"Prior to your preliminary objectives, the bacteria has exceeded through and beyond these tasks.” He stood in the small room, speaking clearly to the important members seated in the hastily planned conference room. “XE654 has continued to flourish in our cultures, whilst keeping its chosen traits effectively.” He continued. The members sat motionless, staring at a screen filled with messy green splodges amidst an orange background. “As you can see here, the green parts of this video represent our first successful test of XE651. The orange bits represent nutrients and certain body cells that are similar to human flesh. On another note, we had to reduce the temperature of this culture to record the time lapse your about to witness.” He pressed a button on the small remote that was held in his hand and looked towards the screen. The bacteria grew rapidly, devouring the green bits quickly, getting slower as it reached the curved edges of the Petri dish. Activity ceased when it neared the border of the Petri dish. The man continued. 'Now it should begin to disappear… Ah yes, it’s going away.” He said this as the bacteria cultures begun to form into isolated parts while shrinking away into nothing. “This is XE651 which gave way to three more versions that exceeded it.” He informed his audience before continuing. “XE652 rendered the bacteria immune to many forms of virus that were encountered in the natural environment, XE653 strengthened this sequenced trait. XE653 was also found to be incredibly weakened by many forms of pesticides so we engineered it to be resistant to this in XE654. In return, it also became increasingly resistant to sodium chloride.” The man said. “XE654 is cheap, efficient and easy to manipulate in terms of what it will affect. It would be most suited for implant through covert missions or a biological host. Once active, it would kill any human within six hours allowing it to spread rapidly though a city. The symptoms show in four hours and the bacteria would be ineffective within two days before being neutralised in three days. Now, I’m sure you’re all wary of this project we set ourselves on but TeraSyn has tested these extensively in controlled environments.” He paused, seeming to gather his thoughts. “XE654 works by affecting the heart and respiratory systems in the body, every time the bacterium makes a new copy; it weakens both of the bacterium. Eventually, the bacteria will be weak to a point of susceptibility to basic elements such as UV rays, extremes in temperature and so on.” He gave a short breath of relief before finishing off. “Now, do we have any questions?” He said, giving everyone eye contact. A short, stocky man raised his hand. He stood up when he was given the nod of the head. “How much would this cost to manufacture?” He asked in a confident tone of voice. “You’re looking at around half a million US dollars, much cheaper and quicker to manufacture than most, if not all, of the incredibly destructive weapons used now.” He answered, to the thickset man’s obvious delight. “Any others? No?” He continued. “Actually, I do.” A man stood up near the front of the room. “Yes Mr President?” “This all seems very complicated and well thought out” He said, gesturing to the screen that stood in front of the room. “But how do you know you have a degree of control over this?” *** The sun baked the dry earth that lay beneath the man’s feet; his eyes were blinded by the strong light that shone from the blue sky, failing to falter between the few clouds that floated above the African soil. His eyes spied a large tree that sat lazily on a hill, which gave way to an abundance of shade. He set off towards the tree, hoping to gather his thoughts in the shade that would cool his mind. A cloud finally blocked the sun; it cast a strong shadow over the area that he was situated in. When he had ascended to the spot, a large flock of birds flew gracefully to the branches that provided shelter, and comfort for them. Each bird landed on the tree, their tired wings folded neatly into their small feathered bodies. The man looked curiously at these animals before settling down to rest. He closed his eyes, enjoying the cool breeze that weaved through the small hills dotted around the landscape. As sleep began to consume his thoughts, he heard a small thud that originated in front of him. His eyes opened, seeing a small bird that had descended from the tree that he sat under, it flapped on the ground struggling to stand before giving a final coo. It lay still. The man stared at the bird, looking for any features that indicated a territorial fight or natural occurrences. He looked at it for a while longer before hearing another muffled thump. It was another bird. It flapped on the ground pitifully before going through a similar death sequence as the previous bird. He stared in disbelief at what was happening before another bird fell. Soon, dozens of birds were falling from the tree above creating a cacophony of noises, he ran outside the cool shade of the tree watching the birds falling. When the abnormal process was finished, the animals lay still. The ground was littered with corpses, each one with the same glazed look in their eyes. Was there a glazed look? He couldn’t be sure for he knew that the human mind could imagine things to suit a present situation. He looked at the birds a final time before staring at his village. This would certainly be an event to tell. “Hey, that was a nice speech there. Never realised that the President would appear...” “Thanks Frank, the President was certainly a surprise when he turned up but this is a massive opportunity now that he is involved. Unfortunately we have a larger problem at hand.” Leonardo said, finally looking towards his advisor; Frank. Leonardo Evans was the director of TeraSyn; his actions to the company were a reason for its successes. He had worked there for twenty-three years beforehand and was marked as “Exemplary” for his efforts. By the time the previous director had passed away with cancer, he was selected to run the company. Leonardo, held out a couple of graphs, each graph represented a certain virus or bacteria that they had been manufacturing while the last one represented all recorded animal deaths in the area. “You can see that we have some correlation between the number of animal deaths and how quickly we’ve been manufacturing our products.” Leonardo explained slowly. “What kind of person counts every dead animal in the area, we could easily deny any proof on this although I can see that our public relations could become hampered in the near future if this theory continues.” Frank said, studying the graphs. “But they can still relate the manufacturing of the new Lab towards the number of animal deaths.” Leonardo replied. “Well yes... But the general public doesn’t know anything about any of our bacteria or viruses let alone the manufacturing graphs. They probably believe that TeraSyn only makes pharmaceutical drugs, actually, we’re still churning out antibiotics, it’s better that we just deny the whole thing” His advisor shrugged confidently. “Look, we’ve been paid three million dollars to manufacture these bacteria, it works well and within the basic properties the Yanks have asked for.” Leonardo said in a strangled tone of voice. Frank knew from experience that Leonardo was getting very worked up about the current subject. “So how’s the new lab going?” his advisor asked in an attempt to change the subject “It’s going well; we’ve built the main part of the research stations. The dormitories are mostly finished, save for 5 or 6, and we just need to finish the inspection of plumbing and overall safety of the computer systems.” Leonardo explained proudly, and he had good reason to be. The building had taken 5 years to construct; it had been hampered with environmental speeches and policies prior to their previous designs but it was worth it. They expected a substantial increase in job applicants and the new dormitories were to compensate with the swell of employees. “I better get down to the new lab, the manufacturing company is having some trouble with the length of pipes and they still feel that we need to be called to sort out this.” The advisor said irritably. “Ok, see you Frank. Don’t forget to squash this investigation about those animal deaths.” Leonardo called out as his advisor left. Frank walked to the lift, pausing to press the down button that would activate the machinery lain inside. The lift gave a soft whirring noise, slowly reaching floor three before letting the doors slide open. The light reflected off the large mirror situated on the left side of the lift. His fingers pressed “Ground Floor”, the lift giving a soft mechanical beep before a synthetic voice pronounced the statement. The doors slid shut, making little noise except for the soft impact that was heard when the doors completed their sequence of shutting. The lift paused for a couple of seconds before setting down, the floors passed one by one on the small screen that sat on the wall. When it had reached ‘Ground Floor’ it gave a soft chime, repeating the synthetic voice from a couple of seconds before. The doors opened, allowing Franks’ eyes to take in the scene that took place in the reception. A multitude of reporters busily questioned some of the chief scientists, each scientist looked increasingly nervous as the reporters continued to query their sweating faces. Frank walked briskly to the lead scientist, trying to gather a picture of the events that were occurring. “Mike! What’s going on here?” Frank shouted over the noise of the busy reporters. The lead scientist looked at Frank for a second before walking briskly towards him. “Its a bit of a problem... A few hours ago, a large flock of birds all died at the same time. The authorities found traces of EX654 in their system and later on they found more traces in the same lake that we dump our waste in.” The lead scientist said with a hint of fury. “What do you mean “traces of EX654 in birds” how the hell did they get there?!” Frank asked furiously. “We’re not sure” He said with Frank remembering the manufacturing company saying that they needed to tweak a few things to save money. He recalled this with a mental jolt. “Mike, keep them busy, I’ve got to see the contractor we hired” Frank said this, before rushing towards the new lab. He stumbled towards the manafacturing company, his eyes struggling to adjust to the bright sun that floated lazily above the blue sky. “You were calling me? Sorry I took too long, we’ve got enough reporters to report a terrorist attack against the president” he said with irritation. “Sorry about that Frank” he said, although his face projected no hint of sympathy for the red faced man in front of him, only sympathy for the money that he would earn from this. “Right, about the plans that we discussed, we had to shorten the length of pipes in this section for they collided with some of the heated water. The biological pipes were in contact with the heated pipes.” The man said, pointing to a complex diagram of piping systems. The man babbled on for a couple more minutes before finishing his explanations. Franks studied the drawing for a while longer, taking a few notes in terms of problematic designs or extra funding needed for a certain part of the plan. “I take it you’ve built some parts of the plans” Frank said curiously. “As a matter of fact, we have.” He said “Which parts?” Frank asked “Well, we’ve completed the toilets in sections A8 and B5, the biological pipes have all systems ready, that includes cleaning and neutralisation systems and the heating pipes are fully operational around all parts of the lab.” He proudly explained. “Is that all at the moment?” Franks questioned “Pretty much, we’ll finish our end in around 5 – 6 weeks” He said. “Right, I better get back and notify them about this. By the way, are the toilets functioning yet?” Frank asked. “Mostly, we’ve been using it for about a week now though we noticed some discolouration in the water a couple of hours ago. Probably just some mishap with the water supply” He answered. The man pointed towards a door before taking his phone and dialling a number. Frank gave a nod of thanks before moving towards the door, a messy scrap of paper hung limply on the door saying “Male Toilet” with a humorous sentence saying “Please don’t marinate your surprises in water”. Franks smiled at this message before pushing the door open, the lights turned on at his movement; displaying a relatively clean room. The urinals had been placed on the left side while a row of stalls sat opposite of them. He walked to the urinals, the sensors above the urinal flashed a green LED; indicating the fact that the urinals would flush when the sensors would fail to detect a moving object. After he’d finished, he stepped back, a curious thought grew inside him that was connected to the fact that he wanted to see how the flushing system would work. The LED changed to red light while a familiar gurgling noise originated from the pipes. It travelled down into the urinals before flushing the yellow liquid that sat at the bottom. The discolouration in the water grew stronger as gallons of water poured into the small bowl. Frank recognised this colour, responding to it by stepping back immediately. He ran out the room, letting the door slam shut before running towards the main building. He looked around for the lead scientist; spotting him amidst a group of reporters busily questioning him. He pushed them out of the way, ignoring their insults hurled at him in brazen fury. “Mike! We need to conduct a water test, bring the equipment and a bio suit then meet me by the new lab” Frank babbled to Mike’s obvious surprise before rushing towards the labs. Mike looked towards the odd occurrence before walking briskly towards the equipment rooms. He took a final look at the angry reporters, watching them complain about their slight injuries while helping each other up. They ran towards him, attempting to intercept his path before he could reach the locked doors. By the time they got to the door, it had locked itself and notified the users to slot a pass admitted to all employees. Mike walked through the maze of corridors, the destination safely ingrained in his mind. He entered an empty lab, walking towards the set of steel doors that would house the essential equipment needed for this task. He carefully placed them in a steel tray, his fingers sweating with tension, still wondering why Frank was in such a rush to do a water test. He finished the task at hand, rushing towards the door before stopping and walking back for his bio suit. After this, he opened the door, his hands awkwardly grasping the handle for the suit was stiff and unwieldy. He walked back through the maze of corridors, the strip lights above his head reflected off his suit, occasionally bouncing a beam of light into the visor to his own discomfort. He finally reached the doors, noting that the reporters had either gone or moved on to annoy someone else. He smiled at the thought. The new Lab waited up ahead for Mike, its white walls hurt his eyes as he walked up to it. Frank spotted him, waiting in front of a set of doors. “Glad your here Mike, I couldn’t explain back there” Frank said, pointing towards the main building. “So what’s the problem?” Mike asked, looking Frank straight in the eyes. “I’m not sure, it’s just a hunch but I noticed there was some discolouration in the Male urinals here. It looked like one of our particular bacteria but I’m not sure... Just take a test.” Frank explained quickly. Mike sighed before opening the door while Frank jumped out of the way in fright. Mike looked at him in surprise before shrugging it off and walking inside. The lights flickered on at his movement, his eyes caught out a bright clean toilet. He felt a childlike pleasure at experiencing something new as the toilet back at the main building was constantly littered with faults and leaks. One toilet always had a warning sign for it would flood at every use and if you weren’t careful you would walk under a leak in the water supply. Mike pushed these thoughts aside. He stepped in front of the sensor waiting a couple of seconds before walking to the left allowing it to flush. He quickly scooped up a vial of water, tightly sealing it before putting it in another sealed container. He walked away from the room, pushing open the door. It took a moment to notice that something was very wrong. A man lay on the ground, convulsions rippled through his body as a team of medics attempted to help him. He continued to convulse while slowly becoming more agitated before halting at an abrupt stop. The medics quickly unveiled a defibrillator, wiring it up to a large set of batteries. “Clear!” A medic shouted before an electrical thump filled the surrounding. Another medic rapidly pushed against his chest before checking with a stethoscope. He shook his head at the man, who allowed him time to get away before shouting again. The same process continued for around five minutes, each of the medics becoming more frantic in their motions. Eventually they stopped, unfolded a body bag before carrying the man away in it. Mike suddenly realised this was a prime symptom of one of the bacterium they were creating. He recalled the name ‘EX654’. “Mike! What are you doing over there? Get those tests to the lab now!” Frank called out. “Did that guy use the toilet?” Mike asked, pointedly ignoring Franks order. His bio suit muffled his voice. “Which guy? You mean that guy who just died?” Frank answered to Mike’s obvious irritation. “Of course I mean that guy!” Mike replied, finally letting his anger show. “Well, I wouldn’t know but you can ask the boss over there” Frank said, gesturing to the same man he had talked to at first before continuing. “But do you have any hunches as to what that water is?” Frank curiously asked. “Yes, it looks like one of our newer ones, EX654.” Mike said with a slight tone of panic. “You mean the bacteria that can wipe out a whole city?” Frank said in a shocked manner. “It doesn’t matter about a whole city; it matters about the whole building complex here. At the moment the bacteria will be spreading incredibly quickly, soon it will infect everyone who works here and possibly a few others outside of this area.” Mike explained. Intending to tell the managing director about this, he walked at a brisk pace towards the main building; his bio suit was kept on as there would be no thought of taking it off in the days that lay ahead. The street ahead of him was lit by dim yellow lights hanging limply on rusty poles, while they were called street lamps the term was perhaps too generous as the street had almost descended into disuse not accounting for the drunks that roamed the area after nightfall. He continued to walk along, insects that flittered around the pools of light cast grotesque shadows of themselves against the uneven walls. Considering the coolness of the night, the beads of sweat that trickled down his back felt almost feverish. He considered the possibility of seeing a doctor as it could be a sign of malaria but put this down to the beer and pork scratchings he’d consumed earlier. Tiredness overwhelmed him, and he sat against his doorway preparing to sleep. A pair of yellow eyes stared back at him intently but he looked back at them through a fixed stare that faltered immediately. “Go away, we don’t take drunks here.” An irritated voice called out. He felt rough hands dragging him away from the doorway he had intended to enter. Eventually he was shoved against a wall before being left alone and his dreams fell in front of his eyes immediately. Or was it memories? He couldn’t be sure. They continued to flash past, a blur of indecipherable colours finally stopping by the sight of a small tree on a hill. Just before the darkness overwhelmed him, a final image appeared in his mind; the image of a bird on the ground, flapping helplessly before lying still. Just something I did for homework, probably won't continue it…