Evolution: The Revelation

by Reilly, Jim

  Johnny couldn’t believe what he saw and whispered to Leonardo, “That’s Will Davis but I don’t understand. This is Will Davis before he was enhanced.”

  “You can’t help him if we get caught,” Leonardo stated. “There are too many guards with more advanced weapons than we have.”

  “If this is Will, then who is it that I’ve worked with back at the UN,” he wondered. “I have to get to him.”

  Before he could take a step into that direction, alarms started to ring, and Leonardo grabbed Johnny by the collar, and yelled, “We’ve got to go!!”

  Reluctantly Johnny secured his samples and ran after Leonardo. As they caught up to Juan and Alfred, Leonardo said to Alfred, “We don’t need to be discrete, make us a new exit since the way we came in is most likely locked down.”

  All ready to do it long before Leonardo ordered it, Alfred, using a portable pulse cannon, blew the concrete wall separating the manufacturing floor with the compound outside where the escape vehicle waited.

  Johnny wasn’t used to this. He was usually going after the intruders, not the other way around. Ducking and weaving as he raced with the others as stunners were fired in their direction was an adrenaline rush for the simple by-the-book law enforcement officer. He thought to himself that this was the most exciting thing he’d ever done. He even wished his wife could’ve been there and hoped if she had seen how heroic he was, she wouldn’t call him her little idiot. The excitement, however, didn’t last as he needed to change his thought patterns from intruder back to law enforcement and protect people as an Ancient Visitor disintegrator blast narrowly missed the escape vehicle. However it hit the fourth man in the group, Juan, in the right arm, taking it clear off. While his compatriot yelled in pain, Leonardo returned fire while Alfred started up the escape vehicle; Johnny using the medical supplies in his belt bandaged the wound while getting the man into the vehicle.

  Alfred drove the vehicle over the wall and through the clearing toward the tree line with the guards in hot pursuit. The transport, already remotely started, had the rear hatch open as Alfred steered the bobsled shaped vehicle into the back compartment. Without a second delay, the transport was gone from sight.

  Leonardo and Johnny arrived back at the hotel overlooking the Babylon Corporation Headquarters. A still shaken Johnny said, “Maybe we wait and think this out? Our excursion in Brazil didn’t go as smoothly as hoped. I don’t want to have anyone else getting hurt. The best thing to do is for me to walk in the front door flashing my badge and demand they bring me Cameron.”

  “That wouldn’t be smart,” explained Angelis. “For all we know, you left DNA evidence in Brazil and the Babylon Corporation knows all about you. You walk in there and right into their waiting arms. The next thing you know, you’re dragged into a room and forced to go through an enhancement, an enhancement with high amounts of UM ingredient. There’d be no telling how willing you’d be to do what they want.”

  “I can’t have someone else getting hurt,” he blurted out.

  Leonardo looked Johnny in the eye and told him, “Juan knew the risks. We all know the risks. Fortunately, with today’s technology, he’ll have a new right arm before he wakes up in the morning.”

  “That’s not the point Leo, what if he was hit in a place that you can’t grow back, then what?”

  “Then he’d be walking with God now. That is what we believe.”

  Now sitting on the corner chair stewing, Johnny reluctantly agreed and asked, “Where’s Taylor now?”

  Angelis told him, “We got her in the rear entrance along with the other regeneration technicians. Our people accessed the building computer and gave her a company identity with access to the floor the procedure on Cameron will take place.”

  Leonardo then asked his sister, “Has the escape route changed?”

  “She’s to awaken him and get him out through the back elevator in the southwest corner of the building where our people will be waiting to pick them up. She knows all the access codes and security locations and schedules. She had a photographic memory before enhancement; you can imagine how intelligent she is now. She had this all figured out long before we even came up with the idea.”

  “Well then, maybe this won’t be so painful,” Leonardo thought.

  Taylor was walking down a corridor with some other technicians into the decontamination room where they stood for about two minutes while multicolored lights covered her body. From there, they were instructed to breathe a mist that killed the germs that would put a medical procedure at risk. Being a medical history major in college, she knew that the medical industry came a long way from the time when medical personnel had to scrub up before a medical procedure then would have to wear a mask to make sure no germs would contaminate the patient. How barbaric she thought when you learned of such a thing. She felt fortunate that at this point in history germ contamination was all but eliminated.

  Once she was deemed germ free, she immediately headed toward the room Leonardo’s people indicated Cameron would be kept. When she got to the room, there was no one there, and the room looked as if it was unoccupied. Damn, she thought to herself and walked over to the procedure board with the patient room assignments. It took her a second to determine his name wasn’t there and he was kept under an alias. So, she figured she needed to check each room to see if she could find Cameron. Then she informed the team through her newly secured Visor given to her by Leonardo, “He’s not listed on the board, so I’m going from room to room.”

  Reluctantly, Johnny told the team, “They might have found out his real name from his identifier.” It was information Johnny only recently learned when Cameron came back from London.

  Angelis blurted it out before Johnny could, “Cameron Cho. Try Cameron Cho.”

  Surprised, Johnny questioned over the communication line, “You guys investigated him thoroughly, didn’t you?”

  Angelis confessed, “We needed to know all about all of you if we were to trust you.”

  “What, you investigated me as well?”

  Giggling Angelis admitted, “Of course we did.”

  Miffed, Johnny inquired, “What’s so funny?”

  Still giggling she replied, “Your enhanced wife calls you her little idiot.”

  “First of all, she says it with affection, and secondly…Umm…Damn, I still don’t have a good comeback.”

  “Guys,” Taylor said to cut into the conversation. “I found him, and it looks like they moved up his procedure to thirty minutes from now and I’m heading there.”

  Taylor moved along the hallways on the fifteenth floor heading to the other corner of the building keeping her head straight and expression pleasant as to not draw attention to the fact she shouldn’t be there. Luckily, the Babylon Corporation Headquarters’ regeneration center had more than your usual complement of technicians and doctors since it was also a training facility with student classrooms and learning labs. But once she was away from the training section, there were fewer and fewer people.

  It was then she heard Leonardo monitoring her progress. “About twenty-five feet up ahead is a security station. Just stay calm and have faith the identification we acquired will work.”

  As she approached the security station, she was asked to empty her pockets and stand there for an identification scan by the two enhanced security guards manning the station. It was then that she hoped the new identification she got from Leonardo’s men would work. Earlier, they had subdued a technician named Madeline Strom. She had been a Babylon technician for about two years and had recently been transferred to the headquarters. At the moment Madeline was sleeping it off in her new apartment. Leonardo’s men also upgraded Madeline’s security clearance.

  One of the guards finished the scan and waited the two seconds for his computer to tell him the results. Two seconds that felt like an eternity to Taylor. When the results were up, the guard told her, “Okay, Madeline, where are you headed in this section?”

  “I was told I had to ass
ist an enhancement on a Cameron Cho.”

  The seemingly bored guard told her, “Third door on the right.”

  She bowed her head to thank him and headed in the direction of the room when she heard a familiar voice of someone else approaching the security station, “Good afternoon, fellas.”

  The other guard who was sitting jumped to his feet, and welcomed him, “How are you today Agent Davis?”

  “I’m just fine today.”

  That voice made Taylor’s heart quicken and her breath pause. It was the voice of Will Davis the enhanced man she had witnessed with the bomber in St. Louis and most likely the man who had come to kill her at her home.

  Suddenly, the guard called to her, “Madeline.”

  She then felt overwhelmed with disappointment because she was so close to making it to the room containing Cameron.

  The guard called out again, “Madeline.”

  She turned around and faced the two guards and Will Davis, and muttered, “Yes.”

  “You forgot the contents of your pockets,”

  As she walked back, she replied, “Sorry, I forgot I took that stuff out. Thank you.”

  She then picked up the small items, turned right around, and headed back in the direction of Cameron’s room when she was questioned again.

  Will Davis asked, “Are you new Madeline? I haven’t seen you before.”

  “I’ve been working in the Baltimore Regeneration Center for the last few years,” Taylor said relieved he didn’t recognize her. “I’ve only recently been assigned here.”

  “Great, I wish you luck with your new assignment,” he told her. “Where are you headed now?”

  “I have to do the pre-procedure prep work for a Cameron Cho.”

  “I’m heading there myself. If you don’t mind, I’ll accompany you there.”

  Taylor gave him a thank you with a smile as they walked through the room’s door where Cameron was lying in a blue liquid tub. He was submerged to just below his neck.

  Cameron was in a semi-conscious state unable to speak. He did, however, recognize Will Davis. This made him more angry than nervous. He wanted to get his hands on his throat, but Cameron couldn’t move a muscle. Will even stood over Cameron and smiled down upon him. This made him more furious. But for all his emotion, it was fruitless as he lay there motionless.

  In the corner of his eye, he could see the technician starting the procedure. As angry as he was at Will Davis, that didn’t matter at the moment because he was now terrified of the procedure that was about to commence. Cameron knew he couldn’t go through with the procedure because he had gone through it as a boy and it failed. That meant a second try would put him at risk of being deformed by the procedure and, in extreme cases, could cause death. It was common in the early days of human enhancement.

  Taylor kept up the illusion that she was supposed to be there and did the prep work needed to be done. One of the pre-tests that was standard, as per every enhancement, was a biological scan. As that test completed, Taylor noticed something interesting. As fortune would have it, Will Davis answered a communication and walked outside the room into the hallway for a more private conversation.

  Listening in, Taylor heard Will Davis say, “We need that facility cleaned up and all DNA collected. The prisoners need to be moved to a more secure location.”

  As that conversation took place in the hallway, Taylor thought this was an appropriate time to wake up Cameron, so she injected him with a stimulant. Before he came out of his trance, Taylor asked the team, “Can I have Cameron’s tests you performed on him in Afghanistan?”

  Leonardo asked, “What for?”

  “Just do it,” She demanded. “I don’t have time!”

  He then sent the information directly to Taylor’s Visor.

  Able now to speak, Cameron looked at the enhanced woman now looking over him, “Taylor, is that you??”

  “We need to get you out of here.”

  “Thank God, because I can’t be enhanced. It’s not possible.”

  Taylor, with the exceptional hearing all enhanced people have, heard Will Davis finish up his conversation in the hallway. What’s worse, she heard at least three other people at the Security station heading their way.

  Taylor had a hunch so she quickly absorbed the information Leonardo sent and made a decision. She looked down at Cameron and told him, “You’ll be submissive.” Then she went back to the enhancement console and initiated the procedure while administering the enhancement cocktail of medications.

  Confused, Cameron nervously blurted out, “What?” However, that was all he could say as he went back into the trance he was in before. Now not being able to speak, he began to feel the blue liquid level slowly move up as it began to engulf his head until his head was submerged.

  Still able to hear Taylor but muffled due to the blue liquid, he heard her say to someone, “We need to go to plan B.”

  The last thing Cameron saw was Will Davis reentering the room with two people in medical clothes and an enhanced woman in a business suit. That was the last thing he remembered.

  Chapter 7

  31st Century.

  The man with the pure soul sat in the back of the bus traveling west from Nirvana, the Peace, Love, and Serenity movement’s complex. He left with nothing but his white robe, undergarments, and sandals. Along the way he had to rely on the generosity of others for nourishment and travel. To the people from whom he received help, he showed great gratitude.

  As the bus traveled along, he gazed upon the natural beauty of the African Savanna, with its Jackalberry trees and tall grasses populated by zebras, lions, baboons, and elephants along with a multitude of large and small insects. He marveled at the simplicity and complexity of what made each so unique.

  Without advance notice he requested the robotic bus driver to stop and let him out. The mechanical bus driver using its logic, tried to talk the man out of leaving the bus. “Sir, please let me take you to the nearest village. The temperature at this moment is 110 degrees.”

  The man expressed, “You need not worry; I’ll be fine.”

  The driver continued, “Okay, if you insist. It is fifty miles to the nearest village to the northwest, but your synthetic cool clothing should keep you cool as long as you keep it on. Please take care.”

  Covering his eyes from the dust of the departing bus, he walked off the road peering into the rolling grasslands dotted with trees.

  It didn’t take long for that same dark presence with the mysterious cold voice to again whisper in his ear, “Look into the distance, you can see the heat radiating off the dry ground. Life has no business being out here. You have no business being out here.”

  The man with long dark hair and beard explained, “I beg to differ. You see, life is resilient. It has a way of adapting. It thrives where you think it shouldn’t.”

  “Life here is mundane and a waste of His time. Take for instance, humanity. There is no greatness to humans. They take the gifts of God and waste them. To me this shows God is fallible for allowing them to exist.”

  “Humanity is one of the wonders of my Father’s creations. They think and reason. They love and have compassion. Moreover, they also have accomplished much.”

  “They’ve accomplished nothing! But that is going to change for they will be my passage to conquering the Ruler’s realm, and there is nothing you can do about it.”

  “I have faith in man. I can see goodness in him and he can achieve a higher existence through love.”

  “I see anger, sorrow, and depravity. They prefer the happiness of one’s self over the happiness of others. Corruption, even in this evolved state of humanity, is the norm. Please don’t tell me humanity is what you come here for. Deep down they don’t listen to God. As a matter of fact, they listen more to me.”

  “Humanity is not only worthy of God’s attention but it’s also his work of love.”

  “It’s my work as well, but my plans are different. They are tempted easily because God made
them weak—so weak, that they’ll follow me.”

  With sweat beading on his forehead, the man explained, “God’s work is not done yet.”

  “Humanity will never be good enough. But you intrigue me. If you follow me, I’ll give you all the power in this existence to rule over all creatures large and small. You’ll even rule humanity. All you have to do is follow me. That’s right. That’s all you have to do. It’s simple. Just say the word and all this is yours.”

  Looking into the distance in the high heat of the day, he replied, “There is nothing you have that I want. You are all sizzle and no substance. Your only arrow to shoot is aimed at weakness and that arrow is temptation. Strength in one’s self and inner goodness is humanity’s shield. Now leave me, Satan, for I have no use for you. As with before, your temptation does not work on me. Be gone.” The man continued walking through the savanna deep in thought.

  The thousand year old building that was once the United Nations Headquarters was today used as a museum. D’Shawn was pacing back and forth in a section being used as a command center. The more he paced, the more his anger increased. It erupted when Marcus came down from the orbiting ship to speak to D’Shawn’s team. When Marcus entered the room, D’Shawn laid into him, “How on Earth could you let them fight in that game?! You wanted them to have a little rest; now they’re getting plenty of rest aren’t they?”

  Marcus, moving to the middle of the room, walked straight up to D’Shawn and put his head down. D’Shawn’s anger dissipated as he saw how upset his friend was, and he put his hand on Marcus’ shoulder and dropped his head as well. He told him, “Marcus, I’m sorry. I know you couldn’t have known that was going to happen.”

  Defeated, Marcus reluctantly told D’Shawn and the others, “The three we lost in the game were not the only ones we lost. It’s been kept a secret and held off the Grid, but unfortunately we lost four others. In the last couple of hours Thomas Keating was stabbed by a local official he was assisting, Janice Wallis was pushed off a transport, Bernard Cheseret was poisoned by his local guide, and Zeena Aouita was jettisoned from an airlock on the ship by an aide to the Captain. I can’t believe seven of us are gone. They made it back from the Ancient Visitor’s ship only to die a useless death back home. I don’t understand it.”