled knowledge and understanding of genetics. Genetic Engineering had been a small science before the first strains of alien life had been salvaged from the alien vessel at LV-426, but now that same small group of men had made leaps ahead in understanding DNA structures and engineering them. The first year had been hard, with a few dozen failures and lost labs as a result of Government regulations on human specimens but with the fall of the United Earth Government, those regulations had slipped away and left the scientists with a free reign for their studies. This next creation was the culmination of those studies. The muscle-mass alone removed all doubt about it being even remotely natural. These huge cords of tissue were reinforced with microfibers of organic metal that helped to strengthen them far beyond anything nature had intended, and as a result the skeletal structure had to be coated with more of the organic alloy for strength, lest those same immense muscles tear the body apart internally with every movement. Lastly, huge sheets of armor had been fused with the skeleton of the man, giving him a tremendous amount of protection for his vital organs in the case of attack. “The next specimen,” the Doctor said from behind Smith, “Will include several redundant organs that are now being designed. “That one will be outdated by comparison.” Smith did not respond, he only looked at the blue eyes of the thing in front of him, trying to see a hint of recognition there. He knew the specimen was not yet aware, but it still seemed very alive from his perspective. “Thank you for the tour Doctor,” Agent Smith said, turning away abruptly and leaving the chamber through the automatic doors. Upon entering his chambers Smith paused near the door and activated a tiny device mounted behind a picture of earth. Although his hearing was enhanced, it was not particularly bothersome to him as the device began emitting a broad range of high frequency noise. This sound, when perceived by most surveillance equipment, rendered all forms of recording unusable. Then he went to the rear of his small room and opened a panel he had built into the ceiling. Removing a small box, he replaced the panel and moved to a desk he used for correspondence. Inside the box was a small silver transmitter with a needle-thin wire and connector. Fitting the connector to a small port behind his left ear, he began downloading the images he had taken from the chamber moments before into the credit-card transmitter. Once the images were there, he activated another device he had spirited away in the box. Once the upload to his superiors was complete he placed everything into the secret compartment. Switching off the small noisemaker, he moved to the single window of the room and looked out at the stars. It would take two days for a response to reach him here, but he already knew what the orders would be. Turning from the celestial display he drew his sidearm and placed it on the nightstand next to his bed. Removing his jacket he sat in the bedside chair with his back to the wall and promptly settled in for a few hours of sleep.