Star Trek: From Ashes and Darkness

Chapter 3: Eugenics

Year 1981

Khan was bored.

It had to be the slowest day of the week; no, month. He'd breezed through all of his classes for the day, and it added to his irritation. Considering how well the scientists knew the extent of his and his friends' intellect, he would have thought they would have come up with something stimulating by now.

Instead, they were forced to work in pairs as they solved already solved chemistry theories. And to top it off, they hadn't been allowed to leave until everyone had solved it. Including the half-humans.

Well, to be fair, the half-humans were really one-and-a-half humans, since they exceeded human standards. But they were not Augments, no matter what the scientists who had created them said.

After Dr. Kaur's base had exploded in a bombing around seven years prior, there had been an incredible set back to Augment embryo development. Most of the successful Augments had been born in Kaur's base, and after her research was destroyed, it had been difficult to get the desired results from embryo engineering.

Hence the Chrysalis Project's shift to focus on finding ways to change human genes using Augment DNA. Though so far, attempts at copying the Augments' superiority with existing human genes had been half-assed at best and downright disastrous at worst. Most humans the scientists experimented on didn't even make it out alive, the Augments' regenerative blood causing the brain to overload before it finally caved to the pressure and shut down. It was a terrible and – in his opinion – pointless way to die.

Only the two half-humans currently sharing Khan's classes had survived from the twenty or so experiments conducted thus far. But even then, none reached the level of a full Augment.

Therefore, they were 'half-humans', easier to say than 'one-and-a-half human'. And in Khan's opinion, half-humans were not much better than humans. In many ways they were worse: the two who had survived were meeker than humans, uncertain in their own skins and subservient to both humans and the Augments that they knew were better than they were.

It disgusted Khan.

At that moment, the door to the dining hall opened, and silence fell in the room as every eye turned to look. Even Khan looked over, and his brow rose as a young, pre-teen girl was shoved into the hall. She had long red hair, tied back in a ponytail, and petrified green eyes as she stared around wildly, and every single one of the hall's occupants knew instantly who – and what - she must be.

"Another one?" Kati sighed as she leaned back beside Khan, shaking her head irritably. "They'll start to get cocky soon – the scientists that is, not them."

She jerked her head at the two half-humans, who were watching the newcomer as warily as everyone else. They all knew the girl had to be another half-human, but the other two didn't dare welcome her – not until the Augments had had their fun with her first.

Not everyone did it; some, like Khan, were too bored or simply didn't find the sport enjoyable, but there were those – like the idiot Maltuvis – who liked to pick on newbies. Especially half-humans.

Never as strong, or as fast, or as intelligent, the half-humans – while superior to regular humans – were easy prey for Augments. And for those like Maltuvis who simply liked to show off his power or assert himself over others, half-humans were the perfect prey.

"Well, well, well!"

And speak of the devil.

"What do we have here?" Maltuvis sneered as he started to swagger his way over, his dark brown eyes fixed mockingly on the smaller girl. "Little red?"