Rise of the Transgenics Read Online Free PDF

innocence. “I’m on a need-to-know basis, kid, and you didn’t
need to know. Even I didn’t know at first. Merton only told
me about this sub-division when you agreed to work for us. I didn’t
see the need to break silence about it.”
    Uh-huh, and now he tells us. Harry’s first thought was to tell the whole agency to take a huge
sock and cram it in a very dark place, but he caught the pleading
look in Anastasia’s eyes. She wanted to be human, or at the very
least as she once was, half and half. Love could make a person do
things they wouldn’t do under ordinary circumstances. So he
swallowed his misgivings and said, “I’ll get to work.”
     
    Harry’s mind snapped back to the present and
he turned his attention to his computer. After going over the
figures time and time again, now...now he thought that it would
work. Farrell walked over to the chamber, touched it here and
there, and then turned around. “Is this thing ready?”
    Harry had already set some calculations in
motion and was waiting for the download. The computer gave a faint
beep and the readout came. Probability of
success — 97 percent.
    Anastasia came over to stare at the screen
and bobbed her head a few times. “I’m ready.”
    Harry wasn’t sure, but his percentages had
never been higher. Licking his lips, he said, “Let’s try it.”
    Farrell whipped out his cellphone. “Bring
down the serum.”
    The serum was what would ostensibly begin the
transformation. Its function was to turn on the human DNA and
deactivate the animal genes. Once again, Nurmelev’s notes had
proved invaluable, incomplete as they were, and Harry had done the
rest. A knock on the door came, Farrell opened it, and another
agent handed him a vial of clear liquid along with a syringe.
    Immediately, he took it over to Harry. “This
is from ASR. They handled all the chemistry involved. It’s magic
time.”
    Preparing the injection, Harry whispered to
his girlfriend, “This might hurt a little—”
    “Get on with it,” Anastasia cut him off. “I’m
not backing down now.”
    Quickly he injected her, she gave a faint
moan, and her body started to shake. “I can feel it tingling all
over,” she said, and her voice sounded unsteady.
    The tingling meant that something was
happening, and hopefully, it was a positive reaction. He picked her
up under one arm, went to the chamber and switched it on, and a
faint humming noise began.
    Cradling her in his arms, he gave her a tiny
kiss on her mouth. Weird though it might have seemed to anyone
else, he loved his girlfriend more than anything and didn’t care
who saw. Placing her gently inside, he said, “Lie down.”
    After she lay down, he closed the lid, locked
it into place, and tapped a computer key. “Now or never,” he said,
feeling his heart jump with trepidation.
    Farrell glanced at the chamber and back at
him. “Do it.”
    Harry pressed the Enter button. If
everything worked, the entire process would take only five minutes.
The humming rose to a sharp whine, the lights dimmed, and the
chamber began to shake. Smoke poured out from the top, obscuring
the view. A few seconds later, he heard her begin to scream. The
agent yelled “Cut the power!”
    He was about to, but Anastasia’s voice knifed
through the din and she screamed back in a voice human and yet not,
“I can do this!”
    And so he waited...waited...and four minutes
and thirty interminable seconds later, sparks showering the floor,
he killed the power. Running over to the chamber, he waved the
smoke away. He carefully lifted the lid and found Anastasia lying
there, back in half-cat, half-human form, and unconscious.
    “Is she breathing?” Harry asked, anxious that
he’d failed. Losing Anastasia...no, he couldn’t bear the thought of
it.
    Farrell bent over and put his ear to her
mouth. “Yeah, she’s still breathing. Let me move her.”
    The agent took off his jacket and placed it
over her nude form. Taking her in his arms, he carried her over