Dr. Terzini, a man who prided himself on being detached, felt enraged. Each hour that passed without communication with Eugene or the clones caused him to unravel further. Clearly, something had gone wrong. Despite enacting a secondary plan, Terzini’s strategy had been hindered, possibly obliterated.
He felt his hands tremble with ire and frustration as they grasped a wooden holder with four test tubes inside. He hurled it against the far wall. Glass exploded in every direction as the test tubes caused innumerable, microscopic slivers of dichroic matter to ricochet in every direction. Light that seeped in from his room darkening shades and thwarted his need for darkness reflected and refracted in the glass slivers and lent them the appearance of glitter. But there was nothing shining about the current moment he was experiencing; it appeared as though he had failed once again.
Ignoring the shimmering mess at his feet, he began to pace stroking his chin feverishly. He wondered whether any of the three teenage clones lived. Surely if any of them lived, they would have called long ago to inform him of their success, of Gabriel’s demise.
In all likelihood, Gabriel lived and was well aware of the fact that he’d dispatched the clones, as well as Eugene, to destroy him. He even entertained the possibility that Gabriel had shared his generous amount of information and working knowledge of the cloning that took place with the authorities.
He did not have time to waste on such speculations. He had more important work to tend to. Furthermore, Gabriel had no idea where he was. Regardless of the information he decided to share-or not share-with authorities, Terzini was confident that no one would find him in time to stop what he was about to start. His hands stopped trembling. A sense of satisfaction usurped feelings of frustration and doubt. He calmly walked out of his laboratory and left the broken glass where it was. He would clean it later.
Once outside, the daylight was blinding. White light singed his corneas, caused his eyes to sting and tear. He squinted uncomfortably and walked faster to the main house. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and covered his mouth with it to protect his respiratory system from the dusty, smog-filled air. He could not get indoors and out of the pollution-riddled environment soon enough.
Relieved, he reached his back door, crossed the threshold and stood in his kitchen gulping the purified air of his residence hungrily. He went to the sink and immediately washed his hands and face with antibacterial soap and scalding hot water. As soon as he felt sufficiently cleansed of the atmosphere beyond his home, he moved down a long corridor to a door that led to his basement. He descended a flight of steps and was instantly comforted by what he saw. Sixty development tanks, neatly arranged in rows, filled the over-sized space. In each, a partially formed human being was growing and maturing, awaiting its birth.
The realization of Gabriel’s flaws, as well as Eugene’s, had prompted a sweeping transformation in his thought processes and caused him to realize the weakness in his original plan. Initially, he had planned to have Gabriel integrate into society slowly, seamlessly. The goal was for Gabriel to be the linchpin in his ultimate strategy of transforming society as a whole. His original plan had been far too subtle, though. He had never fully embraced subtlety but had thought it necessary given his former governmental affiliations. Freed of his previous associations and dead according to global authorities, he could embark on a more aggressive approach. He could begin the rebirth of society with the release of his first legion of his new race. Together, they could expand and create more like them. With sixty fully formed beings capable of reproduction, with heightened fertility and a far shorter gestational period after conception, their numbers would multiply quickly.
His army of beings would busy themselves with reproduction and assist with creating more development tanks. While they worked at their respective projects, he would be able to finally complete his experimentation with fetal enhancement in-utero and possess the irresistible ability to change all of mankind thereby eradicating the possibility of a woman ever birthing a flawed individual. His goal was lofty, but attainable. And since he currently resided in a location unknown to Gabriel, there would be no one to prevent him from achieving it. If Gabriel still lived and somehow managed to locate him, his efforts would be in vain, his timing poor. In the time it would take him to travel from Harbingers Falls to Santa Ynez, the first legion of beings would be born already and would have begun the initial change. His legion would quickly grow to an army, an army led by him. The world needed an exalted person such as himself capable of enlightened thinking and grand ideas with the talent to deliver meaningful results. After all, humanity was so flawed, only the brightest most talented among them could commence a transformation of such magnitude.
He knew the transformation would take time; his project was multifaceted. But patience and diligence would yield rewards beyond measure. He would not only succeed where God had failed, he would replace God altogether and be heralded as the person responsible for ending war and crime, hate and violence, the Savior of Civilization. He would be known as the Creator of the perfect civilization.