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As he didthe experiment, Nicolas Griffith sat on the open platforhthouse and watched the sun rise over the sea It was an aweso to end First the black waves shading to gray as the sky lightened, the craggy rocks that lined his cove slowly taking form in the misty winds that swept off the water As the radiant star peered over the side of the world, its first hesitant rays stained the ocean a deep azure blue, painting the pastel horizon with pro acceptance of all that it touched It was a lie, of course Within hours, the ainst this half of the planet Its earlyradi-ation and withering heat that would follow but no less spectacular for the lying It can&039;t be blamed for a lack of self-awareness, after all; it is what it is
Griffith alatched until the sun cleared the curving horizon before getting on with his day Al- though he appreciated the beauty of each gli dawn, it was the routine that appealed to him, not his, but that of the cos to an inevitable progres- sion of tih its galactic paces, oblivious to the dreas that scurried across its surface
Beings such as myself, but for one very crucial difference: I know just how much my dreams are worth
As the swollen orb lifted itself froainst the platfor finally finished the blood work on the Leviathan series, he was ready to work more extensively with the doctors All three had responded well to the change, and the rate of cellular deterioration had fallen considerably since he&039;d started with the enzyme injections It was time to concentrate on their situational behavior, the final stage of the experiment Within the week, he&039;d be ready to expand beyond the confines of the facility Expansion A cleansing A crisp, saline wind ruffled his gray hair, the hungry cries of coasting gulls finally spurring hiht in before the scav-enging birds moved inland Several of the units had already been horribly scarred, and he didn&039;t want to risk any more of them until he was finished Once they lost their eyes, they were useless on patrol
Still, it&039;s been so long no one&039;s co If Dr Ammon had succeeded, they&039;d have sent someone by now Too bad, really; he&039;s probably still waiting
The thought was an uncoes of redness and heat, of prone bodies in the manic summer sun and later, the thunder of waves in the dark He pro himself that it was in the past Besides, he&039;d only done as necessary Griffith walked back inside, s his wind- blown hair as he ainst thea pleasant echo effect in the tall cha pleasant, and he&039;d co what he wanted, when he wanted, working his own hours, his hthouse Before, he&039;d been crowded, forced to adhere to schedules that seened to undercut creativity Meal times, work times, sleep times how could a man breathe, think, flourish in such conditions? He&039;d suffered for so long, sat through endless ues" as they&039;d raved over Birkin&039;s T-Virus They&039;d slaved to come up with the Trisquads for Umbrella and had been deliriously happy with the results, apparently forget- ting their failure with the Ma7s They were unable to see past their own arrogance to a bigger picture As if the Trisquads are anything uards, but hardly brilliant Hardly io to his head, Griffith allowed hile moment of pride as he reached the bottom of the stairs and started for the exit He&039;d seen the T-Virus for what it really was-a crude but effective platforreater He&039;d isolated the proteins, reorganized the nucleocap- sid&039;s envelope to allow for variables in infective capacity, and created an answer, the answer to the blight that the hu Sh the door into the cool shadow of the lighthouse, the crash of breaking waves at his back as he walked toward the dor He&039;d already synthesized an airborne, and had enough of it to infect most of North Ahtful place, the weak of spirit falling beneath those of truer instincts And when it was over, the sun would rise over a very different world, inhabited by peaceful people of character and will
Take away a man&039;s ability to choose, his , he becomes a pet; without, he becomes an animal, as harmless and serenely simple as asur-vive
He stepped into the dor His doctors were right where he&039;d left the table, eyes closed Ideally, he&039;d run through the tests with un- trained subjects, but the three men would have to suffice They&039;d been infected with the strain he would release, and were closest to what the world would become in a few days
My pets My children
Besides the research laboratory, the cove facility was designed to train bio-weapons like the Trisquads or Ma7s-but also to ic in the humanoid subjects In the bunkers there were a nu tests to co He doubted his doctors would be able totheir reactions would provide valuable insight, particularly the tests where there was a pressure factor
They think, but can&039;t make decisions They function, but not without input Hoill they fare, withouthand?
As he approached the table, Dr Athens opened his eyes, perhaps to see if there was a threat coest, the most likely to survive on his own; he&039;d been one of the be- havior specialists In fact, he&039;d co that the infected units would work ht Doctors Thurman and Kinneson re fro, he looked down, his suspicion con- firmed by the wetness on Dr Thurain