Sean pushed open the door, taking in the sight of an old man in a lab coat, who greeted him with a smile, which he returned with a nod, his face steeled.
The old man held a very large syringe, drawing the red, jelly contents of one of the many jars lined up on the shelves that went from floor to ceiling.
From what Sean could see, there were even more jars than there were people outside.
The man emptied the entire jar, it's contents now shimmering faintly in the scary syringe, and gestured for Sean to follow him.
Sean followed without hesitation, the pounding of his heart, resounding like a wardrum in his chest to his ears.
'Death!'
The world kept echoing in the soul of the twelve year old genius of Wexford Academy. However, for his family, he pushed forward.
He had always been a kid who was way mature above his age, but this time, this maturity wouldn't save him, nor would his hailed intelligence do. What it could do however, was to drive him forward.
Anything after that, was left solely to luck.
The man led him into a deeper part of the warehouse, where he could see people encased in pods, their limbs strapped tight, as their bodies jerked and writhed at varying degrees.
Some were so violent, they were bleeding from all orifices... some so weak their bodies seemed to already be giving out, writhing and tensing so weakly without any strength.
A large cubicle stood at the centre of the huge space, and through the open doors, Sean could see holographic 3D mappings of human bodies, teams of people wearing lab coats watching them all like hawks.
Before his very eyes, one of the writhing patients stilled completely, and the light from inside his pod, turned red.
A few seconds later, two men stepped in, opened the pod, and carried his lifeless body away, without so much as the tiniest hesitation, not even a change in expression, as though they were used to this sight.
The old man watched Sean's eyes drink everything in sight without feeling repulsed, and his mind couldn't help but wonder. Rather than repulsion, the boy's eyes seemed to carry... Fascination.
'Interesting' the old man mused, feeling intrigued by his particular behavior. It was as though Sean's tense nerves, had ironically been soothed as he watch the whole process. Particularly when he looked into the cubicle, his eyes seemed to shine with delight and curiosity.
This was odd because, every other person who came here, became even more tense, some even breaking down before anything happened. Most of them were also old, and way above the prime age for enhancement.
One other thing that made genetic enhancements very dangerous, yet wasn't made public knowledge, was that a person's body, was best suited for the mutation, from ages twelve to eighteen, or in other words, adolescence.
Younger than that, and the body wouldn't be able to handle the stress of rapid, forceful mutation... Older than that, and there was no natural, development catalyst in progress, to process the change.
Adolescence was a transitional period, that involved both biological and mental changes, hence at that point, the body was welcoming to change, and the resistance against external and internal changes was low.
Every genetic scientist that was worth their salt knew this, the old man included, but that wasn't an information they gave to people. First, they were not obligated to help, and secondly, profit.
All these factors considered, Sean's situation still boiled down to luck. Even though his body was only fifteen and prim for developmental changes, the body would still reject something that was fundamentally opposed to it's nature.
His chances of getting a beast gene that had his corresponding affinity, which he didn't even know what it was, went from as low as zero percent, to a maximum of fifty.
"Looked enough?" The old man asked, calling Sean back from his reverie.
Sean blinked, before he composed himself. His inner child, and inner scholar were roaring with a ferocity to be let out, to explore this place. But he curbed it down. This wasn't the time for that.
Taking a deep breath, his body tensed again, though it was not like before. It seemed the situation did somewhat calm his nerves, as ironically as it sounded.
"I'm ready" he said, looking at the man firmly.
'It's all or nothing'
The old man smiled, leading him to and empty pod, where Sean had to take off his shirt and hang to the side, his athletic body coming into light, while the old man put the syringe, into an open compartment by the side of the pod
Sean stepped into the pod, hearing his blood rushing through his veins again, and spread his arms apart, like he was about to be crucified.
The old man locked his limbs with the inbuilt metal straps or curfs, and pressed a button by the side.
With a hiss, the pod began to close.
"Try to survive" the man said warmly, just before the pod closed completely.
Sean felt weird that the man would tell him that, but nodded nonetheless. But he could help but feel a little suspicious.
The moment the pod closed up, a dim, white, overhead light came on inside the pod, and a blue camera like device, protruded from the top, showering Sean with a blue beam that continuously trailed up his figure.
It went back and forth from his crown to his sole. And after about five back and forth, settled into a ray of blue light.
A few seconds later, a robotic arm came out from the side, holding the same sterile syringe Sean had seen the old man with.
With slow precision, the robotic arm pierced the needle into his tense chest, driving it forward till it reached his heart, and then injected the liquid into it.
At first he felt weird, a strange liquid pouring into his body... It felt quite warm, pouring into his heart and heart cells, which then mixed it with his blood stream and began to pump into his body.
The sensation was different from what he had been expecting. There was no pain...
Maybe he had concluded a little too soon.
Heat flared from his chest, and quickly spread through every part of his body, his eyes flying wide open, and his muscles contracting in pain and resistance.
It continued for a while, with Sean roaring in pain, until his voice came out in hoarse groans. Steadily and rapidly, his cells were being mutated.
But that was when everything changed, something seemed to roar from deep within his body, rushing forth and latching unto the recalibrating cells and genes, causing his body to start jerking violently.
His heart drummed fiercely and without stop, pulsing achingly in his chest. His mind began to grow foggy, pain... Intense pain wracking his entire body, until he was gone.
The world turned black, and his mind shutdown.