Genesis

[EmKay]

THE BOOK OF SIGMA​

CHAPTER I​

GENESIS​

____________________​

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Rain. That was the first thing that met the child as he woke. Next, he was aware of how cold he was. Wet, and cold, and weak. He couldn't lift himself up anymore. The rains poured onto his small, frail form and he struggled to open his eyes again. They slid open merely halfway, giving him a view of peoples' feet as they milled past the alley he lay in. They paid him no heed, didn't even acknowledge his existence as they went about their commutes. His ears picked up a squeak and a scuff. His eyes flicked from the false hope given by the people to a small rodent-like creature that came crawling out of a hole in the wall. It was slowly approaching him, a wicked glint in its beady eyes telling him that this thing was in no mood to comfort him. He reached out with his small, frail hand and tried to swat it away. All he got in reward for his efforts was a bite taken out of his hand. He recoiled and drew clutched his hand to his chest. He whimpered while he watched the creature run off with a chunk of flesh in its mouth, but he wasn't even capable of crying anymore. His tears had run out. He closed his eyes again, and just wished for one thing. One thing that would make him happiest over anything else. One thing that he couldn't even remember having anymore.

He wished he could live.

That solitary thought stayed with him. He didn't know how long he clutched to awareness, hoping that that little rat-thing wouldn't come back. He struggled long and hard, against the fatigue brought on by lack of food. Lack of water. Lack of anything. He was deprived of all but his breath, and even then it felt like his little home was determined to smother him if it could. Slowly, eventually, he faded away. Lost his grip on consciousness. His last thought, as the world slipped back into darkness, was his hope for life...

* * *​

​

...beep...
What was that...?

...beep...
A... beeping sound?

...beep... ...beep...
What was it coming from? Was he... still alive?

...beep... "Vital signs are stabilising, Doctor."
Voices? What did those words mean?

...beep... ...beep... "He appears to be waking up."
...beep... "Good, let him." ...beep...
"Yes, Doctor Seelo." ...beep... ...beep...

The world seemed to spin for the boy. His senses spun out of control and he felt like he was caught in a tornado, until everything stilled and his eyes slip open fully for the first time in... he couldn't remember anymore. He looked down, and around himself, and up, and everywhere. This was... not an alley. It wasn't a house either. Was it a hospital...? The air smelt clean, he was dry, the murmur of people and creatures was gone. Instead, there was a distinct whirr and that constant beeping. He gave the room another look, and saw that, in front of and slightly above him, was a window. Through that window he could see... people. They looked different than the ones who accompanied the feet he had always stared at. They looked proper, professional, clean... he moved his mouth but no words came. He was trying to remember how to speak. He managed to coo a few odd sounds, before he put together adjoining noises that nearly sounded like words. Then he had to remember the words he wanted.

"Ah.. ee... wo... th... tha...ank... thank.. yee... yewo... you..." he said, broken but understandable.

The people above him smiled and nodded, and talked amongst themselves awhile. His weariness outweighed his curiosity and now, feeling safe and like his wish was granted, he let himself fall asleep, and actually rest. Things were beginning to look up, and he hoped he could have a real life now.

 

[EmKay]

...beep...
It wasn't a dream?

...beep... ...beep...
He really was being taken care of!

...beep...
It wasn't a dream?

...beep... ...beep...
He really was being taken care of!

...beep...beep...
"Sir, his pulse is quickening"
...beep... "...Consciousness signs?"
"On the rise again" beep..beep
"He's just excited. Let him up."
beep..beep..beep

His eyes popped open. He could feel sticky, poky things on his body. He looked down to see wires flowing up his... dress? It was something like that, and he started to pick. That's when he heard footsteps and looked up. The person he saw was an elderly man. The image of a grandfather, with snow white hair and a well-kept beard. He had light brown eyes tucked behind half-rectangle eyeglasses, which reflected the dimmed medical lights with a reflected curiosity that the boy held. Then he spoke.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

It was a simple question, asked in a kind yet professional tone. A groomed bedside manner befitting medical staff. To the boy, however, who had only known carelessness and cruelty, it was as though he were reunited with his long-lost parents. He beamed and answered in a small, cheerful, though still wrapping around speech, voice.

"B-bet..bet...better th-th... thaa-an e...ev-er!"

The man nodded and wrote something down on his little clipboard. It was outdated to use pen and paper, but his eyes strained on datapad screens. So he let the younger staff enter the data, and he just recorded it. After a moment of writing, the man asked another question.

"Do you have a name?"

The boy thought long and hard. He bit his lip and one point and stuck out his tongue at another. He looked up to the man helplessly and shook his head. The old doctor nodded, and wrote another thing. Be tapped the tip of his pen on the paper, staring at it for awhile, before he nodded slowly and pushed up his glasses.

"Well, young man. We'll give you a name here. It's what we've already been calling you, since we didn't know your name," he said, eliciting a look of wonder from the boy, "Can you say Sigma?" he asked.

"S... Si-i... Sig...ma... Sigma..." he kept mulling it over, repeating the word until he had it exactly the way the man had said it. The old man smiled and nodded, then spoke again.

"Since we're trying to make you... better, we'll need to put you back to sleep. For a long time this time, but you'll wake up again. Okay?" he asked.

The boy nodded, and a tension that had been gradually building up within the doctor relaxed. It was so much easier when they cooperated. He took young Sigma to a different room, full of curtains and with one bed in the centre. Sigma went along as he was tucked into the bed and a clear, flexible mask was put over his nose and mouth. As the elastic band was getting looped around the back of his head, the young boy asked a little question.

"Wh...what's... your... n-na...name?" the elastic slid into place and the old doctor met the young boy's eyes. In the moments before the sedative kicked in, the old man spoke.

"Doctor Tane Seelo."

 

[EmKay]

"Let us begin."

The team set to work as soon as the boy was incapacitated. Droids flickered and came to life, the curtains were drawn, and all kinds of equipment was revealed. Tanks full of multicoloured fluids were assembled, and in the centre of the flurry lie the sleeping child.

"Initiate Phase One."

The droids slid hypodermic needles out of their chassis and connected those to hoses coming out of containers of clear fluid. Carefully, the droids inserted the needles and detached themselves. Technicians activated the pumps, and the fluid first ran pink, then red with the boy's blood before it recycled through and injected itself. Soon the tanks of fluid were flowing in time with the boy's heart. Remote scanners activated from above, and the boy's life signs were monitored on several large screens across the room. They waited a few minutes, but the chemicals that were now in equilibrium with his blood were strong and he was showing now adverse reactions.

"Initiate Phase Two."

The lines were cinched and the needles extracted. The boy shuddered softly in his sleep, but his life readings were still strong. They took the now-red fluid to be drained and disposed of, while the next wave of scientists rolled up a series of electronic devices. Leads hanging from them were attached to key points of the boy's nervous system, then activated. The small form immediately started twitching and writhing as the devices calibrated, then he went still as synchronisation was attained. With a few taps of buttons, the boy's memories before today were erased. Identity, former experiences, everything before the moment he woke up in the lab was gone. Then overridden. They refreshed his vocabulary, and taught him basic things every child in his age group was average to know. Colours, alphabets, arithmetic, and common knowledge. The process took a few hours, but they successfully recalibrated his brain and bodily functions up to their requisites.

"Initiate Rest Phase."

The many devices were deactivated, and put back into their containments. The lights dimmed. Scientists filed out to fill reports and take their own rest. In a few short moments, all that remained was Doctor Seelo, presiding over his pet project. He watched the boy, already looking slightly different, as he turned over in his sleep. The old man's mouth twitched in hidden glee that the first day of Project Sigma, Trial 446, had gone without a hitch. Sometimes it wasn't this simple... but today everything went well. Today was a victory.

 

[EmKay]

Sigma didn't dream. Not really. Instead of images, of moving pictures of the mind, he got flashes of colour. Brief incoherent images he couldn't make sense of. This seemed to go on forever, with sensations ranging from pain, to sorrow, to glee. He knew something was happening to him, then his mind was empty again. He felt an odd sensation of loss, then he was filled with a different fullness. That emptiness never went away, but he was distracted from it by the new. By the now. He was urged to press forward, and then his eyes popped open. He was still in the same bed, but he felt... different. He felt lighter, cleaner. He also realised that, as he looked around the room, he could name things that he'd previously had no idea what they were. He stood and spun around slowly in raw wonder, until his eyes came to rest on Seelo.

"Hello, there," came the gentle elderly voice, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm not sure, I feel kind of funny, but not in a bad way..." Sigma replied.

It took him a few minutes to realise that he didn't have to think about what he was saying. That the words came to him naturally and smoothly, without halting or remembering how to sound things out. He stared in disbelief at the doctor, who merely smiled and wrote something down on his ever-present clipboard. They stood there, in silence, with the boy staring at the old man, for several minutes. The team up in the observation room wondered how the boy would react, then he fell to his knees and started crying. He was overcome with emotion. Confusion, happiness, and something else that just tugged at him to let go and break down in this moment. His tears were vaguely cloudy, and Seelo noted this. More minutes passed, of Sigma letting it all out. Cleansing his system of excess emotion and excess fluid that they'd mixed into his blood. Sigma sniffed, then stood up again and leaned on his bed for support.

"Thank... you..." he said between sniffs.

Doctor Seelo just nodded again and offered out his bigger, wrinkled hand.

"Come, you must be hungry." he offered.

Sigma hopped and held onto the hand, off to go get his first real meal in... he didn't know how long!

 

[EmKay]

ONE WEEK LATER

"Initiate Phase Three."

Sigma was under again. This time, for at least two weeks. This phase was usually physically smoother by mentally deteriorating. They attached a respiration apparatus to his face, and affixed nutritional tubes to his limbs. In addition to those, they attached more blood tubes, this time connected to tanks that were a bright violet colour. This formula was the first phase of the intent of Project Sigma, and was what gave every subject a signature discolouration of the eyes. They always became a glassy violet. Once all of the tubes were in place, they attached heart monitor and mental function wires. An archaic method, but it provided accurate readings to supplement the scanners' readings. Then, they submerged him in a bacta tank to ensure his physical well-being.

The pumps were activated, and the violet fluid was applied much more slowly than the clear. That was the purpose of the prolonged sleep. This fluid would transfer over a long period of time, with constant supervision, allowing his body time to absorb and adjust properly. As the activity settled and the flow entered its 'cruise' state, the scientists filed out except Seelo and a few.

"The Midichlorian-infused solution is interacting perfectly with his body." a scientist commented.

"Yes," Seelo replied, "It's working out just as we'd hoped, so far."

"What about his mental state?"

"We'll have to see."

* * *​

​

"Sigma..." came a beckoning voice.

"Sigma, wake up..." it called.

But he couldn't wake up. He couldn't open his eyes. He couldn't do anything. He felt completely helpless, and that voice just hummed softly. He didn't know who or what it was. It sounded... much like him, but different at the same time. He finally worked up some nerve.

"Who... are you?" Sigma asked.

"Oh, I'm you," the Voice replied, "just... more." it said with a little too much glee in its tone.

Sigma didn't think that the Voice was really him. He thought it was scary, so he told it to be quiet, and it complied. The rest of his sleep went on, with only the occasional hum or comment from the echoing second Voice. The longer he was asleep, the louder it got. He hoped he'd wake up soon.

 

[EmKay]

ONE MONTH LATER . . .

Sigma's eyes opened. Slowly, blearily. He'd forgotten where he was, so wrapped up in dreams and imaginings... the moment that the sedatives wore off, however, he was thrust back into the world of the waking, and the first thing he saw was droids. Several medical droids, probing, pulling, programmed under the impression that they had more time before the sedatives wore off. He was now, however, extremely Force Sensitive and such things would have less of a lasting effect on him. In this unfamiliar situation, he panicked, and by instinct shoved the medical robots away with his very mind. An alarm sounded, and security personnel restrained the young boy. The Voice whispered in his mind, and the seeds of distrust were planted. He would never view this facility as home again.

* * *​

​

"They're afraid of us..." he whispered, curled into a corner.

The scientists were discussing things in the next room. He knew it was about him. He didn't need this confusing new world of senses to know that. He didn't need the overwhelming, suffocating flow to know that they were talking about him. The Force allowed him insights, though. Into their minds. Their souls. Seelo was on his side. He knew that Sigma just needed time to adjust. Others saw the violent outburst as a threat to everyone's security. Sigma clutched his knees to his chest and began to rock to and fro. Every minute felt like its own eternity. Doctor Seelo finally came out of the next room and crouched by Sigma, and waited. After a few more eternities, bright violet eyes stared up at amber brown.

"We don't want to die." he whispered.

Brows raised at the 'we', but psychological instability was commonplace after Phase Three.

"We won't end up like those who came Before." he said.

Brows raised higher. There was no way he could have known about the previous subjects of the Project... unless his senses were to a higher degree than his predecessors. If that were the case, it meant they finally found someone already sensitive to the Force prior to this project. They had no way of knowing, but their benefactor had said that finding such a child would be the ideal. The body would be more accepting of the midichlorian treatments. Seelo offered his hand, and smaller ones took it.

"You won't," the older man responded, "Now let's get you cleaned up, we have a long road ahead of us."

"Yes... yes, we do..." the boy replied airily.

 

[EmKay]

SEVERAL YEARS LATER . . .

Sigma had finally grown out of referring to himself as 'we' a few weeks ago. It was his sixteenth birthday... sometime in the area of now. He was growing restless. The tests had stopped last year. The trials. The experiments. They'd finished. Finally. His thoughts were so... broken... these days. He couldn't concentrate. He was always between overstimulated and understimulated. A limbo. He was breaking, it wouldn't be long until that Voice got to him. He knew it was right. That second part of him. He growled and sank to the floor. His thoughts were finally diminishing. All that was left was the amplified instinct to get out. Get away. Go onward. Move forward. Get out. Get away. They're afraid of him. They want to control him.

"They want to use you."
"They won't let you be free."
"They're using you."
"You're less than a pet."
"Break free."
"Get out."

Sigma clutched his head, tucking it between his knees. He tried to block it out. His pulse was racing. He felt like he was in agony trying to fight it. He let out a keen wail and slumped to the floor.

"Now."

He twitched. He could feel it. Like tendrils at his fingertips. Ropes at his grasp. This... Force... felt so... ready. So eager at his whim. It jumped and arced to his desire. He stared at his hands. He could even see them differently, without seeing. It was strange... he felt the power growing within him. The door slid open. The scientists were met with bloodshot violet eyes, dark and sharp. It looked like he had been crying, or like he'd hated them. Maybe it was both. They rushed over and helped him to his feet. His eyes stared at the door that was left open in their concern. He felt the Force coil around him like a beguiling serpent. It begged him to use it, the Voice begged him to use it, the urge was overwhelming. He tried to resist. He tried to deny the rising. He tried to suppress the urge. He fought, he failed.

He pulled away from them and made for the door. They went to stop him, but got thrown back by a pulse of telekinetic energy that blasted them against the walls and shattered instruments and screens. He paused, eyes wide. He looked at what he'd done. He looked toward the exit. An alarm was activated. His teeth gritted, and he bolted out the door before it shut. He was committed now. He had to get out. He had to escape. There was no other option. He ran. The corridors were so familiar to him now, but he knew two things. First, that there were floors he was never allowed to go to. He knew which was the hangar by hearing the starships. Second, they had hired a security force to oversee the complex. He'd encounter resistance soon. He reached the elevator, and pressed the button to go up. He went up partway, then it deactivated. He growled deep in his throat, and looked up at a security camera. It bent and snapped through the Force, and he blasted the roof off in an explosive, wild blast. The turbolift shaft shook, and he clambered his way up to where he needed to go, even as the damaged repulsors of the lift sent it plummeting into the depths below. He climbed out of the lift at the docking bay level just in time for the explosion to race up behind him. The lift itself shouldn't have been that flammable...

"WARNING: Breach detected. WARNING: Critical facility failure imminent. WARNING: Reactor breach, fluid leakage detected. WARNING: Evacuate complex immediately."

Well that was inconvenient. Or was it? He didn't have time to think, he just ran. He shoved his way past fleeing scientists and bullied his way through guards. Everyone was in a state of fight or flight, and Sigma was in the state of both aspects. He fought his way through to a freighter, cleared its crew, locked it, and stole it. He jerked the ship around, never knowing before how to fly, and kicked the throttle so hard he was plastered to his seat. Behind him, the facility finally suffered its catastrophic failure, and it went up in an inferno.

He was free.

He activated the hyperdrive without knowing how to plot a course, and launched.

What happened next, is another story.