"We're fine," she'd said. "The kids are fine. School was delayed, that's all." She paused before continuing "are you coming home tonight? The kids would be pleased to see you." "Yes, maybe. I'll try meet up, I'm pretty swamped." Percy answered immediately "I'll catch up with you soon, Love you." He lowered the phone and exhaled, everything sounded fine but there was something amiss, something he couldn't quite put his finger on, or maybe he was just overthinking it because of the 'remark' from the board during their most recent meeting.
Percy straightened his coat and started walking back towards the mechanical door. The lab doors sealed behind him with a hiss. Inside, the air felt colder, Cleaner. They were rows of equipment, humming in controlled harmony, screens filled with cascading data, gene sequences overlaid with Awakener markers, compatibility curves rising and collapsing in real time. They weren't being called them experiments anymore, They called them "Constructs." Carefully constructed Awakeners DNA spliced with human DNA, stripped of the parts most likely to reject or mutate. They were limits being engineered in from the start. A Neural binding lattice was embedded at cellular level. Progress, Percy told himself as the early trials replayed in his mind whether he wanted them to or not. Subjects seizing on the table. Power surges that burned bodies from the inside out. Neural overloads that left nothing behind but stillness and a flatline.
Percy walked up to a pod, staring at it and inspecting it through the glass. Beyond it, a figure stood upright. Breathing steady, Heart rate stable, No visible tremors. The monitors confirmed what his eyes already knew…this one had held. The Awakener DNA had integrated cleanly, the man's DNA accepting the alterations instead of rejecting them. Another man in a lab coat approached quietly. "Ready for command testing." Percy kept his eye on the pod "NBL integration at 98%, that's as good as anything. open the Channel" the pods light dimly lit up, Percy spoke "subject C-01, can you hear me" the man in the pod woke up, breathing steadily, his chest heaving before answering "yes." "Describe how you feel", "I feel….normal, better". "Cognitive coherence intact" the man in the lab coat said. Percy nodded "Open the pod, initiate first directive" the pod hissed open as smoke escaped it. The man inside slim athletic build wearing only boxer briefs stepped out of the pod. "How do you feel now C01?" Percy asked again. "I feel….strong, like there's this pressure I can unleash" Some other doctors exchanged looks… "let's see what this pressure does" Percy spoke over the intercom. A reinforced target panel rose from the floor about fifteen meters away "Whenever you're ready," Percy said. The man took a breath and focused, The air around his hands shimmered faintly. Digital readings began to spike, meters rising. He extended one hand forward, A Purple concussive pulse erupted outward slamming into the target panel with a heavy crack, The impact dented the reinforced plating. "Again." The man extended his hand forward, shot out another pulse but this time it felt more powerful, the dent went deeper and the plating was beginning to crack. "That was stronger try reducing the output to a minimal," Percy added. "The first one was as minimal but I can try going lower" The man nodded and complied, releasing a lighter burst that scuffed the surface of the plating. Percy watched the metrics. The Awakener DNA had integrated cleanly, the man was stable. "Good control," Percy said, making a note. The man exhaled and lowered his arm. "So far, so good. Now for the second part." Percy said to himself before glancing over to one of the technician's who nodded and then flipped a switch. "Walk to the marker on your right," Percy said casually. The man glanced over and walked to it. "Turn." He turned "Face the observation window."He did, Percy decided to test something subtler "Whenever you feel ready," he said, "give me another discharge. Try Thirty percent" "That might destroy the entire plating." The man said almost hesitating. "That's acceptable."Percy nodded. The Energy gathered again but right before he released it, Percy gave a quiet secondary directive "Hold output for two seconds before discharge."even though it was quiet, the man was still be able to hear it subconsciously picking up the directive. the man paused mid-motion holding the charge steady longer than normal. Two seconds then he released it. The blast struck the target plating completely wiping it off the steel that held it up and kept traveling towards the walls before dissipating. The man lowered his hand. "That felt… delayed."Percy tilted his head. "In what way?" "I was going to fire immediately. But I adjusted" "Adaptability is good," Percy replied evenly "Step back to the center." Percy closed his tablet. "C-01….is successful" he said almost smiling. "Proceed with C-02 through C-07." After countless trials and errors, watching patients seize to death, implode, they had finally achieved it. The first successful "construct."
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[Neural binding Lattice, Nbl. The lattice works by taking the Commands issued through encoded signal bursts calibrated to the lattice's frequency and When received, the NBL synchronizes the Construct's higher cognitive functions with the directive. Making them/forcing them to obey because their neural network recognizes/ thinks of the order as default. Although the Lattice is a strong control but it can fail under some circumstances like if the construct experiences an extreme emotional trauma/clarity, prolonged exposure to electrical shocks/ charges, energy then they can handle, extremely moral conflicting directives or if a construct already has a different internal/split personality existing prior to having the lattice embedded]