[RESTRICTED] - Project Thalatte

[A/)- The Inner Phalanx]

---

“You’ll need to change into a medical gown.” A hooded figure had said, speaking through a voice modulator.

“Oh. That makes sense.” Replied Keeper Raven, as the pair passed through a set of doors into a medical bay.

The two came face to face with an abnormally tall man, who kept a cane in his hand. Around them, sets of pod-like beds with automated medical equipment filled the room to the far wall. Two turrets hung from the corners of the ceiling, opposite one another to cover the entirety of the room. The bright white lights cast few shadows in the medbay. The man examined the two closely, placing a finger on his chin as he did. He nodded, and slowly limped his way to the side, retrieving a white medical gown. He returned, using his cane to steady himself as he moved back towards the two. He reached his hand out towards Sapphire, offering her the gown.

“Here you are, Keeper. There is an isolation room at the far wall where you might change in private.” He turned his shoulders and pointed at a metallic sliding door in the corner.

“R-right… Uhm…” Raven nodded and looked over at the Curator. The hooded figure nodded slightly, and placed a hand on her shoulder. Sapphire let out a sigh, and stepped past Michael Glass. She headed over to the door and stepped inside the isolation room. She began to strip down and set aside her clothes, dawning the medical gown and tying it to hold it in place, to prevent it from parting in the rear. She opened the door once again and cautiously approached the two near the end of the medbay. Glass had turned to face her, adjusting his cane to support himself.

“The procedure is entirely automated by the medical equipment in each pod. The automated doctor will handle the application of the anesthetic, as well as the sample retrieval for the project.” He gestured slowly towards a nearby bed, waving his hand outwards. “All you have to do is lay down. You won’t remember the procedure, and the two hours that follow it, due to the nature of the anesthetic. The Curator will remain by your side the entire time.” He returned both hands to his cane and looked at her. Raven looked between the bed, the Curator, and Michael. She nervously crawled onto the bed and layed down flat on her back. The pod closed around her, and she shut her eyes tightly. The Curator approached the pod and placed an armored hand on the glass. The machinery began to work, placing heart sensors and other wires across her body. A needle inserted itself into her arm after spraying isopropyl over the vein. Raven slowly began to lose consciousness.

The automated machinery worked through the hours without a break, as an ultrasound-guided needle collected samples from the Keeper. Michael had withdrawn himself from the room, while the Curator remained and observed throughout the entire procedure. The sample was put into a containment canister, and detached from the automated doctor. A set of drones appeared and retrieved it, taking it out of the medbay to Cold Storage. The machinery whizzed to a stop, withdrawing the needles and sterilizing them. The sensors monitored Sapphire’s vitals for a while, as she lay still across the bed inside the pod. She remained that way for an hour more, a steady heartbeat and no sign of vital changes. The Curator had stepped over to the isolation room. He collected her belongings and clothing, bringing them out to the medbay. The pod opened up shortly after he returned, disconnecting the monitor equipment. Raven had awoken, slowly sitting upright on the bed. She rubbed her head and groaned.

“Urrgh... I… Head.” She said, softly, looking around the medbay. She stood up, wobbling around before catching herself on the bed. The Curator walked over and locked his arm with hers, supporting her weight. Her clothing was balled up on his other side. He slowly began to guide her from the bed to the doors. Michael waited outside, looking around at the security personnel. The doors opened, and the two slowly moved out. The Curator eyed Michael through his helmet, and they nodded. Glass returned to the medbay, the door closing behind him.

The two shuffled their way carefully through the halls of the Eidolon Wraith, passing many soldiers. The halls were dark and dimly lit. Raven had begun to put more and more of her weight onto the Curator. She slowly looked around, dazed from the procedure and blissfully unaware of what had happened only minutes prior. They arrived to a door, and the Curator pushed it open, guiding her through it into their quarters. He lead her through the entrance to the bedroom and set her belongings aside. He helped her into bed and removed her medical gown, balling it up and tossing it into the nearby bin. He covered her with the blanket.

“Get some rest, I’ll keep an eye on things.” He said, tucking her in. She weakly nodded and shut her eyes. He immediately began collecting her clothing and returning it to the closet. He removed a bathrobe and set it near the bed on the end table. He looked down at her and smiled under his helmet. He adjusted his cloak and headed into the main room of their quarters. He sat himself on one of the couches and looked around. He removed his datapad from his belt and read through it. An hour had passed, and he returned to the bedroom. He checked on Raven once again, who was sound asleep. He left the room and returned to the medbay. Michael was waiting for him.

“Now it’s your turn. Use the isolation room. There’s a container present.” Glass said, gesturing to the door at the opposite end of the medbay. Michael stepped aside as the hooded man swiftly moved past for the door. He stepped inside and closed it behind him. Michael began scrolling through a datapad, reading a document titled ‘Thalatte’. There were numbers, graphs, and paragraphs of writing on his screen. He continued to scroll for fifteen minutes, before a single guard entered the medical bay and approached him. Glass looked over at the isolation room briefly, then lowered the datapad and looked at the guard. The guard appeared to be more machine the man, clad in black armor and armed with a strange rifle.

“You’ve been cleared to enter Zeta section to monitor the first phase under escort.” The guard offered Michael a small card. “This will get you through the checkpoints and your bioscan was added to the security screening process for the turrets. Four guards will accompany you to the lab.” Michael took the card and attached it to his belt. He nodded to the guard. “I don’t think so much security is necessary for someone in my condition.” He chuckled lightly, yet the guard appeared unamused. He silently turned and left the medical bay, leaving Glass alone. Glass returned to reading through the document. Nearing the top of the hour, the Curator emerged from the isolation room with a container. He handed it to Michael and left, swiftly and silently returning to his quarters to check on the Keeper once more. Michael handed the container to a nearby drone, which carried it off to cold storage. Glass scrolled through the document and looked around the medical bay. He let out a sigh and began to limp out to his room, the doors closing behind him.

Meanwhile, the Curator had returned to his and the Keeper’s quarters. He stood in the bedroom near a wardrobe. He disconnected his cloak from his belt, and removed it, revealing his armor in full light. He raised his wrist, typing into a miniature keypad. A holographic display was projected above the small wrist-mounted console. He continued to type, disengaging the armor lock. The display vanished, and he outstretched his arms to the side. His armor began to open, unfolding and moving. He stepped out of the husk, wearing a plain gray jumpsuit. He looked around, rubbing his chin slightly. Joshua Hunt, clear of his disguise, picked up his cloak and set it on the wardrobe. He looked back over at the bed, briefly smiling. He continued to examine his armor and put his equipment away. Finally finished, he unzipped his jumpsuit and opened the wardrobe, folding it neatly and placing it inside. There were very few articles of clothing inside. Some fatigues, several suits, and a jacket. Stood in an undershirt and boxers, he walked over to the bed and crawled under the covers, slipping off into sleep.

The next day started early for Michael. He carefully lifted himself out of his bunk, trying to avoid harming himself. The pressures of living with Osteogenesis Imperfecta had made this life difficult for him. He reached out for his cane and used it to support himself as he stood. He navigated his way to the door, yawning. It was seven in the morning. Passing through the door to the hall, he came face to face with four guards, who saluted all at once. Glass was surprised, and jumped slightly. He looked at the four men with their rifles and armor, then looked both directions in the hallway.

“You’re to be escorted to Zeta Section for the first phase.” One of the soldiers said. Glass, still groggy from his sleep, nodded slowly, and stepped into the hall. The soldiers surrounded him, and guided him through several checkpoints, past many turrets and patrols, to a set of doors deep within the Eidolon Wraith. Two more guards stood outside, along with two turrets which hung above their heads. Two of his escorts saluted once more, and began to patrol the halls. Michael was slightly frightened. He slowly approached the door and held up his card to the guards. They nodded, and the door opened. The two remaining escorts followed him inside, and stood guard at the door. Four more turrets were visible within the room, along with a rather peculiar sight. On both sides of the narrow, grated-floor chamber, were five identical liquid filled tanks, each with two letters and a number labeled clear across them. Glass stepped onto the grated floor and looked down. It connected to the sewage system. He approached the first tank on his left and looked through it, placing a hand on the glass as he supported himself on his cane. The lighting was much different than that of the hallways. The various tubes running into the tank pumped liquid through filters, yet were sitting still and silent. Michael examined the label.

“ZZ-0005…” He said to himself. Each tank was numbered and identical. At the far end of the room, some strange medical equipment, and a console were visible. The medical equipment had several equal sized needles, a cold storage unit, and various containers. Drones awaited in their charge bays. A smaller section of the machinery was labeled ‘Treatment’. More needles were present. Glass limped his way over to the console and examined the holo-display. The top read in bold ‘READY’, with individual and overall readouts of the tanks. A set of controls and a second datapad was present on the console. Michael looked around and sat himself in the console’s chair. He set his cane to the side and began to type. The machinery whirred to life, as the top read ‘WORKING. ICSI IN PROGRESS…” The needles and machinery began to work with the cold storage unit, as the collected samples were combined at the medical station. The combined samples were then moved to a monitoring sensor, where they remained for several hours. Glass examined the console for that time, reading through the datapad. He typed into the console, preparing the next station for its part in the process. As the hours went by, A guard entered the lab with a tray of food, and offered it to Michael. Glass nodded and thanked the man, taking the tray and grabbing a fork. He began to eat as he read, waiting patiently.

An hour after lunch, the console beeped. The monitoring station showed successful fertilization. Glass set the datapad aside and wheeled himself over to the console, typing in the next command line. The drones powered up and moved the samples as the machine whirred to life. Each sample was tampered with by a needle, adding some sort of liquid to the embryo. The console read this as ‘Growth Supplement 01. Infantile.’ The final stage of the first phase was underway, and Michael sat by to observe. Several minutes had passed, and the drones moved each embryo to their respected tanks. The pumps became active, adding nutrient liquids, hormones and other supplements to the tanks, as sensors began to scan for the small cells, to keep track of their positioning within the saline-like gel.

Project Thalatte had begun.

---

Project log: 001 Doctor Michael Glass

---

Saturday, April 23rd, 823 A.S. 16:30

Eidolon Wraith Zeta Section.

Keeper Sapphire Raven arrived in the medbay and submitted to anesthetic for the IVF sample extraction. She was accompanied by Curator Endurance, who revealed himself to be male. Under discretionary protocol, I was sworn in to oversee what is being dubbed Project “Thalatte” by the Keeper and Curator. This project is of the highest levels of security, due to it’s sensitive human rights nature, and the dangers that can follow.

The Curator was silent, as I had come to recognize from him. He remained at Keeper Raven’s side while she was rendered unconscious for the process. He didn’t move, or breathe. His helmet covered any signs of facial expression. The automated doctor equipment began the ultrasound-guided needle insertion at 17:15. The sample was extracted and immediately delivered to cold storage for preservation. There were no complications. The Keeper had awoken at 19:30, and like many under anesthetic, suffered from minor disorientation. The Curator collected her belongings and articles of clothing, and escorted the Keeper to her quarters.

Thirty-thousand was the sample number. A follow-up scan will be required to determine any lasting effects.

At 21:10, The Curator returned to the medbay alone, and as instructed, entered an isolation room for sample collection. At 21:50, I was handed the Curator’s sample. Without exchanging words, the Curator left once more. His sample was sent to cold storage for preservation.

---

Sunday, April 24th, 823 A.S 07:00

I was given access to an unmarked room within Zeta Section for the beginning setup stage of Thalatte. Under escort of four guards, I arrived to a room with ten identical liquid filled glass tubes, reaching eight feet in height. There were wires, sensors and hoses connecting to each in a similar fashion. The floor had been modified. A grated floor that likely lead to the sewage system for the flushing process. Five on either side of the room, with a set of consoles at the far wall, next to another automated doctor. A cold storage containment unit was connected to it. Two guards, and some automated turrets, sat outside. Two guards and four turrets were inside. They appeared unphased with the project. This works in our favor of secrecy.

At 08:00 hours, the ICSI process had begun. The automated doctor began injecting the eggs with the provided sample from the Curator into individual dishes. The dishes were moved by drones to monitoring and treatment stations outside their respective tanks. Each tank had a label for the individual Zeta-Zeta tank breeds:

ZZ-0001
ZZ-0002
ZZ-0003
ZZ-0004
ZZ-0005
ZZ-0006
ZZ-0007
ZZ-0008
ZZ-0009
ZZ-0010

The document identifies this phase as “The First Ten”. The testing ground for the theory of breeding and modifying a line of soldiers using collected samples from Keeper Raven, and Curator Endurance. Success would mean the project would have an increased need for production. Failure results in termination and re-evaluation. The samples return to cold storage until otherwise needed.

At 13:30, the embryos began to show signs of fertilization, and received their first growth treatment. Each was then placed inside the tank, to be fed nutrients, hormones, and growth stimulation to accelerate the process. Estimated time of gender identification is three weeks. The tank-breed will visually appear one years of age. This marks the point of programming, hormone and genetic modification to begin. The process of excess correlation is used to transmit knowledge into the tank-breed’s mind. Imprinting them with the training, skills, and basic survival knowledge to operate normally within the sector.

The ambition behind this project is astounding, but success will pave the way to the breeding of a perfect army.

---