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The AdvAnTAGE Project

By

Mantrid Brizon

Episode 11: Hope, Inside

With their eyes glued to the screen, Connor lifts a handful of popcorn. Jack glances over, furling his brow at the diminutive, young man.

“... What?” He asks, with his mouth full. “This is gonna be good!”

Shaking his head, Jack silently returns his focus toward the screen, cracking open a can of Dr. Pepper and bringing it to his lips. As Connor continues to snack on popcorn, Louis reaches over, stealing a handful. A moment later, Jack does the same. As the show prepares to air, Martin lifts the remote and turns up the volume on the television set. 60 Minutes is playing, and the interviewer stares in shock at a horrifying yet wondrous sight. Two doctors, wearing nice clothes and lab coats, sit across from the woman who interviews them.

In their arms is a small child, an animal that has never before been seen by the world. With her body covered in yellowish fur, her long, tapering, rabbit-like ears, her short snout, her paw-like, digitigrade feet and her little, fluffy tail, she’s anything but a human. Still, despite this, she has a humanoid form, she wears a child's dress, her hair is pulled into a cutesy ponytail, her face shows all of the expressions of a child, and she even plays with a little doll and giggles like a human toddler.

“Everyone stares the first time.” Kyle coolly comments.

“I-I’m sorry... Ahem...” The interviewer glances at the papers in her hand. “This is... Wow! How do we even begin?!”

“How about at the beginning?” Carol softly giggles, keeping little Harriet on her lap.

“Right.” The woman looks to her papers, a little smile spreading across her face.

Pacing back and forth in his modest living room, Kyle Burnheart listened to Agent Sharpe’s proposal. Harriet no longer plays with her toys. She cowers in her mother’s arms, hiding her snout near Carol’s armpit, only to occasionally peek with a vibrant, turquoise eye. Is she afraid of him because she’s never known anyone besides her mother and father, who’ve gone to great lengths to keep her hidden? Does she sense something about Agent Sharpe, something that a human could not easily discern? Perhaps these are her animal instincts showing through?

“It’s truly impressive how far you can go on $20,000 a year.” Agent Sharpe began, glancing around the room of the humble home and attempting to make small talk.

“Please, just tell us why the hell you’re here.” Carol grumbled.

“Alright... My badge says ‘NSA’ on it, and while they do sign my paychecks, some of them, they aren’t who I work for... I work for another agency, a group called ‘Sovereign Six’.”

“Sovereign Six?” Carol raised a brow.

“A coalition of men, the most powerful and influential people in the western hemisphere. They work behind the scenes.” Agent Sharpe explained.

“A shadow government...” Kyle murmured.

“If you’d like to call them that. The President certainly has no idea what they do. But then again, why would he, when we pick him for the job?” Agent Sharpe couldn’t help but crack a smug grin.

“I always knew my vote was worthless.” Kyle sighed as he rubbed his brow.

“The perception of Democracy is important for stability, but you didn’t really think we would let the rabble decide who runs the country, did you?”

“Alright, we get it.” Carol interrupted. “What do you want with us? Why are you here?”

“To bring you back.” The Agent replied.

“To MiLab?”

“No.”

“Then to where?”

“I am but a pawn, the same as you. I don’t actually know, myself. All I know is what they’ve told me to tell you. If it makes you feel better, they are men of their word, so what I have to say isn’t a lie or a con.” Agent Sharpe continued.

“Alright... We’re listening.”

“What I do know is that after your success with her...” Agent Sharpe turned his head toward little Harriet. “They decided to keep growing the creatures. They’ve been doing it steadily ever since you left. Eventually, I was told, they’d be released to the public.”

“What?!” A shocked Kyle gasped.

“Someone leaked documents... Documents proving what Unifact did under ‘government’ supervision. This was bound to happen one day, and so they’d like you to go public.” Agent Sharpe continued.

“How?” Carol asked.

“We run more than Unifact, and even more than the U.S. Government. We’ll arrange for an interview in a secure location. A 60 Minutes exclusive, at least at first. Take Harriet to the interviews, answer the questions you’re asked, and show the public how human she is. Make the AdvAnimals look good.”

“AdvAnimals?” Carol raises a brow.

“An unimaginative name, no doubt, but it gets the point across.” Agent Sharpe replied. “By showing off their humanity, we hope to stem the tide.”

“What tide?” Kyle asked.

“Don’t pretend to be dense. Someone as smart as you can see where this goes.” Agent Sharpe scoffed. “If you do as they ask, then not only will you be forgiven for stealing her, not only will you be allowed to live in peace, you will receive lavish rewards; full custody of Harriet, access to our most advanced medical technology and research, a generous, lifetime salary, full-time surveillance, for your protection, and total freedom to live wherever and whenever you wish. You won’t ever have to look over your shoulders, and when you see an Agent, you will know that they are your friends.”

Kyle shook his head throughout Agent Sharpe’s proposal, unwilling to risk letting the general populace know what’s been happening right under their noses. Carol, however, saw the writing on the wall. She pushed for it, pleading with Kyle to consider the offer.

“No, no, no.” Kyle chanted over and over again.

“Kyle, please. He’s right.”

“Listen to your wife, Dr. Burnheart.” Agent Sharpe spoke in his dry monotone.

“Hell no! Why would you even want to make more?! Why release them to the public?!” Kyle yelled.

“I already told you, doctor. They don’t share with me what I don’t need to know.” Agent Sharpe calmly answered.

“This is already bad enough! We can’t let them do this!”

“Listen to yourself, Kyle...” Carol rose from her seat, little Harriet in her arms. “We just heard that they install the President, for Christ’s sake. The President! If they rig every election, do you really think we can stop them?!”

“I-I don’t... I just...” He stammered, looking toward his wife with fear in his eyes.

“Even if we could, how would we ever erase what they’ve already done? How many batches have they made since we’ve been gone, anyway?” She turned toward Agent Sharpe.

“Four have been birthed, all of them healthy. They’re growing batch number five as we speak.”

“Son of a...” Kyle murmured.

“It’s too late to stop them, Kyle...” Carol faced her husband and took a step closer. “This might be as good as it’s ever going to get.”

“It is.” Agent Sharpe chimed in.

“Haven’t we done enough, Carol? Haven’t we screwed up this world enough? Why are you trying to talk me into making things worse?” Kyle pleaded with his wife.

“Not even ten minutes ago you said that you wanted what’s best for our family. Well, isn’t this what’s best?” She asked. “You heard Agent Sharpe. You’re not stupid. What happens when the world finds out how many of these ‘AdvAnimals’ are out there? What happens when they learn that Harriet was the first? What happens when some self-righteous nut job recognizes you, follows you home and tries to kill us for what we did? Tries to kill Harriet for being what she is? If you really love us, then we only have one place to go...”

She turned and looked back, then pointed a finger at Agent Sharpe.

“With them...”

Kyle dropped his head in his hands, trembling with fear and anger. Carol was right, and he knew it. Agent Sharpe cracked a little smile as the couple embraced.

“I’m sorry. I’m just so scared.” Kyle admitted.

“I know. So am I.” Carol assured him.

“I don’t know what to do, babe.” He sniffled.

“Yes, you do.” She nuzzled his head.

“Alright... We’ll do it. We’ll do it for her, for our family.” He said, tenderly kissing Harriet’s cheek and petting her head.

“Good.” Agent Sharpe said as he pulled a cellular phone from a suit-jacket pocket. “I’ll inform them now. From this moment forward, you are employed by Sovereign Six. You will have their protection from now on, so do not be alarmed by the additional security that’s bound to arrive.”

With a contract signed, the Burnhearts prepared themselves. Whisked away by the Agents, they were taken to a manor in a small town in the heart of New England. There, they spent the next few weeks being seen too by Sovereign Six’s people. Lab staff, who checked their health, stylists, who made them look as professional and presentable as possible, and the very best people in the field of public relations; coaches who’ve aided Prime Ministers helped the couple rehearse.

When the time was right, they were ushered into a limousine. With a half-dozen Agents as on-site guards, an emergency tactical strike team in place and a trio consisting of two AH-6 Little Birds and one Apache helicopter hovering overhead, they met the interviewer, who’d been thoroughly prepared and given her script a week in advance. Even with their preparations, no one is truly ready to see a creature like Harriet in the flesh. Still, the young woman handled herself remarkably well.

During the interview, she was more curious than repulsed, and even asked to hold Harriet, who seemed to like her. It was an endearing moment, captured on film for millions to see; Harriet played with the woman’s necklace and accidentally tickled her chin with her ears, making her giggle. Returning the child to her ‘mother’, the interviewer finished asking her questions.

“So, as old as she is, could you replicate her?”

“Well, we can’t replicate a totally unique individual!” Carol chirps, snuggling with Harriet.

Harriet laughs and reaches up, poking Carol’s cheek with a little finger.

“But the process that created Harriet has proven successful, as you can see. We’ve been growing them in batches ever since she proved viable. We’ve been studying the others throughout.” Kyle replies, his aura of professionalism undeniable.

“How many more of these ‘AdvAnimals’ are there, then?”

“Including the batch about to be born? 250,000.” Kyle answers.

“Well, two-hundred-fifty-thousand and one.” Carol looks down at Harriet, who giggles as Carol plays with her ears.

“Remarkable!”

Turning off the TV, Martin takes a few steps back, moving away from the couch he’d been leaning against. His three friends look back at him, and Jack rises to his feet.

“A quarter of a million...” Martin gasps.

“No wonder they went public.” Louis murmurs.

“Well, we didn’t give them much of a choice.” Connor remarks, looking down into the empty bowl.

“They had a choice. They could’ve discredited us, made the report look like a fake or something.” Martin begins.

“I doubt that, given what’s inside.” Louis murmurs.

“Instead, they’re flaunting it. They’re rubbing it in our faces, saying, ‘hey, you thought you got the goods on us, but guess what? You ain’t got shit!’ That’s what they’re doing.” Martin continues.

“You’re right. If they went public, it’s because they don’t think they can lose. They just admitted to the world that there’s a quarter of a million of those things... What do you think they’re still hiding?” Jack asks, resting a hand on Martin’s shoulder.

“Yeah. That hole’s gotta go deeper!” Connor adds, leaning over the couch.

“Looks like we have more work to do...” Louis smirks and cracks his knuckles.