AN: Ahhhh I'm so happy to start this project! This idea (like a few others) came from the chat of Phantomtype's stream. The idea sprang up somehow and Pokeshadow and I just drove it right off a cliff. Also, my first story that isn't angst, its a miracle!

Phanniemay15 Theme: Alternate Universe

In Over Your Head

prolouge

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"I never make stupid mistakes. Only very, very clever ones." -John Peel

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Albert Einstein said, 'Insanity is repeating the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result."

Vlad supposed that that was true, given the present circumstances.

"Status?"

Screens flickered alive. Jumbles of numbers ran across some of them, status bars on others. The gentle whirring of the machine filled the room. Vlad took no notice, just as he hadn't taken notice of how off the rail he'd fallen. Daniel had nearly pushed him past the point of no return a couple of meetings back. He was so close to just grabbing the stupid boy and breaking his neck, to blast that insufferable girl until she melted into ectoplasm he could reuse for a more identical child. He hadn't gotten the chance. A boomerang and a seventeen ton spectral plane exploration ship ensured that. Daniel had used a power he never encountered before—an impossibly powerful one. A scream so loud and so forceful it had absolutely wrecked his Colorado lab. Perhaps Daniel had been counting on that, to try to stop him from making more clones.

Daniel was foolish in that regard. He was using his Rockies estate because it was isolated, not because it was his best lab for cloning. And now that he lived in Amity Park, his Wisconsin home was the best option for continuing his attempts.

"Project ALPHA-Negative 20734/betatest^AEDNAP3 is stable. Status: awaiting activation," The computers emotionless voice informed. It wasn't Maddie's. He'd not yet transferred the hologram program over to his prime house. It was a little depressing, but he'd deal.

A mess of data flooded the screens. From results of tests to current biological measurements and past records. His eyes scanned over it all. Project Alpha was the new prime clone. It was as close to Daniel he was able to get with the strained genetic resources. He floated in the stasis chamber, white hair twisting in the amorphous liquid. There were others, of coarse. It always took work to get to a prime. But this time he wasn't being stupid. He wasn't waking them up. Doing so was what cost him the mid-morph sample last time. Speaking of...

"Alphatest^AEDNAP3 final results?" He inquired.

"Scanning..." The computer droned. The data vanished, replaced with a report. Several grainy images of a triple helix molecule dotted the other screens. Vlad ignored them, "All nucleotides of lateral line successfully replicated. All dihydrogenous bases bonded. Final result: functional artificial mid-morph synthesizer attempt is successful."

Vlad smirked. Music to his ears.

He wasn't being stupid in two ways this time around. One, as already said, the other clones were still in stasis. Two, he wasn't getting Daniel involved. The boy ruined things.

But his problem had remained: he needed mid-morph DNA. The answer to his problem had come to him during a long night of staring at past notes on his Halfa genetic research. He hadn't made much progress, review pages he'd reviewed hundreds of times, until he noticed a tiny little detail he hadn't before. A tiny, funny little thing that made all the difference.

Loose hydrogen bases, poking off the nucleotides. Loose bases that should attach to the morph DNA he was missing.

The solution was so god damned simple, he should've kicked himself for not seeing it before.

Where there were hydrogen bases, there was the ability to make the missing strand. It was the very nature of DNA. The molecule itself replicated in that way.

The bases were the reason it was so simple. Adenine could only bind to Thymine. Cytosine to Guanine. Simple, primal. Less so with Halfas. Myknine, Ectnine, Specnine, and Ghasnine were added to the jumble. Myknine only bonded with Adenine, Ectnine to Thymine, Specnine to Cytosine, Ghasine to Guanine. Less simple than human DNA, but not so complex as to be overly problematic. The lateral line, the third that made halfa DNA a triple helix, could only have those four spectral bases.

It was so stupidly simple.

Because the way these bases bonded were so strict, if you had just one side to work with, you could easily fill in the second side. DNA Polymerase 3 did that for normal DNA. Alphatest^AEDNAP3 would do that to synthesize the mid-morph DNA he was missing.

No frustrating teenager problems necessary, thank you very much.

"Disconnect subjects BETA to KAPPA. Focus on ALPHA," Vlad ordered.

Beta to kappa were the imperfect clones. Sure, they all looked like Daniel, for the most part, but they each had things off about them. Inability to form legs from their ghostly tail, more than two eyes, unresponsive arm, dysfunctional core—little minor and major things. He did feel slightly guilty about the fact that he'd have to dispose of them once the Alpha was complete.

"Disconnection in progress..." The lab rumbled, mechanics hidden behind the steel enforced walls shifting. The computer's humming turned into a hiss as the fan kicked in higher, but it died down after a few moments, "...Successful. ALPHA is awaiting activation. Awaiting further instructions."

Vlad tore his eyes away from the screens, and he walked up to the stasis chamber. His heart tightened, as he remembered how the previous prime clone had melted right in front of him. If things went wrong, that could be the same fate of this one. He didn't think he could bear to watch that twice. He hardened his jaw, squaring his shoulders.

"...Activate," He'd never get his son if he never took the risk.

The computer purred, "Activation of Project ALPHA-Negative 20734/betatest^AEDNAP3 in progress."

Vlad forced his breath out through his nose, his throat uncomfortably tight. The Alpha's face was calm, his eyes twitching under his eyelids. He was Daniel, from the shape of his cheeks to the muscles of his arms just barely starting to show. The ugly tubing and wires branched from his body, glinting in the fluorescent lights of the lab. They were the only things keeping him alive. Vlad reveled in the thought of being able to call him Daniel, to call him son. To be able to hug him, to teach him, to be a good father. It was the only thing keeping him sane at this point.

Bangs rattled through the air system of the lab, metal slicing on metal. The entire lab seemed to shake and Vlad gripped the stasis chamber in fear—though if it did topple somehow, his grip would go little to prevent it. It remained unaffected by the noises.

Vlad stormed his way back to the computer, "What in the hell was that?!"

It beeped loudly, blaring red warnings flashing on its screens, "ERROR! System compromised! Attempting to stabilize—Recalibrating...Activation restarted," Vlad gripped the sides of the computers controls tightly, his knuckles white. Don't it dare. It had better not cleanse it's systems. That would kill everything in all the stasis chambers. He'd loose everything.

The beeping stopped, and everything was quiet. Then, "Activation in progress: 6% completed."

Vlad let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd held. His head dropped, tangled matted ponytail tickling his neck. He pushed himself straight heavily, running the back of his hand over his brow. He didn't know how much more his frayed nerves could take. He returned to the Alpha's side, exhaust clear in the way he moved.

"Soon, my son..." Vlad laid his fingertips on the cold glass. His forehead fallowed, and he closed his eyes, listening to the faint hums around him.

"Status: 10%," The computer purred.

It was the last thing Vlad knew before he drifted unconscious.

Vlad groaned, the cold glass against his cheek hard and unpleasant. He peeled him skin off the container, picking the gunk of sleep from his eyes. He checked his watch. It was just after 1:30 AM when he last remembered checking the time, and now it was 10:47 AM. He felt more rested, but his body ached from spending so much time on the hard floor, his arms stiff from being bent against his chest. He stretched, and his bones popped. He never seemed to learn his lesson about bad sleeping places.

"Computer, analysis?" He questioned, speech slurred seep. The computer's humming got louder as it woke up too.

"Status: 68%,"

Vlad's head snapped up. That wasn't right. That was ten hours, how wasn't it done already? It was just a little over half way. Vlad pushed himself to his feet, his hands curling into fists.

"Why's it taking so long?!" He barked.

The computer remained apathetic, "Distribution of resources," Vlad snarled, but stomped out of the room anyway. He needed a shower, a long one.

"Fine, alert me when it's nearly complete."

The computer said nothing, and continued to do so throughout Vlad's hour-long shower. He buried himself in his paperwork, trying to distract himself from all the thoughts about what might be going wrong. He didn't dare cancel the activation. Doing so might render just part of the body stabilized, and releasing him in that state would be almost as bad as releasing him unstabilized. Hours passed, and the only thing that changed was Maddie jumping onto his desk and laying down. As dinner rolled around, Vlad returned to the lab, Maddie trotting after him. There, he just sat on a couch and waited, combing his fingers through the felines fur.

Finally, the computer beeped pleasantly.

"Activation complete," The computer announced. Vlad threw himself off the couch, staggering over the main console. Maddie hissed, not appreciating being dropped so unceremoniously.

"Analysis?!"

"Scanning subjects..." It paused, and Vlad waited with baited breath, "No errors detected. Triple helix is stable."

Hope settled into him in the form of a lump in his throat. He ran the scans three more times, just to make sure. Nothing was detected being off. He ordered various other tests, but a little voice in the back of his head just told him he was being paranoid, that they were unnecessary. He ignored it; his paranoia had saved him before. Finally, Vlad inhaled.

"Release him...release my son," He breathed.

The computer complied.

The liquid was drained, agonizingly slowly. Hair and white spandex that were colored lavender became pristine white. Pressurized locks hissed as they released, the rolling tumble of mechanical fastens clicking open. The entire domed from of the chamber popped outward, then raised on thick mechanical arms. Air touched the clone for the first time, and the effect was instant. Lungs expanded and he breathed as the instinct kicked in. The slick stasis material dripped from his skin, his hair still drenched. His eyelids twitched, then raised. Vibrant emerald eyes, exactly the same as Daniels. His eyes flickered around as they looked around. They finally settled on Vlad, and the elder halfa knew that all the pain and frustration had been worth it all.

Multiple hisses sounded from behind Vlad, and he spun around. Metal clinked as tumble locks turned. The domes of every single other chamber jolted, then raised. Vlad could only stare. Consecutive metallic clinks rolled throughout the lab, and nine clones tumbled from their chambers, becoming entangled in their wires. Vlad heard the clinks from behind him and he threw his arms out, catching the alpha as he fell. The teen was cold and wet in his arms, the wires still attached to him jabbing into his skin.

"Unlocking stasis chambers...Complete," The computer sang.

Vlad stared at the mess of Daniels before him, waiting, terrified, for them to start melting.

They didn't.

They just pushed themselves up, occasionally picking coiled wires off themselves with pinched fingers. The alpha attempted to get his legs under himself, to control his own weight, but failed. Vlad knew he was much too weak to do that just yet.

Vlad cleared his throat, unnerved when ten sets of eyes focused on him, "What..." his eyes shifted to the panel, "Computer, last processes list."

The computer whirred, "Stasis chambers release. Subject Stabilization. Error Repair-"

"Details about stabilization," Vlad commanded, but a sinking feeling in his gut let him know that he thought he already knew the answer.

"Subjects ALPHA to KAPPA activated. Time taken: eighteen hours, fourteen minutes."

Vlad blinked, the feeling telling him 'I told you so'. All ten had been stabilized with Alphatest^AEDNAP3, all ten had the mid-morph. They were all halfas, all stable, and all Daniel. He looked back to the clones, meeting their unsure and inquisitive stares.

"Oh...crumb cakes..."