Biologically incorrect

That night, I had followed my father to the farthest suburb of Butzbach,
the German city in which we lived, in order to discover where he used to go during some nights. He used to leave the house after my mother and I slept and only came back the next morning. Initially, I believed that he was involved in an affair — the most plausible option. But after staying awake for a few nights and watching him come home, many times, full of bruises, I assumed that the explanation was otherwise.
Just before midnight, I got ready and hid in the corner of the living room, to wait for the usual movement. Hearing the noise of the door opening and closing, I waited another few seconds, I left my hiding place and followed
the man with silent steps. For many times I had to be careful not to lose sight of his silhouette, since it rained a lot outside and the visibility was little. There was a lot of fog on the way.
After hours following him for many miles, beads of sweat covered my forehead, my breathing was irregular and I felt bubbles forming on the soles of my feet. Suddenly, my father stopped in front of an abandoned industry. The place was dirty, full of rats, trash everywhere. I watched him approach the factory, while I hid in the shadows.
The man stood defensively while three big guys approached him. I felt a chill run down my spine along with a feeling that something bad was about to happen. After a few seconds, I watched the men greet him and lead him into the factory.
Before the four of them could reach the main entrance, I ran in their direction, ready to find out anything. Attracted by the sound of my footsteps, they all turned in my direction. My dad and I exchanged terrified looks when
I stopped in front of him to catch my breath. I did not have time to do anything else; The taller man approached me and attacked me with an equipment I’ve never seen before. The metal claw hit me hard and I fainted.

2

I woke up the next morning with a burning sensation on my face. When I opened my eyes, I noticed I was in a small nursery. There was a woman in a white uniform beside me, taking care of the deep cut in my face of the night before.
- OUCH! — I groaned in pain as she cleaned and sewed my injury from the eyebrow to the right cheek.
After the procedure, I got up abruptly and walked uncertainly to the door. The security on the outside prevented my exit, staring at me with a serious expression. He held my arm firmly and escorted me to a cell in the basement.
It was not long before I realized I was inside the industry. I had been captured and had no idea where my father was. I screamed his name a few times, but I got no response. I sat down, frustrated, in a small chair and began to think of a plan to escape from that prison. I needed to find my father and find out what the hell was going on inside that place.
When the sun went down, the same guard of before came to my cell to deliver me a tray of food. I surprised him with a fast blow, leaving him unconscious and stretched out on the floor. I didn’t waste time and stretched
my arms out of the cell right away, reaching for the bunch of keys stuck in the brutes’s belt. The padlock in my cell opened with a “click” and I quickly got out of there.
Dodging in the dark through every corner that passed, I came to a staircase in
rococo format and cautiously climbed upstairs. That place was huge and I needed to be quick if I wanted to find my father in time. I peered carefully through the small windows at the top of every room I passed, hoping to see my old man in some of them. I went through four aisles and had no sign of him.
The adrenaline gushed in my veins and the possibility of being caught again
haunted me. While I was hiding behind a pillar between two corridors, I saw some sunbeams hit the ground and I realized that my time was running out. The day was dawning and soon the guards would visit my cell again.

3

“Marcus is ready. The boss must be down in a few minutes.” — I heard one man spoke to another one while a door slammed shut in the exact corridor I would investigate next.
After making sure the two of them were gone, I did not waste any more time and ran until the nearest door. I peered through the little window and turned the door handle when I saw my father in there. He was attached to a stretcher, wearing only his underwear. Many wires linked different parts of his body to machines arranged all over the place.
— Dad? — I whispered as I approached him. The man opened his eyes and smiled sincerely at me.

— What is going on? Who are these people? What did you come to investigate here? And what are they doing with you? — All these questions left my mouth at the same time, like a swarm of angry bees.
— You wouldn’t understand, son. Actually, I don’t even get it myself.— He answered with difficulty.
Still without answers, I opened my mouth to question him one more time, but before I could make any sound, a thin voice sounded in my ear.
— Well well, what do we have here?
— Mom? — I turned toward the voice, and in disbelief I stared at the woman in front of me.
— Hello, Stephan. Mark. — She alternated the look between us. — What a pleasure to have you here. — Her tone was cold and ironic.
— What place is this? — I dared to ask.
— You’re in my lab, son. — The woman said, slowly approaching me. — I’m developing new technologies that will change the world.
— And why is dad stuck with these machines like that? — I asked next, without hesitation.
— You did not tell him, Mark? — She was staring at my father now.
— Mi .. Miriam? — My father stared at her with a mixed expression of surprise, fear, and indignation.
— Yes Dear. It’s me. — The woman smiled proudly. — You’d never expect me to command all of this, didn’t you?

— Stephen, my son… — My father ignored her, forcing himself to look at me. — I came here as a guinea pig of a project. I do not know much about it. I just know that I … We needed the money, a lot.
— What project? What is going on? — I asked, in all my innocence of
a young man of 20 and a few years.
— I don’t know if you watched the news lately, but the planet is in chaos, on the verge of destruction. — My mother began her speech. — Leaders
unprepared, dirty political proposes, in addition to unbridled deforestation,
pollution of the seas, among other factors. — She stopped talking for a few seconds and took a deep breath. — Due to the use of hormones in meat, transgenic products and foods, many humans developed unusual genes in their DNA, like your father here. — She pointed to Mark, who was staring at her, perplexed. — After many years studying about this mutations in DNA, I have discovered that these genes activate some properties, some rare series of elements and that they can be used to create certain types of equipment.
— Continue. — I encouraged her speech when I realized that she had shut up.
— Some government found my studies on the Internet and contacted me. They offered me lots of money if I continued to develop such equipment for their military use. — The woman finally finished her explanation.
— So you’re creating weapons for a possible war, is that it? — I screamed at her, while everything begun to make sense in my head.
— That’s basically it, yeah. — She continued to smile. — Biological weapons. Capable of winning any war.
— If I knew I was being studied for this purpose, I would have never agreed! — My father said.
— Ah, but I doubt it. — Miriam answered him, with an expression of debauchery. — After all, money has always been everything to you, Mark.

Before my father could challenge her, the woman, with a nod, called 3 security guards. They went in my direction and held me tightly while she positioned herself between my father and one of the machines.
— What I did not tell you, my dear. — She said, pressing a few buttons that made the machine emits some robotic sounds. — Is that this is your last test today.
— How so? — The man asked as he was lying on the bed.
— You see, your gene is compatible, yes, with my experiences. — My mom
suddenly turned to me. — But Stephen’s is much more.
— WHAT? — I yelled, confused and scared.
— I did the DNA test with a strand of your hair a few weeks ago. — The woman’s face was now inches from mine. I could feel her warm breath against my face. — Sorry about that, son. But it’s for the greater good.
I felt a “thump” in the back of my neck and then I fainted.
When I woke up, I believe hours later, I was only wearing my underwear, just as I found my father in that same laboratory, full of wired connected to my body. After my eyes adjusted to the light, I looked for my dad who, to my relief, was lying on the stretcher by my side, unconscious.
Then I saw the silhouette of my mother a few feet away, head down and focused on the clipboard in her hand.
My mind was already a thousand miles, thinking how to escape from there and how to destroy the experiments of my mother, one way or another. I moved a little trying to understand how those wires were connected and that caught the attention of the woman, who walked calmly to me.
- It’s useless to fight. — She told me, watching my every move. Upon receiving
no answer, she went back to analyzing her clipboard.
I rolled my eyes, stopped moving, and began to look closely at each corner
of that laboratory. A desperate idea popped into my mind and I just needed to be able to do it.

“You think you’re really clever, don’t you?” — I said to the woman, ready to do one last thing. She approached me again with a curious look.

— For a greater good … — I repeated her earlier words. — So be it.
I ripped the strings from my body and jumped up from the stretcher. I ran to a place where there was a cleaning cart. Miriam watched me while understanding anything, then shouted orders to me to get back to my bed. From one of the shelves, I picked up two chemical containers.
- NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! — My mother yelled as she realized what was going to happen and ran towards me, but there was no time.
When I threw the potassium and the ethoxyethane into the water barrel, there was a small explosion. The white gas spread around the room, reducing visibility. I enjoyed the distraction and dumped the barrel on the floor which, in contact with the wires and machines, caused some sparks that set off a fire. Meanwhile, I untied my father of his bed and told him to remain quiet.
I ran with the man toward the exit while pouring a bottle of alcohol in the way, spreading the flames. We just stopped to catch our breaths when we were out of the factory. Desperate shouts from my mother and the guards trying to contain the fire sounded from within.
— You know it will not stop her, don’t you? — Mark asked me.
— I know. But with this little destruction, we have time to do something about all of this. — I smiled, already relieved, and began to return home with my father.