-SYSTEM STARTUP-
.
..
...
-STARTUP COMPLETE-
-COMMAND PROMPT-
-/Run-
-RUN PROGRAM-
-SELECT PROGRAM FROM LIST-
-B427SC/Programs/Projects/ActiveTest/ELM-
-Initializing-
.
..
...

~~~


"-chance of escape?"

"No, sir. We've integrated our highest security protocols in the testing chambers. There's no way that the test subjects can break through them."

"You seem confident, Doctor. You do realize the dangers presented if they escape? Especially if they become unstable. Should a single molecule become compatible to a civilian, it could end life as we know it..."

A young man in a three-piece suit and an older woman in a lab coat, t-shirt, and shorts stood in the reinforced concrete observation room overlooking Bell BioInformatics' Test Subject Proving Grounds. They stared blankly at the five overhead monitors in the otherwise-sterile room.
Each monitor depicted a human in a state of rest. Behind them, an elderly man cleared his throat in a mucus-over-gravel sort of way. They turned.

"Yes, Chairman Bell?" the woman asked.

The old man wheeled his chair forward and cleared his throat again. He gazed up at the monitors with an odd look of affection. "What safety protocols do we have in place?"

"Should the test subjects break free of their programmed bonds, their section of the proving grounds will lock down. Any attempt to break out of the facility will result in an appropriate electrical force, specific to their body's makeup, effectively vaporizing them."

Bell looked over at the young man. "Derrick?"

"Yes, sir?"

"This project is under your supervision...You can take this back to formula if you wish it..."

"No, sir," Derrick replied, paling. He knew that going back to formula would mean six months of research, as well as several hundreds of millions of dollars spent, down the drain. "We'll go ahead." He nodded to the scientist.

The woman pulled a PDA from her lab coat pocket and press "ACTIVATE". As one, the five figures represented on screen opened their eyes - scarlet, hazel, blue, violet, and grey...