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50 million years ago, the Lantern Tailed Krawk went extinct. Forgotten, this rare breed soon passed out of all knowledge - until scientists stumbled upon a frozen carcass of what they thought was a deformed ancient krawk. Preserved perfectly beneath fine layers of ice, the DNA of the specimen was securely intact - and infinitely strange.
.Procedure.
Scientists removed a nucleus from a preserved cell in a sample of the creature's tissue. One single nucleus contained all that the scientists needed: billions and billions of perfectly preserved strands of Deoxyribonucleic acid, more commonly known as DNA. They inserted the nuclei into another krawk's cell from which the nuclei had been removed - the cell proceeded to duplicate normally, and an embryo formed.
.A5R6-C.
A5R6-C, the cloned Lantern Tailed Krawk, grew rapidly in the glass CIL Unit. IV drips gave her nutrients to help her body grow and develop, and tiny electrical waves exerted from a unit below the tank stimulated muscle growth. She was a pure white - a highly recessive trait in her kind - with a blonde mane and sky-blue eyes. Scientists were puzzled as to why all of her traits were recessive...
She lived a life purely in the lab. Scientists conducted hundreds of tests on her, day and night. Occasionally, they removed her from the tank and had her watch documentaries on the natural world - at first; animals, plants, cities, and forests. Then, mathematics and natural history. She lapped up the information so readily that scientists, excited, moved her on to physics, genetics, medical science, fine literature; everything, anything that may bring them closer to probing the limits of her intelligence. Anything except for how to read and write, for the neurologists stated firmly that if she were to be forced upon the written language, her still-developing mind may become strained and her intelligence would be forever jarred. The scientists protested, saying that she was definitely capable of learning written language, but eventually complied.
In their excitement, the scientists had forgotten to censor certain aspects of the Human civilization that may lead to unwanted ideas -- freedom, for instance. Morality. Crime. In her mind, a phantom word was slowly being constructed from scraps on information - and in this invisible world, A5R6-C began to realize what she, herself, represented.
A5R6-C grew less and less lively, until she would only open her eyes and stare bleakly at the scientists through the bio-fluid and glass that contained her.
Scientists grew worried... what was wrong with their revolutionary 10.6 billion dollar experiment?
.Key.
The Lock, the Key.
What a strange dream. What a strange concept. The Man Of Feelings had often used this -disallowed_word-the lock, the key)
at the stations. It must be in the middle of the... the... what was that word? Darkness. Day end. Noche. Nuit. Night.
After a while of waiting, I realized that sleep would not come back to me. I decided to try to Pass The Time, as the Men said.
I reached forward through the Bio-Fluid and touched the glass that contained me. I dragged my claw across it. A small mark, barely visible, appeared. Satisfied, I began carving.
The Lock, the Key it read when I was finished. I flickered off to sleep again, content.
.Escape.
A5R6-C opened her startling blue eyes and focused her unwavering, intimidating gaze on the scientist. She shifted uncomfortably, trying her best to ignore the sensors placed on her body to monitor her physical and intellectual responses.
Her eyes flicked down to the deck of cards before her on the white table. One of the Men In White Suits sat across from her.
Again - can you tell me what the highest value in a deck of cards is?" asked the Man in an annoyingly calm voice.
She blinked, still staring at the cards. "The one on top," she stated.
The Man closed his eyes and sighed, reminding himself of his handsome salary and copious government research grants. Over the years of testing, the laboratory had come to the conclusion that her kind thought in a fantastically, frighteningly different way than humans. The current project was to curb that understanding to match a human's, so that A5R6-C would be able to understand her mentors more thoroughly.
He opened his eyes and looked to the face-down freshly shuffled deck. Harsh fluorescent light glinted on the polished table around it, giving the deck a godly appearance.
What is the card called?" he asked, keeping his voice even and measured.
A5R6-C stared blankly, her cool blue gaze unwavering. "Ace.
The Man paused, startled by her sudden shift in thought. Slowly, he reached forward for the deck of cards.
The deck of cards, however, reacted before his hand
(the lock, the key)
could touch them. They flashed with a fleeting golden light, and the top card flipped over as if attached to an invisible string.
Ace, it read.
The scientist stumbled from his chair and looked to the krawk. She was glaring at the Ace, which had slowly risen from the table and was hovering in mid air....
.Jadeila.
I hit the ground running, the glass falling harmlessly to my sides. Red lights were now flashing, and a horrible wailing sound filled the air. I sprinted forward - but a tall barrier rimmed with spiked wire quickly greeted me. I took a deep breath and leapt over it in one bound. In panic, I bolted towards a large group of strange, misshapen pillars... were these the trees that the Men spoke of? Just as I thought I was nearing freedom, I felt a tiny flick of pain on my back. I swung around - a Man holding a tranquilizer gun was standing just behind the spiked barrier. I was familiar with these devices.
A5R6-C, stop. Come back," he said in what seemed like a calm, reassuring voice. "You don't... belong.. o-out here." I detected a waver of panic beneath his command. This Man was afraid of me, and whatever it is that I could do...
ZZZZZZZZZZAT!!
The gun flew from his hands, and the dart was ripped from my back. They were flung into the dark void above me, and crashed down several yards away.
ZZzzzzzzzz......
The sound rippled through my head, sounding like an angry... an angry... what was that word?
My Name is not A5R6-C," I said fiercely. "It is...." - I paused. A Name? I could have a Name? Names were the label that sentient beings lived with for their whole lives. I did not have a Name because... because what? Why did I not have a Name? "...Jadeila.
I took the Name from the top of my head - perhaps it was a Name that one of the Men had said once - Or perhaps it was a combination of words that my subconscious mind had strung together in a panic.
I turned and sprinted into the dark sea of...trees? The buzzing in my head slowly faded...
.Flaw.
For the next few weeks, the scientists were swarming with questions - How did she obtain the ability to control objects around her? When? Why did she turn on us? How did she manage to escape, despite our frantic searches of the miles of forest surrounding the facility?
Slowly, they began to understand.
It was a flaw in their cloning technique.
The technology took a strand of DNA and attempted to repair it, as it was in several fragments after fifty million years of being frozen beneath the arctic ice. However, the program instead copied one side - the recessive side - of chromosomes, and doubled it over.
This, the scientists discovered, explained many things. All of her traits were extremely recessive - the blue eyes, the white hue, the golden curls in her mane, and even the gold coloration of the orb on her tail.
There was, however, a gene that the scientists were not aware of until they issued the investigation of Jadeila's - or A5R6-C's - DNA.
They called it the TK gene. Apparently, the frozen carcass of the krawk was a mere carrier of it - which means, only one chromosome was TK positive, while the other dominant one was TK negative. When the flaw copied the recessive side, it also copied over the TK gene - giving Jadeila the full control of the physical world around her... and perhaps even more.
From: riccard@wyvern.fclt.gov
To: edison@wyvern.fct.gov
Subject: Key and Lock
Found something in CIL Unit. You were Subject's counselor, correct? Please report all information on "The Lock, the Key" as related to Subject.
From: edison@wyvern.fclt.gov
To: riccard@wyvern.fct.gov
Subject: RE: Key and Lock
The lock and the key was a strategy of hypnotic regression used to unlock Subject's subconscious. Results inconclusive. What did you find?
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