The Project

The lights blinded Henry as they flashed on, illuminating the space around him. As his eyes adjusted to the visual assault, he took in his surroundings. He was in an empty room, except for the chair and table where he sat. There was a chair facing him on the other side of the table in case someone else were to join him. A door suddenly appeared in the wall, and a small woman entered the room. Click, clack. Her heels were the only sound as she strode to the table. Henry looked at the woman expectantly, but she placed her binder on the desk and returned the stare. All their meetings started this way.

“Good morning, Mr. Stephens.” She opened the binder to a photo of Henry.

“Good morning, Rosie. I’m a bit surprised you found somewhere worse than that island.” She pursed her lips at his reply. Tough crowd.

“Yes,” she continued, “the island. Let’s talk about that. You were there for approximately 3 months and discovered something that you described as ‘extremely worrisome’. Can you go into more detail?”

“Uh yeah. Where should I start?”

“The beginning is fine, Mr. Stephens.”

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Henry was unsure if his nausea was due to the bumpy boat ride or the anticipation of starting his research. The smell of the salty air reminded him of trips to the beach as a kid, and his anxiety began to lessen. Leaving his hometown for the isolation of the island was a hard decision for him to make. Ultimately, he decided that this rare opportunity was too good to pass up. He was selected to help research how evolution can affect the survival of different species.

There were many types of test environments, and Henry was assigned 9 of them. Each held the same shape, but their sizes and textures differed. Each was to have the same outside variable (kept secret by the company) introduced. He was to then observe and report his findings. His years of research in evolutionary biology made him more than qualified for the job. At least that’s what The Company said when they recruited him. One of the few things they said. Everything about The Company was so hush-hush that he was surprised he was even allowed to know his own name. Despite the secrecy, he jumped at the opportunity.

The research began slowly, as most research does. None of the environments showed any changes worth noting, but Henry wrote a quick ‘no change’ every day regardless. He began this out of habit, and as the days wore on, he noticed he did this for his sanity, as well. Being alone on the island included not being allowed any outside contact, either. He would spend his evenings outside, praying for boat lights to pass by. Any reminder he wasn’t truly alone.

It happened on a Tuesday morning. Henry was about to write ‘no change’, but stopped short when he noticed something move on Subject #3. He took a closer look, and yes, something was definitely there beneath the hydrogen-dense layers of atmosphere! Smiling to himself, he wrote his first new entry. Life begins.

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As the days went on, Henry gave up all hope of any growth on the other 8 subjects. He turned his focus solely on Subject #3. The tiny moving creatures grew larger by the day, spreading themselves out over the nooks and crannies of their host environment, yet never leaving the hydrogen layer. The few that attempted died immediately. After a few days, the creatures had stopped growing and began to self-stabilize their population numbers. Perhaps this is as far as it goes, he thought as he wrote the words ‘no change’.

Henry couldn’t believe his eyes. He had never seen anything like it. So many escaped, and they all survived. He sprinted for his notebook, not wanting to lose any detail. While the migration was slow, he was there to note how it began and would be there for whatever came next. This was the first night he skipped sitting by the water.

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‘There have been four days of no further changes.’ Henry noted. Once again, he began to suspect the project may be over. He was given strict instructions to destroy anything that grew after 5 days of no changes. He couldn’t stop believing in the hope that something might change. That something even bigger was waiting for him. He didn’t know what he was waiting on, but he was confident he would know it when he saw it. As the clock ticked closer to midnight, Henry watched for anything that would allow him to stay and continue with this project. His heart dropped to his stomach when the clock chimed 12:00.

“Ugh. No no no no. Fuck!” Henry watched as all his hard work left him with mediocre research. As much as he wanted to continue, he knew he had zero option but to terminate the subjects and turn in his research. He took his final notes and pressed the kill switch. He knew bearing witness to his own self-destruction was going to be extremely difficult. He didn’t know it would also be extremely important.

Henry let the environment cool down before he did a check to ensure everything had truly died. The only thing allowed to leave with him was his notes. Absolutely no trace of the experiment was allowed. He almost fell to his knees when his brain processed what he was seeing. Not only did the kill switch not kill all the creatures. New ones began to grow. He once again began scribbling in his journal.

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Growth was moving at an even faster speed. Evolution managed to keep up. Where before there were multiple similar creatures, now they were all completely different. The only thing they had in common was the increase in overall intelligence. Henry even had moments where he believed they could be sentient. They could be something like him. He shook those thoughts away as he added the day’s notes.

Evolution is happening at speeds I have never seen before. What started as something microscopic has multiplied in size at an exponential rate. While some seemed to be content to stay where their life cycles began, others crawled their way to a change in location. They continued to adapt and evolve, showing no signs of stopping. Today, I saw what I was waiting for.

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“Thank you for your help on this project, Mr. Stephens,” Rosie added her notes to the binder. “This is very valuable. We will definitely be able to use this. However, I must admit I am lost on which part is concerning. It sounds like everything was thriving. We could have a breakthrough.”

“They weren’t thriving,” Henry took in the question on her face. “I watched as they destroyed each other. As they destroyed the subject. Everything was going great until the last evolutionary phase. I didn’t even have to terminate the subject. They did it themselves. I can’t explain it. There is no scientific explanation for the behavior displayed other than a widespread illness of some kind.”

A heavy silence hung between them as Rosie took in this new piece of information.

“Another failure,” she broke the silence with a disappointed sigh. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Stephens. Your work here is greatly appreciated. You will be returned tonight on the same ferry that brought you to the island. Did you name your work, or shall we be calling this Project Stephens?”

“No, uh, yeah. I named it Project Earth.”

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Henry had read an overwhelming number of journals, articles, and books on evolution. He would spend hours researching stories and myths on how evolution is a necessity for survival. Throughout his years of studies, he had never stumbled upon something quite like this. As the days passed, the creatures continued to diversify even further. Their sizes, shapes, and habits began to change based on the environmental elements surrounding them. Though the changes were remarkable, they remained simple creatures.

He saw the combustion the next morning. It was tiny, controlled. No larger than the size of the creature’s head. He had suspected that they were becoming intelligent, but the thought of them making discoveries and beginning creations never crossed his mind. Once again, he was proven wrong. He couldn’t be more excited. And that’s where things became ‘extremely worrisome’. He didn’t yet know that this was the beginning to an end.

Henry began to notice signs of aggression in the newly evolved species. Where their predecessors and most of their current companions only killed for food, there were many times they seemed to kill just for the sake of doing so. They were extremely territorial yet somehow extremely sociable creatures, preferring to stay in small, scattered groups. Some would perform what looked like a ritual, with multiple calling out to the sky. Calling out to him. Henry continued to take his notes without interfering.

He watched as communities were destroyed by groups with more members. He watched as the population decreased rapidly to 50%. He watched as they kidnapped each other and forced them into manual labor. He even watched as controlled combustion began across the environment. Still, he took his notes as what started with fire, ended in flame.

There are no longer any signs of life on Subject #3. The newest form of evolved species seemed to have a biological flaw. Where most living organisms have the base desire to live, these found every opportunity to destroy not only each other, but also the very environment that sustained their survival. This caused the ultimate demise of Subject #3.

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“You said that they were calling out for you. What do you mean by that?” Rosie sat straighter in her chair.

“I don’t know what they were doing with certainty. That’s why that didn’t make it into the official report. But yeah, that’s what it looked like.” Henry remembered how uncomfortable he felt as they bellowed into the sky as someone was tortured on a T-shaped object. It was as if they knew he was watching.

“What do you think they were trying to say?” She jotted a quick note without looking away from him.

“I mean. I don’t know. How would I? Hell, probably a call for help.”

“Why didn’t you help?”

“I’m sorry. What?”

“Why didn’t you help?” she repeated.

Why didn’t he help? All his training had told him that it was forbidden to interfere. But now he felt his face warm in shame. Should he have?

“I’m a researcher, ma’am. We observe. That’s all.” What did he observe, though? Pain, torture, death. But it was just an experiment.

“Do you believe we are inherently good or bad, Mr. Stephens?”

Before this experiment, hell, before this conversation, he would have said good. But now he was stuck on whether he was a good person. No, he did not commit the atrocities he witnessed, but he did nothing to stop them from happening.

“I don’t know about bad, ma’am, but I know it’s not good.”

“That concludes this interview. Good luck to you, Mr. Stephens.” Rosie promptly rose and exited the room.

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Henry watched the island shrink as he headed home. Rosie’s words haunted him. Why didn’t you help? You easily could have done something. Even if it was to only end the suffering sooner.

The ferry’s captain slapped him on the back as a greeting. “You look sick, son. I’ll pray for the rest of your journey.” Henry watched as the captain walked back to his quarters. He looked to the sky and wondered if his God was ignoring him, too.