The New Earth Project

I sat on my recently sterilized bed,waiting for the security warden to make his last rounds, finally the slot opens on my cell door and he speaks quietly, "Eat your dinner, starving yourself will not do anyone any favors, especially not for me.” I saw in my mind how it was that he gave me a critical once over, but I wasn’t in a giving or polite mood. To anyone else he might be a handsome man, but to me he was a symbol of my imprisonment. “Of course,” I thought, “Can’t have me keeling over can you? That would be such a loss.” The warden averted his eyes to the floor, and sighed heavily, hearing in his mind the words I projected into his conscious. He closed the slot, and went on to the next room, to check on the other “patient” beside of me.

Eve2 and I, who was called Eve1, had become friends through a reinforced steel wall, I had never laid eyes on her, but we and a few others in this cell block, could speak to each other through mind link telepathy, we had easier conversations when the facility was locked down for the night. All of our names on our charts said "Eve" or Adam" along with a number assigned. Our real names were not used, for fear of someone recognizing the other. My real name was Serena, and my friend, Martha. I didn't know the names of the others, as we were were kept in solitary, and had no way to actually see or interact with our cell block mates. I picked gingerly at the food on my tray, I hated the bland, tasteless meals they fed us, it was essentially prison grub, but it was food. Despite my reluctance to eat what was assuredly drugged food, I ate it anyways. Warden was right, me starving myself wouldn’t do me any good, especially if I wanted to escape this loony bin of a research facility. How did I come to be in here you ask? Well see, I am literally a endangered type of human, one of the few Mind Benders left on this desolate and ravaged world we used to call Old Earth.

What are Mind Benders you ask? Mind Benders are what the Old Earth used to call Mediums, Psychics, Empaths, and similarly gifted people, and when medical science finally figured out that those types of gifts actually were real and we really did exist in certain sections of human populations, they were quick to start rounding us up like cattle for “scientific testing and research.”

I was 10 during the year of 2045, when the Great Plague was unleashed on the world, humanity has since became nearly extinct, thanks to a military biological warfare experiment gone horribly wrong. Only pockets of humans still survived now, and many of us Mind Benders have died out during the plague. Seeing as the families of Mind Benders known to have such gifts were already far and few between, whole families were decimated, and the precious few of us Mind Benders that were found to still exist, were routinely captured and placed in a maximum security holding facility, for supposed observation and research tests.

These “tests” include drug induced sleep studies, heavily sedated physical exams, intense rounds of brainwave testing, and a few other horrifically graphic things I refuse to mention, because quite honestly it is just not something I want to remember or think about. Thinking about some of those things made me physically sick and I wasn’t too keen on losing my only meal for the night. Martha and I were the same age, and we had been in this madhouse for 8 years now, but after tonight we would be free.

Down the hall , my hypersensitive ears picked up a faint maniacal giggling sound, that poor man,"Adam12", had been giggling and screaming for hours now, whatever Dr. Frankenstein had recently done to him, it had broken him, and the scientists had sent him into a abyss of which he maybe would not heal from, and all he done for two days was giggle in a very disturbing way, and then start beating the walls and shrieking in terror. He didn’t know this yet, but the last dose of “medicine” he was about to receive at dawn , would be his last. From what I understood, if we proved to be unfit for research purposes, we were euthanized like stray animals, and our bodies incinerated.

I was so far one of the luckier ones, I had what the researchers called “exceptional abilities” because thus far I had not cracked in my mind , nor broke down physically from the rounds of sick torture that they called “research and observation. ” Martha was also like me, which was why we, and the others similar to us, were housed in the same cell block. The researchers knew some of us could telepathically communicate, and they were madly busy observing that phenomena, trying to unravel the complex brain structure required to use said ability. We were being primed and honed to use as a weapon against our own species, the rest of humanity were told that we were being studied as a potential miracle cure for the plague that still ravaged our world.

The idea was broadcast to the surviving masses, that the researchers of Gentech were working to develop a medication to combat the plague that was still rampant in certain populations, using the few test subjects that had thus far been proven to be immune to the virus. In fact, what they were really doing was planning to use us for was to act as specially enhanced mercenaries, in exchange for our freedom, we were to be sent back out into the world, as biologically engineered disposal units. Our supposed mission was to completely eradicate and destroy the sick and dying masses, in a twisted and warped version of the Bible’s Revelations. Me and my friend next door had a plan made for when lock down time came, that we, and the rest of this block, were getting the hell out of Dodge.

I spat the tiny pill out that I found hidden in the hamburger flavored tofu patty, these scientist were idiots, we weren’t children anymore, you couldn't hide things in food and we wouldn’t find it. No sedative for me tonight, but I could definitely fake being doped up, shutting down my nervous system to mimic a sedated state wasn’t hard. “ Hey check your tofu patties, and eat carefully tonight, I just found a sedative pill in mine.” I sent a telepathic broadcast over to my cell block mates, I heard a chorus of “OK’s” from the ones that had the same abilities as myself. I felt bad for the ones that maybe did not get the message, but I couldn’t help them all. I heard more giggling down the hall, that peaked into a guttural screeching sound from Mr. Broken Mind. In a bitter way, I hoped that his end would come soon, in a grim way it would end up being a blessing. He did not deserve the suffering he was currently dealing with.

I chewed slowly and carefully through the rest of my disgusting food, being totally blind sometimes had it’s disadvantages, you couldn’t see, so you had to use the other normal human senses, plus whatever extra abilities you had, to sense and navigate the world around you. I had exceptionally acute senses of taste, touch, and hearing, my other abilities included being telepathic and telekinetic. I was also very sensitive to projected and receptive energies, meaning that whatever I saw in my mind, heard, touched, or tasted was amplified tenfold. This worked both ways as I could both project and receive thoughts, emotions, and brainwave patterns. I was the researchers' favorite test subject.

I was always prepared daily for the things I went through in this research facility, I usually saw them coming, and could pick up on what the “specialists” were thinking and planning long before they made it to our cell block, and I warned as many as I could about what was going to happen for that day’s rounds of sensory and physical battery. Soon that would come to a complete end, we would no longer be their tortured lab rats, we would have our vengeance and their end times had finally come. They wanted us to be mercenaries, but that didn’t mean that they were not also included in the human genocide they had planned. I laid down on my crisply starched bed, feigning a drugged stupor, and waited for the warden to come back through, to take our food trays, and call for lights out, silently I called out to the others , ”We begin at midnight, they are just leaving the security staff, and a couple of doctors here because it is the weekend.”

What bolstered my determination to escape tonight, was knowing that there would be a full moon tonight, and our powers are at their strongest during this time. We could combine our strengths as one unit, and finally ensure a successful break out and escape. There was also the fact that I had discovered, to my stunned horror, that I and the other women had been recently been impregnated, and from what I had picked from the researchers' brains about it, I was around 10 weeks into the pregnancy. This was yet more “tests” designed to see if the gifts we possess were able to be recreated in a controlled environment, and our bodies and minds were manipulated to see what would result.

I mean to not sound detached or cruel, but I did not yet feel any bond or attachment to this child I was carrying. I was not a willing participant in its conception, it was not a child conceived of love, or out of any normal human interaction, but of a forced procedure that I was never willingly or even consciously a participant in. I remember waking up after two weeks of being in a medically induced coma, and was then suddenly prescribed a diet change and a range of specifically timed doses of medications that are essentially high powered vitamin supplements. We women were suddenly fed more, poked and prodded a little more gently, and suddenly the mind ravaging stopped, in favor of observing our bodies and doing what felt like hundreds of blood and fluid tests.

I had a keen idea whose seed was used to help create it in a test tube, and I felt 99% certain was the very same man that was the warden that patroled our cell block. There were four others in our cell block that were also carrying the ill conceived test tube children. What if I held the baby after it arrived, and I sensed something in the child that reminded me too strongly of all of the tests and procedures performed on me? Could I raise this child that was such a cruel reminder of the here and now? Perhaps as time went by, I might be able to form the motherly attachment that so many mothers claimed the joy of experiencing, and I was all but begging The Powers That Be to make this child look exactly like me, even if I never get to lay clear seeing eyes on it.

I heard the Warden’s boots echoing back down towards my doorway, he was taking up our food trays, and doing one last check to ensure we were in fact in our beds with all lights turned off. I hear my door slot open, the tray being picked up, and then what sounded like something crinkle and hit the floor. His boots went clunking further down the hall, I waited until he was gone, and began padding silently towards the doorway, I felt about until I found it, as I suspected it was a piece of paper, what shocked me was that it had Braille characters printed on it. Who would deliver a message especially to me? I hurriedly got back into my bed, unfolding and smoothing out the curious paper as best as I could, and start running my fingers across it. It read “ At eleven P.M. go down the south wing of the complex, go through the side gate, it will be unlocked, I am the only warden there tonight. Take yourselves and my child to Eden Village , you will be safe from them there. Name him Adam, after his father, he will be the first child born unto a New Earth. ”

Tears fell, born of a thousand emotions, Eden Village was originally where my family had came from, long before the plague had hit there. What and who was still there I did not know, but this Warden, Adam, knew something about the place now, that he would have told me to take myself and my fellow cellmates there, and he had done so for the sake of what was admittedly his child. Perhaps in this hellish pit, there was one person that had few shreds of redeeming qualities and a teaspoon of morals. I whispered a mind link message to my cell mates, “By grace and power of God and Goddess, we have been given the way to be free, at eleven we are to go to the south gate, where a unlikely savior awaits us.” Gasps were heard ricocheting in my mind, and a few fervent prayers to the Powers for many thanks. This bolstered our determination and spirits a thousand fold, at the very least, a handful of us would taste freedom at last. I heard the wailing from Mr. Broken Mind start up again, and a pang of guilt hit me, over my previous thoughts. I wondered if just maybe he was lucid enough to take with us, maybe in Eden Village there was a healer that could try to help him?

I laid there, counting the minutes, and at precisely ten thirty, I heard the metallic click of the door to my cell unlocking. The doors were remote controlled from the center of the research facility, and someone had just pressed the release button. I felt a presence slip inside the door and a whispered "Hurry!” I jumped from the bed, and slid out of my door, and was bumped into by Martha, who said “ Shh, take my hand, and keep up.” I did as she asked, and soon the other eleven people that I knew were the ones with the same abilities as me, were creeping silently down the hall. The door to Mr. Broken Mind’s cell was also opened, and he lay curled in a corner whimpering. I heard someone grunt, as he was hoisted off the floor, and he was gently told to be quiet and that he was safe now. I heard more sniffling, and felt a sense of fear and hope mixed with a familiar feeling of fuzziness, for the moment he was sedated. At least getting him out of here would not be such a challenge.

Creeping down the hallway of the south wing was surely the longest trip of my life, I held Martha’s hand, and listened acutely to everything that the others were telepathically telling me. The entire observatory was closed down for the night, and so weren’t the testing facilities. There was only the South wing and guard tower that was being guarded and had the most lights on. The other three sections of the observatory seemed to be almost too quiet, and then I heard a gasp come from Martha’s mouth, “What is it?” I asked. Horror and nausea were coming at me in waves from the others, as I heard "The beds and rooms are empty, all of them…” This could only mean one thing, that we few that were in the southern cell block, just might be the only ones left alive, it was a heavy thought to process, and suddenly the reasoning behind our warden’s traitorous bid to release us all was a lot more clearer.

I heard a beeping sound, a door slid open and and I felt a warm rush of air, we were finally outside, and the smell and feel of real air and a normal temperature was a momentary shock . Then in the background, we heard a huge popping sound, alarms were shrilling wildly, and then a rumbling explosion rattled the floor, that came from the Northern wing of the facility. That was where the main testing facility was located. I heard the sound of Warden’s voice suddenly behind me, he spoke low and hurriedly “Martha, ensure that Serena reaches Eden Village unharmed and that the others receive sanctuary and the help they need. I sent word ahead of your arrival.” I had questions buzzing in my head, who did he know there that would help us? I felt a warm hand ghost across my face, as he said “Someday I will see you both again, and I hope it is under much different circumstances.” I could only nod, not trusting my voice to betray my emotions, I and the others free, but what would become of our newfound hero?

We walked for what seemed like hours, the Adam the Warden had given one of our group a pack laden with basic supplies, and a phone with the directions mapped out to get us safely to Eden Village. Mr. Broken Mind, whose name we discovered was Joseph, had perked up considerably, as his sedative slowly worn off. He was more interactive and able to communicate better after he realized that he was no longer in his cell, and he was able to understand that we were really free and we were not going back. We leaned he was deaf, but he could use sign language and project conversation with telepathy. What had caused his shrieking and giggling was extreme sessions of "sound therapy" as he was told it was, in a attempt to cure his deafness, and it had drove him to a near psychotic breakdown. Aside from that he was actually OK, and with time he would. That was a huge relief to me, for I had thought he was permanently damaged and would had been exterminated.

We hid in a abandoned restaurant for a night, and dug out some food rations. Also inside the pack, were meticulously folded sets of clean clothes, and amazingly the Warden had found some for all of thirteen of us and in our sizes. I was led by Martha into a bathroom, and I changed into what felt like leggings and a long shirt. Real clothes were like a long awaited blessing, and the feel of the soft fabric on my skin was heavenly after years of wearing a scrub suit and scuff shoes. I didn’t yet have a baby bump, but soon I would be showing.

We left from the restaurant when it was approaching daylight, and we had been walking for miles, along back roads, woodland trails, and abandoned streets, when suddenly I heard a shout go up in the distance, and a vehicle came roaring toward us. Martha’s hand tightened on mine, and she said “I think we are here, I see a huge wall surrounded by security gates and there are heavily armed guards approaching us.” The leader of our small band, said “We come from the Northern Gentech Research Compound, a man named Adam sent us, he said word was already on it’s way of our arrival, and we have a woman with us named Serena and her companion Martha, and three other ladies that need help immediately.” Suddenly Martha led me by my elbow to the front of the group, where a man reached and took my jaw and tilted my face up, he said in surprise, "You are the girl that the Priestess has mentioned, please come with us.”

I was now extremely uncertain, who was this Priestess, and where was I going? Martha was still holding my hand, and she firmly walked beside me, and projected words of comfort to me, this eased my anxiety somewhat, as I was led by the guard to a room where I heard what sounded like a waterfall bubbling and I could smell luxurious incense burning in the censer above my head. A distant memory clicked, this was the Oracle Temple, I knew this room, this was the room that my mother was once a healer and I had spent my childhood learning what she knew, before the Plague had hit and I was ripped away from her, and placed in the facility. A gleeful shout reached my ears, and I heard women’s voices bursting into sobs of relief ”Praise Goddess, Praise God, she is spared and returned to us!” I was suddenly pulled away from Martha by a woman whose voice sounded older but familiar, who said, "My child, I have prayed and begged for this day to come, to see your face again.” I burst into tears and stumbled forward sobbing into her arms, my mother was alive, and I was finally home again.

I learned that in the time that I was gone, my mother had been made High Priestess of the Oracle Temple. She was now head healer and High Priestess to what was now a thriving community of Mind Benders that were rescued and saved from other facilities. Eden Village had become a place of sanctuary and healing for those who lost their families from the Great Plague, and all who were seeking further training for their abilities. Many were survivors and orphaned children of the Great Plague, or were recent escapees like us, sent in by Adam the Warden. He had been sneaking them out for years, saving them from the death that awaited them at the hands of Dr. Frankenstein and his scientists.

Years passed, and Adam the Warden, and I had formed a tentative friendship, over the son that science had created. He was also the donor father to the four other children. Given those circumstances, he did work hard to at least provide for and support those children, for it was really no ones purposed fault that they existed, they were innocent of the horrors inflicted upon us. Adam the Warden was also a unwilling participant in Gentech's sick experiments. He willingly took paternal responsibility because the children were proven to be biologically his, and he felt a sense of duty and obligation towards them, irregardless of how they came to be.

We learned from other survivors that came from other facilities, that in a twisted and cruel experiment, the Wardens of the five Gentech facilities, became unwilling sperm donors to any woman of minimum mandated childbearing age of eighteen that survived the other experiments. So Adam the Warden was not the only unfortunate sperm donor. We learned through Adam the Warden's contacts,that research facilities like Gentech were finally being closed down and destroyed, and the surviving inhabitants were being released, and were given aide to readjust to returning to society. This started to happen right when Adam the Younger, who was the first of Adam the Warden's sons, was born. There were two daughters and three sons born to us remaining women from the Northern Gentech Research Compound experiments. In total, we discovered that just in Eden Village, there were twenty-five mothers of genetically engineered children, there were no telling how many more there really was out there.

While I never got to see his face with my own eyes, I was told that my son was remarkably beautiful, with platinum white hair and sparkling green eyes, in my mind, I envisioned a genetically perfected image of myself and his biological donor. He was not blind, and he was very developmentally advanced, which I attributed to the fact that he was scientifically created in a lab. He had the same gifts as myself, which were astonishingly displayed at the tender age of three months old, he would pat my face and gurgle, and I was flooded with his projection filled with purest love that only a innocent child could give. Despite our past and his method of being created, I had learned to embrace and love him in the right way, as a mother, and that love healed a lot of my pain. Over the coming years,I learned to put my past behind me, and accept that the most beautiful of blessings, often came from the worst of tragedies. Forgiveness and acceptance of the wrongs done to me was still sometimes a hard issue for me to process and learn. I had Martha, Adam, the Warden and my mother, I would be OK and I would fully heal in time. The others that had come with me, had done well so far, and each now had a place and a purpose in Eden Village, The New Earth Project had begun, and with it, a new Era would rise from the ash, a glorious phoenix of change and rebirth.