Dominic was not just an amazing doctor but also a brilliant geneticist as well. He could splice together genes in the most creative way or make the most natural looking clone. He had been perfecting his art for centuries, so it wasn't that difficult a task anymore. The children he made for himself, Kenneth and Arthur had been a little tricky though. He had to find the right codes that would protect their powers but also make the offspring as seemingly normal as possible. And of course he had to make the hosts that would incubate their children until if or when they needed it. A task that he implored Russell to assist him with. Russell could create the most elaborate artificials and these needed to be as elaborate as he could make them.

Strong but also warm and soft. Like a human mother would be. He offered in return a favour to Russell in the future. A perfect clone. Russell had wanted an engineered one like the three they were making but Dominic didn't want to arouse suspicion in Arthur and Kenneth. A sure form of betrayal. So they settled on a clone in the case he ever wanted one. 

They were already being consumed by the red force, so they had begun rounding up people for the voyage away from this planet. He had an abundance of genetic material to work with. And his final result was a product of numbers instead of names.

It was disheartening to have to use these people. He should have used the material from the ones out there. Outside the ship. Ones that were strong and shining and beautiful. But he had to use the special ones. He'd already been instructed to. 

He, Meredith and Louis had spent the year choosing them. An easy task since they stood out from the rest. Both physically and emotionally dull. Their features still as lovely as the others. Dark, almond eyes and shimmery, golden skin. But whereas the regular populace practically sparkled these ones had only the faintest of sheens. And they were not hard to spot also since they walked around with their heads down in submission. Dominic and Louis didn't even need to use their powers to feel how powerless, hopeless, these people were. But that was exactly what they needed. A ship and eventually a planet filled with the most normal, placid beings they could find. 

*

Weeks later Wesley, William and Thomas had come back from their planet scouting with air, soil and water samples in containers ready to check for anomalies. And when they found none, the whole lot of them with their colonists and artificials stepped into the ship. Doors closing in finality on a dying planet that they were to blame for killing. Their greed had created the red force and no matter how they had tried to fight it, they couldn't reverse the damages. So they just turned their heads instead.