The Alpha Project

Prologue

18 years and 7 months ago

My head sank as I stared at my screen. The research and the numbers weren't adding up, and the DOA was getting more impatient by the day. Create an animal hybrid? That's unheard of! How did the DOA expect us to do this when scientists have never even gotten close to figuring this out!

I sighed and continued to stare, aware of the presence of our lead scientist, Callen, pacing around the circular room, not speaking.

I sat, facing the middle round table with all of our equations and data on screens, surrounding the large, tall tube in the center of it all.

The tube was holding one of the many eggs we have received from donors, waiting to be altered and shifted into something new. Something that I believed was impossible.

"Damn it!" Callen swore.

I jumped at the outburst, clenching my fist as he paced more and more around the tube that could host the body of our project if we could ever figure it out.

"If we don't figure this out right now, the DOA will have my head!" he exclaimed.

Everyone turned away from their digital whiteboards and computers to face the raging scientist. We've been working here at the ABS lab on a secret government project for a long while to no avail. This project was of the utmost importance. If we failed...

No. We have to succeed. There has to be a way.

We were doing something wrong.

Callen grunted with frustration as he looked over our shoulders at our lack of progress and backed up at the screens by the tube.

"If someone can't find the solution to get human and wolf DNA to work together to create a stable and functional hybrid, you'll all be fired! Don't test me on this!"

I brushed off his threat and turned back to my work. We've attempted everything. One of the first things we tried was using sophisticated genetic engineering techniques to merge a volunteer's human D.N.A. with the wolf's, but it would always be unstable and kill them and all our progress. Anytime we'd get close, they would go insane and mad like they were monsters and quickly die afterward.

So then, we had the idea to start with an egg and try altering the DNA and raising the hybrid, which research approved and thought it might be better to train them from birth. But now we're stuck.

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, we walked in, our intern a little too close to a pissed-off Callen, and were shoved into the computer surrounding the tube with a grunt. Everyone watched in horror as our research deleted itself after too many buttons were pressed, and we all stared at the intern and Callen with the most shocked expressions we could express.

"Shit," The intern winced as he slowly got up, head hung low, avoiding eye contact at any cost.

"Lee, are you kidding me?" It took us months to get his far, and you just made it delete it all!"

"I-I'm sorry, sir! I-"

"Wait!" I butted in, grabbing everyone's attention. "Whatever he just did gave us the key."

Callen and I watched the egg's vitals. Whatever Lee changed in the equation and injected into the egg worked. I couldn't believe my eyes. The egg was surviving.

Callen turned his glare back to Lee with less death behind it in shock.

"What did you do?"

"I-I don't know! I didn't mean to!"

"Well, whatever you did, you just made our impossible hybrid project of ours possible," I told him. "The only issue is that we can't recreate it until we can get the right technology to replicate the hybrid's DNA. But at least we have something."

"When the hybrid is grown, what will we do with it?" Lee asked.

"When the hybrid is old enough, it will be sent to war. After we figure out how to replicate it," Callen explained. "We probably only need to make one of the opposite gender so they could mate, but that may take too long, and it's just a theory."

Genetics are messy. If they mated, they probably won't come out the same as the parents. We'd have to do more studies, but at least we have one.

"We'll figure it out, I'm sure," I reassured.

Callen chuckled and raised his head high for everyone. "Ladies and gentlemen, it will take a lot more money and a lot more brains, but with the public that will undoubtedly donate and fund our research, we should be able to reach that goal. We will make more hybrids possible for a better, stronger army. And with that, I present to you the first living human-animal hybrid!"

Cheers erupted in the lab as applause echoed in the room. We'd done it. We've actually done it!

Welcome, Project ALPHA.