The next morning, after contemplating most of the night whether the trip would be worth it, Dayton decided that he could at least demonstrate that he was a bigger person than the one he planned to visit.
He took a three-hour bus ride to Malton Baynes Prison, and after going about every check in the book, was granted ten minutes with the man who was his father.
The man that stepped through the door on the opposite side of the bulletproof glass did not look like the man he remembered. This man looked like he had aged three decades rather than just the one, and he was skinny and scraggly enough that it appeared as if his mental instability had bled out to be viewed.
He cautiously sat down opposite Dayton, confusion in his gaze as he picked up the phone on his side. Dayton heard the scratchy voice through the receiver on his side.
“Who are you?”
Dayton released a sad smile as he rolled his eyes to the roof. Yeah, he probably should have expected this.
“Dayton,” he replied, “But evidently you’ve lost yourself enough that you don’t even remember you had a son. Explains a lot”.
Slow recognition dawned in the man’s eyes, “Day?”
Dayton didn’t respond to his shock, though a clarity he had not yet seen appeared in his eyes, “Y-You look older…H-How are you?”
Dayton scoffed, “It’s been twelve years, I think it would be more shocking if I didn’t look any older. Don’t you?”
The man flinched at Dayton’s tone.
“As for how I am. I’m doing well. Just graduated school. I got an offer for a Military Academy that I’m taking,” said Dayton.
His father’s expression froze, “What do you mean taking it? You would so willingly roll over and serve those alien oppressors-”
“I’m not here to ask your permission,” Dayton cut him off, “You lost that responsibility well-before you were sent here. I only came because despite not having any contact with you for over a decade, it felt wrong to leave without saying goodbye”.
His father’s gaze was harsh, clearly disapproving, but Dayton found he didn’t care not even a little bit, “Goodbye, Max Harris. I doubt I’ll ever see you again”.
Then Dayton hung up the phone and stood, turning away as he saw his father mouthing his name in a panic on the far side of the glass. But Dayton didn’t care, he just turned and left, the last weight of attachment lifting from his shoulders.
Dayton returned to his home in the late afternoon, packing away clothes and a few pictures of his mother and grandfather. He found that the rest of what was in the student housing wasn’t really worth taking. He’d be provided with everything he needed anyway, and there was no point in taking any technology because it’d be worthless in a central system. He packed up his belongings in a few boxes, then either discarded them or sold them off at a pawn shop down the street. He’d already been forced to sell the apartment he’d lived in with his mother, then grandfather earlier in life to pay for the rest of his schooling and his grandfather’s funeral.
With only the items he had in his duffel bag and a couple thousand pounds left in his bank account, Dayton made his way to the funeral home the next morning after signing out of the student housing. He said goodbye to his grandfather and mother, then requested that their plaques, which were composed of their ashes, be removed as he would no longer be present to pay for their places.
He took them with him to his grandfather’s old farmhouse, confusing the couple that lived there now at first before he explained what he wanted to do. They agreed to his request, and gave him space while Dayton buried both plaques beneath his mother’s favourite tree, beside the river his Grandfather had loved to fish in.
With that, finished, Dayton made his way back to the city, and showed up at the Golden Riser Hotel that was listed on the card that the woman had given him.
He approached the front desk and handed over the card, “Can you please let these guests know that Dayton Wayfinder has arrived?”
The receptionist nodded with a small smile, “Any other message?”
Dayton shook his head, “They should be expecting me”.
After a short call the receptionist called over another worker who showed Dayton up to the room on the top floor of the hotel. A top-class suite with multiple bedrooms. Dayton marvelled as he stepped into the foyer, the woman who had given him the card thanking the hotel employee before closing the door and turning to face Dayton.
“Do you have a list of things that need to be done?” she asked, “I am Major Commander Danin Uther, serving under the General, by the way, I don’t think I introduced myself the other night”’.
Dayton nodded his head politely, “You didn’t, it’s an honour, Major Commander”.
She gave the smallest smile, “The list?”
“Oh well, I’ve never had to prepare to go off world, obviously,” Dayton said as she guided him towards a lounge in the centre of the apartment-like suite, “But the only belongings I have left are what I have on me. I pawned or threw out everything else. I also handled my Grandfather’s and Mother’s Plaques…and said goodbye to my dad. Mostly because it gelt wrong not to. Not that he’s ever been much of a father…”
Dayton trailed off, none of what he said seeming to surprise Danin, “So the only things I have left here are my bank accounts and my ID. Do they need to be, like, Universalised or something?”
“Do you have an email account?” asked Danin.
Dayton nodded, “Oh, yes”.
“If you give me your ID card and your account details for both the bank and the email, I can arrange for them to be upgraded so that you can access them anywhere in the Universe rather than just here on Earth. It’ll probably mean making you brand new accounts on far better encrypted and powerful servers, but rest assured it will all be completed and ready to go by the time you wake up,” said Danin.
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“By the time I wake up?” asked Dayton.
“Genetic Enhancers can be a nasty business,” said the General as he entered the room, “I imagine you might stay lucid for the first ten to fifteen minutes, but eventually, you will pass out from the pain. Rest assured that we’ll be monitoring you closely while the enhancers take effect. We’ll do a quick medical before and after to be sure it’s worked though”.
Dayton had expected to get Genetic Enhancers. Nobody could go into space for long periods of time without them. But they seemed to really be taking care of him for this. Something that Dayton realised he didn’t have any choice but to trust them in.
“I’m getting just the one injection then?”
The General scoffed, “Two for now. Another two in a month if we no side effects. Possibly a final two a month after that”.
“6 injections?” asked Dayton, eyes wide.
“You didn’t think that the one injection most people get on this planet actually brought out their full potential, did you?” asked the General.
“Well, no,” said Dayton, “But I guess it’s precisely because I’m from this planet that I didn’t expect more than one”.
“You’ll need a minimum of six to even come close to your classmates at the Academy,” said Danin, “As I said at the dinner the other night, this will not be an easy path for you. You are sure of your decision?”
Dayton nodded, “I’m sure”.
“Good, because the medical equipment is already set up,” said the General, “Come this way. We’ll get started”.
The General escorted him to the master bedroom, which must have been the only room large enough to fit all of the medical equipment. The General stood beside a man with large horns protruding from the front of his head and grey skin with coal black eyes. Dayton was surprised at first, but seeing as he was in a lab coat and the General wasn’t the least bit surprised to see him there, Dayton figured that he was the presiding Doctor.
“Yasra, this is Dayton, Dayton, my Chief Medical Officer, Yasra,” said the General.
“Wonderful, we can get started,” said the Doctor, “Close the doors please, General. Dayton, put your things to the side over there and you can go and put these on in the bathroom. We’ll do a few simple medical tests, and provided there are no glaring abnormalities we’ll start the injections, any questions?”
Dayton shook his head, taking the swimsuit-like underwear and placing his bag, jacket and shoes in the corner before he went and changed, deciding that he wanted to pee first. The tight shorts were surprisingly comfortable despite how closely they shaped his skin. Coming down to mid-thigh and up around his hips. He exited the bathroom then placed his clothes in a pile on his bag.
“Good, good,” said the Doctor as he looked up and down, “No abnormal skin conditions, nor injuries. A few old scars, battle or otherwise?”
Dayton was surprised by the rapid observations, enough that he simply answered, pointing to the one on his right side first, “This one I got my appendix removed”. He turned to show the one on his left shoulder blade, “This one I tripped on my grandfather’s farm equipment when I was young and nearly sawed my arm off. Was lucky it didn’t nick my neck”.
The Doctor nodded, “I see, well, are you aware that the Enhancers will likely heal any injuries as they work? Some have even been known to replace previously removed organs with newer and better versions, though admittedly this is rare”.
“I didn’t know they could replace organs, but I had heard rumours of them healing injuries,” Dayton replied.
The Doctor nodded, “Have you got histories of genetic illness in your family?”
“Well, my mother passed away from Leukemia when I was a toddler. And my father…well, I don’t know his family well enough honestly, so I don’t know if the mental instability is genetic,” said Dayton.
“No matter, a bit of research and we’ll know for sure. Any others?” asked the Doctor.
“Not that I can recall,” Dayton replied.
The Doctor nodded, then produced a silver cylinder from one of the draws of the portable set behind him and clicked a button, a needle extending down from it, “Now, I’m just going to take some blood, this should be quick”.
The Doctor gently took the arm that Dayton offered and he felt a small puff of air on the inside of his elbow before the needle sunk into this arm. A few seconds later, the needle retracted and the doctor used a small swab to wipe the spot of blood that remained before he walked over to a device and placed the cylinder into it.
The doctor then took an empty test tube and handed it to Dayton, “Spit into this please, up to the white line”.
It felt gross, but after a minute, Dayton had done as told. The Doctor sealed the tube then plugged it into the same device as the blood.
“Alright,” said the Doctor as he sat down on a chair beside the bed that Dayton was sat on, dragging the computer with his blood and saliva plugged into it over to them so that they could both see the screen.
“I see your blood is showing healthy levels of oxygenation and iron. You’ve also got healthy white blood cells as well. A few impurities there but we can put that down to diet and there are no adverse effects that I’m seeing,” the doctor clicked on another screen, “Your genetics look quite sound as well, you have none of your mother’s genetic illnesses, and no predispositions of mental illness. Perhaps you could have blood pressure issues when you’re older, but the genetic enhancement should take care of that swiftly...”
He trailed off, zooming in on the double helix on the screen and enhancing a section.
“What is it?” asked Dayton.
“They’re dormant genes,” said the Doctor, “I haven’t seen them before. Almost like something left over from evolution over thousands if not millions of years”.
“Humans did evolve from primates,” Dayton said.
The Doctor nodded, “Hmm, fascinating”.
“Will they…active, with the enhancers?” asked Dayton.
The Doctor chuckled, “No, not if they have grown dormant thanks to evolution. In fact, it’s likely that the genetic enhancer will erase them altogether seeing as they are no longer needed”.
Dayton frowned, “Does a Genetic Enhancer change someone that much?”
The Doctor shook his head, “It doesn’t take away who a person is. It only draws out the greatest biological and genetic potential of an individual. Sometimes, when talking about genetic illnesses, or evolutionary genes turned dormant, it erases, or perhaps a better term is ‘rewrites’, them. I have complete confidence looking at these results that all that the Genetic Enhancers will cause in you, Dayton Wayfinder, is bringing out your best self”.
Dayton gave a small smile, though it sounded somewhat awkward when he heard it.
“Alright, ready to get started?”
Dayton nodded.
The Doctor had Dayton help him spread a white medical sheet over the large bed, then had Dayton lie down on his back as he attached several wireless patches to Dayton that gave read outs on the monitor.
“Alright Dayton, we’ll do one injection in your arm and on in your opposing thigh,” said the Doctor, “It will probably hurt, and you’ll feel a bit of a chill in the first few minutes. Following which your temperature will probably rise quite quickly and you’ll begin to feel quite sore and sick. It won’t be a pleasant experience at all, but rest assured I’ll be monitoring you the entire time”.
Dayton took a deep breath in, then released it and nodded, “I’m ready”.
The Doctor moved to the far side of the bed and placed an injection in Dayton right thigh. It stung, and a chill rapidly spread through the limb. Dayton hissed.
“You’re okay,” the Doctor reassured, “Second one coming”.
Dayton had barely noticed the Doctor moving around the bed to his left arm before he spoke, and then the second injection hit him.
The chill overcame him as it filled his body, so much so that Dayton shivered. Then, just as soon as it started, Dayton felt the chill rapidly change to a burning heat.
“Urgh,” he moaned, “It’s starting to burn”.
“I know, I know,” said the Doctor in a calm voice, “Stick through it, I’m right here, you’re still fine”.
Dayton didn’t feel fine as he started to shift to find somewhere cooler. The Doctor rapidly bound him so that he’d lie still, and Dayton practically growled as he tried to fight through the pain.
But the world around him was beginning to fade as the heat, and the increasingly stabbing pains overcame him.