At the heart of Harmony, a prism-like building seemed to look down upon the rest of the city. Each of its four sides were shaped like large, shining shields. Upon each side there was a unique symbol. Elisa took a look at her medallion, it displayed the same four symbols. Their meaning was foreign to her but she continued forward, “Well…this must be the place.”
Several guards stood outside the door leading into the building. They all seemed equipped with the same cybernetic modifications. A prosthetic right arm that doubled as a multitool, their skin seemed hardened by nanomachines and their left eyes all gave off a faint, red glow. They stood alert as Elisa approached them, squinting their eyes at her, “Move along, this area is off-limits to all NeoHumans.”
Between her thumb, index, and middle finger Elisa displayed her medallion to the guards, “Does this change your mind at all?”
The guard took the medallion from her hand. He held it up to the sun and examined it for several moments. The medallion seemed so small, to Elisa now, between the guard’s large hand and fingers. He handed it back to Elisa, “One of Wynona’s, huh?” He shook his head and groaned. He motioned the other guards to step aside and turned back toward Elisa. He spoke in a defeated tone, “Head inside, get registered, and get proper identification.”
Elisa stepped past them, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to cause a commotion.”
The guard didn’t give her a further response as she stepped inside of the building.
Elisa stepped through several full body scanners on her way inside. Clothing material, items carried, total living cell count, traces of disease, genetic code, cybernetic enhancements…Elisa couldn’t keep it all straight in her mind. One warning that flashed on the various screens stood out to her. “UNKNOWN SPECIMEN. DOES NOT MATCH GENETIC DATABASE.”
A woman stepped over toward Elisa motioning her forward. After several seconds the warning dissipated from the screen and Elisa was brought over to a waiting area. The chairs seemed to float, defying gravity, as Elisa sat in one it seemed to fall slightly before returning to its original position. They were arranged into neat rows, 10 chairs to each row. Holograms displayed maps of the building. A low hum bounced in her ears tempting her to sleep.
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“Miss! I need you to step this way.”
Elisa forced herself up and followed behind her. Elisa took note of several people who passed by. Not a single one seemed to have a visible cybernetic modification, not even the woman leading her toward a floating desk with a holographic screen. She couldn’t help but ask, “Hey why does everyone here seem…”.
“Seem human?” The woman had finished Elisa’s sentence.
Elisa raised her eyebrows, “Yes.”
“You’ll find out soon enough. You can call me Marie. Can I have your name please?”
The forced response made Elisa recoil but she complied, “I’m Elisa.”
Words seemed to appear on the holographic screen without Marie moving an inch. Seemingly transcribing her thoughts onto the screen. Marie looked back up toward Elisa, “Do you have any form of identification?”
Elisa pulled out the medallion yet again, “This is all I’ve been given.”
“Endorsed by Wynona? Alright. Let me create an identification chip for you. Yours seems to have been lost post-modification.” With each minute that passed Marie could notice Elisa’s growing discomfort. Marie spoke up again, “Worry not, you will be in no pain during the procedure.”
“What do you mean I won’t be in any pain?”
“It’s a simple procedure, watch.”
A chip appeared in front of Marie. It contained unique biological information about Elisa. Used to verify her identity. Marie put on a thin glove, took Elisa’s wrist and pushed the chip in the middle of her tattoo. Elisa quickly tried to pull her wrist back, but almost instantaneously the chip had disappeared, seemingly branding itself onto Elisa’s skin.
“What the hell was that?”
“Your identification chip, Elisa. I told you there would be no pain.”
Elisa paused for a brief moment, taken aback by Marie’s cold yet candid response. She forced herself to stay calm, “You’re right. I apologize.” She couldn’t afford to overreact now.
“It’s okay, Elisa. I see your genetic code has been modified. Loss of memory is an expected side effect.”
“I’ve been told the same by Wynona.” Elisa formulated one last question as Marie turned off the holographic screen, “What is this place anyway? Wynona never told me why she gave me this medallion.”
Marie let out a laugh, “That’s quite like her. You’ll have to forgive her rash behavior.” After a moment Marie straightened herself out and said in a calming voice,
“You’re a Shield Bearer. Unique genetic modification “Regeneration”. Subject 15. Welcome. Glory be to the NeoHumans.”