[Audio log recovered from Aegis Command Center memory banks]

[Audio originally recorded in General William A. Corter’s office]

[...]

[Begin Playback]

(A door creaked softly in the background, followed by a professional female voice)

“General.”

“Come in.” (A gruff male voice responded)

“Take a seat lieutenant. I trust you bring good news?”

“I hope so sir, it’s promising.”

(A slight rustle could be heard and the female voice grew louder)

“The first animal trials came back positive. They’ve shown no negative side effects other than slight dizziness and disorientation after the transition.”

“Excellent.”

“Yes sir. I do have to note that the power draw is much higher than initial estimates accounted for. It may cause issues when bringing over more complex lifeforms.”

“Give the techs whatever they need. It’s time to start bringing candidates over immediately.”

“Sir?”

“You heard me lieutenant. We’re proceeding with the operation at once.”

“General our plan has always been to perfect the process using animal testing before even approaching human attempts.”

“I’m well aware lieutenant, but my orders stand. We’re transitioning to candidate retrieval as soon as possible.”

“Sir, if I may speak freely…”

“You may not.”

(A tense four seconds passed before the male voice sighed)

“I understand your hesitancy, Lieutenant Triff. Believe me, I wouldn’t be rushing things like this if we weren’t in dire straits. Every day we delay, our forces on the ground grow thinner. We need fresh blood to get back in this fight and we need it now.”

“I understand sir. Forgive my insubordination.”

“Already done.”

“Thank you sir.”

“I want our number one prospect to be brought over first.”

“Sir isn’t… isn’t that unwise to risk him this early?”

(A chair creaked)

“I’m a gambling man lieutenant. I’ve seen the reports about what this kid can do. If he’s half as good as we think he is then we need him sooner than anyone else from over there.”

“If something goes wrong…”

“Then we’ll keep at it until it doesn’t.”

“We could start with our number two.”

(The general scoffed)

“That one may prove too difficult to keep in check. We stay with number one.”

“Understood sir.”

(Another chair creaked and footsteps could be heard stepping away from the recording device)

“Lieutenant Riff.”

(The footsteps ceased)

“Sir?”

“This will work. It has to.”

[Remaining data corrupted]

[Terminating playback]

JTNestman

I probably should have taken more time off, but I was too eager to get started so here we are. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this next adventure.