Eve of Destruction (c) 
Chapter Five 
By Fiction Writer #13 
(nosex, sci-fi, paranormal)

Allen sat in respectful silence as his colleague and mentor continued to 
fill him in on the finer points of what he once believed was the product of 
an over-active imagination.  He'd begun this conversation with a closed 
mind, not wanting to even entertain the notion that any of it might be 
true, but the conviction and patience of Malcolm Whelan had softened 
his defenses.

There was another reason for Allen's turnabout... Eve.  Mal's pride and 
joy.  The end result of nearly sixty years of research and development.  
For Mal to ask Allen to keep her safe if something ever happened to him, 
well... it was not only a clear sign that Mal trusted and respected him, but 
that he seriously believed that the Council was rising up against him.

To add to Allen's worries, Mal had charged him with finding and keeping 
safe Eve's older brother, Robbie, who had been placed in hiding with the 
rest of his family for the past year.

Allen had been there the day the entire Davis family was brought in for 
testing. He always knew that Mal and his daughter Helen were once 
engaged in an incestuous relationship, he had even witnessed one of 
their many couplings by accident years earlier when he had visited 
Malcolm at home unannounced (Something he never repeated 
afterwards).  What he witnessed last year had stuck with him, though.

He had just received the results of the latest blood screenings.  Eve, 
then named Sarah, and Robbie had tested through the roof for the 
mysterious RBC Factor that had evaded both Mal and Mal's father, 
Christian, for years.  Allen rushed the results to Mal himself, not wanting 
anyone else to know the good news before he did.  He was in 
observation room five of the older research facility.  He was supposed to 
be alone, but he wasn't.

When the door opened he found the room dark, except for several 
monitors displaying different experimental rooms.  The light from the hall 
spilled inward, helping his eyes adjust enough to not only make out the 
distinct form of Mal, but that of Helen, Mal's little girl now all grown up.

Allen handed off the printout, electing to let Mal discover the good news 
for himself rather than tell him straight out.  As he waited for his friend to 
find the proper numbers, Allen allowed his eyes to drift down to the 
beautiful blonde seated before him.

Her hair hung like spun gold, covering her face but not her pleading blue 
eyes.  Her cheeks flushed red with a mixture of shame and arousal.  She 
glistened with sweat, not from the temperature of the room, but desire.  
Her chest rose and fell with each intake of breath, her heaving bosom 
clearly defined by the sun dress plastered against her tanned skin.  Each 
of her delicate wrists were bound tightly to the arms of the chair in which 
she was seated.  She was slumped down, the hem of her dress pulled 
up to her waist, her legs splayed wide open displaying the most delicious 
pink shaven pussy Allen had ever had the pleasure of viewing.

She mewled softly, not wanting anyone but her father to see her most 
private body part.  She tried to close her legs, to hide herself from Allen's 
burning gaze, but Mal stopped her.  He wanted Allen to see his daughter 
like this, more for her shame than for Allen's pleasure, but that didn't 
matter much to Allen.  He'd been given a gift on that day, he had 
glimpsed heaven.

After Mal found what he wanted to see he sent him back to inform the 
rest of his team that phase one had finally been completed.  The team 
barely had time to celebrate before they started preparing to execute the 
now infamous order 66.  The facility transformed into a buzzing beehive 
as soon as the order went out.  Everything had to be destroyed, the only 
things that would be allowed to leave the structure intact were the 
scientists and whatever information could be saved on memory cubes, 
nothing else.

Before Allen could leave Mal asked him to perform one last task for him; 
remove some old memories from his entire family and then replace them 
with ones that Mal had specifically created.  For Sarah, Mal asked for a 
full wipe before implanting the new memories.  Despite Allen's warnings 
against a full wipe, Mal insisted that he proceed with the MERI 
operation.

As soon as the operation had been completed, the family was taken by 
Jonathan and placed in their new home.  Sarah went with Mal to the new 
facility and was given the name Eve.  Mal had chosen it, and despite 
Jonathan's insistence that Mal chose that name as a half assed attempt 
at being funny by choosing a biblical name, Allen knew the true reason 
why she was named Eve.  Eve had been Mal's mother's name.  It was 
special to him.

Mal never knew his mother, she died while giving birth to him, but she 
had been a part of his life none the less.  She had been the first part of 
the RBC project, the keystone as Mal liked to say.  Without her 
willingness to become a test subject, they would not have Eve today.  
Though Allen still wasn't sure exactly how Eve fit into the wild tale that 
Mal was spinning, he was sure that she was special.

A lot had happened on that day almost a year ago, and even more had 
come to pass in the weeks that followed.  Through it all... through the 
move, the suspicion of being a traitor by the Council, the surprise 
promotion once his name was cleared, the rebuilding of his laboratory, 
and finally the mind bending events of today, one thing stayed with 
Allen.  That image of Helen... bound... frightened... exposed... and lust 
filled.  There was a wildness in her eyes.  She had the look of an animal 
cornered and ready to stand and fight despite being out numbered.

That was the last day that he saw Helen, but he'd seen those eyes 
again.  Only this morning they had belonged to her daughter Eve as she 
performed her little stunt.  Eve, the little girl who somehow fitted into this 
complicated puzzle of myth, legend, and fact.

'What is her part in all of this?' Allen wondered. 'Why is she so special?'

Mal had been speaking non-stop for close to twenty minutes since they 
returned to Eve's room.  There was so much to take in, so much to learn, 
or worse, re-learn.  Allen already felt lost in this new world of magic and 
monsters, Mal's words either passing completely over his head or 
through one ear and out the other.

Some of it did sink in, or at least the basics had.  There really was no 
such thing as magic, at least not of the hocus-pocus allah-kazam variety 
that rendered the laws of physics useless.  You couldn't just will 
something into existence.  It didn't work that way, even if it looked like it 
did.

There was an energy field, much like gravity, magnetism, and electricity 
that made what most referred to as magic possible.  The Ether.  It was 
all around, everywhere and nowhere at the same time.  It flows like 
water through everything and everyone.  It is the spark of life, the trigger 
for the big bang, the missing component in String Theory, the birthplace 
of dreams, the truth of dark matter, and the explanation for all things 
occult.

Early on in human evolution, mankind developed a natural ability to tap 
into this Ether.  It was our edge over the other animals fighting for 
dominance.  Our abilities were rather limited then, restricted by our lack 
of knowledge, but they were invaluable tools for our survival in a world 
full of danger.

To be able to sense an approaching storm long before the first lightning 
strike, or preternatural ability to feel fear before a predator attacked.  To 
communicate without words, though rudimentary at best, an ability that 
allowed us to work together towards common goals.  A minor telekinesis 
helped hunters to guide thrown stones to their targets.  These talents, 
barely controlled by our still evolving brains, helped us to reach the next 
level of growth for our species.

Unfortunately, this next level no longer required us to hone these skills.  
Logic slowly replaced the need for them.  We evolved down a path of 
technology rather than psionics.

All was not lost, though.  We still retain the capability to tap into the 
Ether, to use our minds as a conduit for it, but the innate ability of our 
ancestors has gone.  Every once in a while a rare child is born with 
some of these abilities still switched on.  Not so surprising when you 
consider that some children are born with vestigial tails, and we all are 
born with an appendix, an organ that is of no use to us today.  It's just 
rare.  Extremely rare.

Mal went on to explain that the Ether doesn't exist in just one moment in 
time, like we do, but is connected to all time.  Those who claim to see 
the future or re-live events of the past are simply tapping into this aspect.  
Unfortunately the currents of the Ether can sometimes grow murky, the 
lines of time crossing and weaving, dividing and fusing, until what is 
seen can only be described as a possibility and not an absolute vision of 
what is to come.  The more distant a time you seek from your own, the 
less reliable the vision becomes.

The Ether exists everywhere at once.  Those who know how can 
psychically 'ride' these currents and use them to travel outside of their 
physical bodies.  There are dangers associated with leaving your body 
behind, of course.  You could become lost in the currents, or cut off from 
your body, dying in the physical world while floating in the Ether can trap 
you there forever.

For many this is their goal.  Yogi, Buddhist Monks and Transcendentalist 
all seek to achieve a meditative state that will lead to nirvana.  Becoming 
one with the Ether will in a sense make them one with the universe, but 
only if they allow themselves to let go of what they once were.

The Ether does not care whether or not you are a good individual or that 
you have lived your life a certain way, but it does seek balance, much 
like cold and hot water mix and find an average temperature.  As a spirit 
drifts through the Ethereal Plane, it is purer and denser than the 
surrounding Ether, so to balance these differences a spirit is pulled and 
tugged, layers are eroded over time, and eventually the spirit and the 
Ether are no longer discernable from one another.

These psychic forces can be resisted for short jaunts, but longer stays 
become exponentially more dangerous.  Resisting the Ether's influence 
for too long can corrupt the spirit of an individual, turning them and 
twisting them into something that can no longer be described as human.  
These beings are trapped between the Physical Realm and the Ethereal 
Plane.  We know them as ghosts, entities, spirits, or even poltergeists.

It was at this point in the conversation that Mal suddenly went silent.  
Allen, thinking that Mal had paused for some dramatic effect, waited 
patiently for Mal to continue.  Instead of speaking, Mal instead stood up 
from his child sized chair and tilted his head to the side, much like a dog 
does when it hears something perplexing.

"Excuse me for a minute, Allen." Mal moved to open the bedroom door. 
"I have to check on Eve."

"No problem." Allen picked up a fallen teddy bear. "I'll be right here." 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Eve?  Are you okay in there?"

She barely got the shower door closed behind her when her 
grandfather's voice echoed into the bathroom.  She could see him 
leaning in through the doorway through the frosted glass.  The bathroom 
door was never locked, one of her grandfather's many rules.  It was 
mostly for safety reasons, but sometimes he liked to join Eve while she 
showered.

"I'm okay," she called back to him over the thundering spray of the 
shower. "Is something wrong?"

"No sweetie.  It's just that you've been in here for an awfully long time."

"Really?"

"Close to an hour now."

"Wow!" she feigned surprise. "I had no idea."

"Eve?  Why is the floor all wet?"

'Darn it!' she thought to herself, her heart racing. 'I'm caught!  He knows!'

"Eve?"

Again he called.  She needed an explanation, and quick. "Yes, 
Grandpa?"

"I asked you a question, young lady."

"Sorry... I ah... didn't hear you," she lied to buy just a bit more time to 
think.

"The floor.  It's all wet.  I asked you why?"

"Oh!" she exclaimed as if hearing him for the first time. "I uh, left my uh, 
hair conditioner on the sink, so I hadda get out an grab it.  Sorry about 
the floor, I'll dry it when I get out."

She waited nervously to see if he bought her lie, her teeth digging into 
her lower lip hard.  It wasn't a very good lie, the floor must have been 
soaked from her sitting on it while dripping.

"Don't stay in too much longer, you have an appointment with Dr. Paul."

"Okay, Grampa," she called, hardly able to keep the relief out of her 
voice. "I'm gettin' all pruney anyway."

As the door closed her heart started beating again. 'He bought it!' She 
nearly jumped up and down for joy. 'He actually bought it!'

Eve hurried and actually took the shower that she had lied about, 
making sure to condition her hair just in case he decided to do a spot 
check.  She didn't much mind that her connection to Dr. Reed had been 
broken.  They hadn't said much that she didn't already know about, but 
the stuff about her family, and especially her brother, had her brain 
reeling with questions. 'I've got to find out more.  Why didn't he tell me 
about them?' she wondered. 'Maybe Dr. Paul could help me.'

Dr. Paul was one of her 'special' teachers that her grandfather had 
introduced her to.  Eve liked Dr. Paul because he didn't dress or act like 
the other doctors.  He was quiet to the point of being shy, but friendly, at 
least with Eve.  His choice of clothing drew stares from everyone, but 
Eve liked his multi-colored flowing robes.  She even liked the fact that he 
refused to wear shoes, his bare feet making the same slapping sounds 
as her own did on the tiled floor.

Dr. Paul knew a lot about the Ether, especially stuff about floating in it.  
He taught her how to do it herself, but wouldn't let her leave the room 
even though she had wanted to.  Eve liked floating more than anything 
else she had learned.  It made her feel like she was free.  Free to go 
where ever she wanted to go, whenever she wanted to go.

Dr. Paul had warned her about travelling through the Ether, not only 
about the dangers of becoming lost, but of the many different wards and 
spells used to trap or keep out unwanted visitors.  The entire base was 
filled with such things, making it unsafe for her to travel without Dr. Paul 
to guide her.

A quick rinse and a frenzied towel dry ended her extended shower 
session. "Oh, darn!" She stopped herself just as her hand touched the 
door. "The stupid floor."  She dried the floor with more patience than she 
had dried herself.  She didn't want her grampa to bring up the mess 
again, she was sure that he would figure out what she had really been 
up to if he did. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Allen watched as Mal re-entered the room.  He was shaking his head.

"Something wrong?" Allen asked.

"What?" Mal's head snapped up as if he had forgotten that Allen was still 
in the room. "Oh!  Oh no... no, just Eve.  I think she's up to something."

Allen offered his friend a small smile. "Nothing bad, I hope."

"No.  At least I hope not." Mal sat with a sigh. "She can be a lot to handle 
at times."

Allen smiled a bigger smile. "Mal, I've seen you go toe to toe with some 
of the biggest ego's and stubborn minds of the scientific community, not 
to mention the battles you've raged to keep the project moving forward.  
Are you telling me that an eleven year old girl has bested you?"

Now it was Mal's turn to smile. "You've never had kids, have you?"

"No time," Allen answered almost proudly. "Too much work to be done."

Mal shook his head but kept his smile. "Then you, my friend, have 
missed out.  Nothing tests your mettle more than a child does."

"I'll have to take your word on that Mal."

The sly smile left Mal's face for a moment. "If something should happen 
to me, you'll get your chance."

Allen was about to say something, what, he had no idea, but he didn't 
get a chance.  Eve bounced into her room with an armful of shower 
products which she quickly deposited on a shelf. "Sorry for interrupting, 
but I gotta get going."

"No problem, sweetie, Allen and I were about to head out ourselves." 
Mal stood and Allen promptly joined him. "Tell Dr. Paul that I said hello."

"Okay." Eve turned and started to leave the room. "Bye, Dr. Reed, bye 
Grampa!"

Mal called after her quickly retreating bum, "No shortcuts, Eve."

"Aw man!  You mean I have to walk all the way around?" she grumbled 
from out of Allen's sight.

"Exactly, no passing through walls.  You know how dangerous that is." 
Mal stared starkly at her.

"But that will take forever!" Her voice filled with a whiny quality.  Allen 
imagined that she was pouting her lips at Mal from the other side of the 
door.

"I mean it, Eve.  I don't want you getting hurt again because you didn't 
listen to me."

"Fine.  No shortcuts!" and she stomped off.

Mal turned back to face Allen. "See what I mean.  Kids will always 
challenge you.  Test their limitations.  You have to keep an eye on 
them."

"What did you mean about her getting hurt?" Allen asked, trying to divert 
the conversation from returning to that awkward moment.

"Oh, that?" Mal motioned with his hand for Allen to follow him out of the 
room. "There are limits to what she can do.  At least for now there are."

"So, what happened?" he asked as they moved through the living room 
area and back into Mal's office.

"She got stuck." Mal suddenly stopped and leaned in to inspect Allen's 
ID. "What level clearance are you?"

"Uh... B-2."

"Nope." Mal reached out and snatched the laminated card from Allen's 
shirt pocket. "That won't do at all."

Mal moved over behind his desk and fitted Allen's card into a slot next to 
his computer.  His fingers began dancing on the keyboard in a rapid 
staccato. "Last month Eve tried to take a shortcut through a wall to get to 
a class that she was late for.  Turns out that wall was five feet thick, two 
feet thicker than the one she passed through earlier today.  Apparently 
her limit for shifting her atoms through a solid object is three feet, one 
inch."

With a bit of dramatic flare, Mal stabbed the enter key and Allen's card 
spat out of the slot. "To make a long story short... she got stuck.  It took 
three magi four hours to pull her out intact.  Hurt her like hell, too."

Mal handed the plastic card with Allen's likeness on it back to him. 
"There now, that's much better."

"What did you just do?" Allen took the still machine warm card and re-
clipped it to his breast pocket.

"You now have level A-3 clearance." Mal stood and headed out, leaving 
a stunned man standing alone in his office. "Come with me, I have a lot 
to show you."

"Mal, I..." Allen hurried to rejoin him in the corridor. "Mal, I... you 
shouldn't have just... Mal, wait!"

Mal stopped and turned.

Allen fumbled for the right words. "You, I... Damn it, Mal!  You know I 
shouldn't have this level of clearance," he finished in a harsh whisper.

"Relax, Allen." Mal put a hand on his shoulder. "We're on lock down, no 
one is getting out of here anytime soon.  Maybe not ever again, 
depending on what the Council is up to.  Clearance at this point is 
irrelevant.  Besides, I'll be damned if I have to take the long way around 
this fucking building just so that you can get to where we're going."

Allen relaxed. "Alright... then why didn't you give me A-1 status?"

Mal smiled. "Hey, even I don't have A-1 clearance.  Just be happy with 
what you got and let's get moving."

The two men moved down the corridor, passing by several guard 
stations without even pausing to show ID.  Higher clearance definitely 
had its advantages.



Continued in Chapter Six....


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Eve5