Progress is a difficult word to define. There is a general definition that is easy to settle on; progress is forward movement, betterment, advancement. But progress to some, may look like something else entirely to others.
The progress of the human race on Earth is an undeniable thing; we have gone from dwelling in caves to traveling the world using devices we carry around and regularly dispose and replace. The big history of humanity is a very clear story of steady progress that sees us living longer and contemplating the exploration of other planets.
But the real history, the relative history of humans since the formation of modern countries and the defining of races and ethnicities, is much more of a subjective matter.
What does it mean to be dedicated to the progress of humanity?
The US Consortium of Human History Southeast Branch, now known as Consortium Zone: South, or the CZS for short, believes that the progress of humanity can only be realized if humanity conquers the universe. There was a time when this seemed like a relatively easy task. Humanity need only develop the technology to travel the stars and if that could be accomplished, then humanity will have achieved real progress and continued the advancement that began when they first stood upright. But the universe is bigger than we know and it has proven difficult to dominate.
The CZS as an affiliate has not been involved with space travel, but the parent organization, the Consortium of Human History, has affiliate organizations that have been exploring space for decades. The original founders of the Consortium encountered alien life many centuries ago and their loose association has allowed those involved with the organization to benefit from the resources available to those who made close connections with the aliens.
Though the CZS is not an exploration wing of the Consortium, they are the research facility responsible for analyzing samples gathered by explorers of the universe. They recently acquired a gel that was manufactured on a distant planet and is used to heal the wounds of the inhabitants of the planet, though it seems that the gel is capable of completely resurrecting a human to life from death. This is an astounding development and the leader of the CZS, Dr. Roy Worthington has been sitting on this information since he successfully resurrected a man to life, who left the facility before he could study the man.
But all of that is preamble to the relevant tale, the story of the rebranding of the CZS, formerly known as the Southeast Branch of the Consortium of Human History.
It has a storied history. Among it’s former directors is Dr. Samuel Davenport, author of the First People. In it’s early days, the Southeast branch of the Consortium was established to soak up the eugenics research that was so prominent in the American south, as evidenced by the known sterilization programs in the area’s past and other unknown research endeavors. The Consortium had long been aware of the legend of the First People, and the eugenicists of the American south had unknowingly happened upon truths about the differences in mankind, though their classifications proved to be superficial. The white supremacist attitude of the Branch was slow to die away, but it is safe to say that the current director the Southeast Branch, Dr. Worthington is not a white supremacist. He recognizes that all races of humanity have the potential to have First People DNA, and he does not believe in the superiority of any particular human race, though he is of the mind that First People descendants are a special breed of human.
Dr. Worthington and the top medical advisors and doctors of the Southeast Branch met for an urgent meaning. Just the day before, a man had escaped and Worthington gathered every relevant figure of the branch together to discuss the repercussions.
He was stern with the gathered professionals. Worthington talked in his booming voice that filled the room and made many nervous.
“I’m trying to understand how a man, a patient can just walk out of the building. I reviewed security footage and I saw him just walk out…” But he was interrupted by the head of security.
“With all due respect,” the old man said, “everyone that encountered this man you’re talking about let him walk out, including yourself.”
Worthington was noticeably frustrated and his face blushed a deep red.
“Security had a job to do and they didn’t do it. It’s as simple as that. There are protocols to release patients that weren’t followed…”
“By anyone,” the head of security interjected.
“…and we need to develop a new system to ensure this can’t happen again.”
“Why did you let him leave your observation in the first place? Wasn’t he with your people?” Someone else asked.
“He left with a woman who is not employed by our facility and we are studying the situation to determine exactly what transpired and why, but we believe there are factors at play here that security never planned for.”
The head of security scoffed loudly, “You got all these people together to criticize my work? We can do this in private…”
“There are factors at play that no one here could have possibly planned for,” Worthington said, exasperated and hoping to calm the head of security. “I believe that many who encountered this man and the woman who left with him were controlled somehow. The man or the woman were able to influence the will and actions of everyone they encountered. We think it was likely the man but we are looking into it.”
“What makes you think he could do something like that? And if that was a possibility, why wasn’t I made aware when this patient arrived?” The head of security was feeling very self conscious.
“Because this man arrived to the facility in a body bag. I was able to restore his life and even though I can’t imagine why it would be true, there is some chance that the man now has the power to control the will of others.”
Many of the scientists and doctors in the room stared at Worthington with awe in their eyes, some applauded; they knew that he would not lie about a successful experiment to raise a dead person back to life. Under the direction of Dr. Worthington, the Southeast Branch has dedicated many resources to the artificial creation of human beings, and various means of controlling the will of human beings on a large scale. They had experimented with zombification as a means of genocide as well as a source for mind controlled soldiers to field an army. Worthington and his doctors could easily kill whole communities and use them to attack whomever they desired; they would have been able to do just that at the apartment complex where they did experiments in the field if not for the intervention of a group of young people with extraordinary abilities.
Worthington became fascinated with the dead and he wrote a book to clarify his theories about resurrection and the way to achieve the result in a true sense, where a person who had lost their life was revived to the state they enjoyed before death. Despite the mess that his experiments had caused in the public, it was all relatively easy for the Consortium to cover it up, and the display had proved to the organization that Worthington could deliver them a massive army of powerful monsters in a relatively short amount of time. He was rewarded with the gel that he used for the resurrection; it had been acquired by human explorers in space and he was eager to put it to use. He hadn’t anticipated the trouble he faced and he was eager to upgrade security as much as possible so that they had a hope of recapturing the man and woman who had escaped.
“It is also possible that it was the woman, and if this is the case,”Worthington said, “then we have to prepare ourselves for the possibility that she was sent here to steal our secrets by a man, Dr. Thomas Eakran, who I previously believed to be a friend. Full disclosure, Dr. Eakran and his Institute for Brain Function are targets for recruitment that the Consortium had been pursuing for a while. We will beef up security here while our superiors look into the matter.”
Worthington wanted to study the man he had resurrected. He ached to understand the mysteries he must have encountered, but it was time to lock the Branch down and prepare for the possibility that the enigmatic Dr. Eakran was his enemy and was trying to steal his science.
PRL Serials 