Red Genesis

The elevator chimes as it hits the 49th floor, opening to the flashing lights of La Rouge. The club is vibrant with bodies of men and women in extravagant attire, their bodies swaying to the beat of techno music.

Katerina stepped forward into the sea of red light, into an entirely different world. She blended in just fine, but she was nothing like them. It had been ten years since genetic modification had taken over the world. Only the most elite—those with money and power had used genetic modification for their benefit. This once life-saving tool became a weapon that was used to alter appearances, enhance the senses, and eradicate any genes that were seen as unfavorable. Abiogenesis, the company that created the perfect genetic modification machine had originally used the device to edit and delete genes of deadly diseases like cancer. Now, the company has been corrupted by some of the richest individuals in the world. They view those who are not modified in some way as disposable.

Katerina inhaled a shaky breath as she stalked further into the red room. She had to look confident, like she was one of them. One by one, she began to untie the black leather coat that lay on her body like a hanger. Her tight emerald dress was the only thing keeping her together in enemy territory. She brushed a hand through her straight black hair, focused her green eyes, and began to strut towards the back of the club.

She stared at the bodies on the dance floor, all of them enhanced in some way. One man had gold eyes and a golden body that looked artificial, not even human. Another woman had teal skin that had shimmered purple in the draining red light. They looked so happy compared to outside the walls of La Rouge, they had no idea of the stark reality of those who were not genetically modified. Adults and children who refused to submit to modification were being hunted and murdered in cold blood.

Abiogenesis had become ruthless in the past three years and attacked where Katerina and other outliers lived in an abandoned underground railroad station. Her mother, father, and older brother were all brutally murdered due to their defiance of genetic modification. Katerina, however, was taken by Abiogenesis and experimented on. The only successful gene that was altered was her sense of hearing which had been increased tenfold.

“Would you like a drink, beautiful?” A server with silver eyes and lavish white hair held up a tray of cocktails and smirked down at Katerina.

“I’m not opposed.” Katerina faked a smile as the server passed her a foamy concoction. “What is this?”

“Oh my dear we call this drink Pixie Dust,” The server poured a powder into his hand and sprinkled it over Katerina’s drink. The powder sparkled and glowed as it delicately absorbed into the foam of the drink.

"Enjoy." Katerina pursed her lips and sipped the drink as the server walked away. The repetitive, loud thrum of the techno music began to make her ears ache. After her modification, her ears had become very sensitive to loud sounds. But she had to focus, she was at La Rouge for a reason. She was going to find the man behind Abiogenesis, Richard Abramson.

Katerina downed her drink and began to filter her way through the dance floor towards the back of the club. Dancers and partiers were scattered scarcely in the back, most too intoxicated to notice anything. Katerina eyed a staircase in the back corner of the club and quietly snuck around the wall between the dance floor and back room. The staircase led up to a tinted glass door that was lit with yellow light. Somebody is home, Katerina noted with anticipation.

Suddenly, a man in a black suit and dark glasses appeared in front of the staircase. Katerina quickly turned around and noticed the server from earlier.

"Hi again, I'm in need of a quick drink," Before the server could even respond Katerina swiftly took a drink from the tray and swiveled back towards the stairs. She could just feel his frown glaring into the back of her head.

Katerina analyzed the guard in front of the stairs and decided that when in danger in a club, acting like a drunk person would be her best play. She took a sip of the delectable foamy drink and spilled a bit of it on her shirt, for theatrics of course. She stumbled towards the corner stairs and made sure to bump right into the guard.

“Oh my god!” Katerina gasped and spilled a little bit of her drink on the floor. She raised her hands to her mouth as if gasping in shock. The guard raised his eyebrows and stepped back to avoid the spill.

“I’m so sorry,” Katerina made sure to grab the guard’s arm and giggle. “That was so bad of me.”

“It’s alright ma’am. How about you sit down?” The guard motioned for her to sit at the bottom step of the stairs. Katerina nodded and exaggerated her inability to sit down until she fell onto the bottom step.

“I’ve had such a long night. I lost my friends, I need some water, and I am so wasted on Pixie Dust right now. Wow,” Katerina pretended to slur her words as she lazily motioned her hands towards the sea of people.

“Listen, you stay here, and I’ll go get you some water. What are your friend’s names?” The guard placed both hands on Katerina’s shoulders and yelled as if she could not hear over the blaring music. Hearing was the least of her worries. Katerina tried to think of the most generic name that existed.

“You can ask for Emily,” Katerina yelled into the guard’s ear who sighed at the name.

“Alright I’ll be back just stay here and don’t move.” The guard seemed mildly annoyed having to search through hundreds of people just to find an Emily. He sulked off into the red light and Katerina sighed in relief. Now that the guard was distracted, she could finally find what she came for.

Katerina slowly crawled her way to the top of the stairs and leaned against the door to listen to who was inside. She heard papers being rustled, the dull rattle of an air conditioner, and faint music being played. However, it did not sound as if someone was inside the room. She slowly began twisting the doorknob until the yellow light slightly seeped into the club. Katerina quickly walked into the room and closed the door behind her.

Now, she was behind enemy lines.

She took in the room before her. In the center of the room lay a large black desk on a black and white marble floor. A large black and white painting lay dead center on the wall with a red slash through the middle. The room was mostly empty, and it certainly fit who occupied it.

Richard Abramson was the most atrocious person that Katerina had ever had the displeasure of meeting. He single-handedly executed the attack on her old home at the train station. He murdered her family and with genetic modification had turned her into something she was not. He took a miracle of the biomedical world and made it sour. He was the sole person responsible for murders across the globe in the name of Abiogenesis.

Katerina walked over to the center of the room and noticed a heart-shaped locket laying on the vacant desk. She picked up the locket and fidgeted with the clasp. Frustrated, she put the locket back down on the desk and walked around the room. The room was filled with books with unusual markings and symbols that Katerina had never seen before. The symbols were grouped together and similar to a foreign language.

“Wow,” Katerina muttered to herself as she went to grab one of the books and its cloth binding nearly fell apart. The books had to have been ancient to fall apart so easily.

Suddenly, a high-pitched squeal came from the center of the room. It was so loud and abrupt that it made Katerina flinch in pain.

Oh my god, Katerina thought to herself as her stomach dropped.

The locket had opened itself and a glowing light came from the center of the locket onto the ceiling. Soft whispers in a foreign language emitted from the locket as Katerina approached. The whispers sounded like they were chanting, they wanted her to grab the locket.

She felt drawn to the intensity of the light and warmness of the glow. Katerina reached her hand out until she hit the waves of light. She gasped as the action caused a tingling feeling throughout her body. She felt sharper, stronger, energized, everything before, but amplified. She was overwhelmed and overpowered by so many different feelings at once. It was as if everything she was once before had been made better. Looking around the room, the symbols that she once saw on the books in the office had lit up on the walls around her. There was no word to describe her experience other than alien.

The glowing of the locket and walls came to an abrupt halt as Katerina began to hear footsteps at a distance. She started to feel nauseous and lightheaded and stumbled to the chair of the desk. Her vision became spotted as black began to cloud her eyesight. All she could see was the entrance of the office door swinging open and a man in a blue suit as she began to pass out.

“Katerina, nice to see you again. I see you’ve discovered the truth behind Abiogenesis.” Richard Abramson stood over her with a devilish smirk on his face and the feeling of terror overtook her entire body.

Katerina opened her mouth to speak but the light symbols flashed before her eyes once again, and her whole world went black.