In the deep bowels of a facility hidden beneath layers of reinforced concrete and steel, a man descends. The elevator, equipped with a special key only made for this purpose, leads him further below, past levels of security and secrecy. Beneath the Pentagon, in a section of the Department of Defense that the world knows nothing about, he is headed to a place that should not exist. A project erased from all records, untouched by history. No public hearings. No bureaucratic approval. This was a project that was never meant to be.


    When the lift opened the walls were white and sterile. The air was filled with scents of chemicals and antiseptic. A figure, a scientist perhaps in a white lab coat watched the man exit the elevator. "This way Mr. B..." The man followed close by. "How''s the subject?" "Right now, stable" The man in the coat stopped at a door and unlocked it using a key. The room was devoid of smell. Just a trace of isopropyl used to clean the facility. In the corner, there was a construct. A cylinder glass vat. Inside. A fetus, a thing, an embryo, not fully human and not fully beast, not fully anything yet. Just sleeping. Waiting.


    The man approached the see-through glass where clear viscous liquid filled it. He examines it with his eyes. Its snubbed fingers curled, its limbs twitched, and its eyes bulged beneath the skin. This one seemed indifferent. The movement was unnervingly deliberate for something so trapped. Its eyes looked to fixate on it and it looked like it was gonna leap out at the man. The man saw this but he didn''t say a word. His jaw clenched. He looked away slowly taking its gaze off of it.


    The man turned to the figure in the lab coat. "That''s it?”


    "Project: N.Y.X,” said the scientist. He turned and faced Mr. B. “It''s no ordinary project. The splicing and splitting of DNA out of over ten different species.” The scientist said. His voice was laden over in admiration as if it were his child.


    "N.Y.X?” replied Mr. B


    The scientist nodded and stepped toward the vat looking at the thing. His lips curled into a faint smile.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    "Yes, Nano-genetic Y-Chromosomal Xenomutant"


    The man stepped further into the room running his fingers on the glass, thinking. On one side of the room, a large table of vials and samples was neatly arranged. These "samples" were grotesque body parts severed out of various animals. The man''s eye moved over the labels that were written in tight, precise, mono-styled script.


    A vial of a bone Sharp. Claw-shaped. Bloody from dissection. The label reads: "P. Tigris claw sample" Next to that was a piece of muscle that unsettled the man. It twitches every few seconds sending a shiver down his spine. "A. jubatus - neuromuscular fiber"


    Further down the table was a jar with a twisted, half-formed eye. The pupil dilated as if stuck in time. "L. lynx ocular tissue"


    The man''s breath hitched in his throat. A shock to him as he saw possibly the most grotesque one. His jaw clenched and he almost seemed to cringe. Still preserved in nutrient solution in a sterile container. Human ovaries, once belonging to some woman. The man took a step back at the sight. He looked away. His brows raised.


    His eyes wandered around the whiteout room. His gaze darted up.


    Further along the table, up a shelf were parts of a Cougar''s brainstem. Labeled with the same style of text. "P. Concolor substantia grisea”


    This was no super-soldier. No infiltration tool we can use against our enemies. This was an amalgamation, a perfect abomination of nature.


    "Fascinating isn''t it?" Said the scientist behind him with an eerie calmness.


    "Every sample is carefully selected and analyzed. Every gene-spliced and split with intention. We edited its genetics from the ground up.”


    The scientist smiled dearly in a caring manner as if proud. “Years of work, I assure you”


    The man looked at the scientist, semi-suspect in his gaze.


    "Can we control it?"


    The scientist crossed his arms and cleared his throat.


    "Control? We designed it, and bioengineered it to be. Every cell, every instinct, every survival trait and ability has been carefully selected and refined. It is ours. Our ultimate weapon."


    "The brass wants it battle-ready ready"


    "In due time."


    The thing twitched in its vat.