It would be fine, Kai reassured herself. It will work and all of my research will be worth it. She lifted her chin and clicked her recording device on. “Recording number one,” she said into it. “My research on the biology of the enhanced individuals is as follows: when the Enhanced were exposed to the substance, their bodily structure changed on a molecular level.” She neared a light switch and flipped it on. The lightbulbs were fading but Kai didn’t mind. She smiled to herself as she stepped into her lab. Several beakers were lined up on one counter, one on top of an open flame. Kai paused to watch the flames lick the bottom of the beaker, igniting bubbles. “For example, Cassidy Stewart, known by her hero alias Agent Orange. Her power uses miasma emission, allowing her to create and control toxic gases.” Kai stepped over a box and went to the first hospital bed. A woman lay there, pale and sweating. An IV tube jutted out of her arm. Her orange hair spilled over one of her shoulders. “I have her, along with several other of the Enhanced, in isolation and am keeping track of their vitals.”  

Cassidy stirred. Her skin was pale as snow, her lips almost blue. Still, her blue eyes shone defiantly. “You’ll...never get away...with…” Beeping started from the machine and her eyes closed again.

Kai smiled. Superheroes were always like that. They hadn’t met her yet. “Other Enhanced individuals I have under observation include Plasma, Hoverwoman, and Ghost. I will soon expand my subject base and hopefully begin self-experimentation. Recording finished.” The device beeped off and she rolled her sleeve back over her wrist. She approached her lab table and grabbed her notepad.

She approached the second bed and made some adjustments to the IV drip. The liquid stopped flowing through the tube. Kai hovered over the bed, nervous to see this particular Enhanced. Her name was Ella Simmons. Ghost. She had the ability to phase in and out of physical spacetime, a miracle of quantum physics and mechanics. Finally, Ella opened her eyes. Her fists clenched and her teeth gritted, but she was chained to the bed.

“Hello, Ella. I’ve heard about your powers.” Kai pulled up a stool and sat beside her. “I apologize for your...metaphysical state, but I only have a few-”

“You monster!” Ella spat in her face. “How dare you kidnap me? And my friends?” A growl rumbled in her throat.

Kai recoiled at the venom in her tone. “I only want answers,” she explained. “I have great intentions. With powers like yours, we could be a major scientific breakthrough in terms of transhumanism. Think of the possibilities! Immorality, increasing intelligence, medicines! I am doing good for the world.” She turned the IV drip back down and stared Ella down as she slowly dozed off. “I will succeed. No matter the cost.”

She made a note on her clipboard and went round to check on the state of the rest of her subjects. They all responded well to her tests, so she sat down to catch her breath. Her fists clenched as she reflected on a painful memory.

“You could’ve saved him!” her mother screamed at her. Kai, 11, whimpered and scrambled backward as her mother advanced on her. “You claim to be such a science goody-goody, but you weren’t even smart enough to save your own brother! How does that feel, daughter? To hear your own brother’s heart stop beating? Hmm?” She picked up a lamp and threw it at Kai, enraged. Kai shrieked and threw up her arms in a helpless shield. Before she knew it, her mother had picked her up by her shirt collar and thrown her against the wall. Time slowed as fists pounded on her, breaking and bruising her skin until she was left in a bloody, sobbing mess.

Kai shook her head, trying to forget the pain. The fear. The powerlessness. Her mother had made life hell on earth for her ever since her brother’s death. Kai was only a little girl who needed help. She’d heard stories about princes on big white horses who rescued damsels in distress. When her mother was conked out on the couch, asleep, she closed her eyes and wished that someone-anyone-would come and take her away. The person who came was not whom she expected.

If she were to succeed, she could arm the powerless, the voiceless, the hero-less. No one would ever have to go through the pain that she had experienced again. Kai rolled up the sleeve of her shirt once more and traced fingertips over her scars. She couldn’t explain what her mother had become. But she could prevent it. She stood up from her lab table, put on her lab coat and a pair of mandatory gloves and safety goggles. Exhaling slowly, she focused her attention on the bubbling liquid on her Bunsen burner. This substance she was creating, it would level the playing field. She reached for one of the empty syringes on the tray and began to fill it.

…

“Dr. Nadeer, your lunch appointment is scheduled for later this afternoon. Are you still planning to attend?”

Dr. Julia Nadeer looked up from her computer screen. “Thank you for the reminder, Liam, but I need to finish the simulations. I think I’ll skip lunch.”

Liam was Dr. Nadeer’s assistant. She appreciated the idea of having a similar mind to converse with and to have coffee with on special occasions. Instead, Hybrid Labs hired Liam Holt, who was a preppy, shy millennial who knew absolutely nothing about science.

“Um, are you s-sure? Because your sister will be incredibly upset if I have to cancel again.”

The doctor laughed and turned away from her screen. She narrowed her eyes at her assistant. “I certainly don’t want to disappoint her.” She pondered a bit more for dramatic effect. “All right, you’ve won. Just give me a second to tidy up and then I’ll be right down.” Liam nodded and left the lab. She waited until the sound of his Oxfords had faded away, then she closed her simulation programs and shut the computer down. Nadeer washed her hands, hung her lab coat on the hook and went into the hallway. Despite her joke about canceling lunch with her sister, Julia didn’t want to. She hadn’t seen Naomi in a while. It hadn’t been on purpose, she’d just been so caught up in her work.

Moments later, she parked across the street from her sister’s favorite bistro, Macguffin’s. It was a semi-classy establishment, but Naomi was a semi-classy person. When she stepped through the stained glass doors, Naomi was sitting on a bench waiting for her. Her Warby Parker-esque glasses slid down her nose. She cradled a well-worn copy of Turtles All the Way Down.

“This is a brilliant book,” she whispered.

Julia laughed and hugged her little sister. “It’s good to see you, Naomi.”

“What do you mean, it’s good to see me?” Naomi demanded. Her cinnamon brown eyes glimmered. “I know you’ve been busy with work and world domination and everything, but I thought you’d at least give me an hour of your precious time.” She put her book in her purse and walked off. Julia stood there for a minute, having to adjust her frame of reference. Ever since Naomi had turned 20, she found more and more ways to guilt her about her work. She just couldn’t abandon it. Those simulations in her lab...they were far too important to not give all of her time and effort.

“Good afternoon, ladies. Would you like to hear the specials?” A handsome waiter came up to their table. Naomi straightened up and flashed a blinding smile. Julia rolled her eyes.

“That sounds great,” Naomi said in her sweetest tone.

The waiter remained unfazed. “Our most popular soup today is our gazpacho, which is served with either a ham club or a veggie burger. We also have a classic Caesar salad. But first, would either of you like something to drink?”

“I’ll take some iced tea, please,” Julia said without looking up from her menu.

“Just ice water for me, thanks.” Naomi batted her eyelashes at the waiter’s retreating back. When he was out of earshot and sight, Julia folded her menu and leveled her sister with a steady gaze. “Must you flirt with every waiter?”

Naomi brushed some imaginary dust from her shoulder. “Oh, come on, let me have some fun. I don’t flirt with every waiter, only the good-looking ones. Not about to waste my time with some average Billy Bob Joe.”

“Vain as usual,” Julia muttered. “What sandwich are you getting?”

“Don’t even pretend that you wanted to have lunch with me,” Naomi accused. “I called that assistant of yours. Leo or Luke or something. He sounded so nervous when he said you might not make it.” She played with the cloth napkin. Julia squinted at one of her wrists. Faint lines ran down it.

“What happened to you?” she asked. Before Naomi could respond, she grabbed her sister’s wrist and pulled down on the sleeve. Lines, almost completely straight and precise, ran down most of her forearm. Naomi pulled her arm back, avoiding her sister’s eyes. “Where did those scars come from?”

“I got low, okay?” Naomi pulled her sleeve back up and folded her arms over her chest. “Our parents are gone, Julia. G-o-n-e. Nothing you do in whatever science  thing you do will bring them back. You’re working all the time. I’m by myself. School is so difficult, I’m not sleeping-” She stopped herself. “You know what? I don’t think this was a good idea. Go back to your lab.” She tossed the napkin aside and stormed out of the restaurant.

Julia sat still for a moment, staring at the chair. Naomi had cut herself. On purpose. How long had it been since they’d had a real conversation? Since they’d enjoyed each other’s company? How long had Naomi felt that way? She rolled her shoulders and tried to steady her shaking hands. It wasn’t her fault, Julia tried to tell herself. She’d been busy with her work. Her work. She’d devoted every inch of herself to it. She was Dr. Julia Nadeer, esteemed biochemist. She had an assistant. A company car. All the resources that she could dream of. Julia had given everything to her research. As soon as she had a breakthrough in her work, she promised herself, she’d reach out to Naomi. Repair their relationship. But only after work was done. Nevertheless, Julia had a very quiet lunch, which she loved. Over tomato soup, iced tea and a veggie burger, she ran through the simulations on her tablet again.

The idea that you can replace dying organs with technologically advanced ones that worked twice as faster and as efficiently was astonishing. It would be the first step in filling the hole that she’d felt open the day that her parents passed away. Everything would finally be okay.

…

Kai twisted the faucet in her bathroom and washed her hands thoroughly, lathering her fingernails in disinfecting soap. She dried her hands with a cloth and stared at herself in the mirror. Kai remembered that her mother used to say that short haircuts were the best and most practical. When she was in college getting her degree, she chopped it short. She liked it better when it looked masculine: short sides, waves like the ocean on top. People loved to say that she looked like Ruby Rose. She had green-ish eyes with flecks of gold that she’d never even noticed until some guy on the street told her that she was beautiful. Lucky for Kai that she could run fast. Kai had been used to people looking just her face and not the skills behind it. No one ever took her seriously in her high school.

It was a Tuesday afternoon and Kai was at the interest meeting of her school’s new chess club. She looked around the computer lab at all of the other members. They were all guys. All of them were sitting next to each other. It was then that she realized that either she was probably the only girl interested in the art of chess or she was the only girl interested in chess that bothered showing up.

“All right, I think we’re going to get started with the meeting.” Camden Marra stepped in front of everyone with his winning smile. He was super tall, with dark skin and the most hazel eyes she’d ever seen. Whenever he smiled, she swore that sunshine beamed out of his face. Kai wasn’t a romantic. But something about him made her want to be. “Welcome to the interest meeting of our chess club. You can be a champion or a chump, I hope you’ll enjoy it here.” The groups dispersed. Kai crossed her fingers behind her back and made her way over to Camden cautiously.

“Hey, dude, what’s up?” Camden grinned in her direction. She stopped in her footsteps.

“Er...I don’t think we’ve ever met. I’m Kai.”

“Yo! Nice to meet you, Kai. That’s a cool name for a guy.”

This was always the most awkward part of the conversation. The part where she had to clarify her gender and eventually, her intellect. “No, I’m...actually a female. Boobs and all.”

Camden’s smile vanished. “Right.”

Kai just stood there, her mouth agape. Talk about intelligent.

No matter her intelligence, how pretty she was, no one would ever take her seriously. Not yet, at least. If her research were to show something promising for once, Kai would potentially the most powerful being in history. In the world. In the history of the world, even. All she needed was one shot to make everything right again.

She turned on her television and sat down on her loveseat to absorb the news she’d missed while she was holed up in her lab. Reporters argued over coffee about the state of the nation on one channel. The idea of adults yelling at each other on TV while insisting that children had to be quiet when they had nothing to say was hilarious, so Kai turned up the volume.

“...Coming up next, how the government shutdown might affect funding for the scientific community. An interview with Dr. Julia Nadeer, a prominent voice in the biochemistry field, speaks with one of our top reporters after this commercial break.” An ad for one of Apple’s newest products came up, then another for a Best Buy sale, then the interview.

A female reporter with a bobbed haircut and a red blazer appeared on the screen. “Here we have critically acclaimed biochemist Dr. Julia Nadeer, who works with Hybrid Labs. Doctor, it’s great that you could come out and speak with us tonight.”

Dr. Nadeer laughed easily. “It’s a pleasure to be here, Missy.” The doctor was beautiful. This wasn’t a usual observation that Kai normally made, but she had a feeling that it was less of an observation and more of a fact of life. She wore a simple gray shirt that looked like smoke against her deep brown skin, tucked into a pair of cuffed jeans, black loafers, and a black dress coat. No jewelry or makeup or anything. Her hair was cropped close to her head. Though she seemed like a goddess out of a picture and not an actual human being, her smile made Kai wonder what she was thinking. “On behalf of Hybrid Labs, I’d like to say thank you for expressing interest in the scientific fields. Not many people have that kind of curiosity.”

“I must say, you are a respectable figure in your field of expertise.” Missy tangled one hand in her bob. “Could you tell our audience at home a little bit about what biochemistry is?”

Dr. Nadeer went on to explain what the field was. Kai snorted and cradled a throw pillow. She’d heard of the doctor before, back when she worked with other grad students.

“Our work at Hybrid is incredibly important. We are currently working on implementing the concept of transhumanism into our technology,” Nadeer was saying. “Transhumanism is the theory that humans can evolve beyond our limitations with science and technology. An older person with heart trouble doesn’t need to wait for a heart transplant. Thousands of hearts like theirs can be engineered and replaced, adding years to their lives.”

“Despite this having significant benefits that can affect thousands, are there possible repercussions to this?” Missy asked.

Kai leaned forward. She had a feeling that this was the part that she needed to pay attention to.

“In the world of science, there are always risks that need to be considered.” To Kai, Dr. Nadeer was sounding a little hostile. She could see her visibly wring her fingers together in a knot. “Nuclear energy powers our cities, but also can be used as a weapon of destruction.”

“Yes, but history shows that there is a pattern with using technology to harm, not help mankind. How would it be assured that no one could, say, disrupt the tech and stop someone’s heart?”

Kai felt a pang in her stomach.

“There are always methods of keeping the peace,” Nadeer said coolly. The interviewer’s fake smile got even bigger after that statement. “Oh, I think that’s all the time we have for today,  Thank you very much, Dr. Nadeer, for speaking with me today. It was a pleasure.”

“Indeed,” Dr. Nadeer said, her smile strained. “Indeed it was.”

Kai turned off the TV and stood up to get her jacket. She pulled on her boots and opened the door to her apartment and stepped out into the cool evening air.

Soon, everything would be as she wanted it. Soon, all of her pain and suffering would be worth it.

---

After she’d been escorted off the premises, Julia laid her head down on the wheel of her car and groaned. Why did they have to ask her that question? Of all the questions in the world, why that one? It wasn’t like that wasn’t true; there were always risks when it came to innovation and progress. Successful CEOs took large risks when it came to starting their companies, doctors, lawyers, engineers, she couldn’t think of a single career in which risks were not taken. It almost felt like she hadn’t even considered that her research, Hybrid Lab’s research, could be used to hurt people. She started her car and started down the familiar route to the lab. If there was anything that she’d missed in the simulations or any of her notes, Julia was going to find it.

The security guard standing watch at the entrance of Hybrid Labs smiled kindly at her. “Another late night, Doctor?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so.” She faked a chuckle that sounded somewhat pleasant. “I shouldn’t be long, maybe an hour or two.”

“Best of luck to you,” the guard said, opening the door for her.

The heels of her boots clicked on the tile floor, echoing out into the emptiness. She pushed the button to the elevator and stepped inside. While it went up to her office, she checked her reflection in the mirror. Her father’s big brown eyes stared back at her. Her mother’s rich brown skin. Sometimes, Julia lost hope. She reached for the chain around her neck. The last present her parents had given her before their passing. Julia hated the word ‘death’. People always got sad whenever they found out that her parents were dead. Their eye would crinkle around the corners, mouths slanted down and breath taken away.

“Such a small present!” Julia teased, reaching for the small silver box. It was her 18th birthday, the day that she was made into a legal adult. Her parents stood proudly at the head of the table. Naomi was curled into a cat-like position, brown eyes shining eagerly. “I wonder what it is!” She pulled off the ribbon and opened it up. Resting on the velvet was a silver chain with a small circle charm on it.

Her father chuckled. “Speechless.” He elbowed his wife, who tsked.

“We got it for you,” her mother said in a soft, enamored voice, “To remind you that no matter where you go in life, no matter how far happiness seems that everything comes back around. A circle is an infinitely closed loop. No matter what, it goes around.

“Consider a symbol of your future success and a wish that you will keep going,” her father added.

Death was such a final thing. Once someone died, they wouldn’t come back, ever. It was the one thing that both creatives and scientists were befuddled by. The elevator doors opened and Julia flipped on the lights. She walked into her lab and put on her lab coat, goggles and snapped on the gloves. It was time to go to work.

She’d run several simulations earlier in her career. They were supposed to be groundbreaking, but most of them had never panned out. After so many failures, she settled into theoretical biochemistry, doing research and writing up papers. People thought she was so brilliant, but she couldn’t even make her theories into reality. These simulations could be the core of shaking the entire world of science.

Now she had to troubleshoot.

Julia adjusted the sliders and dials and pressed “Start”. She watched as the cells moved around, some lighting up. That meant that they were mutating. For everyone that mutated, two more would mutate as well. She readjusted and restarted over and over, but the cells mutated every time. Julia growled under her breath and pulled off her goggles, frustrated.

“Why won’t it work?” Julia muttered, curling her fingers into fists. “There must be something I overlooked.”

“Apparently, there was.”  A voice made her jump and whirled around, her tablet still in her hand. “Something that we both outlooked.”

Despite her racing heartbeat, Julia calmed herself down enough to get a good look at the person in front of her. She had hair that was short on the sides but longer on top, gold-tinted eyes and a smirk on her face. She wore an olive green jacket that was zipped to her chin and boots that had chips in the material. She looked like a recent college graduate.

“Dr. Nadeer, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” The young woman stepped forward, the smirk still steady on her face and hand extended for a handshake. Julia just stared back at her intruder. The girl sighed and pulled her hand back. “I apologize for barging in this way-”

“How did you get in here?” Julia snapped.

The girl seemed amused by her anger. “I knocked out the security guard and walked in. You know, for such an elite building, the security here kinda sucks.”

“Who are you? How do you know who I am?”

The girl snorted. “Oh, come off it, Doctor. Everyone in the country saw the interview you did earlier today. Even if I hadn’t caught it, anyone in the biochem community has to have read all of your papers to be considered a part of the group. I’m just an admirer.”

“Yeah, right. If you’re going to kill me, go ahead. I have nothing left to lose expect humanity itself. Nothing too big.”

The girl grinned, her point front teeth like fangs on a python. “No, I’m not going to kill you. I just need your research for one of my own...special projects.”

“You’re not getting your hands on my research,” Julia growled, clutching the tablet to her chest.

Kai’s face fell flat. “Well, I guess I’m doing this the hard way.” She pulled a gun from her jacket pocket. She squeezed the trigger.

Julia reached for her forehead. One single poison dart jutted out from her skin. The last thing she remembered before slipping into liquid blackness was the woman’s now warbled voice saying, “I can’t wait for you to see my work.”

Dreams always haunted Julia. These were practically frightening. She was standing in a young girl’s bedroom, by the looks of it. A movie poster for The Fault in our Stars hung on the wall behind the four-poster bed. On the bed sat a teenage girl with long braids tied into a thick ponytail.

“Naomi?” Julia tried to sit next to her, but she scooted away.

“You never came.” The girl looked at her with a steely gaze. “Big sister never came.”

“Never came for what?”

Naomi jumped off her bed and went to her closet. She opened the door, examining the hanging clothes. “You said that you would pick me up from school and take me out for dinner. Watch movies until late at night and eat loads of popcorn. We used to do that all the time. Then everything changed.”

She could vividly remember the day everything changed for them: the day that she was accepted into the Liberty Academy for the Scientifically Gifted in the next town over. Julia and her sister hardly saw each other because she was already learning how to pursue scientific excellence. Sure, Julia tried to spend time with her sister, but it was never as exciting as designing experiments. Slowly, Naomi faded into the back of her mind.

“I learned not to depend on anyone,” Naomi continued, pulling a bodycon dress and holding it up against her. She posed and preened in the mirror. “Mother and Dad were running around being Mr. and Mrs. Nadeer, you were off at school. I stuck to my books, my writing, my friends. The three things I could always lean on when I walked home from school because no one remembered that I existed!” She whirled around, an angry fingers an inch from Julia’s chest. Her brown eyes were fire.

“Why didn’t you listen? Why didn’t any of you just take a moment to listen?” Naomi fell to her knees, gasping with sobs. When she looked up, literal flames flicked around her irises. “You never stop and LISTEN!”

Julia screamed, then opened her eyes.

She wasn’t in her sister’s bedroom anymore. Instead, she was sitting upright in a hard backed chair, wrists and ankles bound. It seemed like she was in a laboratory. How she’d gotten there, she couldn’t remember. It was fuzzy every time she tried to focus on it.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” a voice singsonged. “You’ve been sleeping a long while.” The young woman stepped in front of her. “I’m afraid I haven’t properly introduced myself. I’m Kai Beck. I’m a biochemist.”

“A fellow intellectual,” Julia mused, holding out her wrists as Kai cut through the bonding material. “Who would’ve thought that you would sedate and kidnap me?” She winced as Kai unwrapped the cloth and massaged her wrists.

“I should’ve realized sooner that you are much more pleasant when you’re not talking,” Kai snapped. “Unfortunately, I need your help.” She cut her ankles loose and helped her stand up. “I’m working on a little project. Follow me.” Before Julia could respond, Kai had already turned around, opened a door and vanished into the hallway, leaving her no choice but to follow.

They stumbled into a giant, well-lit laboratory. Epoxy resin countertops, industrial sinks, glass beakers everywhere. That wasn’t everything in there, though. Directly in front of the counters and cabinets were cots like ones you’d find in a hospital. Curious, Julia approached the first one. Kai was distracted by something in the far corner, unable to see what was about to happen.

A young woman laid beneath standard cotton sheets, her eyes closed. Her red hair was matted to her sweaty neck and forehead, her lips a dangerous pale blue. An IV tube jutted out from her arm. When she looked closer, Julia could see liquid being extracted. Blood. She read the tag attached to her white hospital gown: Cassidy Stewart.

“What are you doing?” Kai’s voice, shaky and free of snark, startled the doctor out of her stupor. “Get away from her-”

“What are you doing?” Julia whisper-shouted. “Are you...are you mad?”

“I promise there’s a perfectly good explanation.”

She shook her head, defeated. “You don’t have to explain anything to me. I already know. You’re killing them.” Julia looked down the line to the other bodies, laying still and asleep, matching IV tubes stained with red. “All of them.”

“I assure you-”

“These are Enhanced.” When she didn’t answer, the doctor glanced at her, worried about the answer. “You’re trying to...drain them of their powers.”

No answer. Kai’s face was steely calm. “You have no idea how close I am.” She laid her hand over Cassidy’s. “These people have extraordinary abilities. Abilities that only exist because of a genetic mutation. In their DNA lay potential cures. Cancer. ALS.” She let go of Cassidy’s hand and balled her own into fists. “Agent Orange and her comrades claim to be heroes, but they don’t truly sacrifice themselves to the greater good. I am only attempting to do what they fail to do.”

Tears were dribbling down her chin. “I won’t.” She backed away from Kai. “You’re a monster. How could you?”

Kai growled. “The monsters are never under our beds, Doctor. They walk upright and live in society like you or me. I’m doing what has to be done.”

Julia tried to calm her racing heart. It was wrong. So wrong. What good was the advancement of science in exchange for the suffering of humanity?

Kai’s face fell. “I apologize, Doctor.” She pulled out a gun and smiled at its gleam in the lights, chuckling darkly. “The bullets in this one are real.”

She aimed and fired. Julia’s body fell to the ground, blood pooling from the wound. Kai sighed. “Pity,” she murmured. “We would’ve made history.”