After the doctors had made sure we were two sheets to the wind with Trauma, 4 JABs from 4 disassociated squads, picked out of the remaining 600 JABs because of our high combat scores, were subjected to a form of Brainwashing I later learned they referred to as the "Other self" procedure.
As if that wasn't enough torture, they began to pump all JABs full of what they called "Neutral Protocells" which would change us in horrific ways.
The "Other Self" procedure was confusing for me to grasp when I looked at it later, only because it seemed like pseudoscience. Using odd tonal frequencies and some sort of Gregorian chant recited over the loudspeaker in the conversion chamber, the Trigram Agency somehow took a subject's disassociation state and turned it into a completely different person, in this case, the other personality would be a soldier, plain and simple.
This is where I got my code name, Green, it was not a name I had chosen, but rather something my Other self had chosen.
He was a tulpa of sorts, a creature that existed only in my mind, able to seize control at a moments notice, a Co-pilot for my body, one that immediately took my place as primary control once he was there.
When Green "Took the Wheel" as I understood it, I could see what he saw, I could hear, smell and feel, but I couldn't control anything I did. It was at this point that I just surrendered to it because there was nothing I could do, I had this murderous monster living in my head that I could do NOTHING to stop.
On to the Neutral Protocells, the higher you were ranked on the culling chart, the higher the concentration of cells you got. I was told they'd "Make us better", but what I saw them do was something else entirely, my group, called Group Sigma, because we were all ranked S, got the highest concentration of cells possible along with the other 3 JABS submitted for the other self project, we had to be kept in the infirmary wing for an entire week while the horrible little things did god knows what to our bodies.
We all had numerous amounts of muscle, bone, and skin enhancements that were extremely painful to live through, although I'm just glad we weren't like a few of the other groups, who had all mutated to death, decreasing the number of JABs down to about 450.
As our mutations became more evident, Agent Edge began to develop unfoldable sticky pads on his finger and toe tips as well as saliva that, if left to dry, would become an extremely powerful adhesive that lasted indefinitely.
Agent Love developed monstrous strength that if used without caution, tore her muscles and broke her bones, each muscle able to dish out over 800 PSI of force.
Agent Wolf gained Permanent Night vision so powerful that she had to wear dark goggles to protect her eyes from any amount of normal light.
Ripper's hands became deadly to the touch, halting and ceasing the metabolic process of any living creature he touched.
And I, for some reason, developed regenerative abilities including HemoGenesis, osteogenesis, neurogenesis, accelerated DermaGenesis, and a nigh impenetrable immune system.
I know what you're going to say, "That doesn't sound too bad." and at first it doesn't, but after it became apparent we weren't dead, they began to test us. My team endured testing that was so horrid it bled over into torture, Edge was made to flee up walls to escape attack dogs and spike traps. Love was made to break increasingly harder targets over several months, each time breaking her hand, but breaking the target every time, regardless of rigidity or structural integrity. Wolf was made to navigate a trap-laden maze in darkness used for sensory derivation.
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Ripper's and my tests, I feel were the worst, They asked him to pet a dog they had let into the chamber. The dog was super friendly, it seemed like it could be someone's dog, very affectionate and happy, and it died in his arms after he finally gave in and ran his hand across its head.
Suddenly, instantly, so quick was the cessation of life that it was still warm when he held it, crying that he didn't mean to. After the test, he never took off his gloves ever again, not even when he was ordered to, not even when they threatened him. They discontinued tests on him soon after. The only reason his disobedience didn't get him killed, was the unique nature of his ability and the low number of JABs in general.
My test involved propane and fire.
I walked into the test chamber, directing my attention to the two-way mirror, behind which I knew the researchers sat, Green was in control and we BOTH knew what was going to happen, but Green did not panic, he smiled as the voice rang over the intercom, "Agent Green, brace for test 1-a" Green let out a haughty laugh and spread his arms in a gesture of overconfidence, "I'm as braced as I can be, let 'er rip." The jets came on in the room, I smelled the propane, that smell would later induce panic attacks and fight-or-flight responses for years to come. I heard the electric click of the sparker and the entire room was engulfed in flames, I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry, but Green just stood there with his arms out and his eyes screwed shut until our eyelids burned off and our eyes were burnt out of our skull. It wasn't long till our knees gave way, and we fell to the floor.
I woke up unable to see, moving was pain, Green was dormant for now so I was left to bear the agony myself, I couldn't hear, I couldn't smell or taste, everything was just pain.
I remember FEELING the flesh on my forehead attempt to grow back three times, the first time it died and peeled back into what I could only assume was where my eyes were supposed to be, the second time it scabbed up and broke apart somehow, finally, I felt cool air on my skin as my body slowly rebuilt itself from scratch. Eventually, my eyes returned, but just as slowly as everything else, so when I was able to see the first instinct was to rake the back of my hand across my face to rub whatever it was out of my eyes, I ended up tearing off the scabs that had formed over my eye sockets and the pain of that, made me pass out.
Once I was fully healed, I was presented with the news that I had been completely skeletonized by fire and regenerated myself completely within 3 months.
My group welcomed me back, with open arms, terrified of what had happened.
"I came to see you, every day." Said Love, to which Green raised an eyebrow, confused at the outpouring of care.
"We all did, are you alright?" Ripper pulled me into a hug, only letting me go to allow Wolf and Edge to get their licks in, "you look BRIGHT red, Little brother."
I looked in the mirror and was driven to laughter by what I saw, I looked like a swollen tomato, my regenerated flesh bright red and pulsing with scar tissue, "Oh my fucking god!" I cackled til I wheezed as the others looked on worriedly.
At that point, I couldn't tell who was laughing, me or Green.