The Wardenclyff Project, Chapter 1

The Wardenclyff Project

Chapter 1: Beginnings

March 10, 2013:

"It's ready."

The voice of General Ozama suddenly spoke from a monitor to his left. "You're sure," he said quietly. It was a statement, not a question. "Yes," the general wiped several beads of sweat off his forehead. "We're sure." "Good." A woman in her mid-thirties ran up to the wall of near-empty television screens. The man sighed and stepped between the woman and the monitor. "Carol, I specifically told you that I wasn't to be disturbed." "I'm sorry, sir, but this couldn't wait." The man frowned. "Carol, you will address me by my proper title in the company of others." His secretary blushed nervously, noticing for the first time the heavyset Japanese man in uniform on one of the screens. She blushed. "I'm sorry, Mr. President." "That's better," the man said. He sat down and folded his hands together. "You said that something couldn't wait." Another statement. Carol looked a little flustered. "Yes, it's the biologists," she nervously spoke, stealing quick glances at the general. Did he know? "They're ready for gene transmission." The general behind the President spoke with an edge of anger and confusion. "Biologists? Gene transmission? What is this?" "It's all right, nothing to worry about," soothed the President. The general sat sullen, yet silent. I'll need to get rid of him, and the girl too. A shame, she made a good secretary. "We're done here," he informed the pair. The general's screen went dark, throwing the room into total shadow. Carol shivered. "Yes, Mr. President." She practically ran from the room, fleeing from the dark and cold that suddenly seemed to emanate from a man she had known for the better part of seven years. The man sat silently in the chair, collecting his thoughts. They had come so far! And in only a short stretch of time. And on the 17^th, they would take another leap. The realization of 2 different dreams that had stretched back centuries. Tesla and Darwin would be proud. He almost smiled, or smirked, as he remembered how it began, on that fateful day in the Hall of Records. The Mayans got it wrong, he thought silently. 12/12/12 wasn't the end of the world, but rather, a new beginning...

         Flash back a few months. The top-secret Hall of records, a hidden repository below D.C. for keeping just that, records. No order whatsoever, and only one man to sort through the mess. Timothy Tronix. Known for wearing exceptionally large and strange glasses, the man was jeeringly nicknamed "Optronix" by his coworkers. For who knows what reason, they all found it funny. He vaguely recalled seeing it in some sci-fi comic book, something with lots of robots. The man's occupation was a simple one, yet important. He was a Transcriber, taking important paper documents and transcribing them into computer systems when they weren't smart enough to do it themselves. Then he got pulled to the Hall of Records. For 12 years, he had labored to get secret contracts, indexes, and government project reports transcribed into the D.C. Presidential Confidential Information Center, all marked top-secret. Currently, the man in question was snoring loudly on top of concept notes for the Constitution. The computer beeped - an hourly virus scan. Timothy awoke with a snort. Pushing his spectacles back, he examined the notes. "Aw, heck" was his only answer to a 3-inch wide pile of drool that had leaked to page 7. He sighed and resumed work. "Last one in this vault," he muttered to himself. "Then on to 1910-1920. Whoopee." He limped off to the vault in question. Several hours later, he checked time. It was 1200. "Stupid military clocks," he murmured. "Still," he conceded, "it's lunchtime. Maybe those government bozos will let me take a break for once." The answer was no, of course. He was never allowed to take breaks. "What's next?" He inquired of the vault, consigned to his fate. 12121912, said the worn leather portfolio. He deftly untied the string that held the folder together and flipped through the slightly yellowed pages, perfectly preserved in the dark and humid cold of Vault 10171984.  His eyes widened in realization as he read through various construction records and schematics. On the last page was a single signature:

He gasped out loud with a sudden realization that this was far bigger than he could have ever imagined, having already skimmed through reports and messages between scientists and the government on what the strange energies of the Tesla Tower were capable of. He sprinted to the nearest computer terminal (up 5 aisles and 7 staircases) and began frantically transcribing. When finished, he put it all in a folder marked Wardenclyff/Tesla, and marked it URGENT: FOR PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY. He sat back down in his chair with a sigh, clearly relieved that it was over, and he would never have to face the contents of that folder. But little did he know it was just the beginning...

         That very same day, another long project came to an end, with surprising results. The World Genome Project began as a successor to the similarly conducted Human Genome Project, designed to map out the genes of the world and find, if possible, a common gene among them all. Every molecular biologist on the project wanted to be the one to find the Universal Gene, and 78-year old Professor Ira Carmen was no stranger to that ambition. The first political scientist to be elected to the Human Genome Project, he was a member of two research teams at the University of Illinois, one exploring sociogenomics and the other stem cell research. Right now, though, he has little to do with either of those. At this moment - the same moment, in fact, that strange Timothy Tronix was reading about Tesla's marvelous living machinery - he was browsing through the genes of several hundred species, or more specifically, a single inert gene from hundreds of species. He could barely contain his joy. "Won't they be jealous?" he giggled, practically dancing but for his old age. "Best birthday gift ever! Even if it was a few days late." It was December 12, 2012. The time was 12:12. Humanity had survived the Mayan apocalypse, it seemed. Sparing a glance at the clock, the aged professor sat down to eat his lunch and began to write his report to the higher-ups. He clicked "send" with a smile. Two days later, the report came in. The World Genome Project was to develop technology to reactivate the inert gene worldwide. Professor Carmen read the report first with a smile, then confusion, then a look of awe and wonderment. If the gene did what they thought it did, this would change everything. A new beginning for the whole Earth...

         March 11, 2013: the murder of personal presidential secretary Carol Burnette greets early morning readers of the papers. Found in the White House Garden with a bullet in her frontal lobe, she was the immediate result of a nationwide search for what was assumed to be an attack on the President. The killer was found that very afternoon - a member of the secret service who had used a false identity to get hired by the President. 28-year-old Secret Serviceman John Cain was in reality 30-year-old Larry Desmond, a criminal wanted by the FBI for possession, attempted murder, major larceny, and now murder and attempted conspiracy against the President of the United States of America. He confessed in court and was sentenced to imprisonment for life. The public's original excitement died down after a couple days. And the President sat in his office and watched the unknowing citizens with a smile...

         March 13, 2013: General Ozama, most valuable general to President Barrack Obama and head of his research unit in Japan met a terrible end. Everyone thought it was an accident - it had rained a few days earlier, and the railing was loose. When he went for a morning stroll on the roof of the recently built Wardenclyff radio tower, he leaned up against the rail for a few seconds, then slipped and fell 30 stories. Back in the U.S., the man in the chair in the dark room full of screens sat and smiled. "No loose ends," he whispered quietly. He then got up and walked out of his office. He had a lot of work coming up in the next 4 days.

         March 17, 2013: The Grand Unveiling. A week ago, the President had told the world to be in two spots: the newly built Wardenclyff tower in Tokyo, Japan and the World Genome Project's Molecular Biogenetics Research Center in the Tri-cities.

         Tokyo: Tension built in the crowd, mostly Japanese citizens but also some curios tourists. A short man came up to the stand to stutter through the announcements, his words translated into Japanese. "Today is..."

         Kennewick: "A historic day!" the crowd roared as President Obama himself took the stand and began his speech. "A day for new beginnings! A day for wonders! Today we rise above ourselves and make our world a better one." "Get to the point!" a critic yelled. "We will," the President smiled. "But first, some people I'd like to thank. A list of people followed. Some walked up to the stage. A short, balding man in ridiculous glasses elicited a few snickers from the crowd. "Now, now, this man is not to be laughed at," chided the President. "Without him, Wardenclyff tower would have never been built..."

         "Wardenclyff Tower was originally built in 1901, in Shoreham, Long Island for the purpose of worldwide wireless transmission. However, this was the least important of its uses..."

         "Wardenclyff Tower was a government lie." The crowd quickly fell silent in shock. The President continued speaking. "Its true purpose was the recreation of any and all metallic matter through the transmission of what Tesla coined "Reforge energy waves". These energy waves had been previously determined to give any large amount of metal, no matter the composition, a unique and complex mechanical, self-evolving semi-intelligent structure. For those of you who don't know what that means, he invented living metal, able to change, adapt, or transform itself to the user's needs in any way they could imagine..."

         The short man paused a few seconds to take out a handkerchief and wipe a few beads of sweat from his forehead. "The World Genome Project, while not quite as old, was certainly inspired by greats like Darwin and Mendel." Despite his appearance and speech, the crowd listened with attentive ears, even as the first drops of rain began to fall from the dark shadow overhead...

         It was dark and stormy over the Columbia River as the 44^th President of the United States continued his speech. A few drops of rain began to fall. The Secret Service passed out umbrellas to the President and a grateful crowd. "WGP started as a successor to the Human Genome Project, but it became so much more...

         "Designed to map out the genes of the world and find a universal gene, they did just that. And more. They completely revolutionized the way we view ourselves..."

         "Prime I. The first in a new race of supergenes. The Universal gene." The President held up a small vial full of white, swirling strands. "Sadly, the gene is naturally inert. No effect whatsoever." The President lowered his hand. "But when activated, this gene will grant complete and total control over one's biology, right down to the molecular level." He held up 6 more vials, full of the same white, swirling strands in clear fluid. "Prime II - VII gives similar levels of control over lesser creatures, among other things. Don't believe me? Why don't you see it to believe it?"

         The crowd watched nervously as the short man took a deep breath and got several matches out of his suit coat pocket. He lit them and touched them to his hand. The crowd gasped as his hand appeared not to burn...

         "See? Completely invulnerable. And with enough practice..." The President made a motion like he was going to shoot a basketball over the river. The fireball in his hand leapt and soared gracefully over the river before landing in the water with a short burst of steam. He then snapped his fingers. Every plant in the immediate area turned greener and flowered, even the grass. "With power like this, we can make our world a better place. No more poor or diseased. Homes for everyone. No shortage of food. The end of global warming..."

         "But most importantly, a new beginning. A chance for humanity to start over, bigger and better than ever before. With new technology and biology, our vision, our dreams, can stretch from one end of the universe to the other..."

         "And touch every star in the sky. So what do you say? Are you with me? Will you join me in a new evolution, a new age of technology?" The crowd roared. "YES!!!!" "Then let's make tomorrow, today!" The President walked off his podium. An agent handed him a black case. President Barack Obama opened it and pressed the button that would change history forever...

         The world watched in silence as two towers on opposite sides ignited, with a fire that would burn the world for centuries to come...