December 31st, 2020

On the eve before New Year’s ingenious companies rivaled each other for the last day of yearly sales. This was of the utmost importance to every C.E.O. across the United States of America, and more importantly, to announce the release of new products and for many, this was the start of a new age. The age of technological findings like any other, the founding of Kingston Plaza Incorporated’s prestige: the beginning of Project G.H.O.S.T. Many executives across the world who saw the dawn of this project to be a failure, and others approved that the Ghosts would retrieve human superiority over the animals across the world, which would lead the Japanese government to hide its operations to desecrate Project G.H.O.S.T. and all of the U.S.’s ploys to fund the company responsible. Under jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Law in the District of Colombia, the nine Justices ruled that Kingston Plaza Incorporated to become the peak of Military funding and developer of new weapons. On December 31st, the first Ghost was released for testing…

And…they never witnessed…

“So…Miss Keln, is it?” A disgruntled voice echoed from behind a plank of wood, which clipped paper close to it via metallic blades. The man sitting in the leather chair, dyed scarlet, his pinstriped suit holding signs of evident wrinkling and wear, obvious that he didn’t care the least about what he appeared to the public. Half-moon glasses were placed directly onto the bridge of his nose as his bald head furrowed while he read, becoming silent. The anxiety in the room doubled, since the woman sitting directly in front of the desk didn’t answer, her mouth drying with evident nervousness.

“Uh…y-yes, yes sir.” Her perfected dark eye brows rose to show the signs of complete loss of control, the very air that the man before her held seemed to degrade her self-confidence and pride. She gripped her velvet suit overcoat, the buttons beginning to fold within the cloth while Keln felt the need to compel her-self. With a lifting sigh, she straightened herself, brushing away black hair to reveal a set of muddy brown eyes. A soft, delicate and pale face hardened itself into a mask that showed no signs of emotion, nor any sign that she was hindered any longer by the man before her. She ran her fingers gingerly over a set of full, moist lips from habit, her muddy brown eyes furrowing as she felt the tension around the room lift.

“Alright then…you’ll be leading Science Team Alpha in the creation of S.O.S, the first Ghost to be set into the terms of Creation!” He tossed down the clipboard against the metallic surface of his desk, laughing a bit as he saw her calming ritual. “There are no worries here… We all are family, well…most of us. I’m Dr. Hannibal Ken, pleased to meet you.” After which, Hannibal thrust a slender hand towards her; despite the showing of age across his face as he did so, he nodded towards her to take his hand. Heavy bags were evident underneath his eyelids, showing apparent hours of sleeplessness, and his gentle blue eyes appeared dull while Keln reached up to take Ken’s hand, which they both shook. Once she was released, a pair of gray jump-suited women hopped into the room, giggling uncontrollably.

“Jen…! C’mon now…don’t dillydally around…! We’ve heard, come to Alpha Labs!” The pair soon leaped out of the room through the door, stepping gingerly on the conveyor-like floor. Keln’s hand shot directly to her exposed pale forehead, her mask breaking itself of all emotionless as a grimace played itself across her lips.

“Those are the Diddle twins…don’t mind them. Come, I’ll escort you to your new position on the Alpha Labs, I’m sure that they will welcome you.” Hannibal reached for his cane at the side of his chair, slothfully making his way past Keln’s chair, and she rose immediately from her seat as he passed. He limped onto the conveyor-like floor, leaning to his right side, waiting for her to catch up before the belt began to move again. Silence clouded both of them, the signs of eeriness from the shining metallic scene that surrounded them. Turrets, gizmos, and machinery of all shapes and sizes zoomed past on the belt to their right, while they were surrounded by a crowd of white-coated persons; their eyes drooped to show signs of evident exhaustion. After which, they all leaped off onto a prismatic slab of material, zooming off into another direction, which left Keln and Hannibal alone once more. As time passed between them, she shuffled her feet nervously, but in moments, the man took a step to the side. Immediately, she hurried against the belt’s moving ground to leap to the official’s side. With a heartening sigh, the door opened as he placed a foot directly in front of himself.

They slowly descended down a pair of stairs, the steps themselves starting to rise at their footsteps, then falling into the abyss below. From then, they finally reached the base, a hiss of steam following close by as Keln’s eyes began to wander, her muddy brown eyes beginning to slowly droop as she took in the machinery around her. Valves busily sent fluids to giant tanks, the tanks emptying directly into a pit below, which bubbled and surged with electricity. She gaped at an elongated tongue of flame, with several people standing behind it with a wide grin. As moments passed, Hannibal finally stopped, facing the crowd of people. Expectantly, his head rose, and as it did, the white coated group turned to face the two. He extended a hand towards Keln, who straightened.

“This is Jennifer Keln, the new head of Operations down here in Alpha Labs, and you all will call her by her surname only. She will lead the production in S.O.S.’ Soul Cube and Creation…so, I believe that in time, we will have him, or her, set into Creation…” Hannibal trailed off, his hand lowering to his feeble self.

“Sir…we are ready to bring S.O.S. to life…today.” One of the scientists piped up, raising her hand.

“Ah…that’s good then… Have all personnel report to the booths…we are to begin his formation… The world will know us for all eternity for what we have done…!” Hannibal’s eyes twinkled with a sign of his past youth, beginning to limp deeper into the Alpha Labs, soon disappearing from sight. Afterwards, the group’s faces all turn to sullen hate, their evident loathing could be felt from their glares as one of them stepped forward, pointing a seemingly accusing finger.

“You won’t mess this up for us…we’ve been working too hard for too long for this moment…! We’re so close…and Hannibal invites some newbie to join us in our research project…assigned to this sector alone! S.O.S. is ours…and he, or she, will not break free… And better yet, if you screw up…then you are to blame!” A fit of laughter escaped the woman’s mouth, her sadistic grin spreading across her lips.