November 2067

“Try one more time, Ed.” Director Hayes from the PA said.

Ed raised his hand and tried once again to manifest a lightning bolt from his hand. He had a success rate of one out of ten, but it had not been improving at all. At least when it came to making lightning, for he had other powers as well. He no longer needed to breathe, flight was now possible by simply thinking about it, farsighted, enhanced strength and endurance. The body of an Olympian, he could not wither, lose muscle, or gain fat. A heightened sense of understanding as well as a speech that could be heard but all and understood by all. He became a truly superior being.

It had been one month since the first successful hybridization took place. Ed had technically gained godhood. However, it was just a matter of letting it out somehow. The testing seemed to just be repeating the same test over and over again. There was no true testing for his abilities.

“Do you need a break?” Hayes asked.

“I have been going for three days straight.” Ed said. “I am fine, but I worry about your mental aptitude. Can you guys keep up?”

“We are taking it in shifts. We are more concerned about you.”

“We can take a break, if you would like. Couple of days perhaps. Get out and see some people. Friends and family, maybe?”

“Don’t expect that the funders would be too happy about that, but we can get out into the local town for some local flavor. I think that would be acceptable. Can you try one more?”

“Sure.” 

Ed raised his hand one more time and produced a golden bolt that raced quickly through the air and struck and found its target and demolished it. Ed turned and went to the door. He glanced back at his target and with the slightest of thoughts wished that it would put itself back together. He left the room. 

Hayes met Ed at the end of the hall. His white lab coat had three pens in his left pocket, a blue one, a green one and a red one. Though the reasoning for the different colors was beyond even Ed’s comprehension. Hayes had a bottle of water and a towel which he handed off to Ed. Though he had no need for it, he was still grateful for it. 

The two beings continued to walk down the hallway. They passed by a janitor on their way out. 

The janitor’s name was Norman. Norman had been the janitor for the past ten years. The lab was usually pretty clean as most chemically minded people were; but this new project, though top-secret, Norman was smart enough to know that the past month was anything but ordinary. The two ton concrete blocks were getting real hard to clean up. But as stated, Norman was smart, therefore, he knew to keep his mouth shut.

Pushing his flatbed, he was getting ready for another night back pain. When he opened the door, he saw that the blocks that were supposed to have been destroyed were not. They were all neatly stacked and ready for another round. 

Norman stepped just outside the door, checked to make sure that it was the right room. Sure enough, right room. He went back inside and pressed the intercom.

“Doctor? There is something odd about this room.”

Doctor Ashley Simmons, the second in command, answered. “What is it Norman?”

“I think you ought to play back the security footage for the past three minutes. Because there is nothing in here for me to clean.”

“Alright, Norman, give me a second.” 

The line went silent for a moment. Static filled the air.

“Norman? Come to the observation room please.” Ashley’s voice was cool and calm. There were things that she wished that she did not have to do about this job and maintaining utter secrecy was one of them. There was a certain secret that Hayes did not know about Norman and often looked at him as nothing more than a janitor. 

Norman was in fact one of the producers for the god-hood experiment, but his presence needed to be unknown to both the director as well as the subject. For Norman was a self made man. He started small with home landscaping, won the lottery, had a thing for the science fiction, invested with genetics and cloning in 2035, the kingdom of Day was discovered in 2037 and his investment profits shot through the roof and he became a hundred billionaire overnight. The disguise that he wore could fool everyone that did not see him put it on. It was the science infused magic of the changling from the kingdom of Day. He could change everything about himself and no one would be the wiser. 

The observation room was empty except for Ashley. Norman entered quickly and quietly.

“What did the security cams show?” Norman asked.

“The most unique thing that has ever happened. The blocks reassembled themselves after Ed gave them a quick glance. It was almost as if he willed them back to their original form.” She scrolled the footage back and forth over and over again as if she still couldn’t believe it no matter how much she saw. “This is fanatasic stuff! The project worked. I wonder how long it will take to extract his DNA and make it avabile for anyone.”

“I think that it is still too soon and that more testing still needs to be done. Perhaps in a year he’ll be able to conjure what we need to push ourselves forward more than what was planned. We keep testing and pushing his limits for now. We can see how far he goes next month.”