Apocalyptic Genesis: A New Dawn (2nd Renaissance Book 1) Read online

  Apocalyptic Genesis:

  A New Dawn

  By R. D. Hallows

  PROLOGUE

  During the year of 2030, the Earth was attacked by a mechanical force known only as Legion. Our weapons were useless against them and humanity came close to extinction. But when all hope was lost, an intervention from a being with unimaginable powers prevented our total annihilation. The name of this alien’s race has been classified as top secret by humanities overseer, a man known only as the Emperor. Towards the end of 2030, after all of Legions forces on earth were destroyed by humanities nameless protector, the man known as the Emperor discovered an alien facility, which was spewing out a red toxic substance that our genocidal attackers had left behind. The effects of this poisonous substance, which is now slowly consuming and overriding our atmosphere, causes those that breathe it, to develop an extremely serious form of dementia; along with this, it re-animates dead organic tissue into mindless mutated creatures.

  But within this darkness was a glimmer of hope. For deep inside of this alien facility that almost led to our very destruction, also lies the means to our salvation. For inside this structure, the study of prodigious alien technologies, have led to scientific advances that have not only revolutionised our knowledge of science but the very universe itself. This facility, that has been appropriately named Pandora, has now become the only hope for mankind’s future in the race against time before the red cloud consumes the planet and humanity along with it.

  To tackle this impending genocide, the Emperor rallied all of humanity who was willing to follow his leadership and united them under one banner, which is known as the United Cytopian Alliance (UCA). No more would there be religious or ethical dilemmas, this was a society that was solely based on scientific research and development. The Emperor declared this as the start of a new age, not only for science but for all of mankind, this new age was called the 2nd Renaissance of man.

  But in a world where nothing is what it seems, where lies and deceit are the only ways to survive in a world that is consumed by chaos and shrouded in mystery and secrecy. Who can you trust in this age of the 2nd Renaissance, who is friend and who is foe?

  CHAPTER 01:

  INTO THE MAW

  It is now October 16th 2130, and humanity is still at war with the horrors that plague beyond the border of Cytopia, the last stronghold that mankind has from the death outside. This mega city was erected from the ashes of the islands that were the United Kingdom, and is now the home of a multitude of large towering silver coloured skyscrapers that span from the top to the tail of the country to house the ever growing populace, making it the largest city ever constructed in human history.

  The time is now 20:30pm standard time, and we start our story at the heart of Cytopia, in a chamber at the top of Olympus tower, which is the highest structure known to man, the room was large, dark and lit only by the ominous glow of the red sky. It was decorated with marble columns along the parallel walls and six carved statues of naked women in various positions in the middle of the room, creating a path leading to the desk that was positioned on the far side, with a large long glass window behind.

  In the room was a tall, muscular man who looked to be in his late thirties, clad all in black with a smooth helmet that covered most of his head, sitting upon an ostentatious mechanical chair which had a maroon leather seat and back. The man had red markings on his overcoat, top and trousers that symbolised his position and importance to the UCA. This was no ordinary man, he was the Emperor, the very same Emperor that saved humanity one-hundred years ago. He had both of his gloved hands interlaced with each other forming an arch, pressed up against his chin as he stared intently out of the large long window into the red lifeless abyss of the sky, pondering pensively over its shade. Although the toxic cloud had always been an array of differing red shades, it was unusually darker, richer and oiler looking in nature than it had been in the past, this filled the man with trepidation leaving him more than uneasy.

  Before he could ponder further, the door opened and a man walked through, stopping short of the last female statue, the man was reedy, his face shrouded by the poor lighting of the room, but his glasses reflected the glare from the window.

  “My Lord, we have a situation” the shadowy figure said softly.

  “What is it?” replied the Emperor in his deep autocratic, English accent.

  The shadowy figure pulled out a small compact electronic device that when activated produced a blue holographic screen, he then began to explain the situation in his soft voice “At 08:00 hours standard time this morning, one of our test facilities missed their routine communications, we tried hailing them on all frequencies, but got no response. At 09:00 hours we sent out two security drones to investigate, at 14:00 hours we got these images from the drones in which there appeared to be damage to the exterior of the facility. All signs indicated that the damage came from the inside, ruling out any forced entry”.

  “After viewing all the evidence, we fear the facility is lost, along with the personnel stationed there” he said with great concern.

  The Emperor stood up and walked slowly to the window, his height was staggering, almost giant-like, he towered over seven feet tall. He stared out of the window, his hands cupped behind his back.

  The shadowy figure continued speaking in his soft voice, “We tried a remote data transfer to gather all the research conducted there, but failed, which could only mean a total power failure at the facility, which we presume is now running on its reserve supply, unfortunately this only runs the basic systems such as life support. However if this has failed, the air filtration system would also be inactive, so the red cloud particles could be infecting the facility, which has raised more questions than answers I’m afraid; because, as you already know a complete power failure with S.I.P.R.A. (Supreme Interactive Power Reactive Accelerator) technology is impossible, even if the facility was compromised there are counter measures to prevent something like this from ever happening, but if we factor in the damage that has already been caused, we could be looking at an entirely new situation.”

  *

  S.I.P.R.A. is an organic alien substance found in the facility known as Pandora. The substance (depending on its colour) has multiple properties and uses that never diminish due to its unique replication capability. This does not just relate to itself, but to other substances and materials it can be combined or integrated with, giving increased power output and capabilities; because of this, it has become widely used to improve humanities chances of survival.

  *

  The Emperor still staring out of the window, asked which facility had gone dark, what came next filled him with apprehension.

  “It is one of the main human advancement facilities which were conducting experiments on the Pandora Project, over in the Badlands, code name Prometheus-Delta facility”.

  An uneasy silence fell upon the room, the Emperor pondered pensively, then spoke “Were they conducting any tests before the facility went dark?”

  The shadowy figure expressed that there was a field experiment taking place at the time with the test subject “Crull” and that was the last we heard from them.

  Silence again fell upon the room, the Emperor looked over his shoulder and told the shadowy figure in his autocratic manner to assemble a group of Enforcers to go to the facility and assess the situation. He was to make sure that only the best were used, for he did not want any further complications in this unfortunate situation. The shadowy man, made assurances he would take full control of the mission objectives personally, including insuring everything would be classi
fied top secret and any loose ends would be dealt with accordingly.

  “Very good” said the Emperor with a hint of irritability, still staring out of the window at the city below.

  “You may go now”.

  The shadowy man bowed slightly with his arm over his chest, “As you wish my Lord” he said solemnly.

  As he turns to walk to the door the Emperor moving from the window, turned walking towards his desk, “Oh and Laski” he called out.

  Laski stopping short of the door turning slightly towards the man now sitting at his chair, “I want their heads-up displays to link directly to my terminal here” he said, placing again his gloved hands into an interlaced position, resting his elbows firmly upon his desk, “I want to see everything that goes on down there.”

  Laski opened the door “As you wish my Lord”.

  Then he left, closing the door behind him, the Emperor now alone in his room smiled in anticipation. ‘Everything is falling into place’ he thought.

  *

  2130, October 17th 08:13am; deep within the facility of Prometheus-Delta we draw our attention to sub-level six, where cryo-chamber room 101 is located.

  The room was damp and barely lit, pipes trailing along the floors, leading from the cryo pod to various machines, a console on the right side of the room was still active, on its screen it showed the word Proxy with life sign readings that were being sent from the pod to the machines.

  The screen began to flicker and the console shut down, a voice echoed through the room from the facilities V.I “Power failure in cryo room 101; security teams have been notified.”

  The locks on the cryo tube opened with a hiss, trapped oxygen escaping from the pod filling the air with a white mist, a hand comes out with stiff movements, the man inside gave off a somnolent moan, then with a bang and a clatter he slams his hand on the side of the pod, pulling himself forward, with the other hand nursing his head.

  The man was of average height, muscular, and dressed strangely, he had no visible eyes, he was wearing a dark grey skin tight body suit with red markings on his face, chest, arms, back, and legs.

  “What the hell is this?” said the man known as Proxy in an English accent, but very confused.

  “I don’t remember requesting an early morning wakeup call?” he continued, still holding his head.

  “I don’t think we have a choice in the matter pal” said a deep voice in his head who has no name but we will call him Mister White.

  “Yeah I guess so” said Proxy in a droll manner “But is it really necessary to make my head feel like it’s being crushed in a vice?”

  “Maybe they don’t like us?” said Mister White with indifference.

  Then another voice echoed through Proxies neurological highway “That’s impossible” it said in a jovial, manic voice, “People love us, just look at our huge fan base” this inner voice we will call Mister Yellow.

  “What fan base?” Exclaimed Mister White in disbelief, “Nobody knows who we are yet.”

  Proxy still holding his head in pain, felt a rush of nausea and a general feeling of mental infirmity that was slowly turning into a migraine, that wasn’t going to go away anytime soon. The echoing voices in his head persisted to bicker and quarrel with what seemed to be no end.

  “Well if that was true” said Mister Yellow, in an attempt to espouse his opinion “How can you explain the constant armed protection that we get wherever we go around here? Only important and famous people need bodyguards.”

  “They’re not our bodyguards you idiot” Mister White said distastefully, “They are there to taser us if we try anything stupid… again” said Mister White vitriolically with a hint of jaded sarcasm.

  Proxies head pain was increasing in magnitude; he placed both of his hands on his head trying to cradle it but the trivial argument continues unabated.

  “Hey it wasn’t my fault that he tried to grab that nurses boo…” Before Mister Yellow could finish his sentence Proxy yelled out.

  “Shut up, the pair of you!” he bellowed angrily, “My head already feels two miles wide as it is without you two adding to it”.

  Both Mister White and Mister Yellow apologised for their impertinence.

  “That’s better” said Proxy, climbing out of the cryo-tube still caressing his head in his hand, the room’s temperature had plummeted, making it almost unbearably cold, frost started to form on some of the machines, but Proxy did not seem interested in the rooms sub-zero conditions.

  He had an air of glee about him, somethings not right he thought, but couldn’t place it, Mister White was also in agreeance that something was off, not right, missing! Then Mister Yellow broke the pensive silence “Silly big tits!” he bellowed with an overabundance of euphoric voyeur.

  “Yes! Your right” agreed Proxy, smacking the side of his clenched fist into the palm of his hand.

  Proxy begins to look around the room in hope to locate the aptly nicknamed woman, but to no avail, Proxy somewhat confused begins to ponder “Where is she? I don’t see her?” he said with apprehension.

  “Maybe she didn’t like the love note we gave her?” Said Mister Yellow in a sad, almost depressing tone instead of his usually jovial, manic way of speaking, Mister White however did not help by expressing sarcastically “Oh, you think!”

  *

  The love note had been written on crystal white paper and decorated in brightly coloured letterings and glitter to make it sparkle when the light touched it. What was written on this crystal white paper, with all of its beautiful bright colours and enough sparkly glitter to attract the attention of a magpie, was the most romantic display of word play ever recorded by man and it went like this…

  Roses are red,

  Violets are blue,

  Forget this rhyming crap,

  I just want to screw you.

  *

  Proxy still standing in the cold, damp atmosphere of the room tried to determine what it was they might have done wrong

  “Was the glitter a bit too much?” queried Mister Yellow naively.

  Mister White’s response was nothing less than vitriolic “The whole damn thing was a bit too much, we were literally one line off being done for sexual harassment”.

  To which Proxy added his humorous nine penny-worth “Can’t get done for sexual harassment if you don’t get caught”.

  “But you always do” quipped Mister White sarcastically.

  Mister Yellow through all the excitement yelled with glee and asked Proxy to high five him, which he was going to do without hesitation when Mister White stopped him and told him how stupid he would look for trying to high five voices in his head.

  Proxy paused reluctantly and although you couldn’t see his facial expression, I can tell you, it was anything but pleased.

  Proxy threw his arms over his head and began to stretch, twisting, and turning his body, warming up his muscles for what was coming next.

  “Well there’s no point hanging around here playing with ourselves” he said.

  He walked briskly towards a nearby pipe, grasped it firmly and ripped it off the wall with ease. Then made his way over to the door where there was a control panel on the right side, it was finger print encoded and would only open for specific personnel.

  So Proxy raised the pipe above his head and brought it down sharply, smashing the front of the console off the wall, he flung the pipe to the floor and began tampering with the devices electronics.

  “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” asked Mister White with a concerned tone.

  “Nope” replied Proxy, continuing to tinker with the devices wires.

  “That’s not really reassuring” said Mister White, feeling uneased by Proxies actions and oblivious nature.

  “Oh stop your worrying, like seriously what’s the worst thing that could happen?” he said with indifference as the door opened, “See told you there was nothing to worry abo…”

  Before he could finish, he was face to face with the huge maw of a
creature leaping towards him, Proxy being pushed back by the creature,

  shouting out “WHAT THE…!”

  The creature was a quadruped, repugnant, heavily deformed, releasing an acrid stench; blood was dripping and trailing on the floor from the creatures raw deformed flesh; it had razor sharp teeth protruding from the front of its face like blades on a chariot, and a jaw like a snakes, breaking and separating apart from each other dripping small droplets of blood directly onto Proxies face; its underbelly looked as if it was scooped out by a trowel and replaced with what looked like an embryotic sack filled with a gelatinous substance, surrounded by sharp bone blades protruding from the creatures swelled flesh.

  Proxy was on his back, this creature on top of him as he tried desperately to hold back its persistent attempts at eating him. Blood dripped from the creature’s jaws, trickling down Proxies hands and trailed down his arms, “Well you are one… ugly bugger, aren’t you” said Proxy as it made unrecognizable noises.

  “Oh don’t be like that” said Mister Yellow happily, “It probably just wants to be friends with us!”

  The creatures tongue wiped saliva across Proxies face tasting the fabric of his suit, he was somewhat grateful he was wearing a mask.

  “Look he’s trying to give us a kiss, go on give him a kiss, go on, you know you want to” Mister Yellow said in joyous stupidity.

  Proxy looked away from the creature, trying desperately to avoid further saliva, which is when he noticed the discarded pipe. In a desperate attempt to retrieve it, he rammed his fingers into one of the creature’s eyes, making it howl in pain as blood spurted from its socket.

  With the creature in disarray, Proxy pushed it back, retrieved the pipe, grabbed a tight hold and smashed the creature across the head with it. With it now off of him, he quickly jumped to his feet and began beating it around the head, occasionally kicking it as he shouting out “DIE, DIE, DIE”.