"Experint starting. Loading data... Recording data—"
A sharp sound pierced through the air in the cruise’s test chamber. A heavy iron door swung open, revealing specially bred attack dogs.
They were simulating wilderness survival by tossing newborn infants into a simulated primitive jungle environnt to see if they could survive on their own.
The cries of the children soon attracted the dogs. They pounced over and started tearing the children apart.
The stench of blood soon perated the test chamber.
Red light was flashing continuously from the test chamber. It went from the original green to red, indicating that the experintal subjects in the lab capsule were no longer alive.
"Fewer than seven persons out of 20 pairs of the participating experintal subjects survived. The data shows that human infants don’t have the ability to survive in the wild alone."
"Only one experintal subject each from test chambers no. 8, no. 12, and no. 20 survived, while both experintal subjects from test chamber no. 9 survived."
"Number the experintal subjects and record their data."
The person sitting in front of the monitor was recording everything that had happened.
Their goal was to trigger passive "evolution" after the modification, recombine, and naturally integrate the genes through environntal stimulation. This experintal project was nad the Stellar Project.
They aid to create a batch of humans whose brain developnt and physical strength far exceeded that of ordinary humans.
All of the experintal subjects were given the unified code "Ashton Black" and "Xandra Milford".
They were products of a perfect combination of the previous generation’s genetic modifications and natural breeding, making them stronger than "Sophia Milford".
From the mont they were born, they were thrown into various test chambers and forced to undergo various experints designed to promote the "natural" evolution of their genes.
"I’m scared, Ashton..."
"Don’t be, I’ll protect you."
"Data shows that the innate emotions of the experintal subjects in test chamber no. 9 can’t be obliterated —" "Can we escape from here, Ashton?"
"We can."
"What if they refuse to let us go even after we escape?"
"We’ll just have to kill them all, then."
Years later, Sophia and Dexter entered the test chamber and brought the experintal subjects out of the cargo ship.
However, the forced evolution experints of Geno Society did not just end there.
"Both experintal subjects from test chamber no. 9 survived. All other experintal subjects have been destroyed."
"Both experintal subjects have entered society as planned."
"The socialization experint is about to begin."
Ashton was playing basketball in Huma University’s basketball court six years later.
His classmates rushed over in a hurry. "Your sister fainted, Ashton!"
"Go check on your sister, Ashton! She passed out, and she has dark blood coming out from her nose!"
Ashton’s face fell. He then hurriedly ran toward the lecture hall.
Ashton grew up in an ordinary and harmonious family.
At over six feet tall, he towered over Dexter and had a physique stronger than average. He constantly excelled in everything be it in sports, the arts, or academics.
Not only was Ashton cheerful and sociable, but he was also good-looking. There were even talent scouts following him around on the streets.
At a young age, he was already a star on the campus forums. He had countless won vying for his attention, with his desk constantly filled with love letters.
Even the teachers and the principal had a soft spot for him. After all, he was a rare talent.
Sophia and Dexter were both laid-back parents with a hands-off approach. They didn’t interfere much as long as their children were healthy.
However, their only condition was that Ashton and Xan weren’t allowed to go abroad until they were of age.
"Xan!" Ashton cried out.
Xan, who had been rehearsing a dance with her classmates in the dance studio, suddenly fainted.
It happened without any warning, and there were traces of dark blood coming from her nose.
"I’ll send her to the hospital. Give my mom a call, Zachary!" Ashton asked his best friend, Zachary Cooke, to call Sophia. He then hurriedly ran to the hospital with Xan in his arms.
Sophia and Dexter rushed over to Huma Hospital. They were anxiously waiting for the doctor’s test results.
"There’s nothing wrong with your daughter’s health," the doctor said, perplexed.
Why did Xan suddenly taint when all her test results ca back normal?
Sophia held onto her hand worriedly in the hospital ward. She had long since bonded with both Ashton and Xan after all these years of living together.
"Don’t worry, Mom. She’s not ill, so she’ll wake up soon," Ashton comforted her.
Sophia nodded and replied, "You should head back to the campus for now. Your dad and I will watch over Xan." Ashton nodded and glanced at his watch. "I’ll head back for now since I still have an afternoon class."
"That’s weird." Sophia sat by the hospital bed as she watched Xan. "If she’s not ill, why would she suddenly faint and even have a nosebleed?"
Dexter said nothing. He stood behind her and placed his hands around her shoulders.
Ti hadn’t left much of a mark on their faces. They only looked more mature and composed now.
"Mom..." Xan called out despite still being unconscious.
"I’m here," Sophia replied as she gently wiped Xan’s face.
Sophia brought Xan back ho the sa night. Since the hospital said she wasn’t ill, they decided to let her rest at ho.
However, Xan remained unconscious. She showed no signs of regaining consciousness even until the next day. Sophia started panicking and hurried out of her bedroom. She had a handful of hair in her clutch. "Sothing’s wrong with Xan, Dexter! She’s losing so much hair!"
Xan was suddenly losing hair even when she was unconscious. She even had dark blood coming out of her nose. No one knew what was going on with her.
"Why is this happening? How about we bring her to a bigger hospital for a check-up instead?" Sophia asked anxiously. As a mother, she was unable to calm herself down.
"I... received an email from No. 9. Both Ashton and Xan are experintal subjects from Geno Society’s headquarters’ experint regarding evolution," Dexter said after a long pause.
Sophia tensed up and turned around abruptly. "When did you receive it?"
She did not even know when Dexter received an email like that.
"Half a year ago..." He hung his head low, not daring to et her eyes.
"So, you’ve been keeping it a secret from since half a year ago?" Sophia frowned as she stepped forward and looked at Dexter. "You told that you were bringing Xan out for a trip a while back. Did you bring her to your institution instead?"
Dexter nervously comforted her, "Xan was the one who told not to tell you guys. She didn’t want to worry you." "What do you an?" Sophia frowned.
"Ashton’s developnt is all normal, but Xan has so genetic mutation. New genes have appeared at multiple sites, replacing original ones. However, unlike other mutations, we still can’t tell what kind of impact it would bring to Xan," Dexter softly said.
"Genetic mutation usually occurs during DNA replication, which is an important factor in biological evolution. Geno Society has been experinting on pairs of children..."
Sophia stumbled backward, feeling weak in the knees.
She then asked, "Has No. 9 not completely taken over Geno Society yet?"
"It’s not that easy. There’s always soone better than him," Dexter said, shaking his head.
The true Geno Society was a vast network of interests, with a coordinator above all regions. The mystery and power of that coordinator surpassed everyone’s expectations and understanding.
"Geno Society’s evolution experint isn’t new. We’ll still need to keep Xan under further observation for now. Dexter was trying to calm Sophia down.
"How can I stay calm? Xan is considered a rare individual with a genetic mutation. You’d know best how rare that is among higher organisms! If Xan’s mutation is defined as beneficial or aligns with soone’s research interests, what do you think her future will look like?" She was already panicking.
Geno Society would never let Xan go. Her existence would be far more valuable and tempting to them than Sophia, Dexter, and Ashton combined.
Terms like "reincarnation", "immortality", "agelessness", and "evolution", which seed to have only existed in science fiction in the past, were gradually becoming reality.
Such realization brought imnse fear to people like Sophia and Dexter.
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