It was important that they felt comfortable. Both with their surroundings and with him, because they decided how much funding he would be getting for the next five years.
Crucial years, he told himself. In reality all years had been crucial and only in the last ten had he actually made significant progress. Progress born from his many failures. He accepted those failures, was even proud of them, and when asked he would say that failure was an important step toward success. He really believed that, too.
He had much to show the people that were visiting him and his staff today. Things that would surprise them, might even scare them.
It was hard to imagine high-level government officials, generals, special agents, and presidential liaisons getting scared. He knew that those powerful men themselves would never expect it either, but they had never laid eyes on Specimen #8.
Dr. Greer checked his setup one last time. The projector; the white screen covering most of the wall behind him. His laptop, too, got one more look-through. Were all the files where he thought they were? How was his internet connection?
Lastly, he checked himself. Was he nervous? No, he wasn’t nervous. Excited, and very much aware of how important this presentation was. Not nervous, though. Dr. Greer knew that he had something that could change the course of his nation. That could protect them, if they just knew how to use it correctly.
The door opened and Maggie, his assistant, came walking through. She walked down the aisle and raised her hand to greet her superior.
“They’re here, doctor. Are you ready to receive them?”
“Of course, Maggie. Please show them inside.”
Maggie reached for the phone in her pocket and dialed a number. She put the phone to her ear and told the person on the other side of the line, “Dr. Greer is ready. Send them through.”
Then Maggie walked onstage and sat down behind the laptop. She would handle all the files that had to be opened so the doctor could focus on engaging his audience. Maggie, too, was astutely aware of what was at stake today.
Soon the small lecture hall filled up with twelve men. Some were in intimidating uniforms, their chests decorated with every award imaginable. Still others wore their usual business suits and, if you passed them on the street, you’d never give them a second look. Then there were those in casual clothes, as if somebody had kidnapped them during an early afternoon game of golf.
Dr. Greer welcomed them all warmly and watched as the men filled out the front row. He observed their stern faces that revealed absolutely no emotion. Still, he knew these weren’t strictly rational men. It would have been much easier if they had been rational men. No, their faces were so stern precisely because they tried so hard to hide the emotions hidden underneath.
When all were seated, Dr. Greer dimmed the lights with a small remote control he carried in his back pocket. Then he walked to the middle of the stage and began his presentation.
“Gentlemen. I will not insult you with senseless pleasantries and extensive greetings. I will, instead, dive right in so we may all maximize our time and energy. There is so much still to do, after all.
“As you are all aware, in the early 1960s government officials started documenting crimes and incidents that eluded all scientific or reasonable explanations. After extensive studies they concluded that the influence of psychic, or even supernatural, elements could no longer be excluded from government policies.
“We are, of course, all familiar with the Phillips incident in 1962, the Robinson crimes of 1971, and the events in Pittsburgh during the summer of 1995 that remain, as of yet, unexplained. There are many other cases that were far less prominent but have lent further credibility to the presence of the supernatural all the same.
“In 1975 we started a proactive approach toward these unexplained crimes and incidents. We reasoned that if supernatural elements could influence the safety of our nation, we should have a tool—or a weapon, if you will—to combat it.”
Dr. Greer turned sideways and gestured toward the white screen against the back of the wall. As he did so Maggie clicked on the first image file.
A collage of seven young girls showed up on the white screen. With each next child the quality of the small photograph got better.
“Based on the research of the late Dr. Roe, we started breeding our own psychics,” Dr. Greer said.
Maggie clicked on the next file and a big photograph with a crying baby showed up on the white screen. One researcher held it in the air as another injected the baby with an unidentifiable substance.
“Dr. Roe’s research suggested that early neurological growth was key to the development of psychic ability and so we injected all our specimens with several growth hormones that stimulated brain development at the earliest age. The child in this picture is two days old.
“Over the years, as we moved from subject to subject, the cocktail we used became more refined and far more potent, of course.”
Maggie clicked on the next picture and another collage appeared. The seven girls of the first file were lying in hospital beds. Some had their eyes closed; others were still aware of their surroundings. All of them looked deadly pale, however, and their bodies had been deformed, with large lumps growing from their necks and shoulders.
“Sadly, we learned that the ordinary human body is not capable of handling the potency of the cocktail we used. All the specimens developed amazing psychic abilities, but all of them also died from a cancer that we weren’t able to treat. They usually lasted no longer than two or three years.”
Maggie found the next file and clicked on it. Quickly the dying children were replaced by the image of a white laboratory room. It was filled with machinery so specialized that none of the visitors had any clue what they were looking at.
“In 1995 we had a breakthrough. We began to understand what kind of genetic makeup would be suitable to host the cocktail we’d injected the previous specimens with. The problem we faced was that no such makeup could be created from only two parents.
“And so we collected DNA from various leading scientists and world-renowned artists under the pretense of a different study. We told them that we were looking for genetic markers that could predict academic or creative talent.
“We started mixing up these DNA strands until we found the right combination. In the end it took as many as eight separate DNA samples to create the one specimen that we predicted could survive the cocktail.”
Maggie clicked on the next file and the image of a young girl appeared on-screen. Her eyes were dark and stood in strong contrast with the blonde hair on her head.
“This is Specimen #8. We created her right here, in this laboratory, and she is currently ten years old and very healthy.
“Specimen #8 has amazing psychic abilities, which we will demonstrate to you later during our presentation. She can both read minds and, very recently, has developed the ability to control them for very short amounts of time.
“Currently her intelligence can no longer be measured by any tool in existence but, of course, we can’t be sure if she’s truly so smart, or if she simply reads the mind of the person testing her to find the correct answers. We do know that we have educated her from the earliest age and that she currently possesses college-level knowledge on all subjects taught, including math, Latin, Greek, history, physics, biology, and chemistry. Recently she has expressed an interest in learning about philosophy.”
Maggie clicked on a video file and paused it immediately, making sure it wouldn’t run before Dr. Greer was ready.
“But of course, you gentlemen are interested primarily in her psychic abilities. Please run the video, Maggie,” he instructed.