Dr. Soren's Message

Fractal patterns twist out of the black background, covering the monitor in an intricate web of color. It is a code, operating according to some insane logic. Reducing these images back to their mathematical formula will be nearly impossible - and then to get meaning from numbers and calculations... what could possibly be the purpose of such a complex code?

After precisely 6 hours of aggravating attempts to make headway with the puzzle a telepathic recording is unlocked. It speaks directly into Rei's mind one time only and then it never triggers again. Try as she might Rei cannot seem to find or recover the source of the recording. The fractal patterns continue their hypnotic dance uninterrupted.

crackle... hiss... Unbelievable potential... Nothing like it in the history of genetic sciences...

The voice is unfamiliar. A young cheldrun man, with an edge in his tone like he is intoxicated or perhaps sleep deprived.

Ladies and gentlemen of the Council, I am convinced that this represents a step forward for our experiment an order of magnitude greater than anything attempted in hundreds of years. If you will have the courage to fund this project, you will not be disappointed with the results, which at a conservative estimate will produce dividends of 10 to 15 times your investment within the first generation...

The recording is broken. The voice keeps getting cut off.

...There have been setbacks. Nothing serious... we'll need more money... No! We should have counted on there being obstacles to overcome. This isn't unusual. All advancement comes with a cost... You don't understand how important this is... You can't cancel the project, it's too important... hiss... crackle

The recording is silent for a short while, then it resumes, much clearer this time. The voice speaking is that of Dr. Soren.

What you have been listening to is the voice of your creator Rei. His name is Inase Spark. It is probable that he is the greatest intellect our species has ever produced. Unfortunately, great minds are often unstable as proved to be the case with him. He conceived of a project, the history of which is now rather murky. It was called Project Scion. Partly because of Spark's descent into madness and subsequent disappearance, partly because of a disastrous fire at the original laboratory, and partly because of intentional obfuscation by those who funded and oversaw the project, there isn't much I am able to tell you about what Project Scion was.

This much I know. Inase Spark was convinced he had discovered something that would lead to a completely new era for the Cheldrun. His techniques were eccentric, scientifically dubious, and dangerous. He produced many prototypes which completely failed before you. Yes Rei, you are not the first. Actually you are the last. Project Scion was deemed too expensive to continue funding. Whether Spark intentionally started the fire which destroyed his lab we will probably never know, but the whole thing ended in a horrible mess.

You were but an infant at the time I plucked you from the flames. The lone surviving prototype of Project Scion, like the others you had many defects, but unlike the others you were biologically stable. At the direction of the Biomade Oversight Council, and with funding generously supplied by Goshi Mining Corp, I went into service with Dr. Aliya Pain a talented geneticist to see if we couldn't unlock the secrets in your DNA to what it was Inase Spark had been trying to achieve. We learned a great deal. We were even able to reproduce some of his techniques to develop your siblings, who by and large are much more stable than you. Perhaps this is because we resolved the flaws in his method, or perhaps this is because we do not correctly perceive what he was trying to achieve.

In essence his technique involved a kind of gene therapy in an early embryonic stage using the energy from a substance known as White Rock. We do not really know what this is intended to accomplish, thus we used varying amounts of this energy in your siblings trying to learn the difference. The least energy was employed in Malicious, the most in Nero. Aimi represents a hypothetical perfect balance, but who knows whether we are correct or whether this technique is likely to accomplish what Inase Spark set out to do. There is simply too much conjecture in everything I and Mama Pain have done.

Mama Pain grew increasingly obsessed with discovering what Inase Spark was after as you developed and showed no sign of a stable self. She pored over these files, what remains of Spark's journal, attempting to break the code, but never succeeded. Frankly, I'm not sure there is anything meaningful in here. In his last days Spark kept raving about a "Godstone" and the "Blood of the Scion" showing up in "reddened eyes". The magnificent intellect that had once been his had clearly deteriorated beyond recognition. Even if this is some kind of code as Mama Pain believes, then it may point you to nothing but smoke and fairy dust.

There are two more question I must answer, for my conscience if for no other reason. Why am I telling you this now? and Why did I not tell you this before? The answer to the second question is unfortunately very simple: in the eyes of the Biomade Oversight Council Project Scion never happened. Inase Spark after a brief, but brilliant publishing career simply burned out and retired to a small village somewhere. No one is ever to know that it was attempted. Why I do not know, but it has been made very clear to me that sharing this information with anyone would be forfeiting my life. In fact, I fear by the time you are hearing this that I am already beyond help. That is why I did not tell you before. It is no excuse, but it is the truth.

Why am I telling you now? Because I believe it is necessary for your survival. Recently Nero discovered, by threatening Mama Pain, the existence of Project Scion. He came to a conclusion we had never considered - that locked in your brain, which hadn't learned to filter outside thoughts would be the thoughts of Inase Spark from the brief time of your infancy before the fire. Normally, we do not develop a long term memory until 2-3 years of age and thus I would have said it was impossible for you to remember things that long ago, but as Mama Pain considered it she began to believe Nero might be right. Because of your instable self, it is possible that your brain recorded the adult thoughts of Inase Spark, not as memories, but filed as knowledge in the same pattern that his adult mind projected them. You would not remember it at all, but they would be accessible to a skilled telepath who knew what he was looking for. One like Nero.

I do not know if he intends to kill you, obviously he let you live after he gained the information, thus your life may not be in immediate danger, but I do not doubt that he would dispose of you in a second if you interfered in his plans - and only the First Minds know what those may be. No, I have become convinced that this knowledge is necessary for your survival for other reasons. Like Project Scion, this project has become too expensive to maintain. Goshi withdrew funding last year and the Biomade Oversight Council has given us a deadline to close up shop. Had you stayed home, Mama Pain would have euthanized you by now as she intends to do to Malicious and the others soon. You are the last shred of evidence about a very embarassing episode in the life of the Council. Once they discover that you are loose, as they are bound to do when they dispose of me, then you will be hunted even more fiercely than you are now.

Learn your purpose. That is all we Biomade have is our purpose. We have told you that your purpose is to be an assassin, Mama Pain and I, but I don't know if that is true. Your purpose could be anything. It could be locked in this journal. It could be locked in your mind. Knowing your purpose will give you the strength to persevere against the odds, for the odds are undoubtedly stacked against you, my child.