The Prodigy


Prologue

It begins at the famous Adelaide University Academy, named after the astronaut who first piloted the spacecraft that flew beyond the Milky Way Galaxy. The campus was split into two separate grounds connected by a lone glass corridor. The University side was known for its prestigious upper graduate science and philosophy programs, but its major attraction was the Academy. The Academy was an exclusive military organization specializing in genetic enhancement and secret ops. The Academy drew their recruits from the University applicants. It was the only place in the whole country this opportunity was offered. Fraternal twins, Theo and Marissa Cadberry, were among the eager new students attending the University hoping to be selected to participate in the Academy.

When Theo and Marissa graduated from their local college, they received full scholarships to Adelaide. They were half way through their first semester coursework, when they both were requested to appear for pre-testing into the Academy. Theo was a bright new star, who always rose to be the best at whatever he invested. It was expected he would breeze through the interview process. Marissa was also very smart and well rounded, but she found some of the testing to be rigorous enough that she wasn’t so sure she passed the screening.

A week later they found out their results. Theo had been invited to attend the Academy; Marissa was not selected. The Academy did not feel her mathematical proficiency for complex math scored high enough. She was encouraged to take extra math classes, and possibly, she might be re-invited next season. Theo, on the other hand, excited the Academy staff to his potential. He scored extremely high in every area of pre-testing and they were looking forward to overseeing his training. So he joined twenty-two other candidates in the orientation room.


Chapter One

In a classroom still within the University corridors, but on the outer edge close to the Academy grounds, sat several student desks on a stadium style platform. Sporadically filling these seats were twenty-six students talking among themselves. Twenty-two were the candidates selected by the Academy, and the four extras were those who failed their pre-testing but were brazen enough to show up, hoping to press the Academy for a chance to prove their worth for candidacy. Marissa was among them. The students faced toward a whiteboard at the front of the room. A teacher’s desk was off to the left side of the room and the entrance to the classroom was off to the right center. A screen was pulled down over the whiteboard for a video orientation.

The room lights turned off as the screen lit up with spiral symbols illuminated in a copper tint glow. At the same time the Academy instructors were looking over their clipboards at the recruits selected, making sure everyone who was supposed to be there was, and those extra were escorted out of the room. Three boys were ushered out of the back rows and pushed toward the door. When they reached the front rows they saw Marissa. Her name was not on the list, but they remembered her profile. They paused to privately debate her case. They knew she was the twin sister to Theo. Though her math didn’t score as high as they would like, which had to be in the one percentile of extremely high scoring for very complex math, they knew her genes might perhaps surpass her mental quickness for equations. While they originally decided to reject her candidacy for this season’s program, her attendance made them curious. Could she handle the orientation? They decided to let her try.

What was not reported to the new recruits, nor were any Academy student informed until they reached a command position upon graduating the program, was that the “orientation” video was not what they all thought it was. The film was reported and known by the recruits, University, and public, that it was a codon stimulation video that began the process of genetic enhancement. Then through the series of training classes and grades, the student would be able to increase this enhancement and brain function ability to learn the potential of its use as a specialized op soldier.

The video was actually a trance linking program that dilated the pupil and transported via a codon helix type light matrix two or three alien insect-like Beings, that looked like microscopic scarab beetles, known as the Noctorns. The Noctorns would travel among key neurological circuits in the host and integrate with his/her DNA, enhancing its structure and activating codons. It was these creatures that gave super human strength and conscious abilities to the student.

The Academy grounds was a secure facility. All students after video orientation were assigned Academy housing where a forty-eight hour process of compatible alignment would commence. Compatibility was paramount. Hence, the very selective process of choosing those that showed great mental, emotional, and physical stamina and leadership to best offer the alien creatures an optimal base of operations.

In the first forty-eight hours, the recruit would begin to adjust to the linking or would get deathly sick for about a week. If the linking was not compatible, the recruit became chronically dehydrated and malnourished from the fever, chills, constant projectile vomiting, and clammy sweats that would convulse through them. This violent rejection by the body would kill the Noctorns and eject them out of the system. During this time, no treatment or medicine could help the expulsion process, though, the Academy scientists were still trying to develop a serum. The Academy physicians would simply watch over them and try to make them more comfortable through this phase. No parent or guardian was notified during the expulsion process so as to keep the genetic enhancement secret. Only once the aliens had left the system would the human begin to recover. He or she was only ever told as explanation was that the genetic enhancement didn’t take. Once better, the parents and University were notified the student wasn’t compatible with the program and was reassigned back to their previous quarters. Some left the campus altogether, traumatized by this rejection, sentenced to live a life as an ordinary man.

Not every University teacher was in support of the Academy. Politically, the Academy made the University famous, flocking in the brightest students from all around the globe. This attracted great funding and accolades for the University and its professors. Yet, some didn’t like that these promising students were snatched away from the University for the Academy’s own agenda. They were suspicious of its secretive nature and helplessly watched their students change from this interaction.

If the candidate was reassigned to the University due to incompatibility, their heart just didn’t seem to be in their coursework anymore. They didn’t grade as high as they once did. The teachers weren’t sure if it was an emotional/psychological result from the rejection, or if something in the initial codon stimulation treatment actually compromised the student. They didn’t have enough evidence or support to provoke an investigation.

If the student was compatible, their whole life centered around the Academy. Their career, family, where they lived, all this was related to the Academy and its organization. There was no alternative and none seem to want it.


Chapter Two

We are in the orientation room where now twenty-three recruits sit glued to the screen. Marissa held her breath as the Academy instructors stood off to her left examining her and talking quietly while looking at their clipboards. After what seemed a long time they moved on, letting her stay, and walked toward the door to shut it. Marissa was silently jumping for joy. This was her chance. That was all she needed. Just give her this chance. She knew she could prove to them that she was just as capable as her brother, who was sitting in the same row a few seats closer to the door. She gave all her attention to the video and her first codon stimulation treatment.

A University teacher walks by and notices Theo and Marissa in the room. She was not a supporter of the Academy program and she did not want Marissa and Theo to be fated to the Academy lifestyle. She calls out before the Academy instructors reach the door.

“Theo.”

Theo stays staring at the screen, the first trance segments taking hold.

“Theo,” she persists, “don’t you have a class you should be attending now?”

Theo tears his view away from the screen with reluctance and looks at the teacher. He did have a couple afternoon classes, but he assumed once he was selected to attend the Academy his previous schedule load would disappear. Perhaps this was not so? Would it be possible, and Theo secretly hoped this, could he attend the Academy and still work toward his major at the University? The Academy obviously really wanted him, perhaps they would allow night training classes or vice versa.

The University teacher now captivating Theo’s attention says, “You need to come with me now. I’ll make sure you get to your next class.”

Theo didn’t want to make a commotion, so he thought he would go out into the hallway and talk quietly with her and the Academy instructors and see if he could watch the orientation video later after his classes were finished, as well as, discuss the probability of attending both programs. If it wasn’t possible, Theo would choose the Academy and return to his seat. He was sure he could catch up in the orientation video.

The Academy instructors knew that as soon as Theo left the room, he would not be allowed back in. They urged him not to leave, but Theo steps into the corridor not realizing he sealed his fate.

Marissa saw her brother leave from her peripheral view and could not believe his decision. There was no way she was going anywhere! She wanted to be in the Academy so badly!

“Marissa.” The University teacher focuses her attention now on the sister. “Marissa, you need to come with me.” She adds.

Marissa didn’t take her eyes off the screen.

“Marissa,” the teacher becomes more emphatic, “you need to come with me and your brother.”

“No!” states Marissa absolutely, as she continually stares at the screen. “I’m staying here.”

The University teacher is surprised by her answer as Marissa was always an agreeable girl.

The Academy Instructors now at the door look at Marissa then back at the teacher and Theo. Theo begins to ask about attending the video later, but the instructors interrupt him and inform Theo that he just disqualified himself from the program when he left the room. Before he can persuade otherwise, the instructors shut the door. They look back at Marissa. They still weren’t sure if she would make it, but at least they had one twin from such a promising gene pool.

Marissa was surprised at her intensity and that the Academy instructors didn’t agree with the teacher to insist her exit. Instead, the door was now shut and she was in! She rooted herself to her seat and gave every ounce of her conscious attention to the screen. She was going to show them they did not make a mistake by letting her stay.

The copper lights flashed throughout the room and the spiral symbols twirled in their patterns. The room quieted. Each recruit was glued to the screen. Marissa felt more in the trance. Her body relaxed. Her eyes seem to grow fixated on the video. Her eyes felt dilated. It was then it seemed as if she saw particles of soft golden light reach out from the screen. It was as if the spirals became a light beam projecting toward her eyes. Marissa was intrigued by this soft twisting helix light. It seemed so real, not like a reflection, but almost tangible as if she could touch it. Her body was so relaxed all she could do was stare and admire. She was completely unaware that the light was a transport beam sending the Noctorns into her system.

When the video was over and the light from the screen disappeared, the room seemed a darker shade than before, as if all the sunlight had been blocked out. For a few minutes the recruits sat adjusting to what had just occurred to them. Silent excitement ran through them as they imagined the extra powers already stirring in them. Marissa felt tingly all over and exhausted. Her eyes felt sore and dry.

The Academy instructors informed them what was to happen next as they handed out a special style of sunglasses. “Your eyes have been overstimulated. The glasses will help once we leave the room. Keep them on and do not take them off until told to do so or you risk damaging your sight. You will all now be escorted to the Academy campus. You will walk single file with a right hand on the shoulder of your teammate in front of you. Once inside the campus our personnel will take you to your cabin. This will be your housing for the duration of your training at the Academy.”

The students got out of their seats and formed a line in front of the room. The main instructor continued, “For forty-eight hours, you will remain in your cabin. There your protective eyewear will be removed and medical adhesives will be attached to your eyes to help them heal. They will remain on your eyes sealing them shut for these two days. Our physicians will check on you each morning to examine how you’re doing and take a cellular scan to be sure you are adjusting adequately to your treatment. If you should feel sick, let them know. Early symptoms include nausea, fever, and loss of appetite. A few students every season find they just can’t adapt. There is no shame in this. We are still working on refining our orientation process. If you become ill, our staff will transfer you to the infirmary where you will be looked after and cared for.”

“Otherwise, for the next two days we strongly advise you NOT to test your emerging capabilities without an instructor present. Injury could result. Once you are cleared by the physicians for training, you will be escorted to your first class. From there our instructors will begin stretching you, molding you, and maturing your capabilities. This is where you can show us what you’re made of.”

Marissa and the other candidates followed the lead instructor out of the room. They walked down a University corridor and turned right to the famous lone glassed breezeway that connected the two campuses. Another instructor brought up the rear. A couple others watched the recruits for any sign of abnormality, while another was responsible for securing the video and equipment and taking it back to the Academy.

Marissa didn’t feel sick so far, though she felt a little weak and exhausted, and the tingles remained. As she walked in the middle of the line with one hand on the person’s shoulder in front of her and a hand on her from the person behind, her excitement seemed to amplify the tingles. Marissa felt like she was part of a fraternity style initiation. She kept quiet as she walked in rhythm with her new mates.

Once in the Academy main building other staff were waiting to guide the new recruits to their cabins and begin the first initial cellular workup. Marissa and the other students entered rooms to the left and right down a housing corridor. A male and female led Marissa into her room. They oriented her with her studio space - the bed, bathroom, dining area, and living area. She is instructed to take off her sunglasses and sit down on the bed so that they can apply the medical poultices to her eyes and take a cell sample.

Marissa notices that the room lighting is the same dimness as the orientation room, as if there were no windows in the space. The room feels slightly cool, but comfortable, and the twin bed is neatly tucked with a sage green waffle blanket and white sheets into the side of a long compartment shelf running the length of one wall. The bed seems very inviting and she nestles in as the physicians apply the eye adhesives and run a handheld laser scanner over the back of her neck.

What Marissa doesn’t know is that the scanner is to show the doctors how well the Noctorns are settling in her system. A unique codon test was created that produced a numbering sequence on their equipment. If the number increased from their first initial scan on record from pre-testing, this meant the creatures were able to make initial contact and were already starting to integrate with her. If the number stayed the same or decreased it meant the creatures were having difficulty syncing in and there was danger of expulsion.

Cellular scans were also conducted after every training class to test the students progress. Continual increasing numbers meant more genetic enhancement was taking place and the Noctorns and human were a very active successful symbiotic relationship. If the number started evening out, it meant no new growth or codons were being turned on and this was the probable extent of the genetic enhancement and symbiotic growth potential for that person.

The Academy was always looking for the elite of the elite. Those whose numbers evened out too early were commissioned to be part of the Academy personnel staff. They were often seen as runts because the whole point of the organization was to be part of the ops program. None who once had been paired with the creatures could leave the Academy’s organization. They could not risk their secret being publicly known. Of course, once a person was in the Academy, it always meant being well taken care of, having a career for the rest of your life and a great pension, not to mention super human abilities. So none really wanted to leave, plus there was always the gravitation to stay, a compelling element by the Noctorns inside of them.

Inevitably, in every year’s selection of recruits, one or two became sick and had to leave the program. It was rare for everyone to be a compatible host. The Academy scientists were constantly working to develop a better percentage rate, as it meant a high risk of death for any of the Noctorns volunteering for this mission and a chance a human might die and risk an investigation into the whole operation. The evolution potential for both species, however, made it so desirable, that both agreed this outweighed the risks.

It was also inevitable every year for a few of the recruits to ignore the warning of privately playing with their budding abilities while they were healing. They just wanted to know what they could do and thought they could impress the Academy and their fellow classmates if they could already come to class with an aptitude and control over their newfound abilities. This always led to a disheveled mess of their cabin: pictures off the wall, trash cans and furniture knocked over, etc., and minor injuries: bruises, cuts, sprained muscles, maybe a broken bone. Unbeknownst to the recruit, it also led to a harder time for the aliens to adjust to their new surroundings and could result in host rejection and death for the alien. Not enough time had been established to complete the linking embedding sequence within the DNA helix of the human.

Marissa heeded the advice of the instructors and physicians. She did not want to do anything that would break the rules and get her kicked out. She carefully felt her way around the cabin, exploring, memorizing the place where the bathroom was and where her meals would come. They were all told they would be put on a very strict nutrient diet. They (as well as the Noctorns) needed specific types of enzymes to keep them healthy in their amplified body. If the candidate veered from this diet they could eventually become sick and be in danger of losing their genetic enhanced abilities, i.e. host rejection and expulsion of the dead aliens.

Marissa enjoyed her new digs. Everything was very comfortable and larger than she expected. She thought she would be in another small dorm room, not in her own studio apartment. She greeted warmly the staff visitors every day when they came to check in on her health, her eyes, and to scan her neck. At one point she heard banging noises in the far room across from her bed, which she found out later from the staff was a recruit who didn’t listen to the instructions and tried to test his abilities. He was now in the infirmary under close supervision.

The morning of the third day came and Marissa felt fine. In fact, she felt as if she were somehow more alive, alert. She couldn’t quite tell if it was because she was so excited about what the day would bring that everything seemed more detailed and clear or if it had something to do with her genetic enhancements.

The doctors came in and asked how she was doing? She told them she felt great. They removed the medicinal poultices off her eyes. She blinked a few times adjusting to her vision. The first thing she noticed was that there was light in the room. It was no longer dimmed. A sage green curtain was partially open revealing a sliver of golden sunlight from a single window behind the kitchen counter. She next noticed that a couple other staff members were there monitoring her.

The doctors checked her eyes and scanned her neck again. The scanner after a couple of seconds beeped. They read the results and wrote it in her file. When they were finished they shared their results of the morning’s check-up with the extra staff members. They looked over the paperwork and she was cleared to exit her cabin and be guided to her first training class.

Marissa was elated, but she merely smiled as she followed her guides toward another part of the Academy. It was more enjoyable when you could see the details. The whole place was built in this crisp white contemporary architecture. Clean white glossy interior walls symmetrically blended with floor to ceiling glass exterior walls facing the grounds. The doors were a mixture of sliding glass or fiber glass doors to actual wooden black painted doors with small shoulder height windows. It seemed opposite to the old masonry architecture of the university.

All this Marissa noticed upon first glance and looked forward to absorbing more details the longer she stayed. There was still a small concern that she might still be asked to leave. Everything seemed to be going well so far, but if she couldn’t impress the instructors in her training they might change their minds about her. And yet, the worry seemed less than she thought it should be. Was this another perk of genetic enhancement? One feels less threatened and less prone to fear?


Chapter Three

Marissa walks into an LED lit room filled with some recruits and empty of furniture. The walls are lit behind white frosty fiberglass reflective panes. The lit floor is also white, with a large 12”x12” square black grid pattern across it. The ceiling was jet black in the same material as the rest of the room. As Marissa waits with the others for the rest of the recruits to show up, they introduce themselves and inquisitively ask if any felt different? What did they experience in the last two days? Each of their escorts left them to their nervous chatter.

Finally, all the candidates and instructors were present. The classroom door closed. Nineteen of the twenty-two recruits stood before three instructors. Two of the recruits got sick and were still in the infirmary. Three recruits tried to test their abilities and one of those was still on the mend. The other two were sheepishly present. One of the three instructors led the class. One was an aid to help train part of the class. The other monitored the new candidates and took cellular scans at the end.

At the start of the class each candidate was handed a clump of putty. They were told this putty would be one of the most important resources and weapons they would learn to work with. To look at, Marissa thought it looked like ordinary taupe colored silly putty one could buy in a toy store. She massaged it in her right hand, noticing its pliability and temperature. It slightly warmed in her hand, but didn’t make her hand sweat. It was easily malleable, stretching without being too thin, solid, without being too hard. It did not seem to be too difficult to mold. She figured it had to be some space technology putty. It seemed odd it would be considered a useful weapon, but she was intrigued to discover what it could do.

The lead instructor spoke, “Over the course of the next few months you will learn how your putty can be utilized and how it partners with your new abilities. Keep it with you. Do not lose it. Build a bond with your putty. Once paired it will respond only to your DNA signature.”

“For your first day, you cadets will learn a few fundamentals of your new best friend as we get you more acquainted with each other.” The main instructor showed the putty in his own hand. “It can become as dense or as soft as you need it.” Marissa thought presumably by how one can mold it into shape quickly in their hand. They all watched as the instructor closed his hand around his putty, squeezed the putty a little, and when he opened his hand it was a perfectly smooth round ball. He closed his hand around the ball, squeezed it again, and when he opened it, the putty was flat, as if it melted somewhat.

“Also, it will respond to your touch and mental command. It will go where you instruct it and return to you when it has finished its task.” The instructor threw his putty against the back wall and it ricocheted like a ball off it and the floor, and returned to his hand.

“Now, first you are going to show me you know how to control your putty. Have it shape into a ball.”

Some cadets started molding it with two hands, some tried the one handed approach. Marissa just kept observing her putty as she massaged it in her hands. The two training instructors walked among the students checking out their progress. At this time another Academy staff member entered the classroom to observe the recruits.

“This isn’t kindergarten, cadets.” The main instructor said. “We are not asking you to shape it with your hand, but with your mind. This putty will exercise and extend your genetic enhancements. It will sculpt you as much as you sculpt it. Now try again.” He commanded.

Eventually all caught on and could make different shapes on command. They were impressed, both by what they could do and how responsive the putty was to them. They stared at the clump in their hands with awe.

“Very good. Now, we are going to learn to project it and have it return to us. One at a time, throw your putty at the far wall and command it to return to you.”

This exercise seemed easy. Have the putty shape into a ball, throw it against the wall, and tell it to come back to you. They all did this and all successfully returned, in varying degrees of bounces and rolls.

“It isn’t a matter of just throwing the putty, but hitting your target. On your next throw, hit the center back wall, have it bounce once on the floor, and then return to you.”

The mathematical percentages began zooming in each student’s mind, the angle and velocity to throw their putty to end in the desired result. The new Academy staff member who had walked in moments before watched Marissa. From the get go she was considered the runt of the new recruits, because she was never supposed to have been accepted. Her math skills were good for the University, but not for an ops elite. How would she fare as the targets increased in mathematical difficulty? He expected her codon numbers would decrease by the end of the class. However, she made it through the first forty-eight hours, so he wanted to see what she could do.

Every student hit their target and their putty only bounced once on the floor. After that the instructor led them through a series of targeting exercises, each increasing in difficulty. He would bounce his putty off one wall, then another, off the ceiling, back to another wall, on the floor and then to the hand. Sometimes the ball would not bounce on the floor at all. It would ricochet from the left wall to the right wall, bounce off the ceiling and then back to its owner.

Each student aligned themselves in the room, making their trajectory throws, trying to hit the intended locations. The instructors let them practice, not offering them anymore techniques. It was about getting used to the putty and how they worked together. When they missed the surfaces they were to hit, the students repeated the throw.

Marissa was fascinated by how the putty was so responsive and could not only hit the locations she commanded it to, but also, she noticed, the exact positions she imagined in her mind. It was almost as if it wasn’t about the trajectory of her throw, but that the putty responded to her will in the act. She tested her theory. She imagined a different spot on each of the surfaces she was to hit on the next exercise. She threw the putty toward the first location and it quickly bounced off the exact spots she envisioned in her head. The putty returned.

The instructors didn’t seem to notice Marissa’s epiphany as they conversed in the back with one another as putty balls were bouncing all over the place.

As each of the students continued their exercises, Marissa decided to start over. This time she chose a different mark on each surface of the target exercises she was to accomplish. The putty responded precisely to her will. For her big finale, Marissa decided to create her own complex twenty point pattern. With all the balls bouncing around could the putty learn its own trajectory through that and hit multiple spots all around the room? She threw it toward her first target and it quickly ricocheted all over the place, hitting each exactly and with increasing speed, before landing in her palm returning to its original clumpy form.

Most of the other students stopped as they saw this rogue putty soar all around the room and over their heads. They saw it return to Marissa, who was smiling upon her new best friend. They weren’t sure what she had tried to do, but some thought it obviously got away from her. Others thought the pattern seem too complicated and precise for it to have been a catastrophic throw.

The instructors called time, not making a public opinion about what Marissa had done or venturing a comment that they saw it. It seemed to be a mixed bag of observations.

“You will keep your putty on hand at all times.” The main instructor reminded them again. “It will be with you when you wake up in the morning, on you when you eat, go outside your cabin, and when you retire for the evening. Get used to its presence. Practice with it. It is your foremost tool throughout your Academy training.”

“Over the next three months you will attend this class and grow proficient in the use of your new tool and weapon. When you are done, you will not only be able to hit complicated target patterns, but will be able to hit a precise pin point location. I will demonstrate.” The instructor marks with an erasable red marker certain spots in random locations all over the white room, adding specific grid squares and specific spots on them. He throws his putty at the first location and it hits each red “X” in the same sequence that he marked it. The putty ricocheted off one location to another for a good two minutes before returning to the instructor.

The students eyebrows raised in marvel. Marissa knew she had already figured this out.

“Excuse me, sir.” She spoke up. “I believe I can already do this.” Marissa wasn’t trying to show off, she was actually hoping to receive confirmation of what she already figured out. Though, she secretly knew this could validate and seal her place in the Academy.

“What’s your name, cadet?”

“Marissa.”

“So, Marissa. You believe you have the skill to hit any location I point out in the room, and land precisely where I ask?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay, young recruit. Let’s see you demonstrate for all of us what it is you think you can do. Gary,” the instructor asked the Academy staff member who had come in to watch the class, and most especially Marissa, “would you mind being part of this?”

“All right.” Gary agreed, intrigued to see what Marissa would do and stepped forward.

The instructor takes a ball point pen out of Gary’s pocket. It had a blue push pin at the end to activate the pen. “I want you to hit the tip of this blue pen,” he tells Marissa as he slides the pen back into Gary’s front shirt pocket, so that it now cannot be seen.

Everyone stares at her waiting. Some students wonder if she has the brass to throw her putty at another instructor.

Marissa contemplates as she massages her putty. She knows it already knows where to go because she saw the spot where it was to land. It didn’t matter that it was now hidden behind fabric. The trick was that it also needed to be a precise density so that it reached its mark without hurting Gary, but also leaving a mark on the pen to prove her accuracy. She relays all that information to the putty. She throws the putty at the pen. It strikes Gary and returns to her hand.

Gary looks down in his pocket and sees a smudge on the top of his pen. He pulls it out of his pocket and shows the lead instructor.

The instructor looks at Marissa. “How did you see that throw? You couldn’t see the pen.”

Marissa replied, “But I could, in my mind. You showed me what I was to hit and the putty went where I willed it.”

“How did you get it to leave a mark when it was inside the shirt?” Gary asked.

“I willed the putty’s density to be hard enough to make it to you, but soft enough not to bruise you and leave proof of my shot.”

The Academy staff all exchanged glances at one another. They knew that in one day she had graduated from this three month training class. The first day of the first class was merely to introduce the putty and have the cadets get used to its feel and begin working with it. Marissa had already become so infused with her tool, she learned that it wasn’t muscle that made the putty an extension of her, but her consciousness. Some became very curious what her codon levels would read.

“Good job, Marissa.” The instructor praised her. “You certainly have a handle on this class.”

The students were directed to line up to submit to a cellular scan, so they could have on record how each were faring after their first day. That morning when Marissa was cleared to attend training her codon levels were recorded at 10.2. This knowledge was only known to the staff. The average levels for new recruits ranged from 8-11. Most would increase a little after the first day, even go up as high as a twelve, but they usually hovered within their starting number. This was to be expected. New ways of operating took time to develop. They also still watched for decreasing numbers, as the exertion may reveal a decided incompatibility.

Marissa moved in line. It became her turn. The scanner moved over the back of her neck. The science instructor wrote down her results on his clipboard and she was dismissed to head back to her cabin to clean up.

She became a topic of conversation after all the students were gone, because Marissa’s number revealed a 28. After the course, the students could range somewhere in the lower twenties, so it was somewhat consistent with what the three month class would give each student. Yet, she was still high even for that statistic. To jump that quickly in one day, though, they couldn’t recall another case to compare it.

It was decided that she would go to the next training level the next day and join the upper grade cadets. It was clear she had mastered this course, there was no need to hold her back. Some debated that she just started her training, perhaps that would be too stressful on the linking, but her high number won over that caution. Clearly, the pairing was an effective match. The science instructor who had scanned her was assigned to be her escort and guide, and report on her progress. He was silently happy to do so, the scientist in him intrigued with what he would discover.

The next morning he showed up at Marissa’s cabin and explained to her the good news. She had graduated from the first program with her impressive display yesterday and he was now going to take her to the next training class. Marissa was thrilled. She wanted to know what else she could do. What would they teach her? What might she master today?


Chapter Four

The science instructor, who she finds out later is named Joseph, leads her to a campus bus and explains they are going on a field trip. She climbs aboard the sleek black Adelaide Academy bus with its upgraded comfortable seats and restroom in the rear, complete with shower, and takes a seat. Fifteen other students join her along with four new instructors. The lead instructor was not too happy about Marissa joining his class. He wasn’t told what her numbers showed, only that she she did so well in her first day of training, they wanted to see how she picked up his class. To the instructor this meant she was a runt, a rookie recruit with barely any Academy training, and unknown to this group or anybody. He had no time for this political imposition.

The students are driven to the town pier. They file out on the beach on a sunny morning, with a nice breeze blowing across the sand, the tide still high, birds calling out to each other, yet devoid of other humans. The main instructor tells them to fan out on the beach. So they take a spot about arm’s length from one another and about eight feet apart in three rows. A light pole is about ten feet in front of the first row, a blue plastic trash can about five feet away, and the sign to the pier eleven feet behind the last row where the access path was. Here the instructors, Joseph, and the class’ science instructor stood.

They were informed that now that they were used to having the putty respond to their will, they wanted them to hit certain targets out in the open. The cadets were used to ricocheting off of walls to hit what they wanted, so how did they repeat that concept and hit a list of ten targets with no solid surface to aid them? First on the list included the trash can, then the pier sign, and the light pole. The furthest on the list of ten targets was the pier itself forty feet away down the beach.

The main instructor couldn’t care less about Marissa’s skills and assigned her to one of the other training instructors to observe her.

The cadets were beginning to understand why they had to score so high on their math skills, because this was going to take some majorly complex math to figure out what they had to bounce off of, at just the right angles to hit their target. The sand was too soft to be a good ricochet surface, and there were no other solid surfaces other than the list objects themselves, and those weren’t allowed to be chosen. Some tried bouncing it off another student, but if that student moved or reacted too hard to the hit, the putty would go awry. Eventually, this created team building skills. This was an important part of the training class the students needed to discover for themselves. Soon, the observing instructors were marking off objects on the list for each cadet. The cadets were treating it like a fun game of paint ball, but here, each purposely lined up just right to get hit so that the intended target was successfully tagged. Marissa, on the other hand, turned toward the ocean and stared out at it.

“Humph. Figures.” the main instructor said to himself sparing her a glance.

“What is she doing?” asked the second instructor standing beside him.

“Not much of anything as far as I can see. She doesn’t even know what the hell to do.” The main instructor grunted. “I knew she didn’t belong in this class. Just watch her. See if you can steer her in the right direction. Even an idiot can get lucky, but make sure she doesn’t hurt herself or the rest of the class.”

“You think she’s catching on what the true fixed point is to hit? We don’t teach that except toward the end of this course. You don’t think she is trying to figure that out now?” The second instructor asked. The lead instructor dismissed that as a possibility for the runt, and walked toward some of the students who were already making significant progress on their targets.

The third instructor piped in and said, “that might not be so wise if this is only her second day of training. Isn’t that risking her health? Shouldn’t we keep her to the day’s course? She is definitely going to fail it, if we don’t get her to mark something off her list.” The second shrugs his shoulders, having no answers. The third yells out to her, “Marissa?”

Joseph, hearing this conversation, closely observed Marissa’s actions.

Marissa heard the instructor behind her, but she was too lost in her thoughts. “If I don’t have a solid surface, how do I tell the putty where I need it to go?” She pondered this a bit. “Maybe, I need to feel the solidity of the elements? If I can sense the surface of the ocean, perhaps the putty could use that? Or use the particles of the sand in the air. Could I sense their denseness and the putty could reshape to use that effectively?” She focused her will, reaching out her mind to feel solidity in the softness and movement of her environment. She tested her theory for about twenty minutes with the ocean. When she thought she sensed the solidity, she threw her putty. Every time it splashed into a wave and returned to her.

She wasn’t getting anywhere with that hypothesis. What was she missing? She contemplated some more.

“Marissa?” The third instructor yells behind her again. “Perhaps you need to take a hint from your fellow classmates?”

Marissa ignores him. She knew she could figure this out. There was another answer then simply hitting one another. It never had to do with hitting a solid surface before. That first class was ultimately about learning the partnership of your consciousness and the putty. Marissa dismisses the advice and goes back to thinking.

“Wait a minute.” she stopped herself. “If it isn’t about a solid surface, then what would it be?” She looked around her. “Why would they bring us to an organic environment? A place where the ocean is rolling, the wind is blowing…” the light clicked on, “…where everything is moving!” she exclaims to her epiphany. “So, perhaps my fixed point is not a surface at all, but the rhythm of movement itself?”

Marissa swings around toward the trash can, the first object on her list to hit. “So how do I hit the trash can? Do I estimate the trajectory of movement? I didn’t have to do that yesterday. The putty figured that out for me. So how do I reference to it what I need? If this class is about movement, then maybe I need to sense movement in the solid? This is about atomic training!” She realizes. Marissa focuses and tunes into the trash can.

“Five minutes more cadets!” The main instructor yells to the class. “Let’s get those lists finished!”

Some of Marissa’s new teammates had already finished their lists and the main instructor was praising their teamwork and accomplishments. They chuckled at the attempts of the last of the cadets who were trying to hit their final targets as quickly as they could before class was over. In a rush, mistakes happen, and some caused comical results. Then they saw Marissa staring at the trash can. She was getting ready to throw her putty directly at it.

“Hey!” One said. “She can’t do that! We’re not supposed to throw directly at it.”

“Marissa!” The leader warned her. “You know the rules! Don’t mark that down if she hits it,” he yells to the second instructor with her clipboard sheet. He turns to watch a complicated line up by some of the cadets to try and hit the pier.

Marissa raises her arm, sensing the slow movement of the trash can ten feet in front of her. As she holds that movement fixedly in her mind, she throws her putty. It soars behind her hits the ocean, which then sends it soaring to her right where it bounces off something in mid air, ricochets to another mid air spot to her left, before angling down, smacking the trash can and flying back to her hand.

Joseph, along with the second and third instructor, and a couple of the cadets, witnessed her feat. “How did she do that?” The cadets asked.

“That’s it!” Marissa exclaimed to herself. “Okay! Okay! What time is it? What is the next thing on my list. The pier sign.”

But the class was over. The instructors directed the students to form a line and submit to a neck scan before climbing aboard the bus. Joseph would take care of Marissa’s results and he was eager to see her number.

Marissa, though, was not ready to yield for inspection. Not yet. She needed to prove to herself that she had a handle on what she had just done. She wondered whether she should wait until tomorrow, but there was no guarantee they would come back to the beach. Perhaps, while everybody else was taken care of, she could try just one more target.

“Marissa, you, too!” The leader yells out to her, not aware of her previous accomplishment. “Hitting the pier sign isn’t going to make your marker sheet look any better.”

She decided to risk his anger and poor opinion. As much as she wanted to prove to the Academy that she was elite potential, this was about something more now. She needed to verify her skill.

The leader makes it back to Joseph and says, “You need to escort your cadet on to the bus. Class is over.”

Joseph replies, “We’ll be here for a few minutes. What would it hurt to give her a little more time? I think she is on to something. I would like to see if she can hit her mark.”

The leader is about to retort with disgust, when the second instructor comments, “I think she has figured it out, sir. The fixed point. She’s got it.”

“Are you sure? I didn’t see anything.” They turn to watch her.

The other cadets are in line getting their scans completed or heading down the access path back toward the bus. Marissa focuses on the pier sign. She didn’t want to just hit the sign, though. She wanted to make it more complicated for herself. She decided the challenge would be to hit the sign on one side and then while it was moving hit it on the other side, too. This would require factoring in the extra velocity and movement.

Marissa stares at the sign, tuning in to its atoms. It was amazing that she could do this and how it felt. She massages the putty in her hands as she relays to it the movement of the sign’s atoms. She imagines the feel and creak of the sign as the putty hits it once and then turns for its final smack. Marissa holds that whole molecular rhythm in her mind and throws the putty at the sign.

The putty sailed off slightly to her left, hitting a cattail, bouncing off of that, hitting the beach slightly in front of the sign, which then ricochets it straight toward it. The putty hits the sign, flies past it toward the pier where it hits something she couldn’t see, before bolting back, rebounding off of two separate points in mid air, which made it whiz toward the back of the pier sign smacking it before it can reach its full return swing. The putty then vaults back toward a spot near the light pole, as if it hit a mosquito or something, before sailing smoothly to her hand, landing with content.

Those who had been watching raised their eyebrows. Marissa, oblivious to their reaction because she was processing her new skill, realized she had just graduated from the class. The observers echoed her thoughts. While she hadn’t learned the teammate factor, she went beyond that by comprehending something that not all the students could learn. Not every cadet mastered this six month class. Some equalled out on their codon numbers never advancing further in the Academy. Some acquired enough of the concept that Marissa just learned to advance, but relied more heavily on their mathematical precision. But Marissa, she had just completed in her second day of training what took some years to develop!

“Marissa,” Joseph called her out of her reverie, “I need to collect your scan.” She walks toward him very satisfied with the day and appreciating everything that was happening to her. Her new abilities were so amazing and she was completely in love with her putty! She silently thanked it as it sat in a pouch hooked to her belt. Joseph smiles at her, congratulating her on her mark, while running the scanner across the back of her neck. The machine beeped. He looks down at the number to verify it has finished scanning and invites her to board the bus.

The other science instructor who had been busy with the other cadets and didn’t see Marissa’s impressive display, expected her numbers to decrease or be the same. After all, she only hit one mark before the class was over. Everyone else who witnessed her achievements looked at what Joseph wrote down on his clipboard. The cadets starting the class usually ranged from 16-22 on their codon levels. She was already at a 28. It varied what the cadet finished the class with at the end of the season, but normally it ranged from a 18-42. Marissa’s scan, resulted in a 56. Smiles lit across everyone’s faces. They had an elite on their hands.


Chapter Five

Marissa had the rest of the day off when she got back to campus. She headed for her cabin to clean up and take a tour of the Academy.

Meanwhile, she was the topic of conversation in a meeting upstairs after Joseph reported the days events and her cell results to his superiors. Gary was especially intrigued and recounted how she got in to the Academy and her connection as the twin sister of her brother, the one they originally were trying to procure.

“We thought her math proficiency would constrict her.” Gary looks at Joseph.

“Apparently, she has learned to work around that.” he responded.

“What about her brother Theo?” The High Commander, named Seklis, asked. “Why isn’t he here?”

“He dismissed himself during orientation.” Gary spoke up. “We were just as shocked by his choice.” Remarking Seklis’ facial response.

“His reason?” Another commander asked.

“He got called out by a University Instructor. His fondness to please we didn’t expect to see. We expected it from the girl, but not Theo.”

Joseph added, “It turns out it might be the other way round. Marissa has shown great initiative and nerve to challenge the instructors to complete her training.”

“Insubordinate?” High Commander Seklis frowned.

“No, sir. Just very tenacious and innovative about accomplishing her mission.”

“Hmm.” He nodded.

“Yes, but,” Gary tried to focus them on where he wanted to swing the conversation, “if Marissa is turning out these results, what about Theo! He scored especially high on his pretests. If his sister is turning out a 56 on her second day, what could he offer? We wanted him first, perhaps we should reconsider his disqualification? Also, the twin factor could increase significantly what we are already seeing in both of them. We could have a super team on our hands.”

“Where’s his record?” Seklis asked. Gary hands the High Commander Theo’s file and he flips through it. “You know, of course, Gary” as he looks at the pages, “that as agreeable as I might be to your request, it isn’t just a matter of my approval or the boy’s resubmission. We have the Noctorns to consider. They have already presented a complete division for the current class and nine of them died. To ask them to consider an extra out of season, even a promising extra, might not sit well with them.”

“Yet, isn’t it worth the inquiry, sir? Theo would make an excellent host. And we have his sister’s numbers as a motivation.”

Seklis thought about it. Everyone remained silent at the table. “Okay, Gary,” he finally said, “I’ll ask. You go find your boy and we’ll see what happens.”

“What do we do with Marissa?” Joseph asked. “She has tested out of two classes on their first day? Do we even know where to send her next?”

This sparked a debate that continued for a while. One wanted to see what she could do with a mock ops situation. Others reminded the assembly that this was only her second day. It hadn’t even been a week yet since the linking. They shouldn’t push her too hard too fast. Another argued he didn’t see why they shouldn’t just send her to the next upper grade class. It went round and round until finally the decision was to have Joseph take her to a training room and test her abilities through a series of exercises equivalent to the prerequisites of the upper level classes. What she surpassed, she could skip. When they found her limit, then they would revisit this question. Marissa was definitely not to enter any mock ops programs until other upper commanders could read her file.

The room was dismissed. Joseph went to his cabin remarking upon his good fortune to continue observing Marissa. He normally stayed in the lab, working on refining the orientation and communication relationship with the Noctorns. This field study could prove to be very useful. Besides, he started growing fond of the young woman. He examined the paperwork of test exercises to be ready for Marissa the next day.


Chapter Six

Theo over the last few days had been doing a lot of thinking and re-strategizing of his academic career. He was disappointed he didn’t make it into the Academy. Yet, he knew they wanted him. So, Theo decided he needed to be ready by the next season. This meant he needed to accelerate his coursework and thesis if he wanted to have his Master’s before joining the Academy. He finally realized once you join the Academy, you don’t go back. In order to graduate both campuses, as he desired, he needed to make use of his remaining time at the University.

The University teacher who pulled him out of the orientation room was so pleased and relieved that Theo obeyed her, and his decision to buckle down into his coursework (not knowing his intention behind it), volunteered to be his mentor. Theo agreed. Between the two of them they restructured his classes, added a few night ones, and scheduled private tutoring sessions regarding his thesis. Her hope was that he would graduate and move out into the world far away from the Academy.

After one particular night class, the students are dispersing from the room, and Theo is standing packing up his materials into his leather bag, when a gentleman comes up to his right.

“Theo.” The man introduces himself, “I’m Gary.”

Theo looks up and doesn’t recognize him, though he looks somewhat familiar.

“I’m from the Academy.”

Theo’s first thought is that something happened to Marissa.

“I’d like to talk to you.” He continued when Theo stayed silent.

“Is Marissa, okay?” Theo finally gets the words out.

‘Yes. Yes. She is doing just fine. More than fine, in fact. That’s something I’d like to talk to you about. Are you free to walk with me?”

“Uh, yeah.” Theo responds quickly stuffing the rest of his materials into his bag and slings it over his shoulder.

Gary and Theo head out of the room walking the quiet University hallways headed toward one of the many manicured courtyards.

“You may not remember me, Theo, but I was one of the instructors in the orientation room the day you left. That doesn’t happen too often, you know, candidates walking out. Surely, nobody expected it from you.”

Theo cringes.

Gary continues, “You are an exceptional candidate for our program. I was on the committee that recommended you for the Academy in the first place. Your choice to leave was very disappointing. But after all, it is your choice.”

They cornered the courtyard and headed to another section of the University. “Your sister, Marissa,” Gary adds, “is turning some heads. She catches on quick. We are very happy with her progress.” Theo smiles. They nod their heads in acknowledgment of a couple people walking past them. “As you know, Theo, she was not originally selected for this season’s program. Yet, her talents,” Gary lingered on that word a moment, “have made us wonder about you.”

“Me, sir?” Theo asks not understanding where this conversation was heading.

“Yes, young man. You.” Gary stops and faces him. “You pretested at very high levels. With your sister’s progress, it has us wondering whether we should reoffer to you submission into this season’s program. It’s unorthodox, but what would you say if the invitation were granted?”

Theo was speechless. He had never heard of this happening before.

“You would be a few days behind your sister, but I believe you could catch her.” Gary risks expressing personal opinion.

Theo regathers his wits and asks, “Are you inviting me back into the Academy, sir?”

“Well, it still has to go through some paperwork, but I have been cleared to see if you would accept.”

Theo’s mind races. I could rejoin the Academy? Holy crap! But, what about my thesis? Dude, you are going to be genetically enhanced! You could see Marissa! But my classes? I’ll never go back, if I do this. “Sir,” he answers, “I’m very flattered by this conversation. May I ask, what would happen if the paperwork didn’t go through?”

“Well, like I said, it is unorthodox to ask a recruit out of season. You would be invited back next year.”

“And, if I choose to wait until next year?” Theo risks offense. “Would the offer still stand?”

Gary ruffled by his question replies, “Two rejections? It would make us question your priorities and propensity. It would definitely be a mark on your profile. Are you sure you would want to risk that?”

Theo contemplates some more. Gary can’t believe the boy was even considering to say no. Perhaps he gave him too much credit?

Theo thinks back to that day in the orientation room. He told himself if he could only choose one, between the University and the Academy, he’d choose the Academy. Yet, on the other hand, he knew that his current schedule would put him in a position to get his degree from the University and then he could have both. If they really wanted him, wouldn’t they wait? They had Marissa. If she kept doing well, that would make them remember him. In some ways, he couldn’t believe he was doing this.

“Sir,” Theo answers, “I thank you for offering me this incredible opportunity. I respect the nature of it and that you gave me the space to contemplate my answer.” Gary listens. “It has been a dream for me to join the Academy and I was overjoyed when I was selected. My choice to leave the room that day and ignore your advice was foolish.” Gary becomes optimistic.

“And yet,” Theo continues, “it made me think. Sir, I didn’t come to Adelaide just as a means to attend the Academy. I am greatly appreciative and desire to take advantage of the University’s opportunities, too. I would not have you think ill of my propensity, sir. My goal is to join the Academy, but I would like to do that with my Master’s degree before then. I have restructured my coursework and added classes in order to achieve this by next season’s program.” Theo stops to let Gary process this.

“I see.” Gary said furrowing his brows. “And you won’t change your mind on this?”

Theo stands firm in his commitment, “I believe I will be a better candidate for you and the Academy, sir, if I am selected next season. If you are giving me the choice when to enter, that would be my recommendation.”

Gary raises his brow. Well, he certainly speaks like a leader. “Okay, Theo.” Gary resigns. “I’ll go back and report your answer. We’ll see what happens next season.” He shakes Theo’s hand and heads back to the Academy.

Theo’s heart pounds in his chest with what just happened. I have to be ready by next season. I have to. Man, Marissa. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, you go sis’! Kick ass for the both of us!


Chapter Seven

Joseph rang Marissa’s cabin. Marissa, as usual, was bright eyed and ready to go.

“Where are we going today?” She asks.

Joseph grins. “It is just going to be you and I today.”

Curious, Marissa walks with him through the Academy campus back down the corridors she traveled on her first day to a room that looked like her first training class, complete with grid pattern.

“Truth is,” Joseph explains, “we don’t know where to put you. So I’m going to take you through a set of tests until we find the class where you belong.”

This excited Marissa. It meant she didn’t have to worry about time structures and she loved the idea of testing out of classes.

“Since this is one-on-one, and is a more informal setting, I’m going to introduce myself. I’m Joseph.” He smiled.

“Joseph.” Marissa tried the name in her mouth, smiling.

“I’ve been assigned to be your guide and instructor for the time being. So let’s get to work and see what you can do, young lady.”

“Okay.” Marissa said ready.

“Next to this room is another room. Do you think you can make your putty hit a target in the next room?” Joseph asks.

“Sure.” Marissa didn’t hesitate answering.

Joseph smiled. Most cadets in the beginning thought moving through solid structures were impossible, but as suspected Marissa caught on to far more in her classes than designed.

Marissa knew the question to be a simple answer. The putty responded to atomic scale, movement, and consciousness. If she could see the target, it would go there, compensating for the atomic oscillation of what it needed to pass through.

“What target did you want me to strike?”

Joseph responds, “Surprise me. Can you sense what is in the next room?”

“Yeah, I think I can figure it out.” Marissa affirms, tuning in a little. She realizes it is not like the grid room she is in, but a regular type of classroom with student and teacher desks, white board, a projector, and even a globe. Another instructor was in the room currently, finishing some paperwork.

Joseph nods his head and leaves to enter the next room.

Marissa is now standing alone in the grid room and can see Joseph walk into the classroom in her mind’s eye. The other instructor was just on his way out and nods to Joseph. Joseph stands between the corner of the first chair and the teacher’s desk angling himself to see the putty come through the far side wall.

Marissa decides she wants Joseph to know she can see him and what is in the room, so she chooses to hit a couple of the objects, the projector and whiteboard, and then have the putty land in his hand. She tunes into these elements. As she focuses on Joseph, her main intended target, she notices that she feels his heartbeat in his atomic movement. There is a pulse in his circadian rhythms, dancing at his wrist. She feels the heat in his signature, almost as if she can see his heart. It was so beautiful how these rhythms were aligned.

As soon as Marissa synced up with Joseph’s signature, the putty flew from her hand on its own accord and flew beyond the wall. She sees the rest in her mind’s eye.

Joseph stands staring at the far wall waiting to see what Marissa will do. It didn’t take long. Her putty comes through the wall, hits the projector in the front row, smacks against the white board, then zooms to him and lands in his hand.

He is staring at it. The putty became warm and pliable as if it answered to him as his own putty would. This was unheard of. This didn’t happen, couldn’t happen. A person’s putty bonded with its owner and would not answer to anybody else, or even go to another.

As the scientist in him is calculating how this could be possible, Marissa enters the room and stands beside him.

Joseph keeps staring at the warm putty in his hand. It still was not going back to her, even now that she had entered the room. Dumbfounded he asked, “How did you do this?”

Marissa replied, “I just imagined it landing in your hand.”

“But it feels warm as if it belongs to me. How is this possible?” His concern was that whatever she did, the putty may not answer to her anymore. Did it somehow get reprogrammed?

“Call it back to you.” Joseph directed.

Marissa held out her hand and in one smooth gesture, the putty glided across that small expanse and landed softly in her hand.

Joseph is bewildered. He did not expect what just happened. It warmed to him but still answered to her. What was going on?

Marissa gently holds the putty in her hand not realizing she did anything odd or new or different. She waits for Joseph to speak.

“Let’s go back into the other room.” he directed. Marissa follows him. They walk to the center of the grid room. “I want to make sure your putty still answers to you. Do a simple pattern. Just throw the putty off a couple of surfaces and have it return to you.”

“Okay.” Marissa shrugs her shoulders. This move was too easy. She throws the putty and it bounces off the back wall to the left wall and back into her hand.

Joseph is stunned, fascinated. “Step me through your process. How did you command the putty to land in my hand?”

Marissa replied, “It was no different than focusing on movement, though what I found interesting was that as I was tuning into your movement, I could feel your heartbeat, and the pulse in your wrist. It was like your atoms and your heartbeat were in a harmonic rhythm with one another. I am guessing that is what called it to you. It was responding not only to your movement, but also to your heartbeat.”

Joseph remains dumbfounded, processing the implications of this event. He knew that none of the other tests on his list were applicable anymore. She had just performed something the Academy has never seen. There were no classes or strategies wrapped around this ability and potential.

He didn’t quite know what to say, so he decided to take a cellular scan and see what the machine would read. The codon number flashed 82 and was rising. 82.4, 82.6, 84. Her third day of testing and she was an 84? She was only a 10.2 a couple of days ago. What might she be tomorrow?

Joseph’s own number was 233. This was after being with the Academy for six years. Most of the higher ranking personnel ranked between 200-500. Chief of the Academy had the highest ranking number at 532. These numbers came from years in the Academy, maturing as an ops soldier or part of strategic command. As the numbers leveled out one was moved to the Academy’s Central Intelligence. Joseph’s continued to slowly increase due to his symbiosis research between Noctorn and human, but he had been in the two hundreds for a couple of years now.

The more the Noctorns and human were well linked the higher potential for unlimited enhanced capability. What Joseph could see in Marissa made him want to study the Noctorns in her system. Her numbers indicated they may be witnessing an unparalleled symbiotic match. Could it be possible to create a compatible pairing system between the human host and the Noctorns to duplicate these results? To study her he would need permission from command and it would also require telling her the truth.


Chapter Eight

Joseph dismissed Marissa for the day, explaining no more tests needed to be administered. She performed extremely well and he would discuss her results with command. Marissa was a little disappointed because she wanted to see what else she could do, but Joseph was satisfied with her, so she was pleased.

Joseph was not able to arrange a meeting with high command until the following morning. The group included High Commander Seklis and a couple Strategic Ops Commanders. Joseph informs them what had occurred in the testing room, but everyone is skeptical about what he says. That the putty flew through the wall to the next room, they believed. They had all learned that, but to land in another’s hand? Even to warm to him? That seemed inconceivable.

“I would like permission, sir,” Joseph asks High Commander Seklis, “to study her. It may be we can learn how the Noctorns are integrating with her so well. If we could figure out a symbiotic pairing system, we might be able to create more elites like her. I’d like to test my theory by requesting to send her on a mock operations test. So far, she has worked alone, I would like to see what she could do in a live situation with others.”

“What you’re asking, Joseph, is a few levels above her. You’re asking us to send her in with third year operatives.”

“Yes sir, I am. I believe she can handle herself and teach us something we haven’t seen before.” Joseph said confidently.

“I grant you her numbers are high.” Seklis commented. “I would have concluded there was something wrong with your machine, but each test results in greater numbers. But I cannot ignore the fact, Joseph, that she has only had three days of training. She hasn’t worked with a team, learned combat techniques or strategy, practiced making on the fly decisions, or been trained in any other weapon. We are getting ahead of ourselves if you think she is ready for field testing. Not to mention, you are suggesting to all of us that we tell a third day recruit about what is going on inside her system. With her numbers so high, this could kill the girl if she cannot handle the news.”

“Marissa will be fine, sir. I’m sure of it. She assimilates very easily. She has capabilities that we haven’t comprehended yet how to test. Her codons increase significantly when she is allowed to exercise them. Stretching her by giving her the whole thing in a protected environment will give us the clue what we might have on our hands, and where to best utilize her. And, sir,” Joseph added at the end, “I think if you could see her in action, you would no longer think of her as a recruit.”

Seklis furrows his face, staring at Joseph, while he contemplates Joseph’s argument for a few minutes. “Bill, Cyrus, what do you think? Ops is your department. Do you want to give her a try? What do we have going on at the moment?”

“We have been going through a series of infiltration strikes.” Bill said. “Two of our best teams are on the ground, led by Steven and Craig. I have to admit, Joseph has me curious. Maybe it is time we observed this girl. Let’s see what this prodigy can do. I will put her on Steven’s team. He’ll contain her if she behaves like a rookie.”

“Cyrus, are you good with that?” Seklis asks.

Cyrus nods his head, thinking. “Yes, sir. I’m in agreement.”

It was decided. Joseph would transfer Marissa to Operations Command that evening and introduce her to Steven. Until High Command could see her in action, Joseph was to refrain telling her about the Noctorns.

When the meeting was dismissed, Joseph heads over to Operations Command to give Steven the new orders for his team. This section of the Academy had its own wing devoted to strategic ops. It had many indoor and outdoor practice fields. It also housed some of the upper level graduates on an upper floor. Joseph found Steven in the locker room of one of the indoor fields. This particular arena was shaped like a ring. Several enclosed lookout positions were situated on the upper observation floor. The field itself resembled a jungle, with heavy foliage, large leaf planted trees, bushes, rich soil, and strategic placed rocks. The circumference of this ring equaled a quarter mile wide. Locker rooms were built on the main level on each side of the ring. These rooms had long curved windows facing into the arena.

Steven was in the locker room alone studying the day’s ops and strategizing against his opponent’s team. For three days they had been battling with no one coming out the victor. They were evenly matched. Both sustained mock heavy losses and none achieved the goal, to infiltrate to the other side of the locker room, the opponent’s home base.

Steven looks up from his file when Joseph walks in. He wasn’t surprised to see him. He was radioed by Ops Command that someone was coming to talk to him. He assumed it had to do with the stalemate he was having with Craig’s team and wanted to be ready to offer new strategies and answer for his team’s lack of progress.

Joseph introduces himself to Steven. They shake hands, and Joseph just jumps into the conversation. “We are switching out one of your teammates. We are removing Thomlison, from what I have read he is the weakest, and replacing him with a new cadet named Marissa. Now Marissa has only been in the Academy for four days, but her numbers are so significant that we want to see what she can do on a mock field mission.” Joseph lets Steven process this information.

Before Steven can argue about Thomlison, Joseph states, “We are giving her to you because we know you can adapt and employ new information and resources easier than other field operatives. Because Marissa is fairly young with the Academy, she hasn’t been trained in weapons or strategy or even learned to work with a team, but she has shown remarkable skill in figuring out scenarios that end in immediate success. She is not used to thinking quickly, but if she comprehends the nature of your task, Marissa will become your lead strategist in winning this stalemate you are experiencing. Or because she is new,” he added, “she could lead your team to defeat having to carry her inexperience.”

Steven is listening to Joseph, but is not liking what he is hearing. His team of six grew up together in the Academy. They each knew their strengths and weaknesses. He would rather have Thomlison, whose skills he knew how to rely on, than someone he’d never met and was a wild card. With no training and so new, he wasn’t sure he liked this new order.

“We are transferring Marissa to your team tonight. “Joseph continues, “This will allow you and your team and Marissa to get to know one another. If she can see the arena, get a feel for what she is involved in, then tomorrow when you resume your battle, she can be more of an asset for you. I wanted to meet with you, first, before introducing you to her. I can bring Marissa by here in about an hour, if that suits you.”

If Steven’s only choice in this matter was when to meet this cadet, he figured sooner the better and agreed.

When Joseph brought Marissa an hour later to the locker room, only Steven was present. Marissa had been told along the way to Ops Command that she was being field tested, which thrilled her. She missed not going to class earlier, so she couldn’t wait to see what a mock field battle would be like. Joseph handed Marissa over to Steven, bade her to be herself, do well, and left the room.

“I thought we’d spend this time to get to know one another before I introduce you to the team,” Steven said. He explains they are a team of six, she replaced Thomlison, a good man, with high hopes that she could offer the team more. Through the windows he shows her the practice field and pulls it up on digital screen.

“I have been told a little about you. This is your fourth day of training but that you have shown remarkable success in your ability to comprehend the nature of a task. What are your cellular scans showing, do you know?” Steven asked.

Marissa had only been told on the way to Ops Command about her codon numbers. It was explained that her increases were so significant that it was decided she would skip other testing and go straight to field exercises. Joseph relayed to her the normal ranges for her days of training, both as a cadet and the classes she tested beyond. Knowing this information, made Marissa understand her abilities better and the sensations with them. She wished she had knew this knowledge earlier, but she had to remind herself that her class was still learning to work with their putty, so it made sense why this was omitted.

“I am currently at an 84, sir.” Marissa said.

Steven was impressed. That equaled Thomlison’s record, who was the lowest number of the group. Steven’s own results revealed a 108. She would still be considered the runt of the group. Plus, there were the omissions of her training to factor in, as well.

“Tell me about your training, what can you do?” Steven asked Marissa.

Marissa wasn’t sure what to tell him, so she talked about understanding the first class was about training on the putty as an extension of consciousness and her challenge to hit an instructor’s pen. She commented that this impressed the instructors so that she was put into an upper class on the second day. She learned there atomic training and working with movement. “Yesterday was my third day and I was only with Joseph.” Marissa continues. “I’m not exactly sure what I did there that was so impressive, but they put me here today.”

Steven listens, trying to figure out how to utilize her. “Well, you seem to have a good grasp of your first two classes. You don’t know any other weapons besides working with your putty, correct?” Marissa nods. “You also haven’t had any training in team exercises or strategy?” Marissa nods again. “Okay.” Steven decides on a course of action. “What I think we should do, is ask how would you strategize and lead our current mission. This will give you time to think of strategy, team scenarios, and get you comfortable with this arena. This will allow me to see how you operate compared to my plans and maybe teach you how we can get you to strategize faster.”

Marissa accepts the challenge.

“Our mission,” Steven informs her, “is to get to the other locker room, without losing the team, and before the other team can infiltrate our locker room.”

“Okay.” Marissa lets that sink in as she looks at the digital layout of the field and thinks back to what she has learned. Steven gives her room to formulate an answer.

Marissa thinks to herself, “I’ve learned about pin point locations - that would be the locker room. I’ve learned about movement - that could be the way the team maneuvers to the other side. So perhaps what I need to focus on is patterns. Not only how we would move, but also to counteract the opposite team. How would I figure out their pattern? What patterns has everyone already tried?”

Marissa speaks up and asks Steve, “Are we discussing patterns here? Is this like football where we are mobilizing a play pattern to get across the field without being intercepted or trumped by the opposite team’s play pattern?”

“Well, patterns can work if your team has the greater muscle and strategy to use that function. But what happens when you have an equal adversary? Patterns have limited success and you don’t always have time to change and implement new patterns. Both teams for the last three days, we have employed multiple play patterns that continue to end in stalemate. Our strategies worked when battling other ops teams, but Craig’s team and I are evenly matched. So now, to win, I think we need to come up with something new. We need to go beyond patterns.”

Marissa looks at the digital blueprint of the field again and contemplates some more. “If it isn’t about patterns,” she silently brainstormed, “what would it be? We need a new fixed point.”

She realized a moment later and said aloud, “Trajectory has never been about muscle.” She remembers what the first instructor told her on her first day, ‘Your putty will sculpt you as much as you sculpt it.’

“What we need to learn,” Marissa said slowly processing aloud her epiphany, “is how our bodies are like our putty. The putty is an extension of our consciousness. Our bodies are also extensions of our consciousness. Instead of programming the putty with our target and let it move along the trajectory its needs to accomplish this task, we program our codons with this information and let them activate our bodies to complete our mission.”

Steven is listening to her amazed by this concept and thinking of its implications and plausibility. Marissa continues refining this strategy, “So, the first lesson, is to trust our body knows how to assert itself without continual brain analyzation and muscle application. The second lesson is to learn how to move as one unit. Trusting we each have successfully mapped our bodies to move as the team needs to, and our codons are sending each of us where we should to achieve that goal.”

Steven comments, “That could be an issue. We all have different aptitudes for learning. We would all need to harness this capability by tomorrow morning for this strategy to work.”

“But that’s how you are going to win.” Marissa countered. “I have noticed in each class we are first taught through muscle application because that is what we were used to before we were genetically enhanced. This behavior eventually graduates to comprehend consciousness application. You have come to the point, sir, in this training, where muscle is not cutting it anymore. This is the next step. No other strategy will achieve your task.” Marissa asserted conclusively.

Steven nods his head in agreement, “You’re right. It’s exactly what we need to do.” He takes a deep breath. “Okay. Go get some sleep. Meet me tomorrow morning here at 0800 hours. I’ll introduce you to the team and we will practice this new strategy before battle at 1300.”

Marissa nods her head and leaves. Steven is once again alone in the locker room feeling the weight of his decision. They were all back at square one and he wasn’t sure they had enough time to grasp this concept before they entered the arena. He nervously chuckled,“Joseph was right. She is either going to lead us to victory or we are all going to get our butt kicked.” Steven exits the room and heads to his cabin on the fourth floor exhausted.


Chapter Nine

The other team members gather in the locker room the next morning, joking among themselves. Marissa is feeling a little out of place, but more comfortable when Steven walks in the room. The other four members of the team consist of two women and two men. One of the women, Marissa was sure, was Steven’s next in command. One could just feel her authority and genetic prowess. Physically, Marissa felt unequally yoked, but consciously, she knew she was as much an elite as they were.

“Good morning, everyone.” Steven starts the meeting. “Today, everything is going to change. First, Thomlison is no longer assigned to this unit. Replacing him is Marissa.” The team glances at her. “Marissa is new to field testing but is an excellent strategist. Second, throw out all the plays in your head. They don’t work against Craig’s team. We need something new if we are going to beat them and stop getting ourselves shot up in there.” He thumbs his appendage toward the arena. “For that,” he continues, “we are going to learn a new technique. I met with Marissa last night, and together, we devised this new strategy for our team. So, the rest of this morning we are going to practice this plan and execute it in this afternoon’s battle. I’ll take a few minutes to explain what we’re doing and then we’ll get started. Marissa, if you have further comments, speak up.” The team looks back at the young woman and then to their leader with quizzical faces.

“We have maintained the wrong perspective about our genetic enhancements.” Steven announced. “Our codons have not been stimulated to bolster our mind and body performance, but to make us more consciously adept.” The team became more attentive. “We have all learned how our putty is an extension of our consciousness. Well, so also, is our bodies. We can program them the same way. We can signal to our codons our target and trust it knows how to get our bodies there without interfering or controlling the process.” The team looks perplexed, trying to wrap their heads around this news. Marissa doesn’t interrupt.

“This is no longer about brains or braun. To win against Craig’s team, we need to evolve how we play this game. This will require not only for all of us to learn this technique this morning, but also how that dynamic works within a team situation. We are a close effective unit. This will be our advantage when it comes to trusting how each of us need to maneuver in the ring, as long as you can trust your own ability. I have faith that we will accomplish this task, my friends, and arise the victor this afternoon. So let’s get to work. Marissa, is there anything you would like to add?”

Marissa looked around the room and she could tell that some seemed a little paler than before. Might was a strong factor to some of their confidence. But Steven was right, they drew together as a tight group. She could sense they relied on one another implicitly.

“The only other thing I would add,” Marissa answered, “is that I think we need to explore whether or not it is enough for the team to be mentally bonded and united on our end goal? I think we need to link our codons in some way to each other, so that they can communicate with one another. Then, we can trust our bodies are acting as one, and we are each maneuvering as we need to be.”

“How would that even be possible?” Steven spoke the question lit on all the faces staring at her.

“Through our putty, sir.” Marissa said. “It can recognize the molecular rhythm and heartbeat of another, yet still answer to you. If we can embed in each of our putties one another’s signature, this should suffice binding us together.”

Confused, the team rejected this concept. Steven responded, “You can’t put your own putty into someone else’s hand.” He told Marissa.

“Yes, you can. I’ve done it.” Marissa stated.

Intrigued, Steven said, “How? Show me.”

Marissa retrieves her putty from her belt pouch and explained. “I am going to send my putty to your hand. What you have to do,” she relates as she focuses on Steven, “is tune into the molecular structure and rhythm of the person to where you are sending your putty. Sink into their heartbeat, the pulse of their blood in harmonic circadian rhythm with the the movement of their atoms. This melodic chorus transfers to your putty your target, but also that it should acknowledge that person.” She quiets for a minute.

The team watched her. Marissa sunk her awareness into Steven’s heartbeat and atomic rhythm. She told her putty to move to Steven’s right hand. It immediately flew from her hand and landed solidly into Steven’s. Everyone was shocked. Steven looked at Marissa’s putty. It was warm and pliable to his touch.

Visibly impressed, Steven walks over to Marissa and hands her putty back and says, “Let me try. Lariat,” he spoke to the woman who was his next in command, “I’m going to send my putty to you.”

Lariat stands up straighter and faces Steven squarely, ready for whatever was going to happen.

Steven tunes into her. He begins to feel her atomic movement. It had a unique oscillation to it. He, then, could feel her heartbeat. It’s warmth and steadiness. As he focused on that, he felt his own putty reshape slightly in his hand as if reacting to her signature. He told his putty to move to Lariat’s left hand. It flew across to her and Lariat wrapped her fingers around it.

Lariat was just as shocked by the warmth of Steven’s putty. It recognized her and didn’t return to him.

Marissa was pleased. This was the first time she saw anyone else repeat what she had discovered.

“And I can’t send it back?” Lariat asked Marissa.

“You can try, but I doubt that it works.”

Steven gave Lariat permission. Lariat willed Steven’s putty to go back to him and it didn’t move. The warmth in her hand remained.

Marissa explained, “When we first received our putties, it had the potential to recognize anyone. It wasn’t until it grew accustomed to the person wielding it that the putty locked into only that person’s will. Yet, it never lost its acknowledgment capability.”

Through the morning, one by one, each team member went around the room, sending their putties to one another, programming the molecular cadence and residual memory of their mate into it. In the end, each putty recognized the signatures of the six member team.

“We were once told,” Marissa said at the end, twenty minutes before game time, “that our putty would be our most valuable tool and weapon. This is where we see just how true that statement is.”

They all smiled.

“When we are in that arena,” Steven gathered their attention, “our strategy will be to hold our putties, link into all of our rhythms inside it, and then project as one the vision to infiltrate the other locker room. This is no different than our first training class where we learned to transmit our will into the putty and watch it respond to our command. As soon as we enter through those doors and step on to that field, our putty has left our proverbial hand and the command is in motion. Our bodies will move as they need to. Just remain focused on your putty and our end goal. We won’t need to be concerned or compensate for any other circumstances presented. Got it?”

The all nodded their heads, “Yes, sir.” They responded in chorus, Marissa with them.

The red alarm over their door into the field sounded. Mock battle was ready to commence.

Unbeknownst to either team, the two strategic Ops Commanders from yesterday’s meeting, Bill and Cyrus, a couple High Command Generals, including Seklis, and Joseph were watching from one of the observation lounges on the upper floor. Joseph was like a proud mentor, looking forward to see what Marissa was going to do. He knew it would be something new and different.

The two teams move onto the field. Craig’s team on the right, leaves a guy as a final line of defense near the locker room door area. The rest fan out into the jungle, machine guns loaded (with fake rounds). One goes with Craig, toward the right, two go to the left, and their best sniper takes a central heading in the trees to cover his teammates and their side of the field. Craig’s strategy is to surround Steven’s team and pummel them, then saunter to their locker room for the win.

Steven’s team, the Commanders notice, have no guns armed. The six move forward, all in separate paths. None seemed to be communicating with each other as they crept toward the middle of the field. Craig and his teammate seem to have angled too far to the edge of the ring. The Commanders didn’t know Craig’s strategy, but Craig didn’t seem to respond to Steven’s crew sneaking right past them down the center. Craig’s other two teammates on the other side were closer into the jungle to catch them, but started separating due to ground obstacles. One of Steven’s guys climbed the nearest rock and slithered right between them. Marissa and another hid behind trees.

The Commanders were disturbed by what they were watching. Why was Stevens group not adequately armed for this mission and why was Craig’s team so incompetent to see their opponent? Joseph was smiling. He knew this had Marissa written all over it. What had she done?

Steven’s team silently but quickly made it into enemy territory. Lariat was the first to see the sniper in the trees and hurled her putty at his temple. The sniper fell out of the tree. This called the guy hanging out at the door and the rest of Craig’s team to run to the center of the arena. Steven and his five mates, take separate paths again and slide past the last guy, as if they were invisible. All six teammates regrouped at their opponents locker room door and rang the alarm to announce they won the game.

All of them talked at once.

“That was amazing!” The other woman, Stacey, on the team exclaimed.

“It was like we were invisible!” One of the men, Chris, said.

“The waters parted and it was like we just walked on through.” Commented the other male member, Mitchell.

“That happened so fast!” Lariat said looking at the time surprised. “We were only in there for eight minutes!”

“I could feel each of your paths and trajectory in my putty.” Marissa told them.

“So could I!” they responded.

“I believe,” Steven declared, focusing their attention, “we just revolutionized the operations of all future missions.”

They all grinned in return and gave each other a team hug.


Chapter Ten

Craig’s team sat bewildered in an interrogation room minutes later.

“I don’t know, sir, how they got past us!” Craig answered Ops Commander Cyrus. “Our strategy was to sneak in behind them, and corral them into the center of the field, but they moved so fast and quietly.”

“You acted like a bunch of rookies out there.” Cyrus argued, disappointed in them.

“Sir, we are equally matched with Steven’s team. I don’t know what he did differently, but I swear it isn’t due to our incompetence.” Craig defended his crew and leadership.

“You lost, Sergeant, by a landslide.” Cyrus gave Craig a hard look. “If you cannot figure out how to become more aware of your surroundings, I doubt you will go any further in this Academy. Now submit your team for scanning. A physician is waiting outside. That will be all.” Craig and his dejected teammates filed out of the room.

Cyrus heads over into a small conference room next to one of the observation lounges, where three High Commanders, including Seklis and the Chief Commander, the other Strategic Ops Commander, Bill, Joseph, and Steven are present.

“Do you mind explaining to us,” Bill asked, “what you did, Steven? What was your strategy? How did you get to the other side so quickly and unnoticed by your opponent?” All the Commanders are remarking to themselves silently what a brilliant strategist and elite they had on their hands. He deserved a command promotion after this.

“We evolved our way of thinking, sir.” Steven said. He looked at Joseph. “It was because you brought in Marissa. She taught us to elevate how we approached the mission.”

“How so?” Cyrus asked.

“Marissa taught us that we needed a new fixed point, sir. In the past, our end goal was our fixed point. We worked as a team, implementing various roles to achieve that mission.”

“Of course. It would be.” Cyrus retorted.

“I don’t think we follow you, Steven.” Bill added.

“Sirs, Craig’s team is a great opponent.” Steven interjected this because he knew Craig was probably chastised for his team’s performance. “But we both always came to a stalemate with one another because we were both focused on the end game and tried various strategic plays to accomplish this. That was our mistake. We needed to evolve our technique beyond analyzation and muscle power to consciousness orientation. Marissa showed us how to achieve this capability.”

High Commander Seklis, who had been following Marissa’s progress early on asked, “How did she show you this?”

Joseph knew they had come to the point where the secret was about to be revealed and his theory about Marissa proved founded.

“Sir, she taught us that we can use our bodies the same way we use our putty; since, in essence, they are both extensions of our consciousness. We can broadcast to our bodies what we need to accomplish and our enhanced codons will signal to the body how to achieve that desired result. We don’t need to control the process; we just need to trust the trajectory our bodies are sent in.” Confused, bewildered faces stared back at Steven, though Joseph included a calculated smile.

Steven continues, “To move as a team, Marissa demonstrated how to embed in our putties each team member’s signature.” Confusion escalated to shock, and, for some, resistance. “Our putty still answers to us, but it can acknowledge others, sirs.” Steven confirmed. “Once we each completed this, we found it allowed our codons to communicate with one another and it created a linked unit. Then, when we moved into the arena, it was like releasing the throw. We could sense from our putty the trajectory we all needed to move in, to complete our mission, and we just followed it.”

The Commanders were speechless. This had never been attempted or even imagined before. This was going to change everything! Active missions needed to be reoriented. New training classes had to be developed. Field tests had to be reconfigured to push even beyond these new boundaries. Did they need to teach early on to scratch starting with muscle theory and just move into consciousness exercises? And what was going on inside Marissa’s system! This was her fifth day of training, the seventh since the Noctorns transported into her, and she was effectively re-writing the whole Academy handbook!

Strategic Ops Commander Bill was the first to find his voice. “Thank you, Steven, for your report. Your team did a remarkable job out there and you have given us all a lot to process. Joseph will accompany you outside to take a cellular scan of you and your team, and then you are dismissed for the rest of the day. Great work, Sergeant, and pass our praise on to the others.” Bill looked at Joseph, “Report back here when you are finished.” Joseph nodded and exited the room with Steven.

While Joseph was gone the Commanders discussed the implications of what they had learned. A better communication system needed to be developed with the Noctorns. All previous personnel were going to have to take a refresher course and learn this new technique. The five members of Steven’s team could temporarily be assigned as instructors. Marissa would lead the training division. The Commanders wondered how the numbers of everyone, including themselves, would increase, especially those who had long evened out over the years. Could they show a resurgence? And was it possible to create more like Marissa?

Joseph reentered the room.

“How did it go?” The Chief Commander asked.

“The numbers are surprising, sir.” Joseph smiled and looked down at his clipboard.

“Read the results.”

“Sir, Steven’s team already ranged from 96 to 108, if you exclude Marissa. Steven jumped from 108 to 156. Lariat 106 to 144. Chris and Mitchell both increased to 136, from 102 and 99, respectively. Stacey began at 96, and she is now at 128. That is an average of a thirty-eight point increase for the team.”

“And Marissa?” High Commander Seklis who originally assigned Joseph to Marissa inquired.

“Marissa’s previous test result was an 84. That was two days ago. She is now at 211.” Joseph reported.

“211?” The Chief Commander questioned. “How such a significant increase over the others, Joseph, in your opinion?”

“Sir, I will be able to answer that better if you give me permission to work with her in the lab and study what the Noctorns are doing. But, it would seem, by giving Marissa the opportunity to exercise all her capabilities at once, versus limiting her to specific techniques, combined with discovering and linking with other symbiotic, and possibly higher codon personnel, she was able to exponentially grow.”

“The others,” Joseph continued hypothesizing, “are used to a certain style of training. We have conditioned them to process down a certain pathway of achieving desired results. This field test opened them up, creating a revitalization of potential growth, but Marissa is fresh. She has not been engrained or restricted herself to our methods.”

The room was silent as the Commanders contemplated more the significance of the last hour. Joseph was quiet for a few minutes, but finally spoke up and asked the Chief, “May I ask, sir, would it be possible to learn who the Noctorns are who integrated with Marissa?”

“That would require special clearance, Joseph, but I understand why you asked it. Truth is, we all have a multitude of questions and designs for this soldier, and it is going to take a few of days to hash out where and what that is going to look like. For the time being, see what you can discover under the microscope. Maybe Marissa can accelerate our research there, too. To do that, you, of course, have permission, now, to tell her about the Noctorns, and I authorize you to receive any information you need to know about those specifically linked with her. Give me daily reports. But be prepared, Joseph, that at some point she will need to divide her time between the lab and elsewhere. We need to learn all we can as fast as we can from this girl.”

“Understood. Thank you, sir.” Joseph said.

“Go find Marissa, and let her know her new schedule. You’re dismissed.” The Chief Commander finished.

Joseph nodded and exited the conference room.

Marissa had been celebrating with Steven’s team down at the campus cantina. She really enjoyed being a member of their team. They cheered Marissa and her talent for strategy, but joked that she will probably be reassigned now, because of what the team accomplished. “You’re too valuable to the Academy,” Steven said. “They’ll probably have you instructing your own classes, now.”

Marissa shook her head and laughed. She had only been with the Academy for a week, they wouldn’t make her an instructor. When Joseph walked up to their table a half hour later and requested that she accompany him, her smile faded. She looked at Steven, who gave her a “I told you” look. She walked out of the cantina with Joseph wondering what her future held?


Chapter Eleven

A large sliding glass door swishes aside as Marissa walks with Joseph into the Research Science Facility wing of the Adelaide Academy. The main room is filled with several white lab counter islands strewn with science equipment. Glass panels hung above and the length of the center counters revealing touch panel computer screens. Some of these screens had a coppery red vision that mirrored the back wall monitors. A DNA helix spun slowly with what looked like three nodules resting on it. Scientists in white lab coats sporadically painted the landscape. Some were looking through microscopes; others testing some pink solution in beakers. One was preparing a set of vials filled with blood samples for testing. While others filled out paperwork on their clipboards or were occupied with their tablets. In an L-shaped design around the lab area were small glass partitioned offices. Joseph led her to one that was his.

“Please have a seat, Marissa.” Joseph waved her to a comfy sleek white chair arranged in front of his desk. He closed the glass door and took the other chair beside her.

“Before I tell you why I brought you here, High Command wishes for me to extend to you how extremely proud they are of you and your progress in the Academy. They were quite impressed with what you accomplished with Steven’s team today. In fact, you taught us things we never knew were possible before.”

“Really, like what?” Marissa inquisitively asked.

“For starters, we didn’t realize that the putty could still acknowledge others once bonded to an individual’s will. You not only taught us that, but then, took it to another level, by showing us the application of it linking a team. We, also, often thought of genetic enhancement more of how it increased the traits and functions of muscle and intellect. Our training is built around that philosophy. Yet, you clearly demonstrated, Marissa, that those are secondary to conscious will.”

Marissa had no idea. She always thought she was just expanding the boundaries of herself, not the Academy. She didn’t quite know how to process this news.

Joseph smiled at her and continued, “You’ve been brought here for a couple of reasons. The first is to teach you the science behind your genetic enhancements. Normally, a first week cadet isn’t authorized to know this information. Usually, we wait until one reaches active ops status. This is because this knowledge is of such a sensitive nature that if the news is related too early in a soldier’s training, it could adversely effect their enhancement.”

That sounded odd to Marissa.

“We are telling you this now because you have been promoted to active duty. So, congratulations.” Joseph said. “This leads us to the second reason why you are here. Marissa, you made the Academy realize we need to re-strategize our training, missions, and whole approach to this program. That starts here at the Research Facility. We need your help in filling in some of our research. We need to understand better what is going on inside your system, how you are creating such profound results, and we need your perspective and aid on what we find. To do that, I need to teach you what I know, so you can teach me what you see.” Joseph finished.

“Woah. Okay.” Marissa exhaled.

“In a few days, your schedule will be divided between here and training our instructors and higher personnel. High Command will brief you more on that. For now, Steven’s team will suffice in educating them what you taught the team. But, be prepared. You are about to become a very popular person.”

Joseph stood up and gave Marissa a moment to gather her wits. He stepped around to his desk and pulled two water bottles out of the mini fridge underneath. He passed her one and unscrewed his.

Marissa took a long swig trying to comprehend how everything was moving so fast! She loved that she had been promoted to an active ops officer. “For both the research AND field side of the Academy.” Marissa exclaimed silently. She had no restrictions on how and when and what she wanted to learn. The Academy wanted everything she could give them! “Every day just keeps getting better and better,” she thought.

Marissa held her composure and screwed the cap back onto the water bottle.

“Are you ready to continue?” Joseph asked.

“Yes, sir.” Marissa said, full of anticipation.

“Very well. When you came into the Academy,” Joseph began, “you underwent your first codon stimulation treatment in the orientation room. You were told that the video and symbols activated genetic awakenings in your system. Do you remember what the video showed you?”

“Yes.” Marissa answered. “It was full of beautiful spirals, symbols, and light.”

“When you were watching the video, how did you feel?” Joseph explored.

“Well, there was this point, where I felt like there was these light particles coming out of the screen and I felt really connected and hooked into them.” Marissa related. “I wondered whether it was real, if I could touch it, if I reached out with my hand, but my body was so relaxed.” Marissa chuckled.

“I want to show you what those light particles look like.” Joseph reached for his tablet on his desk and brought up the file image of the light transport beam.

Marissa stared at the light stream shown to her. From her original vision it just seemed like dots of golden coppery light softly swirling toward her, but now she could see it was actually a type of glowing helix strand. As it slowly twirled on the tablet she examined the details more closely. She decided the spiral symbols from the video must somehow turn into a three dimensional stream, that then, projects out to each recruit. Marissa noticed two or three bumps, or nodules, resting on the codon strand. “Joseph, what are those bumps or nodules on the light helix?”

“Let me show you something before we come to that.” Joseph stated. “Follow me into the lab.” Marissa walks with Joseph out of the glass box toward the back where the video monitors were hanging. “Remember what I told you about your codon numbers and the significance of them?” Joseph prefaces.

Marissa nods her head. “Yes.”

Joseph slides his finger across the tablet and several files appear across the screens. “This is the time lapse of the progress of your genetic enhancements taken from your cellular scans over the last few days.” Marissa looks at the red screens in front her.

The first monitor reads: MARISSA CADBERRY * ORIENTATION * RESULTS: 10.2

Marissa stares at her scan. At first glance, it is a nanoschematic of her DNA. But as she watches, a subtle wavelength of coppery light shimmers around her helix.

The upper section of the second monitor reads: MARISSA CADBERRY * DAY ONE/CLASS ONE: GENETIC COORDINATION * RESULTS: 28

Marissa’s DNA now glows as if it has become infused with the shimmering light. It begins to take on a coppery-red tint. Also, a RNA rung, here and there on her DNA helix is swollen, as if extra-fortified by specific nucleotides.

She looks at the bottom section of the second monitor. MARISSA CADBERRY * DAY TWO/CLASS TWO: ATOMIC TRAINING * RESULTS: 56

”I doubled the number of codons in one day.” Marissa said. Her coppery DNA helix now has more RNA rungs swollen. Some seem to be of a slightly different shade, as if other nucleotide groups stimulated these. Also the “nodules” Marissa first saw appear on the light helix were now visibly moving along her DNA. What were those?

Marissa steps over to the third monitor. MARISSA CADBERRY * DAY THREE/PRETESTING FOR ADVANCED TRAINING * RESULTS: 84

”Another twenty-eight point spike.” Marissa commented. The image reflected sections of her two DNA strands were increasing in depth to accommodate the many swollen RNA rungs. The “nodules” had also grown. Enough to know it was no longer the right word for them. It was still unknown what they were, but she watched them move in and out of her glowing coppery molecular helix.

“And this is where you tested today after field training with Steven’s team.” Joseph brought up another file on the second monitor, between her first day results on the first monitor and her previous stage results on the third.

MARISSA CADBERRY * DAY FIVE/FIELD TRAINING: INFILTRATION * RESULTS: 211

“Two hundred and eleven?” Marissa exclaims. She looks at her DNA. The entire DNA helix had expanded in size. All of the RNA rungs are now swollen and of three distinct coppery-red shades. A joint is also emerging in the center of the rungs. The strands themselves, seem to emit a subtle geometric shimmer, as if specific ratio growth points are being cultivated for future strand adhesion. Also clearly visible are the Noctorns.

“Joseph?” Marissa puzzled, “What are those beetle-like creatures?” She points at the screen.

“They are what are creating the genetic enhancements inside of you, Marissa. They are an alien race called the Noctorns. Our entire program is based upon a symbiotic relationship with them.” Joseph replied.

Marissa tore her eye from the screen and looked at Joseph. “You put aliens inside my body? Why weren’t we told about this at orientation?”

Joseph pulls up a stool for Marissa to sit on. “Just breathe, Marissa. Have a seat for a minute.”

Marissa sits down and looks back at the Noctorns on the screen. Two were busy creating more connecting points on her outer strands, while one was working with a couple of joints on two of her RNA rungs.

Joseph said, “This knowledge is omitted due to the health risks for both human and Noctorn. We wait until one has been enhanced enough to assimilate the process.”

“Isn’t that unethical?” Marissa asked bluntly.

Joseph makes an audible breath. “It is a controversial decision, yes. But ultimately, we feel, at this stage, it is better to wait until the genetic enhancement takes affect. Each of the recruits know they are going through a codon stimulation treatment, which is true. It is just the specifics of that treatment are not divulged.” Joseph replied.

Marissa feels around inside to see if she can sense the Noctorns. “They are not making me sick.” Marissa states.

“No. They’re not.” Joseph affirms.

“But they make some people sick. Not every one is compatible with their genetic enhancement.” Marissa says. Then she deduces, “which means not every symbiotic relationship is successful. Is that correct?”

Joseph nods. “This why we go through strict pre-screening tests to find those who we think will be the best candidates. Those that aren’t, and there are always a few every season, will become ill. Their bodies reject the Noctorns, expelling them out of their system. The human recovers, but the Noctorns die. It is another part of what we’re researching. Refining how we can make the process better, because the risks are just unacceptable.”

“The Noctorns die?” Marissa said. “That’s awful! There’s way more danger for them than for us. Why would they risk that?”

“For the same reason you determined to be genetically enhanced.” Joseph answered. “It is a great evolutionary opportunity. They love to learn about the world around them and they do this through their symbiotic nature.”

“Are there any long term adverse reactions to humans or the Noctorns in this symbiotic link?” Marissa asked staring at them on the screen.

“No. The human may at some point slow in their genetic enhancements and hover around a certain number. We have learned this has nothing to do with the Noctorns, but with the human’s ability to utilize their enhancements. When this becomes evident, the Noctorns calibrate their attention to their host’s equilibrium. They create further as their counterpart becomes capable of entertaining more codon activity. Either way, the human and Noctorn remain compatible and thriving for as long as the human exists.” Joseph answered.

Marissa thought this through silently. “Everything I have become, and can do now, is because of them. They made all this possible for me.” She asks aloud, “Where do the Noctorns come from? How and when did they come here?”

Joseph relaxed. He knew Marissa would adapt quickly. “Our knowledge about them and our history with them is this: They live in a constellation belt outside of our galaxy. They are, as you see, a microscopic species that look like the scarab beetles of Earth. They thrive in a symbiotic relationship with their planet. They enter into the matrix of their surroundings, plant life, animals, water, etc., and everything they link with evolves into a more genetically enhanced version of itself. All life is nurtured and grows into their best potential. This, in turn, evolves the Noctorns, giving them a place to prosper and teaches them about everything with those they become involved.”

“At some point in their existence the Noctorns wanted to branch out to other worlds, other living things, to see if they could harmoniously co-exist with them and learn more about their Universe. NASA had sent a probe to their location many generations ago. We were exploring, ourselves, what was out in the Universe, mapping that area. When that probe returned, the scientists and engineers discovered far more than expected. The footage alone was a treasure, but in running diagnostics on the probe they discovered the Noctorns aboard. This is where our organization became involved. We took over the research from there.”

“The Noctorns live better in an organic environment, so most had died in space, but a few were still alive within the probe. As they looked like ordinary beetles to us, our scientists put them in a quarantined beetle environment. After all, these were extra terrestrials; we didn’t know if they could coexist with our planet. What was soon observed was that the environment exponentially thrived. This eventually led to experiment with other possible environments. Those also flourished. Everything and everywhere the Noctorns integrated, it blossomed in beautiful, wondrous ways.” Joseph remarked the footage he saw of those experiments when he was put in charge of the research department a couple of years ago.

“It was eventually decided to experiment symbiotically linking the Noctorns with humans. The Noctorns were excited about this opportunity and agreed.”

Marissa interrupted. “Wait. We can communicate with them?”

“We have a basic communication language, yes, that allows us to interact, limitedly, with them. The catch is they have to be outside of a host for us to correspond. Once inside, we can’t seem to interact with them. That’s another area, in this department, we are still working on advancing.” Joseph replied. “Maybe you can help us with that, too.”

Marissa really hoped she could. It sounded so intriguing and what a breakthrough that would be!

“Anyway,” Joseph continued, “It took us a while to find the best way to accomplish the symbiotic connection between Noctorn and human. The system we currently use is that we put the human in a trance state. This relaxes the conduits of the brain and dilates the pupil. Through the light transport beam, I showed you, two to three Noctorns transport into the human host via the pupil toward the retina, where they, then, move to a key neurological position in the back of the neck along the spinal cord. Their fuse point is the DNA helix. What makes the living thing what it is, this is where the Noctorns integrate. This is one reason they transport successfully through the light beam, because it is a helix designed creation that allows them to connect with it until they reach their destination.”

“Are they a collective oriented society, moving as one mind? Or do they live like hermits, who each live alone bonded with their “dwellings,” so to speak?” Marissa asked.

Joseph thought that was a very smart question. “The Noctorns do not operate as a hive mind, per se. They can access the knowledge of their species history from their own DNA. They also choose to work in small groups and seem to be telepathically linked with each other in those groups. But they are not moving as one colony answering to a queen, as bees or ants do.” He answered.

“Do they reproduce inside us? How big do they get?” Marissa fired her next questions.

Joseph replied, “No, they do not reproduce inside us. This occurs outside a host. Their growth size only gets to be about as big as you see them on the screen. Enough to be clearly visible to the eye under a scanner or microscope, but no larger than that. They seem to grow in scale that accommodates the structure of the molecular strand with which they coincide.”

“Do they stay inside one host their whole life or can they at some point decide to leave it? How long do they usually live?”

Joseph patiently answered any question Marissa wanted to ask. The scientist in him loved conversing on these topics. Plus, he knew, the more Marissa could learn, the more she could accelerate their current data. “We have seen cases where the Noctorns have left compatible hosts and have successfully entered another, afterwards, but, it is rare they do so. The symbiotic link gives the Noctorns their life purpose and stability. The Noctorn and host nurture one another, become extensions of each other. With humans, they will not even attempt extracting themselves. Initial aligning is risky enough. They remain with their human counterpart for as long as the human body accepts them. Now a perk of genetic enhancement is that our lives are extended. The current average age of death for non-genetically enhanced humans is 74-78. Those who are linked with the Noctorns average about 125-135. The Noctorns, themselves, live for the extended length of the age of their host.”

The gravity of this struck Marissa. She spoke to the Noctorns inside her for the first time. “You chose to be with me for the rest of your lives.”

Joseph broke into her thoughts, “now how all that information and evolution gets passed to the next generation once they bond with their host is still unknown to us, and may be leagues down the road to learn, but that is why we are scientists. Our passion is to explore and investigate these mysteries.” Joseph chuckled.

Marissa refocused on Joseph and smiled. She debated whether she should ask more questions. She wanted alone time with her Noctorns. But how would she know how to communicate and see them, except here? What if they were the ones pushing her to learn? Was it to communicate something important to everyone? How much of what she had already accomplished been by her own abilities?

“Joseph, are the Noctorns the ones who are performing all these feats that I can do or am I doing them?” Marissa asked.

“Both.” He answered. “Your codons have been stimulated which enhances your genetics, but you also are linked with the Noctorns codons, which means you have access to their genetic potential and capabilities, as well. You both are becoming more than you were previously apart.”

“So, does that mean we are consciously linked together, too?” This began to spark ideas in Marissa.

“From what you have shown us the last couple of days, evidence points to such. As I’ve said, you demonstrated significantly that muscle and intellect are secondary to the conscious abilities the Noctorns offer us.” Joseph said. “My question is how did we miss understanding this before? Has our species evolved together enough that we are now coming into this capability? Is this a specific phenomenon with you? Are the Noctorns inside you somehow a more perfect match with your gene structure? And if so, how would we go about developing a system where we could match specific Noctorns and humans together to create more results like yours?” Joseph shook his head. “In truth, Marissa, I have many questions of my own. This is why you are starting here, in the Research Facility, first. We need to explore more what is occurring with you and we need your help to strategize how we can be more effective in our research.”

Joseph stated his case. “We can study more complex DNA structures. There are those of us in the Academy whose numbers reach into the five hundred range. But we have no way of communicating with the Noctorns inside to understand what is going on, how and why they are doing what they’re doing, and what we can do to partner with them other than what we have already concluded based on observation.”

“Then the first thing I need to do to help is to figure out how we can communicate with them.” Marissa told Joseph. “Let me spend the next couple of days working on that.”

Joseph thought that was a tall order Marissa was expecting of herself.

“No.” She replied. “I know I can do this. We are consciously linked, so they understand me. I just need to learn how to understand them.”

Over the next few days Marissa and Joseph worked together in the lab, taking daily scans, and studying the results on the glass panel screen above the workstation that was now hers. When she went to her cabin at night she would sit cross legged on her bed and talk to them. She would tell the Noctorns about her day, what she observed them do and ask them questions about them, their planet, and their work. She would tell them about herself and her past, why she wanted to be genetically enhanced, how she got to be in the Academy, and that she was grateful about being paired with them and excited about what they could do together. She shared that she hoped that her body was a nice host system for them to call home. That they were happy and enjoying their lives inside her. Then the next day at the lab, she tried to see if she could see any response show up on the digital screen reflecting that day’s cellular scan. To the right of the screen, she brought up all data concerning the Noctorns: their anatomy, past research files, even the footage of their planet. If she saw no visible response pattern, she repeated the process.

Marissa became fond of her nightly ritual. She instinctively knew - a compelling thought from her Noctorns, she was sure - that they heard her. So when she ran out of topics to converse about, she would tell them about Joseph and his love for them and his passion for research. She would convey some of his questions, then she would say good-night and go to sleep. Marissa paid attention to her dreams because she thought that perhaps they might communicate through this medium. The next morning she would wake up, not decipher any important messages from her sleep and go to the lab, hoping to discover something. Slowly, Marissa’s numbers rose. She now hovered around 233.

Meanwhile, the Commanders had a meeting of their own about her. They had come to the point where they needed Marissa’s insight into other areas of the program. Because she was on the verge of a breakthrough in developing an internal communication language, they held off pulling her, but now, they were growing restless.

Steven’s team had taught as much as they knew to the High Commanders and lead instructors. This brought up more questions everyone needed answered. Not everyone could feel other’s heartbeats to transmit that signature into their putties. Not everyone could sense the trajectory with their team or trust the nature of their codons to propel them where they needed to go. For those who were able to accomplish this, field tests were conducted against Steven’s team. This resulted in a new stalemate. Each team was drawn to the other like a magnet to the center of the field, as if none could move beyond the boundary of their own territory lines.

It was emphatically decided, they needed Marissa. The debate among the Commanders was exactly how best to use her time.

“We need to take her off Research completely.” Some argued.

“No,” still others rebutted, “we need to assign some of her time there to understand the science behind the surprises she will lead us to discover in the trials.”

“Besides,” another agreed, “ there is still the question as to whether we can create more soldiers like her? Plus, she is on the brink of creating a better communication system with the Noctorns. These investigations are too important to pull her.”

“Surely, Joseph can handle that now.” One retorted back.

Others then argued that instead of just dividing her field time between instructing and test operations, they should entertain the concept of sending her on live missions. “She seems to excel quickly when thrown into the middle of the action. And, we could use some expedient closure on a few cases.”

The only discussion that had been completely resolved was that until Marissa could prove in consistent battle experience that conscious orientation superseded current tactics, the present cadet training program and procedures would remain in place.

Later that afternoon, Joseph met with High Commander Seklis in his office. He had not known about the previous meeting. When he arrived another Commander had joined the group.

“Joseph,” Seklis began, “It’s time we moved Marissa back to Command Operations.”

“Sir,” Joseph tried to argue, “she is still a young officer. Her own class is still in their first three month course. Could I not have her for the duration of that time? It would be well spent, sir. The achievements we could make in that interval for the Academy would be monumental.”

“Weren’t you the one who argued for me to think beyond the amount of days she’s been with us, Joseph?” High Commander Seklis asked. “We need her in the field.”

Joseph negotiated, “Two weeks, then. Give me two more weeks with her.”

Seklis responded, “she will still be able to work with you, Joseph, but we have questions of our own that need to be answered. To paraphrase you again, she needs to be stretched, given everything, and that is where she best rises to the occasion.”

Before Joseph could protest the other Commander spoke. “The Academy will benefit better by her operating on both sides of the program, Joseph. Besides, Marissa still needs to complete her field tests. Now is not the time to confine her space or slow her pace.”

“Since it is Friday, I will give you the weekend.” High Commander Seklis said. “But on Monday, have her report to my office at 0700. Until further notice, Marissa will spend her mornings in the field with us and with you in the Research Facility in the afternoons. I’m sure that is bound to stimulate her work with you.”

“Yes, sir.” Joseph resigned. He was dismissed from the meeting and returned to his department to give Marissa the news.

“So, then we have two days.” Marissa said. “That just motivates me more.” Then an idea struck her. “Do you think we could take a look at the cellular scans for the past few days on those who had been working with the new conscious orientation technique? Who was involved in that and what were there previous numbers?”

Joseph gets on the computer at the work station beside her and retrieves the files off the server. For a time they study the files on the glass panels in front of them, noticing the differences in the scans. Steven’s team were among the case files. What interested Marissa the most were the evolved DNA helices of the Commanders whose codon numbers were three hundred or greater.

Marissa observed among the profile scans that though the numbers were significantly high, some of the helices seemed to be more illumined than others. Was this due to a resurgence in codon activity? In some cases, yes, but not others. Then, was the muted light a sign of the DNA helix aging beyond repair? If so, wouldn’t the numbers decrease? Marissa kept trying to figure out what the light meant.

She looked over at her own screen which reflected her day’s cellular scan. Her helix was twirling slowly on the glass panel. Hers seemed to be more vibrant. Was that due to monitor resolution?

Marissa brought up Steven and Lariat’s cellular scans. They were both ranging in the 180s-190s now. Both of their helices seemed to be as bright as some of the others, though their number was far smaller.

Joseph stepped away from the work station to address a matter with a colleague. Marissa took this opportunity to walk over to another lab counter. A scan simply wasn't going to cut it. She needed to study her DNA in its constant state of forming. Maybe the light was a fluctuation. She turns on a larger version of the handheld scanner and takes the connecting probe and presses it against the back of her neck. With her free hand she dials in on the monitor the image of her helix that houses the Noctorns and enhances the visual. She stares at them on the screen in front of her.

The Noctorns are busy moving around her helix focused on specific tasks. Two are on separate RNA rungs and one was on the left helix strand.

“I need to understand what you are doing.” she told them. “What does the light mean?” The Noctorns continue their work, seemingly oblivious to her words.

Marissa just sat there and watched them for a few moments. It fascinated her how they worked. She wondered what they were doing now that would cause her to excel at something tomorrow.

“I know you know what I’m thinking.” she said to them. “I just need to learn how to hear you, or at least see you respond to my thoughts.”

The Noctorns finished a rung or section of strand by excreting a light stream from behind them that created a seam or sealant over their work.

“Is that where the light is coming from?” Marissa asked. “Is that a connection with your own codon or a type of unique nucleotide you are adding to our helix?”

One of the Noctorn repeats his light stream loop.

That was interesting. They didn’t seem to need to reinforce their work before. Did that mean something?

The Noctorn, who had taken a few steps away from his work, returns and creates another light stream over the previous loop.

Marissa straightened in her chair.

Joseph returned. “What are you working on?” He asked. “Ah, live streaming of the Noctorns.”

“Joseph,” Marissa tried to remain calm. “Do you see those light streams the Noctorns produce when they finish a section of the helix?” One of the Noctorns on an upper rung strung a light thread over his work and moved to the joint on a rung below.

“Yes.” Joseph looked closer at the screen.

“I believe they are communicating to us through them. They repeat another loop to answer a question. Watch. Are you communicating with me?” Marissa asks the Noctorns.

Joseph watches a Noctorn move to a light stream just completed and re-seals the section.

“Well, perhaps he just needed to do it twice.” Joseph said. “Here, let me hold that for you.” He takes the probe from Marissa and holds it against her neck.

“It’s possible, but I think it can double as a communication system.” Marissa addresses the Noctorns. “If you are answering my questions, repeat the light stream for yes and do nothing for no.” The Noctorns are moving along her helix. “Can we use the light stream as a form of communication?”

The Noctorn reseals a light stream along one of the RNA rungs - YES - and goes about his work.

“Are you understanding me because you hear my voice?”

Nothing happens.

“Are we communicating via the mind?”

The Noctorns continue their work.

Joseph is not convinced, but stays silent watching the Noctorns.

Marissa tried again, “Is it that the codons are stimulated and that alerts you to my communication?”

One of the Noctorns goes back to the RNA rung that received a double light stream sealant and created another one. YES.

Joseph straightened.

“Does this mean only the host can communicate with you in this manner and you cannot experience another’s question?”

Another Noctorn creates a light stream over another’s finished seal. YES.

Joseph and Marissa looked at each other awestruck and giddy. The breakthrough had been struck.

“It takes live interaction. Of course!” Joseph shakes his head.

“Yes, but, we can’t always just hook everybody up to a scanner probe so they can walk around communicating with their Noctorns.” Marissa stated. She looked at her Noctorns again. “We need to evolve past a yes and no communication system. I can see you, but I am not always going to be in a lab. Will you show me a better way?”

A Noctorn reseals his current work - YES - and moves off visual. A couple moments later Marissa gets a prickly sensation at the base of her head. She reaches to rub it and Joseph removes the probe to give her room.

“What’s happening?” He asked.

“I don’t know. I feel this prickly sensation right here.” She points to the intersection of her head and neck.

Joseph places the probe up in that location and sees the missing Noctorn resting on the lower portion of her brain stem.

“Are you going to live back there?” She asked him.

He remained in position. NO.

The other scientists in the room hovered around Marissa and Joseph, intrigued with the interaction.

“The brain stem.” Joseph thought aloud. “It regulates consciousness, heart rate, and breathing, and it relays messages from the brain to the rest of the body.”

It dawns on Marissa what the Noctorn may be telling her. She flashes to an old classic movie where an alien used a radio station as his vocal chords. By using clips of songs, news programs, talk shows, and commercials, he could relate his thoughts.

“Are you saying we can use memory to create a language system?”

Marissa flashes to the day she received her first car. She rushes outside of the house yelling, “Yes!” as she races toward her gift.

Marissa laughed and shared with the room the vision she saw. All the scientists chuckled.

“So it can be sent both ways?” She asked the Noctorn and sent an image to him of handing a daisy to her first friend as a little girl in elementary school.

The Noctorn replied by flashing to her vision the day of the orientation video when she insisted on staying, and afterwards, when she felt all tingly. He intuitively imparted that the sensation wasn’t a side effect of the linking, but that they were glad she insisted to be present that day and they were very happy to join with her.

Marissa choked up at this realization. She shared with Joseph, and the other listening ears, the message.

The Noctorn moves off camera. Joseph moves the probe back to where the other two Noctorns lived and soon the third rejoined them on screen.

Having gathered her emotions, Marissa said, “We need to create a universal visual language system. Something akin to the Tarot. A set of images loaded with symbols and messages interlaced that will allow us to communicate with our Noctorns quickly and with one another. When we link up as a team, a specific image will translate easier than individual experiences.”

Concepts and ideas sprung to Marissa’s mind. She was so excited how the genetic enhancements were evolving. This communication system meant that the Noctorns could interact more with their host and the outside world. The humans would also need to stop looking at the Noctorns as simply a supplement injected into human bodies for personal gains. This was becoming a living acting symbiotic relationship.

“Does this mean,” Marissa asked the Noctorns still on screen, “that it is possible once Noctorn and host consciously integrate more successfully that you will be able to then communicate with other Noctorns in other hosts?”

Marissa flashes to a visual of Joseph telling her that humanity was a young species for them to link with, but the evolution potential was desirable. She translated to Joseph and the others, “It is a potential, but they are unsure how long humans will need to grow into this ability, since we are so young still.”

Joseph looked at Marissa with great pride and fascination as she continued to amaze them all at every turn. Her questions were ones he would ask and had tried to learn. She was far more advanced than her age and training time offered. She thought like an Intelligence Officer and strategized like a Commander.

Marissa asked another question. “Are the other Noctorns already able to communicate through their hosts and are just waiting for their human counterpart to evolve? Or does this need a specific codon symbiotic match? Is this why we work so well?”

All three Noctorns on screen went to their last finished light strand and resealed it with another light filament. They had not done that before, where all three asserted an answer. They held their position as if waiting for Marissa to get what that meant. When she didn’t immediately respond, they went to a different section of their work and all recreated a light string over that one. They then went to another section and illuminated more light over that branch.

Marissa studied them, “The light.” She said aloud, putting together her original question with her last one. “It’s the light that elevates our conscious integration. The more we unite, the more our DNA illuminates. This determines our ultimate compatibility.”

In answer, the Noctorns returned to their work busying themselves over the outer strands of her DNA helix. They began intersecting and creating light streams between the geometrical points created before.

She looked back at her work station with the other profile scans still swirling on monitor. Some helices were glowing brighter than others. Marissa knew then that the number of active codons was not the real sign of genetic enhancement. This was merely the potential stimulation of enhancement depending on the conscious development of the host. Those who consciously moved with their Noctorns had brighter helices than the others. Those who had higher numbers but lower illumined helices were those who stimulated their codons through other means, with muscle and intellect. Their numbers evened out because they had never learned to tap into their truest compatible potential the Noctorns afforded.

This realization was going to affect the hierarchy structure of the Academy. Those in senior command who couldn’t adapt were actually less capable of their roles. It also answered the immediate question as to why they weren’t so successful in their recent field tests.

This knowledge also meant that new ways to scan the cadets needed to be developed and that the secret of genetic enhancement needed to become public knowledge, at least to the recruits at orientation. If they were going to best grow into their genetic enhancement, they needed to understand how that was going to be achieved and who and what they were truly becoming. This also made her question if pre-screening needed to change? It wasn’t just about having the most intellectual or physically capable recruit, but one who was consciously flexible and adept. Marissa spared a quick thought as to how this would change the University’s applicants? What were the statistics of those recruits chosen who came from the science program versus the philosophy program, for example? Would consciousness adaptability finally be the answer that produced 100% compatibility in the orientation transfer?


Epilogue

As Marissa’s first year in the Academy blossomed, she spent her afternoons with Joseph and her Noctorns researching her many questions. Together, they created a user friendly visual communication system and devised an upgraded scanner to calculate light and codon advancement, which she implemented in her field training.

In her mornings, she worked alongside with High Commander Seklis and other Commanders, with Steven’s team often being the opponent side. Inspirations that emerged from here stimulated her work later in the lab.

In contrast to the Research facility, Marissa’s mornings in the field yielded a different atmosphere. There was a tangible discomfort level among everyone as hierarchy was challenged. Now that light was considered a more significant indicator rather than codons of a person’s elite status, command roles were in jeopardy. Older Commanders had to show more compatible results with their Noctorns and did not always meet with achievable outcomes. While other staff and newer graduates and Commanders excelled. Understanding present roles may not be a permanent position anymore, while also respecting the current position of each person, was a stress factor each had to work through while focusing on that day’s training.

Marissa one day addressed this. They were standing in the indoor ring where she had her first field training with Steven’s team. After a particular frustration by the Commanders over tactics and failing at optimal results, Marissa had everyone gather in the center of the arena.

“Noctorns are not interested in politics.” She said bluntly. “In the Academy, we have based largely our elevation of leadership to those with the highest genetic enhancement. In the past, we understood this to be a codon numerical equivalency. A formula devised that we might measure our evolution. From this formula we began seeing each other in certain classes. Defining each other and ourselves by the progressive enhancement that we perceived of as our mental and physical prowess. This way of identifying has produced the current results.” Marissa paused for a moment and looked them all in the eye.

“You want different results,” she continued, “you have to let go of this identification. We have to move beyond thinking of ourselves as a human being with enhanced capabilities and more to the fact that when we joined with the Noctorns we became a new creation with a collective consciousness. The Noctorns gave their lives to us that we both may evolve into something greater together. That should be our focus. We should be spending our energy and time moving into what that is.”

“When you are in this class all titles are suspended.” Marissa enforced, her words strengthened by the union she felt growing more rapidly every day with her Noctorns. “This is to free you and the person next to you, to give yourself permission to be taught by the Noctorns you are paired with as to who you both are and what you can do. This is not the time to judge your results to fit an old political structure that was based on a formula that miscalculated a person’s inherent true symbiotic potential. That is why the numbers evened out or slowed down. Shift how you look at yourself and your genetic enhancements; reintroduce yourselves to your symbiotic relationship, and you will discover new frontiers.”

High Commander Seklis asked, “How is that going to be possible? You are the only one who understands how to do this?”

Another Commander retorted, “We can’t just take everyone out of the field, stop all present classes, and make obsolete the structure entirely. There is a level of continuity and governance that needs to be maintained.”

Marissa answered the last Commander first. “No. Of course, you have to allow the present system and missions to continue, until we create that new structure. That is what we are all doing here. But, every personnel and cadet will need to learn, and our training will need to restructured, eventually. Otherwise, we continue the same misperceptions and missed opportunities with the Noctorns.”

“High Commander Seklis, that is why the first thing we must do is mature our communication. Through our putties we sense our team. But do we sense the Noctorns inside of us, that more intimate team? Cultivate that and we will move beyond the stalemate in this arena and the one many of you are having with yourselves.” She told the group. “I am here to step you through how to achieve that. But everyone has to trust me to get you there. Politics and titles are only interfering with our goals. Can each of you do that?” She looked at everyone to give their consent. Some took a little longer to silently agree and nod their heads. She locked eyes with them squarely until they assented.

“Okay then. Let’s begin again.” Marissa said.

From that day forward real progress was made and from there the transformation of the Academy.

Marissa spent the rest of her days exceeding and pushing the boundaries of the institution, ultimately developing a division focusing more on a global humanitarian operation.

Theo joined the Adelaide Academy program the following year with his Master’s degree in hand. He became a highly reputed Command Officer for his heroic efforts in the field.