Good evening, all!
Here's the next background/outline snippet for Discarded. As before, any and all questions or thoughts about this and draft itself are welcome; feel free to post here, or on my Facebook or Twitter feed. Pledges have slowed a bit in recent days, so run, don't walk, to do so yourself if you wish, or retweet the updates and project near and far!
2028: Just after the D.C. Vanguard administration passes the torch to President Jackson Snyder, word arrives that Garrett has successfully created a super-soldier fetus in an experimental, artificial womb, with DNA cursors indicating increased height (6’6” or more) advanced strength, hearing, sight…and most importantly, regenerative ability. With physical maturity (18 or above) expected to be reached in just three years due to accelerated growth, Garrett requests permission to study this first child (a boy, whom he names Cayden) for that period, before subjecting him to general and Special Forces training at the lab. The D.C. administration agrees, but demands that the womb process be expanded…
2031: A U.S. attempt to militarily reverse a coup in Colombia ends in disaster, leading to even-greater anger among America’s citizenry towards the use of the armed forces in what are seen as pointless, bloody interventions. Therefore, the D.C. administration announces that the U.S. military as a whole will adopt what amounts to a defensive stance worldwide (particularly in such hotspots as the South China Sea, Central Asia, and various areas of the Middle East), while any future offensive actions will be limited to airstrikes, drones…and “ advanced, small-scale, highly trained special operations units.” At this same time, what is commonly referred to as “Project Golem” is privately unveiled to the Snyder administration, in the form of Cayden and four others like him, gestated and raised by Dr. Garrett, a small private staff, and a “Mother figure” in the form of a A.I. program known as “GAIA” (Greatly Advanced Intelligence Authority). Though he has strong misgivings about their usage as front-line soldiers, Garrett is nonetheless willing to continue his work for D.C. in exchange for the means to discover even more means of improving humanity…and possibly atoning for his own sins.