LifeWild

James’ fingers pause momentarily, hovering frozen above the keyboard. The look of concern on his face lasts only a moment before he manages to regain his usual reserved demeanor. The entire chain of command for the black market portion of the LifeWild Project fills the screen in front of him. The public face of LifeWild, the program dedicated to genetic research and advancement, originated in the Department of Health and Human Services and therefore quite a few high ranking government officials are closely associated with the program, but James is horrified to discover how many of those public figures are involved in the black market aspect as well.

Only one last piece of evidence and he will be able to turn everything over to General Harton and get this entire operation investigated and shut down. Once he ascertains who originally authorized the project and how it was kept hidden for almost eighteen years, James will finally have all the necessary information. Even as close as he is, he can hardly stand the idea of any of the victims of this project being forced to remain in captivity any longer.

He is especially sensitive to those here at the Gunnison Compound.

He was still in the service when the LifeWild research program was initiated and he volunteered, believing the theoretical outcomes of the research would be worthwhile. It wasn’t until five years ago, when he was attempting to follow up on the project, James stumbled upon a confidential file indicating the actual purposes behind LifeWild. On further research, he discovered the samples he had been asked to give were not used for disease research, but incorporated into some genetic experiment in this very compound. Ever since, James has had two goals: to actively do whatever it takes to shut this program down and, until he does so, give those living in this compound as much of a semblance of normal living as possible.

Getting a job in the compound was not difficult; he has plenty of military contacts able to line him up with the right identity and references. Riding the fine line between acting as a model employee and helping the residents of the compound, like Arthur, Penelope and the rest, is another story. Between risking his job by letting them enjoy some freedom at night, and having to quietly stand by as the technicians torment and abuse them, James knows it is only a matter of time before he is either discovered or he is no longer able to hold his anger and disgust in check. Just this morning, after hearing some sort of crash outside, he looked up at the monitor in time to see Arthur being forced to the ground quite viciously by shock sticks. This seemed very uncharacteristic to James. Arthur almost never gets punished, yet there he was, resisting them for a good thirty or forty seconds before lying down on the ground. Laila was out there as well, causing him to wonder if she might have been involved in some way. He makes a mental note to ask Arthur about the incident when he works his next overnight.

James turns his attention to the system menu of his computer. He is only allowed minimal access, but due to a couple well placed hidden cameras and a little bit of hacking, he has acquired the right usernames and passwords to collect almost all of the information he needs as evidence. Everything he has collected so far has been copied and moved onto a dummy location within the compound network. As soon as he gets the last bit, he will transfer the dummy file to a flash drive and turn it in.

Scrolling his way deeper into secure files and folders within folders, James clicks on the one labeled ‘Maintenance Files - To Do.’ It is his theory regarding the overall lack of ambition of most of the technicians here, even if someone did come upon this folder, no one would have any desire to open it, and so far, no one has. The folder flashes and a screen opens listing several hundred documents and image files. He drags the document naming the chain of command into the folder and waits for the bar indicating progress to pop up. The slow processing of these computers is a constant source of frustration to James, especially when stealth is of paramount importance.

A few seconds later the transfer is complete and James begins the process of closing the folders and logging off the computer. He is just about to shut the computer down as he hears a loud banging noise coming from the lower level. The floor below him and the walls surrounding him rattle from the crash and the phone on the far wall is knocked loose and falls to the ground breaking into two pieces. Rising quickly to his feet, he reaches the door to the computer room as a large blur barrels past and continues down the hallway to his left.

Turning to face the rapidly fleeing individual, James immediately recognizes Arthur barreling by heading in the direction of the stairs leading toward the front doors. On all fours, Arthur is bounding away in a fashion similar to a wounded and terrified wild animal. It seems to James he has lost all sense of reason, as if running on impulse alone.

The footfalls of two technicians to his right force him to look in the direction of their approach.

“Have you been standing there the entire time, James?” The first technician rebukes. “Grab a shock stick and make yourself useful.”

“Right away, sir.” James carefully responds. It is vital he never lets his frustration with the way he is treated override the reason he is here.

Reaching over to the rack by the door, he grabs a shock stick and takes a step out into the hallway. On the right, he observes a small trail of smoke rolling up the stairway and into the hall. Sight unseen, James believes it is most likely a small enough fire the sprinklers will trigger at any moment and easily squelch whatever might be burning. In fact, it sounds to him like they have already activated on the lower level. Pausing momentarily, he glances at the security monitor and, judging by the substantial destruction to the front gate, determines Arthur has escaped into the forest surrounding the compound.

Seeing in the gaping hole what might be the residents’ chance at freedom, but quietly cursing the fact the odds of success aren’t as large as he would like, James hurries over to the main control box on the far wall and slams his hand on the release button, unlocking all doors and sounding the alarm to evacuate the building.