Chapter 8 Part 2 – The One and Only Claire 

Claire passed the time in the plane looking out the window.  Having seen everything she needed with the plans; she used this time to prepare herself for what she could expect after landing.  Suddenly the speaker crackled above her, breaking up her thoughts. 

“This is the Captain.  We will be descending shortly.”  The short message caused Claire to gather her things, and for the first time, a bit of nervousness hit her. She had just gotten on a plane, flew across the country and was about to land not knowing what to expect except a project she hadn’t worked on since college.  The plane was finishing its descent and the runway could be seen zipping by after an incredibly smooth landing. 

Waiting for instruction, she quickly made her way to the door once the indicators noted it was safe.  The door opened and stairs lowered automatically.  There, was another driver.  Another silent encounter and she was off on her way.   

The windows of this SUV were very tinted, privacy glass she assumed.  But on the inside, it had the same effect.  There was no bombardment of praise from a screen.  Just the hum of a large vehicle quickly taking her to her destination.   

The vehicle came to a stop.  It appears they were at some sort of checkpoint and the driver was confirming their authority.  After a moment, they began moving and as they entered the facility, the windows lightened up.  She could see they were at a very large research campus. 

Driving up, what she could see from her window was an enormous building.  Clearly in the glass the S.I. logo was predominantly featured.  As the car continued down the driveway, it halted at another checkpoint, this one leading to a ramp down below ground.  They quickly moved through the checkpoint and the last bit of visible natural light faded behind the vehicle. 

Alarms started going off in Claire’s head.  She was now out of sight, had no idea where she was and no one knew where she was.  She quickly texted Ben a note letting her know she had landed safely.  She began to type a second text message when her phone’s signal died. 

“No service in here.” The driver said automatically. 

Claire deposited her phone in her briefcase and prepared for arrival.  A short time later the car stopped, and on cue, the driver opened the door. 

They stood Infront of two large metal doors.  Not ones that could be opened by a person but required a mechanism.  Along the edges of the door was the cautionary black and yellow stripes, indicating this area was an area of work and research, not an office. 

A large red bulb began to flash and with a groan, the doors began to open into the building.  The driver escorted Claire inside.  He showed her into a very large room, set up as conference room. It was not like the rest of the facility, which to this point seemed designed for performance rather than aesthetics.  

The table however was much larger than she expected.  In the middle of the room was a boardroom table.  The table however had chairs far larger than she expected and the table came up to her chin.  She turned to ask the driver but was greeted with the door closing behind her and a “click” of the lock. 

Claire was stunned.  What was going on.  There was a lot to take in all at once.  She didn’t even notice the welcome Claire banner hung on the wall or the assortment of food adorning a nearby table. A voice came over the intercom. 

“Welcome Claire. We first want to welcome you here to our headquarters.  We apologize for the secrecy, but our location is still not public and we did not want to release that to you until you were officially part of our company.” 

Claire did not respond. 

The intercom was also silent. 

“I want to talk to someone immediately.  Not a face, not a tv, a human being.” she demanded. 

The intercom clicked as of it turned off. 

Claire could hear someone approaching.  Multiple people in fact.  She prepared to finally meet these people so captivated by her work. 

Across the room a much larger door opened. In stepped the familiar “Amalia.”  She wore a professional blouse, lose around the front.  She had a striped skirt on that hugged her thighs. She wore flats more comfortable for longer walks than heels.   

That is not what Claire noticed though. She noticed that Amalia was nearly double her height and multitudes larger than her.  Claire did not know what to say. 

Amalia was careful as she approached.  She came to stand near Claire, providing a rather intimidating gesture of hands on her hips, looking down. 

Claire had not spoken.  She knew about the growth hormone treatments.  She was too old to begin them when they first came out, but her intellectual curiosity had led her to learn about their effects and the way the next generation was changing. 

“Hello.” Amalia broke the silence. This middle-aged woman defied what Claire had thought she knew about the growth hormone treatments. 

“... How are you this tall? I thought the growth hormone was only available recently.” She staggered back appreciating the size of this woman. 

“S.I. had many iterations of the growth hormone known today as GH-X2. I am from an earlier version, when testing on humans became necessary.” she replied. 

Claire for a moment, felt sorry she was forced into something so experimental.  That quickly vanished as she stepped forward.   

“This world is changing Claire.  Alphas are spreading out all over the country taking ownership where they see fit, building up the world ready to support the greatest humans this world has ever seen.” Amalia stated, bending her knees to get more on Claire’s level. 

“What about those who aren’t ready?  What about the lives others have established?” She quickly thought to the construction back home and the pressure to which Ben was put under to support it. 

“In time, it won’t matter.  For the availability of GH-X2 is so wide spread, the past generations will look like a lesser stage in evolution.  It is time to move forward and we can’t worry about the past to hold us back.” Amalia sounded dismissive of any sort of rebuttal. 

Claire began to take a step backward.  From the shock and the sheer proximity this larger woman was showing. “Why do you have me here then?  Am I not one of those lesser people you seem to despise?” 

“Oh Claire, Beta’s are a lesser people.  But you, you are the catalyst that made all of this possible.” She said, reaching for a remote. 

As she clicked a button, the far wall’s windows all opened to an incredibly large room focused around a humongous machine. Milling about were men and women in hard hats and overalls.  They had clipboards and computers, all seemingly filling a purpose in the ongoings of this large machine. 

It hit her that what she was looking at was her reactor plans brought to life.  On a far larger scale than she thought even possible. 

Forgetting for a moment everything she had just learned, she asked back. “So, you figured out how to maintain the heat?” 

“Yes, which I gather you figured out on the plane.  A ceramic compound with carbon, we were able to test it far hotter than needed to maintain the core at optimal output.” Amalia noted. “This one generator now provides all the energy needs for the west coast of the country.” 

Claire was struck. Her appreciation for the masterwork that was before her outweighed her immediate concerns regarding the gargantuan woman in the room. 

A knock at the door, and another woman entered. 

In a lab coat, carrying a large clipboard this woman asked directly to Amalia, “Is she ready?” 

“I still need a moment Doctor.” Amalia confirmed.  The woman stepped back out of the room. Now, getting Claire’s attention, she began “I told you there were many forms of the growth hormone you see on the market today.  In our attempts to make a more immediate form of growth hormone, we had one success, theoretically.” 

“What are you telling me?” Claire asked. 

“I am saying that now that the reactor is operational, we have the chance to bring one Beta up an echelon.” she noted, nodding outside. 

There was a chamber in the room that until now was non-descript. Claire thought silently. “What was this woman offering? A chance to ‘grow up’ to be like her?”  Claire was lost in thought. 

“We only have one chance to do this.  The research is gone and the only mixture we have left is approaching expiration.  There is no need to reproduce it given the difficulty needed to make it work.” Amalia added, trying to coax a response out of Claire. 

Claire was still speechless. What could she say to this? Yes, give me the untested product that you don’t even know how it's made and become one of you? To rise above others in physical superiority and take the next step in what it means to be ‘human?’ 

The problem wasn’t about ethics, and she wasn’t rejecting it.  She was thinking of Ben.  She was wondering how her life could go on knowing they would never be eye to eye if she said yes.  She knew their love was eternal.  She knew he would love her no matter what.  What she didn’t know was what to expect now.  Their lives had a clear course back home.  She wanted a family eventually, and she wanted to grow old together in a home filled with memories.  Her and Ben were forever. 

She noticed the woman was patiently waiting.  Amalia was not rushing her. Although larger, she could see Amalia was tentative about something. 

“Why me?” she asked. 

Amalia had waited for that question the entire time. 

“In our long history, there are few examples of those that have truly changed the world. From the philosophers of Greece, the architects of Rome, the artists of the Renaissance and the explorers of the new world.  Each contributed to improving our lives.  Each made their impact known to be immortalized in time.  Now, thanks to your brilliance, we are able to move forward as a species all together.” Amalia recited.  

“Why is the reactor so important?” Claire quickly asked back. 

“Because as the world grows, our needs for power will grow.  Conventional methods won’t be able to sustain our consumption.  Across the country we are building infrastructure for the new dependence on this superior reactor.” She pointed out.  “This has made our true expansion across the nation a reality.  We want you with us to lead the way for us all.” 

Claire could not believe that her musings in college, plans for energy efficiency was the key to sustaining a larger more dominant human species. 

“Is this why they are building near our home?” Claire asked again, trying to make sense of all of this. 

“Yes.  We went through a lot of trouble to get the roads-built out to your town. We know everything about you.  We also know you would never leave your husband.  We want you to live and lead our facility right in your back yard as we continue improvements all around the country.” Amalia said, noting a map of the country.  A red star planted directly on Claire’s hometown. 

This company had planned everything.  They wanted to include her in on their whole plan.  The subterfuge and political dealings, the investment in infrastructure all of what they were doing was under the guise of helping out the town.  But really, it was to get to her. She had no idea what to make of it. 

“Do I have any say in how this plays out?” Claire wanted to know what she could get as far as assurances. 

“You will run the entire Midwest region.  You will say what and where things are built.  You will have all zoning rights, and you will be able to work no farther than across the street from your home.  We want you to embrace our coming world, make it your own.” Amalia stated. 

Unbeknownst to Claire.  Alphas do not typically ask anything of Betas.  They take.  They get what they want because they are high and Betas are low.  Claire was the last part of their plan.  They technically could make it all work without her, but her ability to address problems and find solutions so hastily was what they needed.  It took the team that built the reactor nearly a decade to figure out what Claire came up with simply looking over the plans. 

Claire had always been an Alpha.  She just didn’t have the shoesize to show it. 

“What's the procedure?” Claire asked bluntly. 

“You will be injected with GH-A47. It is an accelerated mixture that repairs the body with much larger mass cells.  As the body is damaged the hormone takes over replacing them over and over, increasing the size of the patient.  It is tested, but the energy to produce the needed sustained radiation was not within our reach, until now.” Amalia provided an accompanying diagram of the process. “It will take two weeks to complete, and we will need to keep you here until its finished.  Once started you will be in and out of consciousness for that time.” 

“Can I at least call my husb...” she was cut off immediately. 

“This is your choice, Claire.  You are being given the last opportunity known to mankind to become an Alpha after adulthood. After this, only children will be able to partake and that world is closer than you know.  You must decide if you want to join us now, or watch as the world transform around you.” She presented a second paper, a form signing an agreement to the procedure. 

Claire looked out once more at the reactor, swelling with pride to what she helped create.  She wanted to change the world.  She could now have both her dreams come true.  Being a force for change while also being home with her husband. 

Claire exhaled, took a pen out of her briefcase and signed. 

“Doctor!” Amalia called out. 

It was a surreal experience.  Claire was almost floating as the large doctor came in and led her to the chamber.  She stripped down inside and was put on a very large table.  The segmented paneling she saw above was clearly a barrier for radiation and the room was filled with devices pointed all around the table.  

“Are you ready?” The doctor asked. 

“Yes.” Claire responded, thinking of Ben and still uneasy about the decision she made. 

The doctor lifted a container out of a self-contained frozen storage space. The container was dated, but perfectly preserved.  Even at the temperature it was still fluid and quickly was loaded into the large machine behind the table. 

“This is going to pinch a bit.” The doctor exclaimed. 

It was the last thing she heard.  She lost consciousness immediately.  The doctor exited the room and a large lock was placed over the door. 

A siren and countdown began. Over the speaker Amalia was heard, “Claire has accepted the offer.  All personnel are to prepare for ‘Ascension Protocol.’” 

The commotion in the entire facility went off like an explosion.  They had waited for this moment to come.  The genius behind the reactor was going to do the impossible.  She was going to grow up into the fully mature Alpha they respected all along. 

As the countdown approached zero all but necessary power was diverted to the chamber.  That included power being used by the entire west coast.   

News reports flashed about energy failures and attempts to have it restored.  People would complain about the power outages, but after a while accepted it was just something they all had to deal with. The real reason would never be known to the population.   

Claire however, was becoming the physical embodiment of her brilliance one cell at a time.