A small man stood flailing at the head of the large mahogany table, his dark suit seeming to crumple more and more with every movement, like it was made for someone two sizes bigger.The man talked big though, his deep southern voice booming around the lifeless steel walls. In a way, the reverberations almost seemed to be mocking him, repeating his words in a shrill tone like an annoying child. His predictions however, were far from childish.
"We have to do something now! The population within this bunker is dwindling, less than ten percent capacity! Who knows what that drops to outside! If we don't do anything to increase the population. We will lose all human presence on the eastern seaboard!"
He paused, his face red. He seemed to be trying to catch his breath, as if those words had been a long flight of stairs. He tugged at his collar, obviously uncomfortable. It was dreadfully hot, even despite all the ventilation fans that whirred noisily overhead. Then, after a short moment he spoke again. Much more calmly this time, sinking back into his chair as he did. "When we locked ourselves inside this damn cage. We promised the people we left outside we would resolve the rising tensions between us and Russia. We failed at that. When the bombs fell, we promised ourselves we would provide aid and shelter to the survivors of the blasts. We failed to do that too. And now, we are failing at the oaths we took when we came into our offices. To protect the people, to protect America! But tell me.... Who is there left to protect? Where is the mighty United States of America? I'll tell you where. The United States of America is now confined to a 20,000 sq ft shelter approximately 3 miles underground! We are failures... every one of us...." With that, he sunk his head into his hands.
Then, from the back of the room came another voice. Much more authoritative, yet still uniquely warm. "Ladies, Gentlemen. What the senator has said is true. We have failed our people. And we have failed our nation. But that does not mean we can not try to fix what we got oh so wrong. I believe that, working together. We can rebuild what has been destroyed. We can rediscover what has been lost. And we can be reborn from the ashes of the old world."
The owner of the voice stood then, highlighting his stature. Tall and broad. Yet he held himself even taller.
"And, to that end. I would like to introduce you all to Doctor Elizabeth Pace. Dr Pace was brought into the bunker as the Administrations expert adviser on reproductive medicine. I believe you will all be interested in her work on "Project Phoenix".
Just then, from the back of the room came a small figure. Her most professional feature was her lab coat, which she wore undone. Everything else seemed to be styled for comfort. Such as the tee, hoodie and jeans combination she wore underneath.On her feet were a pair of old red converse that looked as if they were the only pair she wore. Her brunette hair too, looked to be given minimal attention, with only the loosest tresses added to keep it orderly. When she spoke however, it was clear that her appearance belied her intelligence, which sparkled from behind her deep brown eyes.
"Thank you Mr President. Now then, as you will already be aware my name is Dr Pace and i am the lead researcher on "Project Phoenix". I suppose you are all wondering what exactly Project Phoenix is? Well, the short answer is exactly what it says on the tin. We aim to make humanity rise from its ashs, literally. For the last three years me and my team have been working on a way to extract and condense human DNA from ashes caused by the blasts into viable reproductive carriers. We believe this approach will allow us to bypass the sterilizing effect the radiation has had on all of our bodies and allow us to carry children again. We have already used this approach in laboratory tests between primates and it seems to work. However, as of yet we have been unable to do so to humans simply as we do not yet know the risks that may arise and we cannot afford to lose any more bunker personnel."
The group gathered around the table sat in thought for a minute, each pondering the possible implications of bringing humanity back from the brink. Then, from among the group came a voice, distinctly Californian and female.
"So what do you believe should be our next moves Dr Pace"
Dr Pace swallowed hard, she knew the impact her next words would have, so she had to chose them carefully.
"I believe, that to ensure the survival of our country, we must open the bunker and send out a research party to bring back human subjects. Either that, or we take the technology outside the bunker and test it there"
At that, the quietly thoughtful group exploded in cries of disbelief and derision.
"Open the Bunker Door! Are you mad!", "You cannot seriously be considering exposing this shelter to the outside!", "Are you Nutso! No way am i agreeing to this!", "We're safer with the door closed!"
Just then, the President again stood up, a thoughtful look in his eyes. Everybody was silenced waiting for his verdict.
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