Morris / The Dangerous Jade Pt. 04

The MELF is composed of five pods, enclosing a central swimming pool. Each pod has a specific function:

Pod #1: Living room and reception area.

Pod #2: Kitchen and dining area.

Pod #3: Recreational facility and bedroom.

Pod #4: Private office and library.

Pod #5: Storage facility for tools, maintenance, spare parts, and food.

Fresh water is produced through desalination.

Part of the pool extends into Pod #3 for indoor swimming. Bathroom and shower are also available.

The pool is kept covered during periods of non-occupancy and hurricanes.

Laundry facilities are located in the passageway leading to Pod #5. Much of the facility is self-cleaning, however, some maintenance is required from the occupants.

The storage facility contains food products to sustain a group of five for a minimum of three years occupancy, plus another five years of emergency rations.

"And that concludes the overview of the Macedon Experimental Living Facility. If you have any further questions, just ask. I am programmed to respond to any request by the occupants day or night."

"What is the full scope of your responsibilities?" I ask.

"My function covers maintenance, security, and communication."

"Communication, good. Have you received any emails this past week?"

"I received regular emails from Yelizaveta Slutskaya, including a massive data burst two days prior. All messages are encrypted, and accessible from the office only with an access code."

That must be Liz's research.

Looks that way. "Third question, does this house have windows?"

"Of course. Do you wish them open?"

"Open some, let in a little sunlight."

Windows slide open. The living room window has an excellent beach view. It should also let us see who's coming.

"Okay Red, Liz's research should be in the office. Let's stow our gear and get this over with."

Red stayed pretty quiet through the introduction, gaping around while Veta droned.

The passageway to the kitchen is actually pretty wide, with a few dressers, tables, and storage trunks on each side.

The kitchen is very state of the art; sizable, with a dining area, programmable stove, dishwasher, sink, and a refrigerator stocked with food and drink, and stocked cupboards.

Much of the interior design is done in shades of white, gray, and black, like the living room.

"I guess this is going to be the theme for the house?" Red asked.

"White, gray, and black are pretty generic."

A generic house. Pun intended?

"Off to the bedroom."

The recreation center is set up like a gym.

24HR Fitness in microcosm, with the latest equipment. Impressive.

Complete with a massage table. The indoor section of the pool is at one end. The shower and bathroom are right next to the incline leading into it.

To the left, facing the bedroom is the entertainment center, complete with a C Seed 262 UHD TV.

20X8ft, a bloody fucking giant.

"Wow! Dad doesn't have something this large," Red whistled.

"I don't think I could fit one where I live."

The bedroom is at the opposite end. A huge California King size bed rested in the middle. A wide, unbroken picture window extended around the arc, from near the passageway to Pod Four, to behind the bed, to the passage from Pod Two.

"Veta, how strong is the window?"

"The window is made of a special transparent aluminum alloy developed in Macedon's labs. It's twenty times stronger than steel."

"Impressive."

We set our packs on the bed and move to Pod Four.

Pod Four is more a study than a mere office. The floor, desk, chairs, and bookcases are made of polished teak. The desktop computer is the latest model.

"Plum Victoria, 12th gen," Red snorted, "How fucking ironic."

"I guess Macedon's not above using rival tech. Well, time to go in. Let's see what Achilles is."

Finding Liz's email is easy. Just a bunch of numbers and passwords from Liz's neck. The MELF email is full of Liz's files: documents, research, notes, diaries, and video attachments.

I click on the one labeled, "Achilles Proposal: Purpose, Goals, and Parameters."

The video is just her, a younger, geekier her, at a desk, against a plain white background. She's wearing wide, wire rim glasses, a simple gray halter top, and a lab coat.

Her light blonde hair is in a bun. She looks like a cute scientist, not the Amazon of two days ago. I'd still tap that. She's also speaking Ukrainian.

I stop the video, go back, and click the subtitles.

Finding her email was easy, listening to it is hard, not because of the language, but from my mind trying to get around the implications of her breakthrough. I don't think Red is happy hearing this either. It could upend the entire clandestine profession.

Red's listening, and cursing occasionally. I'm worried about the profession. He's worried about his life.

Here's the gist, basically, of Project Achilles, and what she did to Red.

Translated to English, for the benefit of the reader.

"Imagine, if you will, the perfect assassin, the perfect spy, the perfect soldier; fast, agile, near impervious to pain, extremely resilient from injury, if not indestructible. Perhaps even resistant to disease.

Now think, instead of building one from scratch, in some lab, using expensive genetic manipulation, artificial insemination, and surrogates, all it took was one simple shot.

I'm not talking about a vaccine, or a special chemical. I am talking about something else entirely. Something that will enhance the human body to its peak performance.

I present to you Project Achilles, my plan to use nanocomputers, and machines to that purpose. Over the next several years, I will use my research to create microscopic machines and computers, focusing on two important attributes: reflex and resilience.

My project will not make a Superman. No super strength, X-ray, or heat vision, or powers of flight. It will, with one shot, turn an ordinary soldier into the ultimate warrior, like the Achilles of myth.

If Achilles works as envisioned, a first group of nanocomputers will establish themselves along the subject's spinal cord and nervous system. A second, the nanobots, will establish themselves in the bloodstream, ready to respond to any trauma or invasion by foreign substances, working with, rather than against, the body's immune and repair system.

My project will mark a quantum leap in both covert and conventional warfare. Imagine an army of super soldiers and assassins, each individual created by one shot from a syringe."

The next video is dated several years later, titled, "Progress Report number 305."

"Well, I've managed to work my way up to Rhesus monkeys. Progress has been steady but so have setbacks. I've learned from each one. I wouldn't tell the SPCA though. I've done very bad things to innocent animals. I think I'm near a breakthrough, though."

The next video is a year after that. Liz has a buzz cut here.

"I'm recording this diary from a secret location. A safe house somewhere. I can't say. I'm going to have to play this back to make sure I didn't say anything to compromise my safety. It's Yuri's fault. He tried to kill me. My own handler.

I'm close to a breakthrough that would give Russia an edge on military ops and my handler puts a bullet in my head. Did Security Service put him up to this?

I gave him a face full of sulfuric acid just before he shot me, but now I'm damaged. I remember splashing him. I remember the gun going off. That's all.

I don't remember the last two years. Plus I've got a bullet in my head the doctors don't dare touch. It's not doing anything for now, but that might not last.

Alex gave me a number to call in case of emergency. It was the Syndicate. They sent this man, Harry Coal. He got me and my research out. We're here temporarily until a permanent safe house and lab can be arranged."

The next video is from this past Sunday. She's speaking English here.

"Success! I've done it! Sustained neuron/synapse stability! I can tell Harry the Syndicate can start human trials. This is Nobel Prize level shit. If I can convince the Syndicate to manipulate some publicity."

Video dated this past Tuesday.

"Ebat! Fuck! Everything's fucked! The Syndicate fucked us! Harry texted; told us to clear the fuck out and head to the rendezvous point. There's a fucking Syndicate hit squad on the way. Rotten apples in the barrel, he said. Regional Director called me with some evacuation bullshit. I never trusted that fucker.

I'm digitizing everything and sending them over to the back up. I'm setting the charges. I need to figure what to do with the vial of Achilles already made. I pre-programmed the Redbird melee function in it. I'll think of something."

"We split the house and got kidnapped soon after," Red says.

I scroll through the files, looking for Redbird. I find it. It's the last file. Basically, it's a melee program in the nanocomputers.

"Not to be activated unless cornered by hostiles. All friendlies must not be in the immediate vicinity. Duration of the program is two minutes. Achilles recipient can activate by saying the word, 'Redbird.'"

"Re . . ." Morris starts.

"Don't say it! Can't you read?!"

"This is fucked! What did she turn me into? The fucking Terminator?!"

"I don't know kid." I'm thinking about what I read. I'm not so sure about this idea of instant spies. The kid certainly doesn't look like he's for The Life. Liz may have been desperate but I don't think she did a good thing here.

Pretty ironic, coming from you.

Shut up boss.

Why didn't she inject herself?

Probably because of the bullet.

"C'mon Red. Let's get ourselves settled. We can figure this out later."

"What's going to happen to us?"

"I'm not worried about myself. You? Maybe Harry's contact might have something. We'll sit tight 'til he gets here (it is a he, if my guess is correct)."

I doubt the contact has a solution, but something tells me the kid isn't exactly fucked either.

To Be Continued.