Date: 2424 AD

There was an air of panic in the spaceport. Not an outright insanity or full on hysteria, but a subtle edge to the bustling crowds that moved and swayed in half organized lines and groups. It filled the air, a taste that lingered with every breath: giving every move made by every person a little more urgency, as if every second that ticked by mattered immensely.

The station was packed with people: carrying belongings, dragging suitcases behind them as they rushed too and fro. Uplift and humans alike walked with purpose, some wearing medical masks on their face, others wearing full body containment suits. Friends and families clutched each other as they rushed towards docking bays, each attempting to get on a dwindling number of seats allowing exit from the planet. Wide eyed and fearful, thousands of muttered whispers came together to create a near deafening droning sound, of uncertainty and worry.

Amongst this crowd, two figures walked along like everybody else, carrying a small amount of their own belongings, enough for the journey ahead; nothing more, nothing less. Leaving behind everything they'd worked so hard for would have been considered crazy in any other circumstance, but when safety starts to break down, when danger becomes the biggest concern, things become just that: Things.

Dr Johnathan Fletcher held onto his wife's hand as they joined the back of the queue. They were early, more than fashionably so, but in such a desperate time as they found themselves in, everyone else had also had the same sensible idea to arrive with plenty of time to spare. The vague sense of an ordered queue had half collapsed into a general grouping of people, hundreds of passengers letting the panic flow through them as progress ground to a halt.

They were all doing the same thing as Dr Fletcher: Trying to escape to safer shores. The fear that had dominated the news over the last month had come to pass: Project Genesis had hit the Eridani System.

It was still early days, but nobody wanted to take the chance; everybody had seen the news reports from infected planets, the absolute devastation that Project Genesis had wrought: The science experiment gone wrong. 100% transmission rate over air and water, 100% lethality rate amongst humans, quarantine methods had fallen to something so pervasive and infectious. A few had taken to calling it the God Plague, an answer to humanity's hubris, in thinking that they themselves could create life. A direct response from the heavens to those flying too close to the sun.

It was still contained in the outer colonies of the Eridani System, but for all the claims of governments doing everything they could to quarantine the virus, nobody wanted to stick around and wait to see if it would all be ok in the end. Everybody wanted out, everybody wanted safety.

The line hadn't moved for some time, Johnathan holding onto his wife's hand as he tried to see what was happening, why early boarding procedures hadn't started yet. Most of the crowd were doing the same, the lack of noticeable progress making people antsy as the anxiety filled the air. They could see the ship that they were supposed to be boarding, sitting there in the docking bay, a vehicle covered in the brightly coloured branding of its owners, a representation of potential safety. A few members of staff and security stood at the entrance, speaking unheard words with each other, body language terse and worried, seeming to mirror the crowd's tension as the seconds turned to minutes.

"Attention passengers." The words of the AI spoke through the tannoy, echoing around the spaceport, the multiple groupings of people surrounding each flight gate stopping their panicked murmuring to listen to the words as one. "We regret to inform you, that due to the decided actions of the neighboring system's governments, that all flights out of the system are canceled."

There was a moment's pause as everyone present seemed to take the message in all as one, before the tempo of frightened and angry voices rose in volume, shouts sounding from passengers as the surging crowds edged closer to the barrier and security lines.

"What the hell, I bought a ticket!"

"You can't do this! You can't trap us here!"

"What are we supposed to do!?"

"We understand this is difficult news." The digital voice continued once more. "This is a difficult situation, as all three nearby systems have announced they will not allow any vessel from our systems to land at, or even approach any habitable body. Please remain calm as local system flights will still be running, and all measures are being taken…"

The voice was drowned out by the noise of a thousand voices rising up, filled with anger and fear, each speaking their own individual worries as one. A few started pushing against the barriers and security as the bodies were pushing forwards, the crowd shoving and moving towards the awaiting ships, now almost a taunting symbol of what was once a promise of safety, now stuck. Useless in their docking bays.

Dr Fletcher gripped his wife's hand tighter, pulling her back and retreating, putting as much space between themselves and the near rioting crowds, not wanting to stick around as things turned heated.

"We have to leave, this is going to get bad."

—----------------------

Date: 77 PST (Post Stasis Time)

"Query: What is so bad about this substance?"

Lena asked the question as the pair stood outside the lab, for the meeting they'd scheduled, standing on the curbside as they waited for Spencer to finish off the tests he was currently conducting. Nobody else paid them much mind as they chatted with each other, the tens of other scientists and other support staff heading towards their own labs or other destinations, on their own super important scientific journeys.

"Xyter-Y is highly illegal to own in any form, it's a biogenetic binder, but it's more than that. It's a programmable binder, the best Terrans ever created. It's been part of some of the worst of Terran creations."

Jonathan's response caused a measure of confusion to ripple through the Scythen, turning a light shade of green as they considered why such a material would be so reviled by their Terran friend. Biogenetic binders were hardly uncommon in many lines of scientific study, and were a basic requirement for any mass produced gene therapy. Instead of having to tailor the product for each individual, they allowed you to create one single treatment that simply used the binder as a medium of transmission.

"Further question: Programable?"

The Terran gave a sigh, a dark sad look crossing his face as he did so, as if thinking about something shameful, one hand rubbing his temples.

"Yeah…. I know your species isn't into weapons, but what's the main issue with biological weapons, from a military perspective?" Dr Fletcher started to speak, voice heavy as he started to explain Terran's darker tendencies. "The main problem, apart from ethics, is that of accidental friendly fire. Most war crimes aren't done not for ethical reasons, but because doing the war crimes is just bad warfare. If you chuck a vial of anthrax into the enemy trench, the wind changes, and suddenly you're having to deal with your own troops being sick, making biological and chemical weapons a terrible method of actually winning wars. Xyter-Y fixes that."

Ah. Lena was starting to understand why the Terran was having such a big reaction to finding the stuff, although they let their friend continue speaking.

"Xyter-Y lets you limit the transmission sector to a minute, yet generalized degree, far more than you'd ever need for any other reasonable application. Groups of people tend to share genetic traits within localities, meaning if you wanted to create a bioweapon that only targeted south Martians and uplifted cockatiels, then it would be a simple one chemical solution. This happened during the 7th Martian rebellion, when the then ruling government did exactly that."

Jonathan was starting to get into a roll as they explained the travesties of Terran past, the memories of what they'd seem being explained to the Scythen. This all sounded very familiar to Lena: the escalation, learning how to destroy the enemy in the most efficient way, ever more accurate fine tuning to wipe out those who stood against you.

"Even if somehow your targeted group was a ragtag group with no historical ties with each other, they'll all eat the same food supplies, have the same unique strains of gut bacteria, and those could be targeted instead to transform said bacteria into something deadly. Pirate syndicates used to use this as a method of warfare with each other, before this stuff got locked down and became difficult to source."

Lena mused to herself about the horror in Johnathan's voice as he spoke about the previous weapons, when in reality the Terrans had missed a trick. The next step was to infect the food itself, making the supplies and crops useless for enemy factions, while allowing your own troops to still use the given resources, literally starving the other side out.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Then there's the other way around. You can have it infect everyone apart from people with a specific genetic sequence. There was a company that did that, Infraza Inc or something. All employees were given a custom genetic payload, anyone not authorized to access that company's secrets would die a quick and horrible death if they got close to the asteroid they put them on. It worked as well, up until it accidently leaked and killed over 4000 people in the local mining colonies."

None of this really shocked Lena. The Scythens had developed something similar, and deployed the exact same horrific travesties and worse upon each other, so long ago. Of course, their species had quickly moved onto other far more devastating methods of warfare, but it was nice to hear the Terrans had managed what the Scythen's hadn't. Limiting themselves before the worst could happen, before they started experimenting with more efficient methods of warfare against each other.

"Question: And you wish to talk to Spencer about this because?"

Jonathan gave another sigh at that statement, shoulders slumping as he spoke with an exacerbation.

"Because this isn't my area of expertise, and maybe there's some other reason they're using the genocide in a can. It's Dr. Xavius for goodness sake, I don't want to accuse them without being one hundred percent sure."

"Chiding sarcastic statement: Because being sure about everything is exactly the Friend Johnathan I know."

That at least had the intended effect of making the Scythen's Terran friend stop looking so glum, Dr Fletcher rolling his eyes in response.

"This is actually important, it's not a grilled cheese sandwich, its-"

He was cut off as the doors to Spencer's lab finally opened, a stream of different Terran alliance races walking, hopping or waddling out of the doors, lightly chatting with each other as a total of nearly 30 test subjects streamed out towards awaiting transports, presumably to be moved to some form of longer term observation area.

None of them were Terrans of any kind, which made sense considering what the uplift's actual project was: Attempting to universalize medigel. The Terran invention was a quick de-aging cure-all, using nanobots to fix everything from the common cold to a missing leg. As long as you still had brain activity, the sweet smelling blue goop would fix any ailment the universe could throw at you.

As long as you were a Terran.

It had been a long term goal to allow the technology to work with any species around the galaxy, especially for the Alliance members who hadn't yet developed their own versions of such healthcare. This had been setback with the initial act of violence that had triggered this war, the small research group, including an uplifted dog, having been murdered by the Estorians. With the war ongoing, a push for the technology had been driven into high gear.

Jonathan and Lena both ambled through the entrance to the small lab, eventually making their way towards the main area: a variety of machines and medical equipment lining a simple white paneled room. At the center of it all was Spencer, the black labrador wearing his simple full body clothing as always, staring at a machine that had been recently delivered to his lab.

"You know, my predecessor on this project had to go through so much red tape and delay just to get the project off the ground. Delayed supplies, utter secrecy, lockdowns and cleansing solutions that could destroy anything biological in every room on the station. All 'just in case' a technology that vaguely looked similar to the God Plague ever 'escaped'."

He gave a deep sad annoyed sigh, still keeping his back to the two acquaintances who had entered his lab, pointing a paw at the machine in question. "But now, now that a war is on, there's no cost too high or request too risky. I asked for a Genosaralis spectrum analyser today. There are only three of these in existence in all of Terran Conclave space, yet six hours later it's sitting on the countertop of my lab. If they'd have just done this from the start…"

Jonathan and Lena awkwardly glanced at each other as the Uplift was clearly going through something. Spencer always had that air about him, of someone constantly tired of life's surprises, as if left was something that happened to him against his own will.

"We can come back later if you're busy…" Dr Fletcher started, before being cut off by the uplift to finally turning around to greet them.

"No No no, please ignore me. Any distraction is a good distraction" Spencer exclaimed, flicking a few switches on the wall and illuminating the once dim room with a more friendly glow. "How can I help you both, I'm always willing to have a chat!"

There was a forced smile on the black labrador's face, an emotion that didn't quite reach the sadness in his eyes, as Spencer motioned towards a few stools for the trio to sit upon.

"Statement: We are here to get your professional opinion on Xyter-Y."

The Scythen's words immediately dropped the tone of conversation, even the mock friendliness on Spencer's face evaporating into a more solemn look, a wary confused glance. His little claws on his paw scratched nervously along the sleeve of his top

"Why… why do you want to know about that?"

"We just need your professional opinion, it's nothing bad." Jonathan quickly added to assuage the uplift's worry. "We just need to know if there are any usage cases for Xyter-Y, apart from well known ones."

"Well… not really." Spencer still looked uncomfortable as he continued to scratch at his fur, a grimace on his face as he seemed to work through it in his head. "Technically, there's no reason to not use it as a normal binder but… there's better alternatives. If you're targeting a specific genetic therapy then it's more efficient to just skip the binder. It's overkill if you need something that targets every Terran, just use Zeraphium Hexanate, it's faster and less toxic. There was a small proposed use case when aliens were discovered, since it works on practically every living organism in the universe, but then Cryvexal was found to do the same thing but easier to make…"

The uplift trailed off as he ruled out every possible normal use for the chemical, a sad worried look on the canine's face as he stared at the ground. Dr Johnathan had a similar expression as his fears were confirmed.

"So you're saying there's no use case for Xyter-Y, apart from the obvious?"

"Well technically you could use it for non-biological weapon purposes." Spencer started, shaking his head. "It would just be very silly to do so. There's just no use case for something that allows for targeting your binding based on specific but widely spread criteria… Why are you even asking about this?"

"Worrying statement: Someone at the facility has ordered large quantities of the chemical. We wanted to be sure."

Of course, it wasn't that worrying of a statement. In the Scythen's previous experience biological warfare was barely a 13 out of 29 in terms of worrying behaviour their species had waged upon each other. Lena however also realized that most species had lower levels of tolerance for such actions, so stating that this was anything other than shocking would not be the correct course of action.

"Wait what? Who would be using…" Spencer exclaimed with surprise. "Was it Dr Xavius?"

It was now the pair's turn to be shocked that the uplift already knew the famous scientist was at Research Location 9

"How did you know Xavius was here?" Jonathan exclaimed.

"Additional query: How did you know they were the ones with Xyter-Y?"

Spencer gave a shrug as he stood there, still scratching away at his arm, as if the fur under his bright white sleeve was part of his current discomfort at this conversion.

"I know Xavius is here because we share common disciplines of science, meaning we have had discussions. I guessed they were the ones with the chemical because if the government is going to let anyone get their hands on Xyter-Y, it would be Xavius."

The uplift said it so simply, in that same morose tone, as if it was a simple fact instead of a horrifying implication that someone was not only experimenting with something that's facilitated some of Terrankind's worst past crimes, but that they were doing so with the full backing of the government.

Of course, in reality it made sense, it wasn't like smuggling materials into a highly guarded secret lab would be possible by a single scientist. At minimum there would have to be someone high up supplying Xavius with the banned substance.

"Curious statement: You seem to believe this is an official use of materials?"

Once again the uplift sighed, stopping his scratching and instead staring at the floor.

"It wouldn't be the first unethical thing done here, and I doubt it is the last. I can tell you that from… personal experience." Spencer gave a small shudder before forcing another smile upon his face. "If that's all you wanted to talk about, I'm glad I could be of help, I've got a lot of results from my latest test to go through…"

Jonathan wasn't ready to leave just yet though, a small fire of defiance billowing through the Terran as he stood in front of the ever quiet uplift.

"How can you be so accepting of this Spencer? If they're doing what we think they are and-"

"I'm too tired to care, Johnthan." The uplift interrupted the beginnings of Dr Fletcher's rant. "We've been working on this universal Medigel project for several decades now. I've gone from having to take two days of work for a single Zorthian, to successfully integrating the changes with thirty different individuals over twenty minutes. I'm nearly done, and once I'm done, I can finally rest again. I don't want to get dragged into something again."

The sad smile was one again replaced with just sadness across Spencer's features, the ever quiet and unassuming black labrador did look exhausted. Of someone a little tired of life, of someone drained of all energy and will. He looked over Johnathan with those sad canine eyes, noticing the human was slowly filling with a deeper, more indignant anger. Spencer gave a forlorn sigh as he recognized what was happening.

"God damn it, you're doing what she always did, right before she'd get him into trouble she'd have that look in her eyes. You're going to do something stupid and principled no matter what I say. Just, please, don't get me involved, ok?"

Spencer was indeed correct. A vague idea was forming in Dr Fletcher's head, not willing to drop this potential unethical behaviour being shown here at Research Facility 9. It was a stupid idea that would probably go wrong, but he was going to try to do it anyway.

This would surprise nobody, since at the end of the day Dr Johnathan Fletcher was a Terran.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.