Project 404 [DNF]

Chapter 8: Truth

"I think you'll realize that it's in your best interest to cooperate." The voice had changed from played kindness to complete lack of emotions in a matter if second. George stared in fear as the guy approached Clay and pulled him up by his collar. George flinched as a fist connected with Clay's face. The blonde slumped down and seemed to be somewhere between conscious and unconscious.

"I'll give you the seven hours to translate it. Fail to do so will result in two graves: one for you and one for your friend." The statement lacked any form of sympathy and George was convinced that this man would stick to his words.

The three kidnappers made their way out of the basement. Usually, one or two would stay behind. But this day wasn't like the former ones.

Clay coughed in the corner. George swiftly turned his way and rushed over there. "Clay, I'm so sorry! How are you feeling?" Clay coughed again before smiling weakly. "I've been better. I apologize that I told them that you knew how to read the paper." George shook his head and grabbed ahold of the blonde's face. The bruises didn't seem too bad, but it must at least hurt a lot.

George went to grab the papers before he sat down next to Clay. The blonde seemed moments away from falling asleep. George offered his lap as a pillow and Clay didn't object to George's surprise. Clay's breathing got slower as George ran his fingers through the blonde hair. It was difficult to imagine that they had been strangers just a week ago. When George was sure that Clay was asleep did he dare to take a look at those bloody paper.

Clay was right, it was the language used in the book George had read a thousand times as a child.

'Project 404' was the title. Followed by on sentence: Arorabobiesos-inonfofecoctotedodanonimomalolisosalolroreadodydodeadod. It had been a while since George had used the language and his dad had made it even more difficult by removing the spaces between the words. After a few minutes, he figured the first sentence out: A rabies-infected animal is already dead.

Confusion awoke in his head. Why was that the sentence to begin the paper with?

George carefully skimmed through the papers. He stopped when he came across a page with a picture. The picture displayed a pair of eyes, a very familiar pair of eyes. His eyes.

"Sosidodefoffofecoctotsos" the title read just above the picture. Side effects.

Suddenly, George felt fully awake. No tiredness. The rapport's main focus seemed to be gene therapy. George flipped through the papers until he found 'Sosumommomarory', Summary.

He began translating that paragraph and wrote down keywords. A few details stood out. Such as Germline p53, which was a rare genetic composition that put you at a high risk of sustaining multiple forms of cancer.

'Test subject 404 successfully made it through the genetic transmission. Noticeable side effect: Complete heterochromia. Subject will be kept under observation for further side effects.'

That's when it all clicked. He was subject 404. George was test subject 404. Everything he held in his hands fell to the floor. Clay made an annoyed noise but didn't wake up. He carefully placed Clay's head on the floor.

He felt sick. Someone had altered his DNA without his knowledge. He caught a glimpse of his reflection in the handle of the door. Even in this low light was the mismatching eyes prominent. He shut his eyes as hard as he could, his skin felt too tight for his body all of a sudden. The walls seemed to be caving in. His eyes shot open and settled on the tiny window. He needed to get out. But how?

Trying to reason with himself. Surely altering a gene that most likely would've led to cancer was a good thing? The paper caught his attention once more. If George had been a successful case, then why was the report so controversial? Curing cancer would've landed his dad a Noble prize.

He flipped through the pages once more. Two things caught his attention: After some further reading it became clear that George wasn't the only thing who had been experimented on. Second thing, a way more worrying thing. The words alexithymia, apathy, and rage were all words used to describe the side effects of the other test subjects.

A gene called LRRN1 that was connected to humans third chromosome was also mentioned. It was explained that this gene was closely related to empathy in women.

And that's when the first sentence started to make sense. These experiments were preformed over 20 years ago, when genetically modifications were highly taboo. George knew enough about gene therapy to know that it still was controversial for many reasons. One of them being the potential of unintentionally altering other genes in the process if you tried to change one.

Alexithymia and apathy both hinted about the fact that it probably was the case. Altering the Germline p53 gene seemed to have cut the cord to the test subjects emotional bank in many cases.

A rabies-infected animal is already dead.

An eye for an eye. No wonder his dad lost his license and had to flee the country. George sank to the floor, every ounce of energy seemed to have left his body. What if these side-effects were something that would come to effect himself? He sighed as he caught a glimpse of his reflection again. Who even was he?