Preface

A glimpse into Metaceutical International's latest development, the Genome Facilitate Linkage

Petra, R&D data analyst for Metaceutical International, was beginning to decipher the writing on the wall. Rather, the writing on the two laptops she had set up. One displayed her archived data consolidation from various control sites. The other, which was downloading in segments, displayed the current results stored & finalized in Meta's mainframe. The results, which represented the entirety of Meta's latest project, The Genome Facilitate Linkage, should've been meshing identically on the two laptops. After all, Petra was the finalizer. She was supposedly the last one to enter in the data to the mainframe. This wasn't the case. Petra, in an uncharacteristic decision to go against the company's direct policy, had personally chosen to keep her copies as a failsafe. If you had asked her at the time, why she was clandestinely checking her companies records, she probably couldn't have given you a solid reason. Now, in a mixture of disbelief & burgeoning fear, that quiet, last second intuition that we all have but so seldom obey, would never be questioned again by Petra. 
If security knew she had retained a personal copy, she would likely lose her job & possibly much more. So, she operated in the one place her private enquiry couldn't be monitored by IT: Lab block C3. it was here that she had been told about a hard-wire link to the mainframe. As long as she only viewed & didn't attempt to alter the mainframe's files, she could slip past security & any database modification checks. There was still the required password; Despite Petra's rank, she wasn't given access to the mainframe. All her entries had to be saved on a remote flash drive & given to security, who would download it in her behest. This particular hurdle is why Petra was so baffled. Once her results were uploaded & saved on the mainframe, nobody was supposedly able to alter that information. Then again, in the world of cybersecurity, Petra knew that claim was foolhardy. Looking @ her current infiltration was case & point alone. Given enough time, tech & funding, anything could be hacked. 
Petra's decision to basically go rogue against her own company-if only to ensure her own work wasn't being tampered with-came about as the result of a degeneration of integrity & communication within Meta's hierarchies. The more research that the Linkage became associated with, the quieter & less open discussions about these implications became. 
She didn't like the scenario imagined if she was caught snooping around, but the responses from the team were too hard to ignore: Mikhael & Amanda, the teams project heads, claimed ignorant. "I haven't noticed any significant perturbations in my data, or any field results" which to Petra, only meant "don't go sniffing around in places you shouldn't be." The fact that the project leads’ emails were identical-to the letter-only served to reinforce her suspicions.
Paul, Biomeasurment & Wellness Chief Analyst, also one of the team members directly involved in the final data entries, wasn't as dismissive. "I've begun noticing some abnormalities on the hard copy, if memory serves, in the last quarter especially". That was his official response. Petra Knew Paul; he was a man who didn't offer generalizations. This very brief, very vague reply meant he didn't feel safe discussing it anywhere but in private. One problem w/trying to arrange that discussion however: Paul was continuing the initial phase research in the Eastern Acquisition Zone. There was a crisis emerging. A nearly catastrophic health crisis. A pandemic overseas could put Meta's next phase of Linkage saturation on permanent hiatus. The Eastern encampments in particular housed some of Meta's most prized test-control sites. It was only from the astounding results they'd collected from decades of the most scrupulous R&D that Petra had compiled & analyzed that had given Meta the lead in the progression of genetic modification. Meta execs were getting anxious: Funders were discussing w/ various world organizations & their leaders about the possibility of marketing, even mandating the Linkage to a wider spectrum. Now, it seemed like all that might come crashing down. From what Petra had been reviewing, it appeared that almost every iota of the original research had been tampered with. Meta's skeletons, whom had been buried long ago, were coming back to haunt them. Whether those skeletons were related to competitors, their enemies, or something internal & therefore more sinister, was exactly what Petra intended to uncover.
The Genome Facilitate Linkage. A broad term for a catalogue of several revolutionary genetic catalysts that gave Meta the clout to monopolize the future of genetic engineering and modification. Their interests lie primarily in the agricultural field, but there were promising implications for big pharma, cosmetics, & renewable resource production. Meta's portfolio was blossoming exponentially from a rather narrowly focused research-based company w/ a few high-profile projects into an umbrella corporation. They were quickly merging & acquiring every competitor or company which could be considered an asset or a threat. Meta's major shareholders were turning from millionaires to overnight billionaires, as the Linkage continued showing promise. The dubious part was the media blackout concerning the specifics of Meta & the Linkage. They, using a subsidiary company, would put on a PR parade about X crop or Y organisms output. Over a steady period they'd continue poring information to their sources about the amazing successes they were recording, never hinting that there was an underlier to X or Y's continuing marvels. It proved quite effective: The media was regularly fed, people were beginning to accept the science-at least the science they were being told about-as a blessing rather than a practice to be ethically shunned or feared. New investors, companies & researchers began pouring toward the Meta aegis. Theirs was becoming the only company which offered an opportunity to get in on the ground floor. From an employee standpoint, it was an exciting time; to contribute to something as comprehensive & game-changing as the Linkage equivocated to unparalleled fortune & fame. In a world that was quickly growing leery & disdainful of genetically modified organisms, the Linkage offered new hope. What, & more important, how that hope would be packaged & sold to various markets was shrouded behind closed doors, where only the top of the ladder discussed it.
Not geared specifically toward any individual genetic trait, the linkage was in simplest terms a spectrum of genetic biocatalysts. It broadly attached to the most prolific and desirous of traits in a vast pool of species, much like a chemical reaction, but targeted toward the genetic rather than the molecular level. No longer would geneticists have to fumble & hack with this trait or that sequence, jamming it in wherever they'd hope it would work. Now, with the proper dialing in, you could spread the catalyst in varying methods & saturation levels, sit back, & watch how nature-now given a leg up-would take its course. 
It's genius was manifold: For one, anything linkage-modified had so far avoided the label "genetically modified". On the other hand, the Linkage was a proprietary formulation, which for Meta, gleefully meant that anything with enough indicated linkage saturation could be construed as property of Meta. This little legal clarification meant Meta was in line to patent & own practically every form of life on the planet. There were only tiny percentages of populations & species that didn't absorb or respond to the Linkage; almost every organism displayed biomarkers for Linkage saturation. Execs & top shareholders in the know were quivering with anticipation, salivating when the Linkage would leave the lab & hit market. For now however, nobody knew exactly what it meant when humans outside the volunteer/test subject pool (all of whom signed legal agreements to allow Meta to "study & implement any Linkage related effects or necessary tests", which gave Meta a trump card should any subjects decide they wanted to opt out, refuse further treatment or testing & attempt to pursue legal recourse) began showing traceable saturation levels in their bones, blood or tissues. The way things were panning out, it was sure to be quite fortuitous for Meta. 
Another benefit lied in its ability to activate traits deep within the species evolutionary genetic database; traits which could be groomed & tailored by the species to express in rapid, profound ways. Think evolution-revolution profound. For example, one human test subject began obsessing over a prehensile tail. She said that she could not only feel one growing, but could control its growth. Results over time began to agree with her assertions. After only 6 months x-rays showed new bony growth at the base of her spine, complete with nerves, cartilage & growth cells. Another year from that & Shelia's tail was almost a foot long. She needed holes cut in her underwear & pants to accommodate her new appendage. Although cases like this were rare-less than %5 demonstrated such uncanny, measurable mutations-they offered hope in controlling the evolutionary pathway beyond mere natural selection & into a uniquely customized, individual predilection. With every possibility the Linkage offered though, several often insurmountable obstacles would present. In the case of custom evolution, the first one was confounding to the point of exhaustive. There was no telling whether the mutations were volitional, warranted &/or advantageous in non-human subjects; communicating with a butterfly or an eggplant about its new functioning set of gills was a long ways coming. Yet still, Shelia's case alone was enough to put extra wind in the sails & spur a whole new branch of R&D for the scientists refining & developing the Linkage. 
Another revolutionary aspect was the linkage's ability to enhance homeostasis (an organisms ability to suit it's environment) not only within individual species, but as symbiotic whole. Up until mankind's altering the evolutionary pathways natural selection was the primary vehicle for species to develop & adapt. However, in species that now showed degrees of saturation of the linkage within their individual, species, & their ecosystem as a whole, the process of niche specialization began accelerating the bio diversification& sustainability at unprecedented rates. Put simply, the strongest were diversifying in traits, while the weaker were fusing symbiotically to the stronger, in hopes of latching on its characteristics to the stronger. Some of the more prophetic scientists began envisioning a future where "Meta-Species"-aptly coined-consisting of entire clusters of plant, animal & bacterial DNA could fuse & split at will. Animated discussions about tigers with mushrooms growing on their backs to attract species of birds so they could fuse wings were the hot topic in the recesses of labs & cafeterias around the various facilities where the most pioneering work was being done.
Yes, it seemed like the Linkage was akin to a Promethean Fire stolen from the gatekeepers of genetic alteration. That would be true, if there weren't as many, if not more, potentially catastrophic factors which had to be mitigated before the Linkage could be dispersed beyond the lab & into the world at large. First of all, on a genetic level, humans had many hitherto dormant traits. Further compounding the problem, the Linkage didn't seem to play favorites. The Linkage was an indiscriminate catalyst: It cared little for what it awoke & in whom. This problem was further compounded when the linkage began crossing the species barrier & symbiotically bonding with their environment. Several early experimental runs (not disclosed to the public @ large, but only to Meta's benefactors) had been entirely disastrous. In one particularly unusual trial run the Linkage seemed to awaken & enhance humans ability to communicate via extra sensory perception. There were limitations however: Only certain plant & animal species seemed to be able to identify& reciprocate in a measured analysis. Nevertheless, the few results the communications started as cues, but soon became commands in practically every test subject. One group seemed to have bonded with several species of linkage-heavy rye, barley & other cereal crops. People & several other species began "tending" to them in a variety of ways; providing unusual cultivation processes, spending increasingly inordinate amounts of time around them etc. When researchers tried to ask the human test subjects what they were doing, they became distant, aloof. "We're drawing to a head" was one of the many sphinxlike answers they received. Then, as if on cue, the human test subjects, insects, birds & even other mammals began systematically dying off, in an exponential rate. What made things terrifying & ultimately resulting in shutting down the control biome was how the subjects began dying. Some would tear themselves to pieces-humans included-& bleed out on the ground around the crops. Others would bury themselves alive. The crops were responsive as well; they began producing strange enzymes that registered on a GC/MS. Enzymes that had traces of the linkage imbued within. That wasn't so abnormal; the linkage was meant to be 'shared' within ecosystems in this manner. The abnormal part was that the cereal crops were changing the intended method of delivery. You essentially had to consume the crops to notice any significant levels of saturation; now however, you merely had to be in proximity of the cereal crops growing to notice significant saturation. This alarmed researchers. It was both a blessing & a curse. The problem lied in regulation. Any human culture or society had to have the OPTION of conjoining with Meta's linkage. Otherwise they were told if the linkage spread to unwilling or unwitting human subjects or their environment, the project would be scrapped entirely & Meta would be likewise buried alive by bad press, indictments, legal restitution etc. 
Meta knew that the linkage had global implications; that it would be what led the charge in biodiversity & species adaptation in an increasingly human world. It was the solution to a difficult puzzle. The problem lied in delivering results that kept humans at the top for one & made a world that humanity would ultimately save from the current industrialized blunders of mass extinction & loss of biodiversity. It was in the nebulous nexus of data & results that Petra was discovering some serious inconsistencies. It appeared the results from earlier were being covered up. Although there was mention of the early trials, the results were muddled in bureaucratic doublespeak, obfuscating language & outright lies. Petra had her theories about who & what, but she had to be sure.
It seemed like Meta's success wasn't going to go unchallenged. There were enemies on all sides. Rumors were that moles within the company had been able to siphon off bits & pieces of information from a variety of departments. You'd hear of the press releases from companies like Obertron or Azolia exploring a "cutting edge" or "revolutionary" way of producing results that ran parallel to Meta & the Linkage. So far none of them were showing nearly the intensity, scope or sophistication that Meta was touting. The last year had been a sort of cold-war arms race between Meta & the other leading GMO companies; media was the mutual battleground. For instance, Azolia would do an interview in Science Monthly with a lead project geneticist. Well, Obertron would then find a way to release a documentary about the research their company was doing & where they were heading. Meta would typically let these two companies fire their opening salvo then do a sweeping campaign across a broad spectrum of media. they'd discuss how they planned to lead the charge in a "global food revolution". They'd assemble "independent" studies on the capabilities of land production & show how Meta's Linkage saturated crops easily outperformed in yield, pest resistance & nutritional superiority. Often the results could be skewed, but since so far no company apparently had access to the proprietary genetic keys such as the Linkage (@ least from Meta's analysis; there was no certain way of knowing if the companies had their own versions of the linkage. You had to know what you were looking for in order to find it. Another scintillating beauty in the Linkage's design) Meta's crops usually outperformed any of the competition. Things were changing however, & changing fast. Obertron in particular had grown silent in the last few months. No new press releases, save for an occasional blurb in the Stock Survey 700, the world's leading reporting agency on the global stock market. From what Petra had gathered in her cloistered little R&D circles, someone had found a way to not only gather huge sums of Meta's original research, but had also found a way to remotely hack into their mainframes. If this was true, Meta was heading for a TItanic-esque catastrophe, with only a handful of employees who'd survive via rehiring into Obertron.
Then there was EarthBind: Members of which fancied themselves "Meta-Blockers". Founded by Mikhael & Amanda's cocreator (& supposed bisexual ex- lover) Leon Arsmeni, EarthBind was & remains the perfunctory razorblade in the wedding cake Meta was preparing to serve the world. E.B. was Meta's harshest critic; anywhere Meta was active, either in research or in the public eye, E.B. wasn't far. E.B. operations hit on many fronts: Demonstrations, educational seminars, even some less than peaceful tactics had allegedly been employed. EarthBind released an official statement saying their organization didn’t condone anything beyond education & nonviolent resistance, however, many of these acts left various EarthBind calling cards. The most infamous example was a video created by supposed EarthBind activists. It showed them destroying a 100 acre test site by razing the various experimental crops w/ napalm. The video caught global attention when it was later released that several researchers had a greenhouse in the middle of the test site. As part of the experiments, they were also living in the greenhouse. Meta later claimed these researchers were unable to escape the inferno & burned alive. Leon himself launched a rebuttal, first by decrying and shaming the acts, saying the perpetrators were in no way associated with E.B. He then went a step further; he said that this act, among others, were Meta's own ploys devised to turn the public against EB & its agenda. He went into a rather lengthy & well-organized presentation reflecting how the militant or extremist behaviors were not only antithetical to the EB philosophy, but also showing key evidence that put heavy suspicion on Meta as the culprit to the fire. He went on, arguing Meta made up the entire hoax about the researchers dying in the field, saying the so-called "employees" were completely fictionalized. It was true Meta produced death certificates, but they had been shown to be John Does; given fake names & employee IDs, discovered by Leon's investigative team. Meta had yet to comment on this. 
Despite the controversial dispute & other red herrings, E.B. remained a prime suspect in Petra's mind. As a Meta employee, it seemed too outlandish that her own company would engage in such a war of attrition in the guise of diminishing E.B. In her mind & the other Meta employees she'd discussed it with, the cost didn't seem to outweigh the benefit. Furthermore, even if Meta was employing such ethically atrocious tactics, it was clearly because EB had the capability to singlehandedly take Meta down. Petra knew Leon personally; at least back when he was still an employee for Meta. Even then he displayed an unusual talent for finding solutions to problems that most of his colleagues hadn't even seen or imagined. It was his work, not Mikhael or Amanda's, that made the Linkage so versatile. He had found underlying commonalities where no one else could. Maybe it was a certain combination of prophetic vision & obligatory duty that drove him to see the Linkage meet its end that motivated him now. As the mainframe data kept showing incongruity upon incongruity with her personal record, Petra began to wonder if she was playing for the right team.
The sealed door which she had locked shut clicked open. She tried to pack up her equipment & find a hiding spot, but the infiltrator was already on her before she could close up both laptops. She whizzed around, trying to appear nonplussed. "Oh, hi Alonzo! what are you doing here?" Alonzo, Deputy Director For MetaWest. In terms of position, he was several rungs above the ladder from where Petra was perched. He smiled surreptitiously. She knew she'd been had. "Petra, I had the most interesting conversation with your new friend Kalil in IT security. He told me I'd find you here." Two men walked up behind Alonzo. One of them was Kalil. "You backstabbing sonofabitch!" She stood up defiantly, holding her head high. The other man produced a Taser from behind his waist. Before she knew what hit her, she was on the floor, screaming in distant agony