[ WP ] `` To explore the universe , we had to sacrifice our humanity . And we did . ''

I felt the suit depressurize, the cold sting hitting my flesh as the breath caught in my throat. This is what the conditioning was for. keep the panic at bay, push it back down. Remember step two. 
 
 Releasing my grip on the inside of the suit I gently pushed back, the movements in the micro-gravity were even easier then the underwater lab trials. Adrenalin pumping, I could feel myself emerging like some insect from a chrysalis. 
 
 Lungs burning. Slowly releasing the last breath, watching the gasses disperse into the cosmos as my eyes finally open. 
 
 Earth coming into view, that brown ball of mud, speckled with patches of green and blue. The last holdouts of humanity... The thought felt so foreign to me from this point of view. gripping the handle as I gently float with the suit, still tethered to the experimental craft. 
 
 Step 3. I can feel the Rising CO2 levels in my blood as my burning lungs seem to dull to the desire to breathe. Step 3. I stretch out, back arching, I feel them unfolding. 
 
 My `` wings''. These massive cumbersome appendages on earth, now moving effortlessly as I fall my way around the planet. Basically a lab grown pair of arms, stretched and modified, stringing a membrane of thick skin between the elongated digits. Months spent in therapy after the attachment. the new limbs grafted into my skeleton and musculature. a whole expansion if my nervous system stitched together like some kind of Frankenstein. Stabilized with heavy drugs and gene therapy, no normal human could have endured this. My successful design from conception a testament to the advancement of our ability to mold life. 
 
 I can feel the oxygen levels raising in my bloodstream as I angel these bat like wings to the sun. The green tint of my skin giving away the symbiotic algae I was now home to. The panic was slowly dissolving. 
 
 -Looking good there- The'voice' in my head snapped me back to reality. My implants were working. A small chip in the Broca's area and a corresponding node in the Auditory cortex let us communicate. 
 
 Her'voice' was warm unlike the others. She could convey emotion and meaning much better through the link than any of the rest of us. 
 
 Although she was a very special case. Her entire being was designed from day one. Where my body was reinforced during gestation and Various implants and tissue were added after, Her genetic code was rewritten by computers and pieced together. There was a rumor that she did n't even use the implants to communicate. 
 
 I turned to face my partner. Her skin shimmered red, the strain of algae they used with her complemented every curve of her form. Her wings, larger then mine, seemed to be closer to fins. They were much more uniform with the rest of her than my own Frankensteined appendages. 
 
 She even had an extra pair of what I can only describe as tentacles protruding from her lower back. They were sluggish, heavy, and nearly useless back on earth. But up here, away from the restrictions of terrestrial life, she had fine control of them using one to tether her to the suit she emerged from. With a grin she pushed off, floating her way towards me. 
 
 Theta was fearless. The last survivor of her'batch'. Even with our level of technology it seems playing god is a bit difficult. 
 
 She turned and her sails seemed to catch the sun, effortlessly correcting her path as I reached out for her, pulling her to catch onto my suit. My hands a bit numb from the lack of pressure and the temperature difference from the light and dark sides of my body. She did n't seem to suffer any adverse effects however. This was what she was made to thrive in. This is what I was made to endure. 
 
 It was the hope of our benefactors that she would be able to successfully pass her genes on to her offspring. One could n't help but wonder about the compatibility of- -Easy there cowboy, I'm not sure they're ready to test out the breeding program just yet- 
 
 Yet again I was brought back to the moment. A grin plastered on her face. With her sensitivity and total immersion in our peculiar method of communication it seemed she could skim the noise of my thoughts and puzzle together their meaning. Nothing exact, but the more base the thought, the easier it was for her to infer. 
 
 -ksht, I repeat we are going to real you in. do you copy? Is the array broken, can you hear me? - a communication from the capsule seemed to cut into my head like a radio being switched on. 
 
 The Look on her face a bit mischievous, had she been blocking the signal? 
 
 -Do you read me? Hello, Guys? - came the voice again. 
 
 -Ah, Yes, no problems here. Um, reel us in, sorry about that.- I replied as I felt the suits being pulled back to the ship. The first long term exposure went well. with a bonus confirmation of Theta's ability to self propel in micro gravity. We were going to get hell for that. 
 

