1 The Pod

A featureless white room, with a stainless steel cage in the center, fitted with panels of thick glass, creating a see-through pod large enough to fit a human within.

And that was its purpose, for a human to lay within while they were transformed under the effects of the Augmentation Virus, the thing that would transform their genes from a regular human to an Augmented.

Zac swallowed nervously as the masked figures all around him led him toward the pod, this was the moment.

This was what all those years of intense study about Altima, the world that was slowly fusing with Earth had been for.

Zac was about to be the first person to receive the 3rd Generation G-Type augmentation, becoming one of those Augmented who's very genes were replaced to create someone who could withstand the Transition Zones.

This was why the room was packed full of scientists, all of whom had played their own part in developing the cutting edge Augmentation Virus that was to be injected into Zac.

"You'll be alright, all you'll feel is a prick, and you'll be unconscious as the process begins." Doctor Auger, the scientist to Zac's right, reassured him in a cheerful voice but still unable to hide the nervousness in his voice.

His nervous smile was hidden by the mask and protective gear he wore to prevent any risk of inhaling the Augmentation Virus.

Each instance of the virus was unique, tailored to the existing DNA of the recipient, so that there would be no unpredictable changes to the basic life functions their body carried out.

Inhaling an Augmentation Virus meant for someone else would at best lead to serious disfigurement and at worst lead to death.

"Come on, Zachariah. Just lay down in the pod, and it'll all be over before you even know it." Doctor Pilray, the female scientist on his left murmured, but Zac was frozen, staring into the glass of the pod looking at his reflection for possibly the last time, for most Augmented were changed forever.

He took in his thin frame, most of his friends had filled out before they had turned sixteen, but Zac was still the 5 foot 6, brown haired and freckled boy he had always been.

Zac wondered if he would still retain his human features, so many G-Types ended up with bestial faces, and Zac was scared to lose the one thing that got him second glances from girls.

His bright green eyes and what his mother called a 'handsome' nose. Zac looked to the side of the room, where his parents watched from behind a large glass window that made up one side of the room, the pair of them were smiling proudly. Excited that their son would be the first among a new generation of Augmented.

His father, broad shouldered and towering over the scientists next to him, smiled happily with an arm around his mother, who wiped a tear from the green eyes she shared with Zac.

Zac took a deep breath, and shrugged off the robe before quickly climbing into the pod, not wanting to stand exposed in front of his parents and almost twenty scientists for too long.

"See you on the other side." Doctor Auger said hurriedly, and his nervousness rubbed off to Zac, who tried to protest, but it was too late.

Doctor Auger pressed a button on the side of the pod to trigger the closing mechanism.

The pod hissed shut, and began to fill with a warm, thick fluid that felt like syrup. This was the enrichment gel that would saturate the restructuring body and provide it with nutrients.

Zac waited for the prick of the needle that would knock him unconscious, but it did not come. The pod continued to fill up, the fluid rising higher and higher, and Zac began to panic.

"Something's wrong!" He yelled, banging on the glass panels. But everyone just stared at him with smiles on their faces, as if nothing unusual was happening.

Zac continued to scream, slamming on the glass, trying to break it open, but the pods were built to withstand the force of the growing Augmented within, and there was no way his scrawny sixteen year old frame would be able to break the glass.

Zac's eyes widened in horror as the syrupy, thick, clear liquid rose up to his neck, rising higher and higher, until Zac's screams turned to gurgles.

He continued to slam on the wall of the pod, but nobody seemed to care, all they did was look on with broad smiles as Zac was slowly suffocated by the enrichment fluid.

Zac awoke, his sheets wrapped uncomfortably tightly around him, cold and clammy with his sweat. He struggled out from the sheets and sat up in his bed.

"F***. Not another pod dream." He groaned, head in his hands. Ever since the failed Augmentation almost a year ago, Zac had been plagued with nightmares.

The memory of the aftermath of the procedure was still clear as day in Zac's mind.

The excited hopeful faces of his parents turned to confusion as the scientists began to argue, then slowly shifted to disappointment as all those within the lab realized that the experiment had failed.

His parents had tried to hide their disappointment from Zac, but they could only fake their smiles for so long.

They watched as their son went from the most promising candidate for a 3rd Generation G-type augmentation, to a cynical and unmotivated part-time worker at a gas station.

Just as his future prospects as an Augmented faded away, so had Zac's so called friends, the invitations and message coming less and less.

"Sorry, it's just hard to hang out with someone who's so negative. We're just on different trajectories." Those had been the type of excuse that they'd given when Zac had asked why he hadn't heard from them.

"Dammit, who wouldn't be negative, after losing everything in one botched experiment." Zac muttered to himself as the memories resurfaced.

He looked over to his alarm clock. '5.43' it read, his shift began at six, it was time for Zac to head to work.

He looked around his bare apartment for his uniform, there it was, bright red and yellow, hanging across the long desk and chair that was the only other furniture in his tiny apartment other than the single bed he sat on.

Empty cans of beer were scattered around, and Zac swore under his breath as he saw the stain that a spilled can had formed on his bright yellow shirt.

"Another damn lecture from Ty!" He knew his manager would pick up on the shirt instantly and then it would be a half hour lecture from him about 'team spirit' and 'company image'

Zachariah groaned as he pulled on the sticky shirt and the bright red trousers, this day was only going to get worse.

Suddenly, a bright white light filled the air, and the floor beneath him began to fade in and out of sight, switching with the branches of an enormous tree.

"Oh s***." Zac realized that his day was about to get worse than he had imagined, a Transition Zone had appeared right on top of his apartment.