E-Volv

A/N: This is from the rewrite. The name of the story has changed to E-Volv and it has a new bookcover.

To understand it better go to my website venisnytes.com and read the updated chapters. I only have the prologue and first few chapters on my website. Because I hope to publish it, as a series, I can't put everything online. You can probably see the quality of the writing in the second draft is a little better than from the original first draft. This is a tiny part near the ending of the first book.

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At the lab continued...

“Aha! Found it, Here catch!” she said as she tossed me a bag of what looked like…blood?

I caught the bag.

“I am not drinking this,” I said firmly, eyeing the bag suspiciously.

“Whose blood is this?" I asked.

“Its not blood, technically. It’s a blood derivative that Lance made. Your body won’t be able to tell the difference and that is what matters. You can’t go around feeding on people. Stop being a baby,”

Caterina scolded me like I was an infant.

I was still holding the bag like it was a bomb and my lips were pooched out like it stank.

Cat noticed I was still sitting there, and the bag was full.

"Don’t you have somewhere you need to be?" Cat's eye flicked pointedly at the bag.

“Yes, no thanks to you!” I said.

"So, drink up. Tick Tock!” Cat said as she went back to her desk and entered more data.

I put the nozzle in my mouth and gave a gentle squeeze. The fluid filled my mouth as I sucked lightly. I was pleasantly surprised at the taste. It had a slight fruity undertone. I greedily gulped the remainder of the bag. She tossed me a second and I made short work of it as well. My teeth retracted fully. I looked at the bag again. I must admit, I was impressed. I had not felt this good in days.

Cat was busy typing notes in at her computer. “I have a lot more questions,” She said from behind the screen.

“That should satisfy you for now. Its designed to hold you over for at least a week at best case scenario and help to weaken your need to feed at worst case scenario. But to be honest, that is in theory. I am going to be in Met Prime by tonight. I will bring you more supplies and I will be there to help you and keep an eye on you.

Lance thankfully kept working on serums and things like the blood derivative, the sunblock shots and the eye drops, just in case anyone presented positively. He kept working just in case, in secret," Cat divulged.

"Good news is I have enough info to work with now and we need to meet later to talk some more. That drink should hold your hunger at bay for a few days if I get held up. It's a blood derivative cocktail. Not the same as actual blood. Lance developed it to keep the assets from hunting people or decimating animals."

Pride was evident in her voice. Pride and a little something else.

"I assume you saw your mission when you bit him," Cat asked.

I cocked my head to the side before replying.

"About that. I saw a lot of things but it happened so fast, I need time to think about if I saw something the agency could use instead. I was supposed to be able to leave Metropolis Prime tonight. I assume that has all changed. I have never been in one place this long. What if I can't do it Cat? What if I don't want to? He has already lost so much. This is too big of an ask. Killing him would be kinder," I said casually, "What if I get bored? What if I accidentally kill him?"

"You know you don’t get a say in the outcome of the assignment. You are proprietary property. Evolv and The Core, own you. They need this kind of leverage because of who he is. Besides, since you fed on him, you may be tied to him in ways that can't be scientifically explained.

You cannot leave Metropolis Prime. At least not yet. This one is a long game. You cannot accidentally kill him either. I am serious. He is important for some reason to The Core and I think it has more to do than just the formula for the virus. Something else is at play here. We will all figure it out together. Just do your job like you always have," She said firmly.

"Yeah, I figured as much. Easy for you to say, Caterina, from the safety of the lab. Funny thing is no one has told me what I am supposed to do. Just have F.U.N.N. ? I have never done that kind of assignment. I am not necessarily complaining, but I am usually in and out. Right now we are just playing house. If I had not bit him, I would not have seen what was coming," I said angrily.

"No, if you had gotten the placebo this would be easier. More organic. He needs to trust you and fall in love with you," Caterina partially consented. "This is an unexpected development but you both need to be safe and alive."

I stared at her hard for a few moments. The elephant in the room no longer able to be ignored.

"You mentioned there are others like me?" I asked finally.

Cat sighed, "Yes and no."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked, my anger boiling over.

“You said ten injections were given. So there are ten other potential victims out there?” I reminded her from our earlier conversation.

“Um, not exactly. Only 6 of the ten presented with enhanced abilities. They are all dead,” Caterina corrected.

My mouth dropped open in surprise and disappointment, but I did not speak.

Seems like I'm unlucky number 7.

I let her continue uninterrupted.

“They all had issues dealing with the sudden changes and hearing other's thoughts. Two assets, a man and a woman self-ended in the early phases when they started hearing thoughts. She slit her own throat and bled out. The male used his cyanide capsule. They did not tell us anything but documented their thoughts and what was happening to them in their digital journals. Three others died accidentally, not knowing they could not be in the sun. They were caught in the sun before we got to them. Again, no one let us know what was happening. We are trying to put together a timeline of the changes from their digital journals.”

“And the last?” I pressed.

She paused as if she did not want to go on.

“Come on Cat, spit it out, time’s a wasting!” I said.

“Well the last must have successfully bonded with the serum but he became what we feared most. He embraced the darkness in full and pretty much seemed to leave his humanity behind. He was stalking, raping and killing women. We had been hunting him for over a year. He was one of our best and most lethal assets. At first we thought we could bring him in and rehabilitate him but then he cut out his chip. He made the decision to stay the way he was, but like that, he could not be allowed to live.

He left a trail of innocent bodies. If they had been criminals or horrible people, we could have at least worked with that. It seemed like he was attracted to their innocence. He was recently put down in New Africa. He was caught with facial recognition software. We think he was hunting someone and then for some weird reason stopped and looked around. Maybe he thought someone was following him.

Whatever it was, it turned out to be a bit of luck for us. He ducked into a bar where we already had an agent in the area. It was quick and clean. We think he had tried to contact the Egyptian agent and may have been in the area when she spontaneously combusted.

I suppose he fled to New Africa since we do not usually have any assets there. The other three have not shown any signs of change at all. Maybe they never will," Caterina explained. "So as I said, yes and no. You are technically the only one for now.”

“Put Down?” I asked offended by her choice of words. “We are not dogs. Not some animal! I am human! You did this to us and then exterminate us because you made a mistake,” I seethed. My chest heaved and I felt an unusual rumble in my chest. The lights flickered. Caterina looked around impressed. I remained stoic, not giving her the satisfaction of an inch of emotion.

"I have always liked you, Cat, but right now I want to snap your neck! You said those injections would help us focus better so we would be uber efficient and keep us healthy. Give us an edge up against the other Temps from Zyon Tech. That it would increase our already good genes. Not turn us into creatures of the freaking night, Caterina. You straight up lied to me," I said raising my voice.

"Shhh! Keep your voice down.” She admonished “We didn't know right away either. Not until the first ones died. No one was showing signs, no one trusted us to tell us what was happening to them. Lance had to race to come up with cures, but he was too late.

The agency's need to know culture backfired. I will admit to that. They essentially shut down the program. Lance continued working on the remedies I gave you today just in case any of the last 4 showed signs. This time we are ready. The last time I saw you, you had not reported any changes or looked any different," She said as an excuse for her actions.

I squinted my eyes and frowned at her reasoning and accusation.

“No…I didn’t mean it like that. What I meant was it makes you rare, special. I can’t see you ever losing your humanity, but Mickel, well, he was more animal-like than human before the injection,” Cat said and moved to come over to me and tried to put her hand on my shoulder.

I flinched when I heard the name Mickel. He was the one that reached out to me. He seemed kind, alone, and relieved. So I wasn’t imagining the voice in my head in a state of delirium. He was real. Mikel was going to help me, and they killed him. I got him killed.

Of course, I could not tell her any of that. Tears were starting to form. I swallowed my anguish and guilt before she saw any weakness.

“Don’t touch me. You even wonder why none of them trusted Evolv to tell them what they were dealing with. What horrible things I have been dealing with on my own? How do you trust the monsters that make monsters like us? You lied. Are you going to kill me too, Cat?” I asked.

“No. You are my friend and we are going to help you,” Cat said.

“How do I know I can trust you Cat? With you, it’s always been science first,” I said. “That was fine when I wasn’t the science.”

“You can trust me. I promise,” Cat said.

“One last question. How was Mickel…put down,” I asked, a sour taste in my mouth at the use of those words.

“Two shots, one to the heart and one to the head,” She answered without a trace of remorse.

'What no stake through the heart,' I thought bitterly.

She could have just as easily been talking about the weather.

“Thanks,” I said,” At least, now, I know how I am going to die,” I said sarcastically.

"He's buried, I suppose, in some shallow unmarked grave in the desert of New Africa?” I added as an afterthought.

“Most likely,” Caterina said. “The Core wants to be done with this massive failure.”

That sounded weird. I would have bet money on them doing an autopsy and DNA salvage. Try to figure out where they went wrong or right. Maybe the whole project was an indulgence for someone. They were proven wrong by the so called failure and poof, problem solves itself. Except now, there's me.

“But it’s not a failure. I am here. I am still human. Well, mostly human. No matter what I am, I want to stay human and I want to stay alive,” I gave her a look that meant I was serious. "Can you promise to do everything you can to keep me alive?"

"I promise, Athena," Caterina said using my birth name. I winced slightly, not having been called that since I was a child. It seemed to solidify her sincerity to keep her promise.

I looked away as I heard Noel call my name. Incredible. I was over 200 miles away in Wales near the coast and I heard him like he was standing next to me. I was still impressed I made it to the lab in the first place.

“What is it?” Cat asked.

“He is done making the tea and called me,” I answered. "Cat, I gotta go. He's heading up the stairs. Send some supplies ahead by drone. Just in case shit goes sideways and you cannot get out to see me. He is also chipped to the building and his apartment. He has an advanced A.I system plus personal security. Someone is pulling out all the stops to protect him."

"They know. That's why they are doing things differently and moving slower. They can't risk leaving any type of digital footprint. Whatever they are after must mean a great deal to them. Whoever is protecting him must know something," Cat agreed.

"See you tonight," I said.

I closed my eyes and started building his bathroom in my mind. I’m in Noel’s master bathroom, I’m in Noel’s master bathroom. I chanted in my mind.

When I opened my eyes, I was back in his master bathroom and gave the toilet a cursory flush just as he knocked on the door. "How are you doing in there?" Noel asked.

“Fine, just give me a few more minutes please," I tried my best to sound miserable. Unfortunately, it wasn't very hard.

If they come for me, I will so Edgar Allen Poe them. Whatever Mikel had become would seem like a children's fairytale when I was done.

Rage, rage at the dying of the light~ Edgar Allen Poe

© Venis Nytes