Project R.E.X

A giant computer was the only object in the equally giant room, complete with its own set of wires that could easily run across the entire prison if it was fully untangled and stretched.

“This must be the database they were talking about…,” mumbled Zain. “But where’s Rex? Isn’t this the only room left?”

With no other choice left, the young man approached the giant computer.

To his surprise, the device was already open and running. However, it only managed to catch him off-guard for a moment. Right, this is the main database. It’s supposed to be on all the time in order to record all information possible.

On the computer screen was a slew of different folders, from wardens’ logs to surveillance status. And within the plethora of directories, there was one in particular that piqued Zain’s interest.

There it is, Zain shivered with excitement, the prisoners’ database and logs. With this, I can track where he is.

Quickly opening the folder, Zain started his search.

The Infinite Prison was loaded with criminals from all over the world for many, many different types of crimes; from small and mundane activities that shouldn’t even be classified as a crime in the first place, to the biggest and most serious of them all – crimes that involved the lives of many people, even the entire world.

The list went on and on, up to the tens of thousands. Zain couldn’t have possibly looked at every entry, so instead, he just scrolled over anyone that he didn’t know about.

Prisoner #279666. Name: Mitch. Sentenced for: public sneezing. Sentence length: 15 years. Sentence attempted: 14 years.

Who would have thought meathead would have this kind of lame excuse for a crime, Zain thought to himself. However, Mitch wasn’t the reason he was here, and so Zain only paused for a second before continuing the search.

The young man was absorbed in his search so much that he had missed an important detail, that Mitch was already the second-to-last entry of the entire database. And thus, only a single scroll was needed before the last entry appeared in Zain’s sight.

Prisoner # 279667. Name: Brad…

“What? That’s it?” Realizing that the unknown prisoner was the last entry in the entire database, Zain couldn’t help but exclaim in shock. “This can’t be!”

The young man scrolled over again and again, as if not believing his own eyes. But no matter how hard he tried to deny it, the truth remained the same: neither Rex’s nor Zain’s info was nowhere to be found in the database.

“With me, there can be the excuse that I was released, but why not Rex?” Zain mumbled, unsure of his deductions. And it was indeed false, as the former inmate immediately remembered a counter-evidence. “No, that can’t be. I’ve seen logs of freed inmates still being kept in the database. But if that’s the case, then… what gives?”

Zain opened folders after folders, from log entries to security footage, nutritional diaries, anything he could find on the screen. However, the result was the same. Nothing could be found regarding Rex or himself as if the two of them didn’t even exist in this prison in the first place.

“Damn it!” Zain punched onto the floor in frustration. “Is there anything else in here? Think, Zain!”

The hit rocked the giant computer, and the ensuing vibration caused the screen to glitch for a brief second, and in turn, caused an idea to turn up in the young man’s head.

As Zain clicked on the monitor, the solution was shown clearly.

View hidden folders.

A single blank folder popped up. Zain, wasting no time, attempted to access the hidden data.

“INPUT PASSWORD: ” the string of letters showed up on the screen, in a similar fashion to Rex’s computer screen during the last game.

Password? Damn it! Thought Zain. What could be used for the password? What would be shared among the wardens that they had to keep this a secret?

In his mind, there was only one thing that could make sense. It was a wild shot, but Zain had no choice but to take it anyway.

“Red-Black Course.”

The gamble proved to be successful. The folder opened, and along with it were three different log files.

*** WANTED TARGET ***

Codename: Defect

Name: ???

Age: ??? (Around 15-18 years old in appearance)

Gender: Male

Features: Short, black hair. Black eyes. Wears glasses. Medium height. Last seen in a black school uniform and a red band on his right arm.

Crime committed: None. Potential to destroy the current dimension.

Danger level: EX.

Special note: Capture the target alive. Proceed with extreme caution regarding the target’s observed capabilities.

***TRAINING REGIMEN: RED-BLACK COURSE***

This is a special training regimen for our experimental target to combat humanity’s biggest threat.

The regimen is divided into three main categories:

Vehicle: As the target is expected to operate on our prototype time-space machine, knowledge of vehicles is a necessity. After careful consideration, we’ve come to the conclusion that the motorcycle design yields the best performance in terms of aerodynamics and speed, therefore it shall be the choice of the training regime. Expected duration: seven years.

Durability: The target will have to be deployed in unknown environments and circumstances, with chances of communication being unlikely. Aside from physical training, the body needs to learn to be adaptable to any sort of natural situation. Solution: have the target traverse through a series of different biomes and climates. Expected duration: five years.

Maneuverability: Traversing the space-time stream is a difficult task. As there is no way to perfectly emulate the process, we will have to settle with a close enough simulation - a vacuum environment similar to outer space. With this exercise, the target will learn how to maneuver in a zero-gravity situation, therefore increasing his chance of navigation through the space-time stream. Expected duration: five years.

In order to maintain the regimen’s secrets, a subsequence of different tasks with the intention of increasing physical and mental strength will be mixed in each year. The detailed implementation of the regimen will also be retroactively changed.

Logs:

Year one: Number of candidates: ten thousand. Surviving candidates: one. Conclusion: due to the high difficulty in the vehicle training task, it will remain the same in all future sessions both in content and position.

Year two to five: Number of candidates: one. Surviving candidates: one. Conclusion: the tests are working as intended.

Year six: Number of candidates: one. Surviving candidates: one. Conclusion: to prepare for the next phase of project R.E.X, the training regimen will be altered to most resemble our current goal. As the target is versed enough in the vehicle training task, it will be pushed forward to make room for the other sessions.

Year seven: Number of candidates: one. Surviving candidates: one. Conclusion: both the target’s physical specs and the machine’s numbers have reached the desired result. Proceed to phase three of project R.E.X.

***PROJECT R.E.X***

This is a special log entry to record the current progress against humanity’s biggest threat.

The target has the appearance of a teenage male. However, aside from that, we currently have no other information about him. Further research needs to be done.

The target has successfully made contact with a child. This child could be our bridge to the potential danger. We’ve been authorized to take this child into custody by keeping an eye on him in the Infinite Prison.

The child could not provide the information necessary. However, we believe that the info could be found within his subconsciousness. We’ve been authorized to extract and fragmented the child’s memories for further analysis.

It is unfortunately impossible to extract any useful information from the child’s fragmented memories. However, this is to be expected within the human realm. By moving the information to a more powerful source, we believe that analyzing and extracting the necessary clue would only be a matter of time.

Due to past exposure to the target, the child's physical strength has shown mutations beyond the point of a normal human. We believe that this could be further enhanced in order to combat the target in the future. Authorization for the use of enhancement drugs and nanobots on the child has been provided.

We have successfully uploaded the child’s memory to our main quantum computer. However, the analyzing process will still take several years to complete.

After considering the possibilities, we have arrived at the necessary conclusion for humanity’s survival – the birth of Project Relative Eigentime Xenosoldier, or Project R.E.X.

The project consists of three phases.

Phase one: the experimental target will partake in a series of specialized physical training – currently named Red-Black Course - to achieve the perfect body for space-time travel. Ten thousand prisoners have been chosen for the preliminary testing phase, including the aforementioned child.

The first test is a success. After the first series, a suitable target is chosen – the child himself. This shall be our main experimental target from now on.

Phase two: The child’s memories, now uploaded to the quantum computer, will be left for analysis and calculations. The process is expected to be seven years long. In the meanwhile, phase one shall continue to be repeated for the child to achieve the perfect physical body.

ERROR: The quantum computer, due to excessive exposure to the child’s memories, has developed a personality of its own based on the information it had extracted. Proceed with the emergency backup plan.

Phase two, emergency backup: We shall attempt to regain control of the quantum computer by fusing it with the experimental child. However, the process has a high chance of failure should the child not achieve peak physical conditions.

A solution is suggested: by creating a temporary body made of remote-controlled regenerative nanobots, the personified quantum computer will have its memories locked and be pushed to phase one to join the experimental child in physical training. By increasing exposure, we hope that the computer and the child can reach enough compatibility that the body would not reject the fusion process.

Phase three: The fusion between the child and our quantum computer should be perfectly within our command. Space-time traversal can be implemented. Proceed to retrieve the quantum computer and the experimental child.

The letters on the screen danced in Zain’s eyes as he tried to process all of the information he had received. His head was splitting, filled with memories of his past that he had been forcefully made forgotten.

A familiar face. A familiar voice.

It all made sense to him.

“I… I remember…”