persona

It was never a matter of principle.

Theta Vladimer had spent his entire life behind a book. His near-genius intelligence excelled him through pre-grad and straight into a prestigious private research academy. Here he specialized in the hard sciences – mainly the discovery and study of scientific anomalies – and soon grew a fascination with the concept of ‘dark matter’. Unlike popular consensus, Vladimer was determined to approach the matter not as a by-product of ‘magic’ but rather as a fascinating and deadly mutation of anti-matter.

Others in his field considered him insane, and rightfully so. Dark matter was dangerous, infecting everything it touched. Magically there was nothing more powerful, scientifically nothing more terrifying. Not even small amounts left a body unscathed. Vladimer wasn’t the first to be interested in dark matter. That wasn’t his goal. No, his goal was to be the first to live long enough to make an achievement. Nothing else was worth dying for. Not his wife, not his family, not even his career – nothing but his quest for the ‘truth’.

He died of toxic overexposure to dark matter not more than a year later. Yet within 24 hours of his death he was up and dissecting a sample of his own flesh under a microscope. Common consensus is that his body is being used as a ‘host’ for the sentient dark matter, most likely with a determined use of Vladimer’s ambition. Common consensus is that this man is – but isn’t – dead. Most of all, common sense says that he should have never been allowed the freedom of continuing his ‘research’.

It’s been many years now since his resurrection. The dark matter’s destructive energy is slowly corroding his judgment and what little morality he had to begin with. This isn’t mere research anymore. This is an attempt at culturing and controlling dark matter, of wielding it as though it were the sword destined to cut the Gordian knot of society. With dark matter came nuclear matter and with that came weaponry built to level mountains. With possession came the idea of creating super soldiers fueled solely by the matter’s energy. With this idea came genetic splicing, and with that the beginning of his ‘experiments’ and resulting ‘subjects’.

It was never a matter of principle – only a matter of time.