Radioactive Evolution

by Richard Hummel

  “Ah!”

  The unexpected shock made him drop the syringe he held. Careful not to touch the sphere again, he slowly picked up the injector and moved it a few inches, but then stopped. When he’d moved it, the weird rock shifted. Cautious not to touch it, he moved the injector over the top of the object, and it shuddered back and forth.

  The unexpected movement made him jump. “Whoa...ouch!” he hissed, rubbing the back of his head where he’d hit the ceiling.

  His heart raced as he removed the shirt he’d used to wrap it. Slowly, Jared moved the injector over the object and watched as the nanites inside became agitated.

  Jared’s eyes widened in surprise. “What is this thing?”

  There was definitely a physical attraction between them, but it looked like a rock and he couldn’t figure out why it showed a reaction at all.

  Does it have nanites? The nanites are machines; perhaps this thing has something to do with them?

  Thoughts cascaded through his mind. Realizing he had no answers to any of them, Jared didn’t know what to do. Every time he touched it, it shocked him.

  I wonder…

  Jared slowly lowered his hand to touch it. As before, the shock made him wince, but prepared for it this time, it didn’t make him withdraw his hand. Now that the shock passed, it actually felt pliable to his touch. It was still extremely hard, like pewter or clay, but definitely not rock. Once again, Jared brought the nanites closer while touching the object, only this time he felt movement within when he did so.

  Jared grunted in surprise, wondering what would happen if he used the nanite injector on the object. Then again, they were very valuable, and he couldn’t bring himself to waste an entire injector on the thing.

  Maybe a tiny bit? he thought.

  First things first, Jared needed to take care of his immediate problems and then he could decide what to do with it. Sticking the tip of the syringe to his arm, he pressed the plunger, but released it before they’d all entered his arm. There was only a tenth of the dose left, and looking at the countdown timer on his status screen, it showed almost two years.

  Shrugging, Jared decided he could spare a little of the nanites since he now had enough for twelve more years, plus the two he’d just gained from the partial injection. More than enough time to find more or move to a new colony. The closer the nanites were to the surface, the more they vibrated. He watched in fascination as its surface smoothed. It now felt resilient under the injector. Before he changed his mind, Jared jabbed the plunger home.

  Jared screamed.

  Intense, excruciating pain pierced his mind. His body felt like it was on fire, burning him from the inside out. Rocking back and forth, he wished for the tormenting anguish to end. His vision darkened, but just before his vision faded to black, the round sphere before him cracked in half, and a tiny, scaled head looked at him with slitted eyes.

  Congratulations Evolution Unlocked!

  Attention: this message is hard-coded into all hybrid nanotechnology and is intended for anyone that evolves.

  My name is Igor Jonovich.

  I was wrong.

  In my haste to create nanotechnology, I didn’t consider the cost and resources required to produce it. When my city rulers learned of this, they hoarded the technology.

  My original creation confiscated, I soon realized the truth of the situation the cities engineered. To make up for my lack of foresight, I started development on a new form of nanotechnology that integrates into human cells and uses human biology to self-replicate, reducing the cost of production exponentially.

  Initial experiments and test subjects were promising, showing improved abilities and controlled mutations. Not wanting to delay and cause further deaths, I used my personal drop ships to disperse these bio-nanites into the jet stream, where they spread across the globe.

  A year later the biological components of the nanites mutated because of corruption in the coding, giving rise to a techno-virus. The efficacy of my creations increased tenfold, resulting in destabilization of cellular processes in its human hosts. Combined with the high levels of background radiation, even in the safe zones, it induced mutations in its victims.

  The cities’ leadership discovered what I had done and demanded a cure. I quickly discovered a cure impossible. However, a booster shot could hold back the mutation. The survivors on Earth were sold a lie that these shots contained nanites that needed to be replenished every few years. Predictably, the local governments would do anything to save their populace, providing an unending stream of materials, all in exchange for a handful of cheap booster shots.

  When I realized their desire to horde the nanotechnology and how they intended to use the rest of mankind as nothing more than cheap labor, I began working on a way to fight back.

  My research culminated with the discovery that the bio-nanites could instantiate a bond between a human host and non-human creature. Each booster contains a unique set of nanites that when shared between host and creature, irreversibly connect the two together.

  I sincerely hope this message hasn’t reached you too late, and that you are able to use it for the betterment of mankind.

  Absent the human DNA element, these creatures absorb nanites and gradually increase in strength over time, with none of the virulent side effects caused within humans. My initial experiments allowed me to artificially enhance and mutate these creatures, but absent a human to control the mutations, the nanites largely remain dormant, only increasing the strength of their host, or developing abilities over prolonged periods of time.

  What you have just experienced is the first stage of this evolutionary process.

  Take care of each other. Grow in strength by defeating other infected creatures and assimilating traits mapped by their own bio-nanites. Only then will you have the strength to expose the lies that I unwittingly helped create.

  Companion Unlocked - dragon

  “What the—” Darkness descended on Jared.

  “Jared, wake up!”

  Dad? Hello?

  “Jared, you better get out of bed before I finish breakfast. We have a lot to do today and you need to earn your place at this table.”

  Wh—Why do I hear my dad’s voice?

  His dad was dead. He died three years ago. Jared struggled against the throbbing pain that beat against his eyelids. The last thing he remembered was a strange message before the pain rampaging in his body made him pass out. As much as he tried to open his eyes, it was as though cement glued them together. They refused to obey him, until he heard—

  “Leave him alone, John, he’s only five. He’s not even of official age to work.”

  Mom!

  Jared’s eyes snapped open. A suffocating, all-encompassing blackness enveloped him.

  Where am I?

  Jared turned in circles, searching for a way out. No matter where he looked, nothingness greeted him.

  Finally, a pinprick of light stabbed a hole in the black canvas before him. He tried to walk forward, but his body betrayed him. As the light grew brighter, he looked down to see why he couldn’t move.

  What the...Where is my body? What is happening?

  The thought echoed in his mind. Trapped in this nightmare, he fought for control. Every attempt to change his situation resulted in failure. After a prolonged bout of rage and incomprehensible phrases, Jared gave up, his willpower evaporating. It was only then the tiny hole in the fabric of his reality grew brighter, and Jared watched the scene unfold. A room, familiar to Jared, brought him back to his childhood home.

  How can this be?

  At the table stood Katie and John, his mom and dad.

  Mom? Dad?

  The two words reverberated in his mind, but he couldn’t speak to them any more than they could see him. The unfolding events felt surreal.

  Why is this happening now? I...Why doe
s it feel so real?

  Looking at his parents—alive and well—made his heart break all over again. He thought he’d never see them again. His dad died when a pack of bears raided their colony three year earlier and his mom died five years ago from radiation pois—

  Wait.

  Noooooo! Jared screamed in his mind, wishing he could vent his anger in some way. In this incorporeal state he could only watch, his thoughts the only outlet for the frustration, anger, and hurt.

  He knew the truth now. The rulers of the cities lied to us. They lied to everyone!

  The scene before him froze, his rage built to a crescendo until he couldn’t take it anymore, and he slipped into unconsciousness again. When he woke the second time, the same frozen scene greeted him. It wasn’t until the five-year-old version of himself joined his parents at the table that he snapped out of the stupor. Any rage remaining dissipated as he gazed upon the excited, youthful face eager to greet the day.

  Jared smiled as he recalled the day. It was the first time he left the boundaries of the colony. His dad planned to show him the farms he managed and teach him how to harvest resources. The jubilation in little Jared burst outward as he bounced on his toes. Watching from the sidelines, and many years under his belt, he looked at both his parents’ faces. The love they held for him was as plain as the clothes they wore. He also witnessed a small trace of fear in his mother’s gaze. When his father noticed that same look on her face, he reached up to squeeze her hand with a knowing look.

  “Let’s go, Dad!” Jared’s miniature version all but shouted, and the looks exchanged between his parents morphed into broad smiles as his excitement infected them.

  Just before they left the small room, Jared heard a light, female voice whisper, Adventure. Curiosity.

  Jared strained his ears, listening for the voice and wondered if he imagined it while the scene faded to black.

  No! Stop!

  He tried clawing his way back into the room, but his efforts proved futile as it slowly faded into the distance. Once again, the oppressive darkness surrounded him.

  Am I dead?

  Where is this place?

  What happened to my body?

  Is this some kind of hell?

  What did I do to deserve this nightmare!

  Maybe the bonding—or whatever it was—killed me?

  Maybe I’m losing my mind and stuck in my own head?

  He shouted, cursed, screamed. Nothing worked. Jared lingered in the formless void. Resigned to his fate, he gave up and let his frustration go. The moment he relaxed, a brilliant light blinded him, and he squeezed his eyes shut against the pain.

  “Stay down, you loser!” said a voice filled with disdain.

  “Nobody wants you here, you little pipsqueak.”

  Voices all around cajoled and mocked. Jared forced his eyes open and saw himself at ten. He lay on the ground with a bloody lip and shiner on his left eye. Three larger boys loomed over him spitting hateful words and phlegm. He could’ve cried or called for help, but instead the little ten-year-old Jared struggled to his feet. The larger of the three boys, nicknamed “Tiny,” pushed him back to the ground and the name calling resumed.

  Get up! Jared tried yelling at himself.

  As if he’d heard himself, ten-year-old Jared rose to his feet and squared off with the leader of the trio. He stood, ready to take anything they dished out. They tried to goad him into attacking, but he refused to take the bait. Frustrated, Tiny launched his fist into Jared’s other eye and knocked him back to the ground.

  He lay on the ground stunned. It looked like the fight was over until they heard a groan, and Jared tried to stand. He stood on shaky legs, both eyes swollen. Tiny roared in rage and embarrassment at this little pest and his tenacity. He cocked his arm back to strike again when a voice boomed from across the field.

  “Stop!”

  Everyone scampered away as Jared’s dad sprinted to him. He picked him up and carried him across the field to their home. Just before they crossed the threshold, little Jared smiled through his split lip and with pride in his voice said, “I stood up to him.”

  Perseverance, Courage, Determination, Toughness, Pride.

  This time he knew it wasn’t his imagination. There was someone else here.

  Who are you? Jared asked into the emptiness. When no one responded, he shouted, Answer me! What do you want?

  Silence reigned, and Jared’s mind started to spiral out of control. Frustration threatened to overwhelm him until he remembered the last scene occurred only after he stopped trying to force the situation. Eyes closed—not that it mattered in total darkness and no physical body—he tried to clear his mind. A moment later, another memory flitted into view. He opened his eyes to see himself at age nineteen working the fields near the tree line. His dad worked a few paces away from him, testing the soil.

  No. Anything but this memory! Please, stop! I can’t see this again, Jared wailed, effortless to stop the memory from replaying in his mind.

  This was the second worst day of Jared’s life.

  Horrified, he watched a trio of giant, mutated bears charge from the trees. Each of the bears stood eight feet tall on all fours, their sickly yellow claws slicing through the ground as they gained on Jared. His dad yelled at the same moment Jared heard their tiny fence shatter. Their thundering footfalls sent vibrations through the ground. He watched his dad sprint toward his younger self. Carefully lining up his shots, John downed two of the bears with headshots, his Colt pulverizing their skulls. The headless bears rampaged in circles, their bodies unaware they were already dead. The third and largest bear bore down on Jared.

  “Get down!” John yelled.

  The bear swung its massive paw, easily twice the size as his head. His dad lunged forward, knocking Jared out of the way. Firing a round point-blank into the bear’s massive head, his dad intercepted the paw meant for him. The claws, at least six inches long, sliced through his father’s body, decapitating him with one swipe. His lifeless corpse fell to the ground, half buried under the giant thrashing bear.

  “NO!” Jared heard himself cry out at the same time as his younger self.

  He cradled his dad’s body, hot blood pooling over his hands and dripping into the dirt. The lifeless bear stared up at him with a snarling rictus plastered on its partially-ruined head. Jared remembered sitting there for hours as his friends tried to pry him away. He’d refused to move. His dad was all he had left after his mom passed. A part of him refused to believe what happened and prayed he would wake from the nightmare. Only it hadn’t been a nightmare. His dad really did die, and he’d just relived the most horrific thing he’d ever endured with vivid clarity.

  Sobbing, or at least trying to in this ghostly form, Jared wanted the pain to end.

  Why is this happening? Please, just let it stop.

  His parents’ deaths ultimately led him to strike out on his own as an explorer. Perhaps it was destiny, perhaps fate. Either way, it all led to this moment. He didn’t know whether he lived, was in a coma, or had died and now suffered through some form of personal hell. No matter the scenario, he felt like dying then and there, and he wished it’d all go away for good.

  Loving, Family.

  The voice echoed in his mind again, but he no longer cared. He felt despondent, empty. The years he’d spent coming to grips with his parents’ death, all for naught. Conflicted and uncertain, he let go of his awareness and the sweet escape of sleep claimed his consciousness.

  Jared didn’t know how much time passed while he slept, but when he woke, he was refreshed, and the memories distant. As with many dreams, only fragments remained. He remembered seeing his mother and father. He recollected Tiny, but everything else slipped through his grasp.

  “There was...something else in the dream,” muttered Jared. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and tried to recall what h
e’d heard. “What was it?”

  Hard as he tried, it eluded him, and he couldn’t recall any more of the dreams he’d experienced. His head wasn’t the only thing wrong with him. His body burned, like he had dipped himself in a vat of boiling water and all his nerve endings screamed in protest. Any slight movement made him groan, his sore muscles protesting.

  “What happened to me?”

  Hello, Jared.

  “Ah, what the—who—what?” Jared yelled as he stumbled back into the wall. He fumbled for his Colt when the voice spoke again.

  My name is Scarlet.

  “You—are...What are you? You can talk?” He kept his weapon drawn as he eyes focused on the small scaly reptile peering up at him with its head cocked to the side.

  I am a dragon. The voice sounded amused, whimsical.

  “dragon? dragons aren’t real!” Jared protested vehemently.

  I assure you, we are very real.

  The voice sounded silky to his ears. Feminine without a doubt, but mature, with an edge of curiosity to it.

  How can dragons exist? This is insane. I must be dreaming still. Jared squeezed his eyes shut hoping the aberration would go away. dragons are not real. They can’t be real—right? He tried reasoning with himself, convinced it was impossible.

  Slowly, Jared opened on eye and peered in the direction of the dragon, but all he saw was a cracked sphere, the same one that made him blackout. Breathing a sigh of relief Jared opened both eyes, realizing it was just his imagination.

  “Dang, that was quite the hallucination,” Jared said as he turned toward the door of his little home. “What—What are?” Jared fell back on his butt. The small, vibrant red lizard stood poised in front of the barricaded doorway.

  You are not hallucinating. Anymore.

  “The voice—the one from my dreams. Th-tha-that was you?” Jared asked, and the tiny blood red creature bobbed its head up and down. “Why did you—how? How are you talking?” The questions poured out of his mouth so fast it sounded like incoherent spluttering.