The Man Immortal: Chapter 1

A story to tell, they are human; Part 1.

A scientist was running towards an inconspicuous base set amongst mountains. In the distance behind him bombs were falling leaving a cacophony of drum beats that matched his fast paced heart.

"Miranda! Open…the doors!" The scientist yelled as he ran.

A robotic hologram shifted into view in front of a large concrete door. It nodded and waved its hand towards a display, and the 10 meters thick door slid to either side. The scientist ran through past the steel reinforced exterior and into the inside of the base.

Miranda appeared next to him like a ghost, "Sir…the cell has successfully been produced. All experiments have led to within a hundredth of perfection. While you were away there seemed to be a mutation that occurred amongst subject 111. The mutagen cell successfully integrated into his body and stopped all forms of disease that ailed him as well as renewed the cells longevity continually."

The scientist stopped in front of a steel door and pressed a button to the side of it, causing the doors to open up into an elevator.

"My god…it finally succeeded. If I can replicate this cell in just one more individual…" The scientist was pattering his fingers against his crossed arms.

"Sir…the rest of the subjects underwent a catalytic change when 111 was successfully cultivated and began to mutate. To levels unpresented through previous experiments. They were put down due to a sudden outbreak of a mutated patient…"

The scientist knew full well what 'Put down' meant. Miranda was an advanced A.I. hidden from the world and created by his own hand. However, as powerful as the A.I might very well be, it had no emotion.

"I see…and where is patient 111." The scientist asked looking at Miranda's image beside him.

"In holding space B-4." She said out like a machine cyphering through information.

"Alright…take me there." He pressed against the elevator level for 'B-Level'.

The scientist slowly walked around several corners until a wall of glass was in view, as he peered inside a boy was looking at him.

"Christopher…it worked…" The 'Patients' here at the facility were a make-up of prisoners sent to die and people who were actually dying through natural causes. Christopher had an impossible to remove cancer that had spread throughout his body, a rare one in fact that decayed the cells of his body at 5 times the rate of a normal human being.

"How do you feel?" He asked through a sound system panel to the right of the glass wall.

"I…I don't feel bad anymore" The boy said looking at his hands and skin.

"Christopher…I have some preliminary studies to do. I know you don't like needles, but this will be the last time I take any blood from you…I promise okay?"

"Okay…as long as it is the last…" The boy said sounding dejected.

"Come…let's eat first. I am so proud of you for making it through all this Christopher…so proud." The scientist smiled and pressed his hand against the sound panel releasing the secure system door leading into the room. Christopher hobbled through it on legs he hadn't used his entire life.

"Woh!" He said laughing naively.

The scientist was given data sheets from a low end robot with one wheel that made up its movement abilities.

"Thank you 009…" The scientist flipped through it with one hand as the other held Christopher's. They went to a mess hall and ate helpings of food. Christopher seemed to never stop eating; in fact the scientist put down his data sheets and stared as Christopher consumed over 3 times the amount of food someone his size could contain even if they forced the food down.

'His cells seemed to need a boost in nutrition…I need to make a note on this later.' He wrote a note on the data sheet near its header and then placed it in a folder before giving it back to 009.

"Come…lets go get that needle work over with." He picked Christopher up and brought him to a lab not far away. Christopher squirmed around, but in the end let the scientist stick a needle in his arm. The blood that came out had a strange mystical gold specs floating throughout it.

"Miranda…fully analyze the blood, and tell me…tell me if it is possible to be combined with my own as Christopher and I have the same blood type." Miranda appeared near him, a long retractable arm came out from the wall grabbing the vial of blood before disappearing back inside the wall it came from.

"Sir…I highly do not recommend doing so. The amounts of experiments show that deviations and mutations are far more likely to occur…even loss of self as you call it." Miranda said this even as countless bits of information floated in front of her eyes.

"Miranda…I don't have the ability to get someone else as a subject. The reason I ran here isn't just because of the message you sent me…but because of the war front being pushed further. Since a year ago, after small nuclear wars started to play out over a tenth of the world is now uninhabitable. The world is now fighting over the rest of the terrains to become large again…I do not have a choice but to be the last. Because if it fails? How could it even end all this anyhow."

"I understand…but cannot answer the question sir."

"I know Miranda…I know…" The scientist sighed pulling out a tablet showing the latest news on growing escalations amongst the nations.

"What if it does fail?" Miranda asked.

"Then make sure the boy lives a good life segregated from the war torn places outside…that is my last command of you."

"It will not be…the preliminary tests conclude that there is a 60% chance of success." Miranda said turning to him.

"So high? I thought it be barely 15% at best."

"Yes" Miranda replied simply.

"Good…then let's begin." The scientist slowly walked over to an operation table, and with several buttons his arms and legs were sealed in cylindrical locks.

"Sir…Sir…Sir...Sir…" Miranda spoke repeatedly at higher volumes.

"Is…is it over already?" The scientist asked groggily.

"Sir…something went wrong." Miranda said lowering the tone she spoke at till it was as it was before.

"Yes okay Miranda…WHAT went wrong. Why am I still alive…" Actually, it felt better then alive. The scientist felt younger, stronger, in fact he felt super human.

"There seemed to have been espionage amongst the populace over the last several days as a nuclear detonation occurred in the state of Washington in the NW coast not far from here by only several hundred miles. You have been asleep for 3 days. This occurred during the second day…after that, the U.S took it as a plot from Russia and started a larger scale nuclear war across the pacific. Sir…by the third day…there was no one left behind." Miranda said showing a report of the world. It was green in color, and over a time lapse of hours and minutes orange dots began to appear throughout the green and spread like a virus across the world.

"No…no…you mean no one left behind, as it there is nobody left instead Miranda…why…who in their RIGHT MIND WOULD SINK YOUR OWN COUNTRY WITH A BOMB AND THEN KILL THE WORLD. WHAT IDEOLOGY WOULD PREVAIL THEN HUH?" The scientist began to madly scream even after the locks around his limbs were torn off like they were tin foil.

"Sir…" Miranda stepped forward to touch him, but her arms went through his body as she was naturally a hologram.

"WHAT…what is it Miranda." The scientist said taking in deep breaths.

"Christopher…Christopher has passed away." Even the emotionless Miranda took her time to slowly say these words.

"Chris?...h…how? He was doing just fine? How Miranda? The experiment succeeded with the Mutagen cell? Why now? Is there a limit to this cell after perfection?"

"No sir…its different then you think."